More people are travelling alone than at any point on record, and the reasons are structural rather than fashionable: remote work untethered a lot of trips from a fixed calendar, and a generation that grew up watching other people do it stopped treating it as unusual.
This is the practical version — how to choose where to go, what it costs when you are the only one paying, where to stay, how to stay safe, and what to do about the evening on day three when it gets flat.
Best Destinations for Solo Travelers#
Medellín, Colombia — Safe tourist areas, friendly locals, affordable, great public transport. The #1 solo travel recommendation in Latin America.
Buenos Aires, Argentina — Incredibly cheap in 2026. Café culture means you always have somewhere comfortable to sit.
Santo Domingo, DR — Warm, walkable, culturally rich. Eating alone at a comedor feels completely natural.
Bangkok, Thailand — The original solo travel destination. Unmatched infrastructure for independent travelers.
Choosing where to go first#
The instinct is to pick the most exciting place. For a first solo trip, pick the easiest one — you can do exciting on the second trip, when you already know you like this.
What makes a destination easy alone:
- Other solo travellers are already there. This matters more than anything else on the list. A well-worn route means hostels built for meeting people, a walking tour every morning, and no novelty in a table for one.
- You can get around without a car. Driving alone in an unfamiliar country is the single biggest source of both cost and risk.
- Reliable, cheap transport between cities, so a place that isn't working can be left on a day's notice.
- Enough English, or a language you have some of, for the first trip at least.
- Somewhere eating alone is unremarkable. In much of Asia and Latin America, a table for one at lunch is completely normal. In parts of southern Europe it still draws a look.
On that basis: Thailand, Vietnam, Portugal, Japan, Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala are the standard first-solo-trip answers, and they're standard because they work. Where's actually safest, for women specifically.
What solo travel actually costs#
Travelling alone is more expensive per person than travelling with someone, and knowing where the difference lands makes it manageable.
Where you pay more:
- Accommodation. A room costs the same for one person as for two. This is the whole of the "single supplement" and it is most of the gap.
- Taxis and transfers, which don't halve.
- Tours and day trips with a per-boat or per-car price rather than per person.
Where you pay less or the same:
- Food. No compromise meals, no splitting a bill unevenly, and street food has no table minimum.
- Your itinerary. No paying for something you didn't want because the other person did. Over a long trip this quietly cancels out a lot of the room premium.
How to close the gap: dorms or hostel private rooms rather than hotels; guesthouses and family-run places, which are priced per person far more often than chains; longer stays, because weekly and monthly rates are where the real discounts are; and finding one other person for the boat, the car, the dive trip. How to do that without awkwardness.
Where to stay#
This is the highest-leverage decision of a solo trip and most people make it on price alone.
- Hostels — not only for twenty-year-olds and not only dorms. A hostel private room often costs less than a hotel and still gives you the common room, the events, and the chat group. If you want to meet people, this is the single most effective thing you can do.
- Guesthouses and family-run places — the sweet spot for solo travellers who don't want a dorm. You'll be talked to, fed, and given advice, which is most of what a hostel gives you without the noise.
- Hotels — the loneliest option, and sometimes exactly right. Book one for the middle of a long trip when you need three days of nobody.
- Airbnb entire places — the loneliest of all, and where solo travellers most often report the bad stretch. Fine for a week's work, poor for a week's travel.
Wherever you stay, book the first two nights before you fly. Arriving in an unfamiliar city with no bed is the one avoidable stressful moment of any trip.
Safety, honestly#
Solo travellers are not more likely to be victims of violent crime than anyone else. What changes is that there's nobody to notice if something goes wrong, so the whole practice is about leaving a trail and keeping an exit.
- Someone at home knows roughly where you are. A shared location, or a message when you move city. That's it — it doesn't need to be elaborate.
- Two ways to pay, kept in two places. One card on you, one card and some cash left at the accommodation. A single lost wallet is a bad afternoon, not a crisis.
- A photograph of your passport in your email, and a paper copy in the bag.
- Arrive in daylight wherever you can, especially the first time in a country. Night arrivals are when almost every transport scam happens.
- Don't get drunk alone in an unfamiliar place on the first night. Drink spiking is the most common serious incident involving foreign travellers in most tourist cities.
- Travel insurance that covers medical evacuation. The thing that actually bankrupts people is a hospital, not a theft.
- Trust the early feeling. Almost everyone with a bad story says they noticed something and talked themselves out of it.
Eating alone#
The thing first-timers dread most, and it stops being a problem in about three days.
Sit at the bar or the counter — it exists for exactly this, and it's where conversation happens if you want any. Lunch is easier than dinner if you're working up to it. Street food and markets require no performance at all. And bring something to read: a book is the universally understood signal for "alone on purpose, and fine".
The one thing not to do is eat every meal in your room. It's the fastest route to the bad stretch described below.
The loneliness, and what actually helps#
Nearly every solo traveller has the evening — usually day three or four, usually in a room, usually after a good day — where it lands. It's normal, it's temporary, and it is by a distance the most common reason people cut trips short.
What helps, roughly in order of speed: leave the room; go somewhere with a counter; book something with other people in it for tomorrow; call home (but not every night, which prolongs it); and change your accommodation if you've been in an entire-place rental for more than a few days.
The longer version is here, and the practical side of meeting people is here.
Day one, specifically#
The first day sets the tone for the whole trip, and there's a formula that works almost everywhere:
- Free walking tour in the morning. Two hours, you learn the city's shape, and everyone there is new and alone. A third of them go for a beer afterwards.
- Lunch somewhere with a counter, not in your room.
- A local SIM or eSIM, sorted on day one rather than day three.
- One thing booked for tomorrow that has other people in it — a class, a hike, a dive, a group day trip.
- Message someone who lives there before you land, and see the city with them early rather than at the end. It's the difference between a week of guessing and a week of knowing.
If it's your first time#
Two things nobody says out loud. It is normal to want to go home on day two — that feeling almost always passes by day four. And you're allowed to change the plan: leaving a city early because it isn't working is not failure, it's the entire advantage of travelling alone.
Start with one country, not four. Give each place longer than you think. And book a return ticket you can move.
Where a local fits into all of this#
Every problem on this page — where to eat, whether a neighbourhood is fine at night, what a fair price is, the flat evening on day three — is trivially solved by knowing one person who lives there.
That's not a travel partner and it's not a tour. It's an afternoon with someone local, early in the trip, after which the place makes sense and you carry on alone with a much better week ahead of you.
Browse Local Friends on Roavi — message someone directly, agree what you want to do, and meet up. No booking system, no commission.
Another option when you're travelling alone: who rents a local friend, and why.
Also worth reading: Solo Travel in the Dominican Republic: A Complete Guide.
Also worth reading: 23 Travel Scams You'll Encounter in 2026 (And How to Avoid Every One).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should I go on my first solo trip?
Pick the easiest place, not the most exciting — you can do exciting on the second trip. What makes somewhere easy alone: other solo travellers already there, no car needed, cheap transport between cities so you can leave a place that isn't working, and somewhere eating alone is unremarkable. Thailand, Vietnam, Portugal, Japan, Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala are the standard answers because they work.Is solo travel more expensive?
Per person, yes, and almost all of the difference is accommodation — a room costs the same for one as for two. Taxis and per-boat tour prices don't halve either. Food is where you claw it back, along with never paying for something you didn't want. Dorms or hostel private rooms, guesthouses, longer stays for weekly rates, and sharing a car or boat with one other person close most of the gap.Is solo travel safe?
Solo travellers aren't more likely to face violent crime than anyone else. What changes is that nobody would notice if something went wrong, so the practice is about leaving a trail and keeping an exit: someone at home knows roughly where you are, two ways to pay kept in two places, a passport photo in your email, arriving in daylight, and insurance that covers medical evacuation.How do I deal with eating alone while travelling?
Sit at the bar or counter — it exists for exactly this. Lunch is easier than dinner while you're working up to it, and street food and markets require no performance at all. Bring a book: it's the universally understood signal for alone on purpose and fine. The one thing not to do is eat every meal in your room.What do I do on the first day of a solo trip?
Free walking tour in the morning — two hours, and everyone there is new and alone. Lunch somewhere with a counter. Sort a local SIM or eSIM on day one. Book one thing for tomorrow that has other people in it. And message someone who lives there before you land, so you see the city with them early rather than at the end.Is it normal to want to go home on a solo trip?
Completely, and it usually lands on day three or four, in a room, after a good day. It nearly always passes by day four. You're also allowed to change the plan — leaving a city early because it isn't working isn't failure, it's the entire advantage of travelling alone.