Travelling solo: safe and a joy

Travelling alone isn't about loneliness, it's about freedom. You decide when to get up, where to go and how long to sit in a café with a book. The first time is always a little scary, but solo trips are the ones that most often become the most memorable. The secret is simple: prepare wisely — and the fear turns into excitement.

Choosing a destination for your first time

For your debut, pick destinations that are easy and calm: developed tourist infrastructure, friendly locals, simple logistics. Classic safe bets are the UAE, Georgia, Turkey, Southeast Asian countries with heavy tourist traffic, and Europe. For a first trip, avoid regions with an unstable situation and places where language and transport are difficult.

• Developed tourist infrastructure and transport you can understand
• A good reputation for women's safety
• An easy language to get by in, or widely spoken English
• Women's solo communities and reviews online

Accommodation and choosing a neighbourhood

Accommodation is half your sense of safety. Choose central, lively and well-lit areas with a high rating and plenty of recent reviews from women specifically. Read how to get there from the airport and whether you'd have to walk down dark alleys. Women's hostels and guesthouses with communal areas are a great way to meet people and not feel alone.

1. Look for central accommodation rated 8.5 or higher with recent reviews
2. Check the route from the airport in advance
3. On arrival, tell family the address and share your location
4. Keep the host's or reception's contact within reach
5. Book the first night in advance — don't look for a bed on the spot

Safety and connectivity

You don't need paranoia, but you do need sensible alertness. Get a local SIM or eSIM right at the airport so you always have connection and maps. Send your route and bookings to someone close, turn on location sharing. Keep money and documents in different places and carry copies. Trust your intuition: if a place or a person makes you uncomfortable, leave — you owe nobody an explanation.

Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's deciding to go despite it. And on the very first evening you realise you were scared for nothing.

How to stop being afraid and start enjoying it

Fear goes away through action. Start small — dinner alone in a café, a walk with no plan. Meet people on excursions and in hostel common areas, but take your time before trusting anyone. Keep a diary or film things — it helps you live the moments more fully. And most importantly, allow yourself to do everything at your own pace: that's the whole magic of solo travel.

Useful habits stick fast: a charged power bank always with you, screenshots of bookings saved offline, a little cash in local currency, and in the evening a walk home along lit streets. A couple of trips and you'll pack for a solo journey as calmly as you'd head out for groceries.

Frequently asked questions