Best Solo Female Travel Destinations: 9 Places I’d Actually Recommend
Ask me where a nervous first-timer should point herself and I’ll almost always say the same two or three places before I’ve even finished my coffee. Not because they’re the flashiest. Because they’re the ones where the logistics get out of your way and you’re left with the good part: waking up somewhere new, deciding your own day, answering to nobody.
Solo female travel gets talked about like it’s either terrifying or a spiritual rebirth. It’s usually neither. It’s mostly you, a phone with offline maps, a decent pair of shoes, and a slow-building realisation that you’re far more capable than the worried voice in your head keeps insisting. Some destinations make that easier than others, and those are the ones worth starting with.
Below are the places I’d hand a friend if she asked me to plan her first trip alone, plus a couple of bolder picks for when you’ve caught the bug. I’ve kept it honest. Costs in pounds, euros and dollars so you can plan from wherever you are, real talk on where you’ll want your wits about you, and no pretending every corner of the world is equally gentle. For the wider collection, our female travel guides hub is where the rest of it lives.
This article may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps fund the site and keeps our guides free. See our full affiliate disclosure for details.
Best Solo Female Travel Destinations: Quick Facts
Easiest first pick: Portugal or Japan. Safe, walkable, brilliant public transport, and plenty to do without needing a group.
Safest on paper: Iceland and New Zealand sit right at the top of the Global Peace Index, with Slovenia, Austria and Portugal close behind.
Typical daily budget: anywhere from about £30 to £180 (roughly €35 to €210, or $40 to $230) depending on the country, excluding flights.
Easiest for meeting people: Croatia, Vietnam and Thailand, thanks to a strong hostel and small-group tour scene.
Non-negotiables: travel insurance, an eSIM, offline maps, and a simple check-in habit with someone back home.
Biggest myth: that solo means lonely. On a decent trip you'll have to work to get any time to yourself.
Good to know: a country topping a safety index tells you about crime and conflict, not about street harassment or how comfortable you'll feel walking home. Read the destination notes below alongside the numbers.
How I'd pick your first solo destination
There’s no single best place. There’s a best place for you, and that depends on three fairly unglamorous things: how much hand-holding the country offers, how far outside your comfort zone you want to go, and what your budget can actually stretch to.
If it’s your very first time, bias hard toward the easy stuff. Good public transport so you’re not stuck negotiating taxis at midnight. Enough English that you can sort a problem when it appears. A social scene of hostels, walking tours and cafes so company is optional but available. You can go bolder on trip two, once you’ve proven to yourself that you can land in a strange airport and figure it out. Loads of women do exactly that, and our beginner’s guide to solo travel walks through the nerves if that’s where you are right now.
Here’s the quick lay of the land before we get into specifics.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Destination | The vibe | Best for | Rough daily budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | Gentle, sunny, easy-going | Total first-timers | £70-110 / €80-130 / $90-140 |
| Japan | Orderly, safe, endlessly interesting | A big adventure with a safety net | £90-150 / €105-175 / $115-190 |
| Slovenia | Green, calm, underrated | Nature without the crowds | £60-100 / €70-115 / $75-125 |
| Austria | Elegant, orderly, cafe culture | Solo dining without the fuss | £90-140 / €105-165 / $115-180 |
| Croatia | Coastal, social, sunny | Meeting people easily | £65-110 / €75-130 / $85-140 |
| Vietnam | Buzzy, cheap, full-on | A bolder Asia debut | £30-55 / €35-65 / $40-70 |
| New Zealand | Outdoorsy, friendly, wide open | Hiking and road trips | £90-150 / €105-175 / $115-190 |
| Iceland | Dramatic, remote, very safe | Big nature, small population | £120-200 / €140-235 / $155-255 |
| Morocco | Vivid, intense, rewarding | A confident step up | £35-70 / €40-80 / $45-90 |
Reality check: those budgets assume mid-range choices, a dorm or modest room, mostly eating where locals eat, and one paid activity a day. Go luxury and they balloon. Go full backpacker and you’ll undercut them.
Portugal: the gentle first-timer favourite
If Portugal were a person it’d be the friend who never makes you feel silly for asking directions. Lisbon and Porto are compact, hilly and easy to read on foot. Trains and trams do most of the heavy lifting, English is widely spoken in the cities, and the whole country runs at a pace that suits someone still finding their feet.
What sells it for solo women is how normal being alone feels here. Nobody bats an eye at a woman having a coffee and a pastel de nata on her own, or wandering a viewpoint at golden hour with a phone and no plan. The Algarve adds beaches and a slower rhythm if the city buzz wears thin. Sort a well-located place to stay in a central, walkable neighbourhood and half your safety planning is already done.
- Start in Lisbon, then take the train up to Porto. Both are made for solo wandering.
- Sintra makes an easy day trip, though it gets busy, so go early.
- Evening strolls in Alfama or Ribeira feel lively rather than edgy.
Money saver: a rechargeable Viva Viagem card covers Lisbon’s metro, trams and buses far cheaper than singles, and it saves you fumbling for coins at a machine while a queue builds behind you.
Where to Stay in Portugal
Japan: the safest big adventure you'll take
Japan feels like a proper long-haul adventure while being one of the least stressful places on earth to travel alone. The trains run to the second. Cities are famously low-crime. And there’s a quiet culture of leaving people be that, for a solo woman, is a genuine relief after somewhere pushier.
The language looks intimidating on paper and mostly isn’t in practice. Signage in big cities carries English, translation apps do the rest, and staff will bend over backwards to help even when you share about four words in common. Solo dining is completely unremarkable here, right down to ramen counters designed for one. If you want a first trip that feels like a real leap without the anxiety tax, this is it.
Tinker’s Tip: pick up a Suica or Pasmo IC card the moment you land. It taps you onto nearly every train, bus and metro across the country and works in convenience stores too, so you stop thinking about tickets entirely.
Where to Stay in Japan
Slovenia: Europe's underrated green corner
Slovenia doesn’t shout, which is exactly why I keep recommending it. Ljubljana is a small, safe, riverside capital you can cross on foot in twenty minutes, full of cafes with chairs that spill onto the pavement. An hour away, Lake Bled looks faintly unreal, and the Julian Alps give you proper mountains without the Alpine price tag.
It consistently ranks among the most peaceful countries in the world, and on the ground that translates to a relaxed, unbothered feeling as you move around. Buses and trains connect the main spots, distances are short, and you can see a lot in not many days. For a first solo trip that leans on nature rather than nightlife, it’s hard to beat.
Quick win: base yourself in Ljubljana and do Bled and the Postojna caves as day trips. You get the highlights without repacking, and you always come back to a room you already know.
Where to Stay in Slovenia
Vienna and Austria: solo dining as a lifestyle
Austria is one of those places where travelling alone stops feeling like a compromise and starts feeling like a choice. Vienna in particular is built for it. The coffee house tradition means sitting alone for hours with a book and a slice of cake is not just accepted, it’s practically the point. Public transport is spotless and reliable, and the general mood is calm and respectful.
It regularly lands among the safest countries for solo travellers, and the biggest genuine risk isn’t crime, it’s underestimating the mountains if you head for the Alps. For the full picture on that, our guide to how safe Austria really is digs into the practical side, from healthcare costs to alpine weather.
Fact: EU and UK visitors with a GHIC or EHIC can access state healthcare in Austria at reduced cost, but mountain rescue can still run into thousands, so this is one country where insurance really earns its place.
Related Article: Unwanted attention is the thing most women ask me about, so read our practical take on how to handle unwanted attention while travelling solo before you go.
Where to Stay in Vienna
The Travel Tinker Shop
Gear we actually travel with
Passport holders, packing cubes, travel wallets. Stuff that earns its place in the bag.
Browse the shopCroatia: coast, islands and easy company
Croatia is where solo travel and a proper holiday overlap. The Dalmatian coast strings together walkable old towns, island ferries and swimmable water, and the traveller scene is strong enough that you can be as social or as solitary as the mood takes you. Split and Dubrovnik get the headlines, but the smaller islands are where it clicks.
It’s a reassuring place to travel alone. Petty theft in the tourist crush is about the extent of it, and confident, ordinary caution covers you. I’ve heard the same story from countless women here: nervous on arrival, planning the next island by day three. Our full account of solo travel in Croatia maps out the coast and the ferry logic if you want the detail.
Timing tip: shoulder season is the sweet spot. The sea is still warm, the crowds have thinned, prices drop, and quieter streets make an evening walk back to your room feel a lot calmer than peak summer.
Where to Stay in Dubrovnik
Vietnam: Hanoi for a bolder first Asia trip
Vietnam is louder, cheaper and more chaotic than anything in Europe, and that’s the appeal. Hanoi throws you straight into the deep end: motorbikes flowing like water, street food on every corner, and a hostel scene that makes meeting people almost automatic. It’s a lot at first. Then it becomes addictive.
For solo women it’s generally welcoming, with petty theft and the odd scam being the main things to stay switched on for rather than anything more sinister. Ride-hailing apps like Grab take the guesswork out of getting around, which is a small thing that removes a lot of low-level stress. Our guide to going solo in Hanoi covers the where-to-stay and how-to-cross-the-road questions everyone has on day one.
Watch out: agree the fare or use a metered app before you get in any taxi, and keep your bag on the pavement side of you when walking. Bag-snatching from passing bikes is the one recurring gripe, and it’s easy to design out.
Where to Stay in Hanoi
New Zealand: the outdoors without the worry
New Zealand sits near the very top of global safety rankings, and it pairs that with some of the best scenery on the planet and a road-trip culture that welcomes solo drivers. If your idea of a good trip involves hiking boots, empty coastlines and the odd glow-worm cave, this is close to the dream.
People are famously easy-going, backpacker infrastructure is excellent, and the biggest hazards are the ones you’d expect outdoors: weather that turns fast, and terrain that punishes overconfidence. Hiring a car opens the country right up, and it’s one of the more relaxed places in the world to drive alone. Book it well in advance so you’re not stuck at an airport desk taking whatever’s left.
Weather note: the seasons are flipped from the northern hemisphere, and mountain weather changes in minutes. Pack layers even in summer, and always tell your accommodation your plan before a longer walk.
Related Article: Eating out alone is the hurdle that trips up more first-timers than anything on a map, so we wrote a whole guide to enjoying eating alone anywhere in the world.
Where to Stay in New Zealand
Iceland: nature turned up loud
Iceland has topped the Global Peace Index for close to two decades, and travelling there alone feels exactly as calm as that suggests. It’s a tiny population spread across a landscape that looks borrowed from another planet: waterfalls, black beaches, geothermal pools and, if you time it right, the northern lights.
The catch is money. This is one of the pricier trips you can take, and a solo traveller misses out on splitting car and room costs. It’s worth budgeting honestly rather than getting a nasty shock at the first fuel stop. The Ring Road is the classic self-drive, though guided small-group day trips from Reykjavik are a lower-commitment way in if you’d rather not tackle the whole loop alone.
Small print: a single dorm bed can run £45 to £70 (around €55 to €85, or $60 to $95) a night, and a simple meal out is easily double what you’d pay in southern Europe. Self-catering some days keeps the trip realistic.
Where to Stay in Iceland
Morocco: the rewarding step up
Morocco is the one I’d hold back for trip two or three, and I say that as someone who thinks it’s genuinely wonderful. Marrakech, Fes and the blue lanes of Chefchaouen are vivid and generous places, but the culture is more assertive than most of Europe, and solo women should expect a fair amount of attention and persistent sales patter in the medinas.
None of that makes it off-limits. It makes it a place you go once you’ve got a bit of solo travel muscle, dress with an eye on local norms, and feel comfortable saying a firm no and walking on. A riad in the old town, plus a couple of guided experiences, smooths the edges nicely. For inspiration beyond the obvious, our roundup of the most beautiful cities in Morocco looks past Marrakech.
Check this first: book a guide for your first walk through a medina like Fes. The lanes genuinely are a maze, and having someone lead the way on day one turns a stressful arrival into a fun one.
Where to Stay in Morocco
Staying safe without letting fear run the show
Here’s what I’ve learned from years of this: the women who have the best solo trips aren’t the fearless ones, they’re the prepared ones. Preparation is what lets you relax. Once the boring safety layer is handled, you stop scanning every street and start actually seeing the place.
The habits that matter are unglamorous and they work everywhere, from Ljubljana to Hanoi:
- Book your first night before you fly, and pick somewhere central and well reviewed so a late arrival isn’t stressful.
- Keep a digital copy of your passport, insurance and key bookings in your email, separate from the originals.
- Share a rough itinerary with someone at home and set a loose check-in rhythm. Not surveillance, just a habit.
- Trust your gut over politeness. If something feels off, leave. You never owe anyone an explanation.
- Have a backup way to pay and a little local cash, so a swallowed card or dead phone is an annoyance, not a crisis.
Meeting people is often the best safety net going, because a hostel full of fellow travellers or a small-group tour means built-in company and local know-how. Our guide to finding travel buddies online covers how to do that without the awkwardness. And if you want the confidence side of things spelled out, the way we handle harassment head-on in is Egypt safe for solo female travellers applies well beyond Egypt.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Destination | How it feels on the ground | Getting around | Stay switched on for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | Relaxed and walkable | Trains, trams, metro | Pickpockets on busy trams |
| Japan | Calm and orderly | World-class rail | Very little, honestly |
| Croatia | Social and sunny | Ferries and buses | Crowd theft in peak season |
| Vietnam | Busy and full-on | Grab app, trains, buses | Bag snatching, taxi scams |
| Iceland | Remote and very safe | Self-drive or day tours | Sudden weather, not crime |
| Morocco | Vivid and assertive | Trains, grand taxis, guides | Persistent touts, attention |
Must do: sort your travel insurance before you go, not at the airport. A single overseas medical bill or a cancelled connection costs more than a whole trip’s cover, and buying it early usually protects you from the moment you book.
Where to stay as a solo woman
Where you sleep does more for a solo trip than almost anything else on your list. Get the location right and half your safety planning is done before you even land. It doesn’t need to be fancy. What you’re after is a well-reviewed room, in a central and well-lit area, that’s genuinely easy to reach on the night you arrive tired and a bit frazzled.
Before you book anything, run it past this quick mental checklist:
- Location over everything. A plainer room in a central, walkable spot beats a nicer one down a quiet street you have to find after dark.
- Recent reviews from other women. Sort by newest and read what solo travellers actually say about the walk back and the front desk.
- Flexible cancellation, so a change of plan doesn’t cost you.
- Round-the-clock reception or self check-in, so a delayed flight isn’t a locked door at midnight.
- For hostels, look for female-only dorms and a proper lockable locker.
The platform you book through mostly changes the choice of places and the perks, not the room itself, so it helps to know which one to reach for.
- For sheer choice of hotels and apartments, with a map view that makes location easy to judge and generous cancellation options, Booking.com for hotels and apartments is my default first look.
- If you want to meet people, hostels are the shortcut, and female-only dorms on Hostelworld are where solo women tend to land. Female dorms, social common rooms and organised events turn a solo trip social the moment you drop your bag.
- For straightforward hotel stays with a loyalty perk, hotel deals on Hotels.com rack up reward nights that knock money off later trips.
- Booking a flight and a room together can undercut buying them apart, so flight and hotel packages on Expedia are worth a quick price check.
- Across Asia in particular, Agoda for stays across Asia often lists places and prices the western sites miss, which matters for the Vietnam, Thailand and Japan end of this guide.
- For a whole apartment with a kitchen and a bit more room, handy on longer or slower trips, whole apartments on Vrbo is the one to browse.
- And when you just want the cheapest version of the same room, compare prices across sites on Kayak pulls the options side by side so you’re not juggling ten tabs.
As a rough guide, a female-dorm bed runs somewhere around £12 to £40 a night (about €14 to €47, or $15 to $52), a simple private room from roughly £45 to £110 (near €53 to €130, or $58 to $140), and a whole apartment more again. Prices are a guide and vary by city, date and demand.
← Swipe to scroll on mobile
| Platform | Best for | Where it shines |
|---|---|---|
| Booking.com | Hotels and apartments | Biggest choice, map view, free cancellation |
| Hostelworld | Hostels and meeting people | Female-only dorms and a built-in social scene |
| Hotels.com | Hotel stays with a perk | Reward nights that cut future costs |
| Expedia | Flight and hotel bundles | Package savings in a single booking |
| Agoda | Stays across Asia | Strong coverage and prices in Asia |
| Vrbo | Whole apartments | Space and a kitchen for longer stays |
| Kayak | Comparing prices | One search across multiple sites |
Tinker’s Tip: book your first night before you fly and pick somewhere central with free cancellation. You lock in a calm arrival, and if something better turns up once you’re on the ground you can still switch without losing a penny.
Sort the bed and the location, and the rest of the trip gets a lot easier to relax into.
Time to book the flight
The hardest part of solo female travel is not the trip. It’s the decision. Once you’ve picked a destination that suits where you are right now, be that easy-going Portugal or full-throttle Hanoi, the rest tends to fall into place faster than you’d expect.
Start with somewhere gentle if the nerves are real, go bolder when you’ve proven to yourself that you can, and let each trip stretch you a little further than the last. When you’re ready for the next layer of planning, the whole female travel guides collection is there to help you go from daydreaming to boarding pass.
FAQs
Where should I go for my very first solo trip as a woman?
Portugal and Japan are my two default answers, because both are safe, easy to navigate and packed with things to do alone. If you want nature over cities, Slovenia or New Zealand are gentle, welcoming introductions.
Is solo female travel actually safe?
For the destinations in this guide, yes, with ordinary preparation. Booking your first night ahead, keeping people posted on your plans, and trusting your instincts over politeness cover the vast majority of situations. Solo women travel these places happily every single day.
How much does a solo trip cost?
It depends hugely on the country. A budget day in Vietnam can come in around £32 (roughly €37 or $40), a mid-range day in Portugal near £98 (about €114 or $125), and a pricey day in Iceland closer to £190 (around €222 or $243), all excluding flights.
How do I meet people without feeling like I'm intruding?
Stay in social accommodation and say yes to group activities like walking tours, cooking classes or hostel dinners. Everyone else there is in the same boat, so a simple hello is all it takes, and you can always peel off for alone time whenever you fancy it.
What should I sort before I fly?
Travel insurance, an eSIM or local data, offline maps downloaded to your phone, your first night booked, and digital copies of your key documents. Get those five done and you’re free to enjoy the rest.
Travel Hubs
Recommended Websites and Resources:
Want to know how to plan or save for a trip? Here are our best:
Ready to book your next trip? These resources have been personally vetted for a smooth travel experience.
- Flights: Find the best deals on Trip.com
- Hotels: Best rates on Booking.com · Best hostels on HostelWorld · Ratings and bargains on TripAdvisor
- Apartments: Affordable rentals on VRBO
- Car hire: Best prices on RentalCars.com
- Travel insurance: EKTA for worldwide cover · AirHelp for flight delay compensation
- Activities: Tours and skip-the-line tickets on GetYourGuide · Instant mobile tickets on Tiqets
- Trains: Most affordable trains on Trainline · Rail passes on Rail Europe
- Travel eSIMs: Use your mobile phone anywhere worldwide with Airalo
- Need more help planning your trip? Visit our Resources Page to see all the companies we trust and use for our travels
You May Also Like
Share this post
On this page
Helen Ross
I’m a 32-year-old photographer and travel enthusiast, journeying from place to place, immortalizing the hidden tales, unseen moments, and the narratives that lie between.
All articles on The Travel Tinker are written by humans. Read our editorial policy.
Plan your trip
The tools we actually use:
Free Travel Starter Kit
Planners, checklists and the small stuff that stops a trip going sideways. Free, no spam.
