How to Find Travel Buddies Online: The Ultimate Guide for Solo Travellers
Travelling solo is brilliant. You get all the choices, all the views, and nobody judging how many snacks you have packed. But even the biggest introvert has those moments in a hostel kitchen or on a sunset beach thinking, “It would be nice to share this with someone who actually gets it.” That is where learning how to find travel buddies online can really help.
At the same time, it is normal to worry about safety, awkward first meets, flaky plans, and the cost of joining group trips. This guide walks you through the whole journey: choosing platforms, writing a profile that attracts your kind of people, doing smart safety checks, and setting expectations so you actually enjoy travelling together. Think of it as a friendly manual for adding optional company to your solo adventures, not “fixing” solo travel at all. ✈️
Quick facts
The Quick Facts table is your “too long, did not read but still curious” snapshot of the whole guide. It tells you who this article is for, the main ways you can find travel buddies online, roughly what it might cost, and how long it can take to find someone.
| Thing | At a glance |
|---|---|
| Who this guide is for | Solo travellers who love their independence but want the option of company for days, activities or full trips |
| Main ways to find travel buddies online | Apps, Facebook and community groups, forums, subreddits, Couchsurfing, group tours, coworking and nomad hubs |
| Typical cost range | Free chat groups through to small-group tours that can run from budget-friendly to fairly premium per day, depending on style and comfort |
| Time needed to find someone | Anything from a same-day coffee meetup to a few weeks of chatting before planning a full trip |
| Safety essentials | Public first meets, video calls, no money transfers, share plans with someone at home, trust your gut |
| Best suited trip types | City breaks, road trips, adventure tours, festival weekends, digital nomad stays and slow-travel bases |
💡 Fact: Most people underestimate how long it takes to find the right travel buddy. Treat it like choosing a good hostel — browse a little, chat a little, and pick the one that feels like it fits your vibe. 🌍
Quick Q&As
Is it safe to find travel buddies online?
It can be, if you use proper safety checks, meet in public, and keep control of your own money, documents and exit plan.
Where can I find travel buddies for free?
Look at travel apps, Couchsurfing, Facebook and Reddit communities, hostel apps and local Meetup-style groups that do not charge members.
How do I avoid creepy or pushy people when looking for travel buddies?
Ignore anyone who pressures you to meet privately, move conversations off-platform too fast, send money, or share personal details that feel too much. 🚩
Can introverts find travel buddies online?
Absolutely, and often better than extroverts, because you tend to be selective and honest about what you can handle socially.
Do I have to join expensive group tours to meet people?
Not at all; you can use day tours, free events, walking tours, language exchanges and coworking days that fit a mid-range budget.
🔹 Tinker’s Tip: Screenshot key details from your chats before meeting someone. If you ever lose signal or need to double-check something fast, it saves a surprising amount of stress. 📱
🗺️ Solo Travel Related: Do’s and Don’ts for Solo Travel: Stay Confident and Carefree
What it really means to find travel buddies online
The way I see it, finding travel company on the internet is not just about locking in a stranger for a two-week road trip. In reality it covers a whole spectrum, from grabbing one coffee with someone in Lisbon, to joining a group hike, to planning a multi-country adventure with a person you have known online for years. It is flexible, and you are allowed to keep it small. That flexibility makes the whole thing feel a lot less intense.
Think of online travel buddies as “modular” companions you can plug into different parts of your journey. You might meet someone just for museum days, someone else for nightlife, and another person to share fuel on a long drive. You stay firmly in charge of how much time you spend together and how quickly anything escalates into shared rooms or shared rental cars. 🤝
🔹 Tinker’s Tip: Start with low-commitment meetups and treat anything longer as a bonus rather than a promise
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Why solo travellers might want to find travel buddies online
You do not need to hate your own company to want a bit more conversation on the road. Many solo travellers are perfectly happy exploring alone by day, then suddenly feel lonely during long dinners or overnight buses. Maybe you fancy trying a hike that looks more sensible in a pair, or you would love to split petrol and motorway tolls on that long drive in Italy. The point is not that solo travel is broken, just that adding people sometimes makes it more fun and cheaper (definitely cheaper).
Common reasons people look for travel buddies include:
- Sharing costs on car rentals, fuel, taxis and larger apartments
- Having company for activities that feel safer as a group
- Trying restaurants, bars or night tours without feeling exposed
- Celebrating big moments like birthdays or New Year somewhere new 🎉
👉 Good to know: Your reason can simply be “I want someone to giggle with when things go wrong” – you do not need a serious justification to look for company.
🗺️ Tips for Solo Travel: How to Spice Up Your Small Talk While Travelling
Where to find travel buddies online: key platforms and spaces
There are more options than ever for finding other travellers, which is both exciting and slightly overwhelming. Dedicated travel-buddy apps are built specifically to help solo travellers connect with people nearby or headed to the same place. Some hostel booking apps now include in-built chat features and noticeboards so you can see who else will be there. Couchsurfing-style platforms often have events and hangouts as well as hosting.
Beyond apps, there are huge Facebook communities for solo travellers, women travellers, digital nomads and location-specific groups, along with subreddits where people post dates and destinations. Meetup-type platforms in big cities organise hikes, board-game nights, language exchanges and co-working days. At the organised end of the scale, small-group tour operators and coach companies run trips where solos make up a big chunk of each group.
Best apps and websites to find travel buddies online
Once you are clear on how you like to travel, it helps to know which tools are actually worth your time. Different apps and sites are good for different vibes, so think about what you want first: hostel hangs, structured tours, hiking buddies, or longer-term nomad friends. The goal is not to join everything at once, but to pick one or two places where your kind of traveller actually hangs out. 📱
Here are some popular options you can explore:
- Hostelworld app – Great for meeting other people staying in the same hostel through chat and event listings.
- Couchsurfing / Couchsurfing Hangouts – Social meetups and hosting community; useful for events even if you are not staying with hosts.
- Backpackr / Travello – Social apps aimed at backpackers and solo travellers looking to match dates and destinations.
- Facebook travel groups – Huge communities for solo, female, digital nomad, and destination-specific travellers.
- Reddit (e.g. r/solotravel) – Good for posting dates, asking questions and finding low-key meetups.
- Meetup-style platforms – Ideal for language exchanges, hikes, board-game nights and coworking days in bigger cities.
- Friend-finding apps (e.g. Bumble For Friends) – Handy for platonic meetups with locals or other travellers nearby. 🌍
👉 Good to know: Pick one “main” app or community and show up properly there instead of ghosting across ten places at once – it is easier to build real connections that way.
🗺️ Recommended Read: Travel Alone, But Never Lonely: Community-Friendly Trips
Recommended Tours from GetYourGuide
How to write a profile or post that attracts the right people
Your profile or “looking for buddies” post is your filter. The more honest and specific you are, the more likely you are to attract people who actually travel like you. Instead of “Looking for someone to explore Europe with”, try something like “Slow-paced museum and coffee days in Vienna, mid-range budget, happy to share apartment costs, not into clubbing.” That gives people something concrete to respond to and instantly filters out those who want a completely different vibe.
Useful details to include in a profile or post:
Dates or rough time window
Destinations you are genuinely keen on
Daily budget range and accommodation style
Your ideal pace: early starts vs lazy mornings
Non-negotiables, like no smoking in rooms or no heavy drinking
You can keep it friendly with phrases like “If that sounds like your kind of trip, send a message and tell me your favourite past journey.” That shows you are open, but also gently asks them to share more than “hi”. ✉️
🔹Tinker’s Tip: Before you post, read it back and ask: “Would I actually reply to this?” If not, tweak it until the answer is yes.
Safety first: red flags, gut feelings and smart checks
Meeting strangers from the internet is always going to need a bit of caution, even when the goal is travel rather than dating. Safety basics look very similar: keep chats in the app until you feel comfortable, do a light search on their name or social profiles, and avoid sharing information that could be used to track you at home. If someone refuses a quick video call or gets pushy about privacy, that is useful data, not you being fussy.
Here is a simple cheat sheet you can use when you are deciding who to meet:
| Green flags | Red flags |
|---|---|
| Clear photos and a profile that actually says something | No real photos, almost empty profile, or stolen-looking images |
| Happy to video chat before meeting | Refuses video calls or gets annoyed when you ask |
| Comfortable meeting in a busy, central public place | Suggests meeting in a car, at their accommodation, or somewhere isolated |
| Calm if you set boundaries or say no | Sulks, guilt-trips or pressures you into changing plans |
| No rush about money or booking things | Asks for transfers, deposits or card details early on 💸 |
👉 Good to know: If your stomach tightens when you read a message, you do not need more proof – you are allowed to block, delete and move on.
🤚 Don’t Get Done! 20 Crafty Travel Scams and How to Dodge Them
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First meetups: from online chat to real-life coffee
The first time you meet someone from the internet is not the moment to go all in on a three-day road trip with no exit strategy. Treat that first meetup as a vibe check. Choose somewhere public and easy: a busy café, hostel bar, free walking tour, or group class like yoga or language exchange. That way there are other people around, you can leave at any time, and you get to see how they behave with staff, guides and other travellers. ☕
Keep the plan short, like “Let us grab coffee and walk by the river for an hour.” If things go brilliantly, you can always stretch it out or plan something for the next day. If it feels off, you can politely say you are tired or have other plans and head back to your own accommodation. Before you go, tell a friend where you are going, share your live location if you can, and agree a time to check in.
💡 Fact: Having a “rescue text” pre-agreed with someone at home might feel dramatic, but it actually makes it easier to relax and enjoy the meetup.
Matching travel styles, budgets and boundaries
From my own travel experiences, nothing tests a friendship like being lost, hungry and late for a train at the same time. This is why matching travel styles before you commit to bigger plans is such a lifesaver. You do not need to be clones, but it really helps if you have similar ideas about what counts as “cheap accommodation”, how early you like to start days, and how many activities you pack in. A chat about money and boundaries before you book anything beats passive-aggressive sulking in a shared room later.
Questions to ask before planning a trip together:
Rough daily budget (low, mid, or “treat yourself”)
Happy with hostels, or prefer private rooms and hotels
How many hours of walking feels OK in a day
Thoughts on drinking, nightlife and big party nights 🍻
How much alone time they usually like on trips
🔹 Tinker’s Tip: If someone will not talk about money or plans in detail, they may not be ready to travel together yet, no matter how charming they seem in chat.
🗺️ Useful Guide: How to Handle Unwanted Attention While Travelling Solo
Using group tours, classes and meetups as low-risk buddy-finders
One of the safest ways to meet people is to join activities that already have structure built in. Think day tours, multi-day small-group trips, city walking tours, group hikes, cooking classes, hostel events or language exchanges. Companies that specialise in solo or small-group tours often say that solo travellers make up a big chunk of each group, so you are rarely the only one who came alone.
Prices vary a lot, but as a rough guide, big coach or youth tours can start at the lower end of the daily budget scale, while mid-range small-group tours tend to be more expensive, especially once you factor in activities and some meals. Shorter local tours, hikes or cooking classes might be much cheaper and are great for testing the waters.
👉 Good to know: Even if you do not love the tour itinerary, you might click with someone in the group and arrange your own plans together afterwards. 👣
🗺️ More guides: Direct vs Third-Party Travel: Your Ultimate Booking Decision Guide
Social media and community hacks to find travel buddies online
Social media can be chaos, but it is also full of people in the exact place you are heading. Instead of posting “Anyone in Bali?” into the void, search by specific location hashtags, interest tags and dates, then quietly watch who seems genuine. Join destination-specific groups and keep an eye out for people organising low-key meetups like “sunset beers at X beach at 6pm” rather than big commercial tours.
Communities built around shared interests are often the best: hiking groups, food tours, climbing gyms, photography walks, digital nomad coworking days. Even friend-finding apps now have platonic modes where you can match with people nearby who also want company, sometimes with optional paid upgrades for extra filters. When you see someone you would actually chat to in real life, send a short, friendly message that shows you have read their post instead of a basic “hi”.
🗺️ Recommended for your tours: Sightseeing Smarter: Why GetYourGuide Outshines the Rest for Booking Tours
For introverts and anxious solo travellers
If large group dinners make you want to fake a sudden migraine, you are not broken, you are just wired differently. The good news is that online tools let you shape social time in a way that works for you. You can write a profile that says “I prefer one-to-one coffee meets or short walks rather than big nights out” and you will immediately filter in people who feel the same. You can also choose slower spaces like coworking days, book clubs or language exchanges instead of pub crawls and hostel bar crawls.
To keep your energy balanced, try these ideas:
Choose one small meetup every few days instead of social plans daily
Book single rooms in hostels or small hotels so you can recharge alone 🛏️
Tell new buddies in advance that you might dip out early when tired
Have a “polite exit” line ready, like “I have an early start tomorrow”
🗺️ For a closer look: Escape Your Comfort Zone: Solo Travel Guide for Introverts
What to do if it goes wrong (or just a bit weird)
Even with all the best checks in place, some meetups will feel off. Someone might be ruder in person than they were online, or their idea of “budget travel” is miles away from yours. Occasionally, trips organised through glossy Instagram pages or chaotic group chats turn out to be poorly run or, in the worst cases, seriously unsafe. None of this is your fault; it is simply part of dealing with strangers in real time.
If you feel uncomfortable, you can:
Leave early with a simple, firm line and no extra explanation
Move back to group settings rather than one-to-one time
Contact your accommodation or local authorities if you feel unsafe 🚓
Block and report people on the platform if their behaviour crosses lines
Later, give yourself credit for catching the issue and adjusting. Everyone who travels a lot collects a few “odd stories” and they are not a sign that you should never talk to strangers again.
Turning online travel buddies into long-term travel friends
Some of the best travel friendships start with a slightly awkward coffee organised in a random Facebook group or travel app. If a meetup goes well and the vibe feels right, you can gently extend things: another walk the next day, a shared museum visit, or a weekend away a few months later. Keep plans flexible at first so you can both see how you handle stress, tiredness and tiny annoyances like missed buses and wrong turns.
To keep the friendship going once you part ways:
Swap Instagram or WhatsApp details and send a quick message after you say goodbye
Share photos from your shared days so they do not vanish into your camera roll 📸
Be realistic about time zones and life commitments when planning new trips
Accept that some travel friendships are intense but short, and that is fine too
FAQs
Is it safe to find travel buddies online?
It can be safe if you stack things in your favour. Use platforms that allow reporting and blocking, check profiles for basic consistency, do a quick video call first, and always meet in public with your own way to leave. Keep money, documents and accommodation in your own name whenever possible so you stay in control.
How soon should I agree to share a room or car with someone I met online?
Most people feel better waiting until they have met at least once or twice in real life and seen how the other person handles stress, money and basic respect. Start with short day trips, then maybe share a car for a single outing, and only move to shared rooms once you are genuinely comfortable. If in doubt, keep separate accommodation and just spend days together.
Can I find travel buddies online if I am over 30 or 40?
Absolutely. Many group tours, hiking trips and cultural holidays now market to solo travellers in their 30s, 40s and beyond, and community groups often have age-specific spaces too. Plenty of people are starting a solo travel phase later in life, and they are often delighted to meet peers who are doing the same. 🌟
Do I have to use paid group tours to meet people?
Not at all. Free walking tours, hostel events, Couchsurfing-style meetups, language exchanges, hiking groups and coworking days are all great ways to meet people without committing to a full tour package. Paid group trips are just one tool in the kit, useful if you like structure and want logistics handled for you.
What if I start a trip with someone and realise it is not working?
This happens more often than people admit. Be honest but kind: explain that you need more solo time, or that your travel styles are not matching, and adjust your plans. Keep your bookings flexible where you can so you are not trapped in non-refundable shared rooms, and remember that parting ways early is better than resenting each other for the rest of the trip.
Now, over to you…
Finding good company on the road is a skill, not a magic talent everyone else was born with, I struggle. With the right mix of platforms, honest profiles, solid safety habits and a few brave first coffees, you can build a little constellation of travel friends around the world while still enjoying your solo freedom. 🌌
If you have your own stories about finding travel buddies online, the hilarious successes and the “never again” tales, share them in the comments so other solo travellers can learn from them too. And if you are planning your next adventure, explore more solo travel tips and destination guides on TheTravelTinker.com for ideas you can actually use on the road.👇🗣️
Adventure on,
The Travel Tinker Crew 🌍✨
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Sam Fisher
I go by the name Sam, and I'm a 24-year-old digital creator and photographer. I'm passionate about embracing simpler, budget-friendly adventures.
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