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The Benefits of Self-guided Travel

Equal parts supportive and empowering, self-guided travel offers the best of all worlds. Here’s how it could level-up your next adventure.

Self-guided trips are one of the fastest-growing categories of active travel. As more travellers crave new experiences, adventure and even solitude, they’re looking for journeys they can set their own pace and agenda to. This is where guided group tours can lose their appeal. Constant monitoring starts to feel unnecessary, not to mention expensive. That’s where self-guided travel comes in. 

We’re on a mission. To help adventurers discover new places and achieve something special with self-guided adventures and solo travel. And where better to start than with all the benefits of a Macs self-guided walking or cycling holiday?

A person cycles along a cyclepath, enjoying the thrill of the ride in nature towards the coastline with blue skies..

 

1. Itineraries Suited To You  

One of the biggest advantages of self-guided travel is that you get to choose your start dates and a route already tried and tested by an expert team. For example, you can visit Santorini when it's quieter or add an extra day to soak up the unspoiled charm of the Luberon Valley during your cycling tour of Provence

  

2. Hassle-free Planning 

For many of us, the joy of travel lies in exploring vast landscapes, encountering other cultures, and immersing ourselves in a totally new experience — not in frantically cobbling together spreadsheets the week before a trip. With self-paced exploration, you get to enjoy all the good stuff without hours of research. And because you choose your own travel companions, you won’t ever have to endure awkward small talk or feel trapped by a tour guide.  

  

3. Enjoy Peace of Mind 24/7 

On a self-guided tour with Macs, you’ll get your adventure fix without ever feeling like you’re high and dry. Need help finding your way? Refer to detailed route notes on the Macs Adventure app. Run into an emergency? We have 24/7 support. 

If you’re walking solo, we’ll keep track of your accommodation check-ins. If you miss a time, our partners will let us know. This can provide incredible peace of mind for independent travellers who want to feel safe and supported without sacrificing the solo experience.  

  

4. Get as Much Support as You Need 

Macs Adventure lets you choose the level of support you want. Prefer not to haul your heavy bag around?  We coordinate your luggage to make sure your suitcase is always waiting for you at your next stop. We can organise route recommendations, local transfer logistics, accommodation bookings, and gear advice, too.  

  

5. Leave Room to be Spontaneous 

You may get a self-guided itinerary at the start of your trip, but you lead the way. One of the best benefits of this kind of self-paced exploration is that you never need to worry about huffing and puffing behind a group of ultrafit adventurers — or about newbies slowing you down. Whether travelling the Great Glen Way or heading along the Haute Route, you get to soak up the wonder at whatever pace you choose. 

Self-guided travel also gives you the flexibility to be spontaneous. Want to push yourself out of your comfort zone? Summit that nearby peak, strike up a conversation with locals, or stop to sample the street food. Feeling luxurious? Take an extra hour to have a relaxed lunch at the piazza, or pedal slowly to listen to the birdsong. And if you need ideas, the Macs Adventure app comes preloaded with notes and suggestions of detours, stops, and sights along your way.

Three hikers enjoying ice cream with a view of high peak mountains in the background.

 

6. Take the Stress Out of Holiday Planning 

Trip planning can often feel like a high school group project: one person ends up doing all the work, while everyone else makes demands or assigns blame when things go awry. Fortunately, self-guided travel offers a solution.  

If you’re celebrating with friends or meeting with relatives, outsource the logistics to a self-guided tour operator like Macs Adventure, then split the cost evenly among the group. No one person has to drop a hefty deposit on hotels or chase everyone else for reimbursement. Splitting the cost means every party feels equally invested in the trip planning — and equally relaxed while out on the trail. 

  

7. Get the Most Adventure for the Best Value 

Another great advantage of self-guided travel is getting all the information you need to be your own guide. The Macs Adventure team has spent years getting to know each destination, its people, and its culture. When you book a trip with us, we hand over all that precious insider info. That means you get all our regional transit know-how, cultural savvy, and local wisdom without paying someone to babysit you.  

 

8. Discover Unique Places to Stay 

We discovered some of the coolest boutique hotels, hostels, and B&Bs - all locally owned. If you were to DIY your trip, you’d have to contact each one individually — a painstaking process that can take days. By letting Macs Adventure do the booking for you, that’s one less thing for you to deal with. Macs has long-standing relationships with some of the most unique hoteliers and vendors in the regions where we operate. We know the locals, and we know how to get you in the door at a place you’ll love.  

Another amazing self-guided travel benefit is that it allows you to truly immerse yourself in the local culture. After all, it’s much easier to get to know a place when you’re not hiding behind a guide. As a free agent, you have the flexibility to interact with locals and enjoy authentic experiences — from traditional music sessions in a cosy pub in Ireland to sampling local delicacies in Japan

  

9. Support Local Businesses 

Another advantage of independent travel is that you can be more intentional about how you travel. Macs Adventure works with locally owned and operated suppliers whenever possible. Our goal is to uplift small business owners—not international conglomerates—and maximise our travellers’ positive economic impact on local communities.  

We have a long list of local vendors and home-from-home hostels that we’ve worked with for years—like the family-run Crookabeck B&B along the Coast to Coast Walk, or the historic Volunteer Inn on the Cotswold Way. And we’re always keeping an eye out for new partners who embody our values. So, when you book a trip with Macs, you know your money will go where it matters.  

  

10. A Lighter Environmental Footprint 

One of the biggest pros of self-guided travel is its light environmental footprint. Unlike other outfitters who rely on tour buses and big group sizes to hit their margins, Macs strives for a lower-impact approach. To start with, we carbon-count all our trips with the help of sustainability experts at ecollective. We’re proud partners with Trash Free Trails, and we’re actively pursuing B Corp status. But our biggest focus is the way we approach independent travel.  

At Macs, we won’t ever dump a bus full of tourists on an unsuspecting village or delicate landscape. Instead, we offer primarily walking and cycling holidays — making it easy for you to tread lightly on the environment and the communities you pass through. To learn more about how Macs manages its environmental impact, check out our impact report.  

A person's feet with hiking boots on perched on a cliff's edge, gazing out at the vast, sparkling ocean beneath.

 

Is Self-Guided Travel Right for You? 

Self-guided trips offer an empowering alternative to DIY travel. If you’re looking for an adventurous, self-supported experience — but don’t want to go through all the hassle of booking accommodation, organising luggage transfers, or juggling logistics—a self-guided trip with Macs could be the perfect solution for you. To learn more about how Macs Adventure can help, get to know us online or send us an email.

WHY MACS?

Reasons to believe in Macs Adventure:
The Biggest Choice

The Biggest Choice

Self-guided walking & cycling is all we do - we have hundreds of tried & tested trips.
Our Heritage

Around Since 2003

We’re still founder led & the world’s number one self-guided operator with mountains of experience.
Reviews

23,000+ Customer Reviews

Plus, with a Feefo Platinum Service Award & British Travel Awards, you know you're in good hands.
Positive Impact

Positive Impact

We use independent suppliers to support communities along our routes, as well as work with organisations to help maintain & restore paths.
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