Have you ever wanted to go on an all girls trip or tour? Doni Belau is a well-known blogger from the popular site A Girl’s Guide to Paris and she shares with us below her journey from the first all-female holiday she took, to establishing her own tour company.

We’ve all been on a girls’ night out and probably a girls’ weekend. If you are anything like me you probably cherish these special times with friends. It’s about bonding, about connection and mainly about laughs. And of course, sometimes a good dose of gossip thrown in for good measure. 

Picking up on girlfriend appreciation, the newest travel trend is all-girls getaways. The perk now is you don’t have to convince your friends or try to align your sometimes impossible calendars and interests. You can join an existing tour solo, or with a friend or family member. Chances are there’s a girls group trip headed almost anywhere in the world you can think of.

The first time I signed up for one of these weeks I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I didn’t know anyone and questioned whether I would enjoy the others who had signed up? Would we all get along? I am now a tad embarrassed when I think of my hesitancy. By day two or sooner into the trip, we were all practically rolling on the floor with laughter at many points during the day. I’d suddenly made a new flock of friends from all over the world. Some were inveterate travelers others were taking their first trip to Europe. The bonding, sisterhood and sheer fun I had in this beautiful location was pure magic.

Flash forward 12 years and I’m now leading trips like that one and I’m still friends with several from that original group. On my own tours, I pride myself in the incredible lodging I discover and the stellar meals we have and the new experiences we share, however it’s the ‘sisterhood’ part that always stays the longest in my heart.

This year we are headed to Corsica for sailing, the Basque region for their peppery food and beautiful beaches, we will be truffle hunting again in Provence and wine tasting in Bordeaux. We are headed for garden focused, photography based or gourmet adventures, but what I’m most excited about is meeting a new group of friends and seeing some old faces who I have grown to love and cherish from past trips. With both men and women together, this same kind of bonding just doesn’t happen.

We women are seriously amazing and the magic we create just by being together are why I adore what I do.

Doni runs Women’s-Only tours to France and Beyond, she’s the author of Paris Cocktails and the founder of Girls’ Guide to Paris.