The first time I booked a flight with only my name on it, I refreshed the confirmation email about a dozen times, half-convinced I’d clicked something wrong. If you’re feeling those jitters, you’re in good company: in a 2026 survey of women travellers, 54% of respondents mostly holiday alone, even though 45% are in relationships. Below are the solo travel tips for beginners I wish I’d had before that first departure.
Choosing Where to Go
Pick somewhere easy before somewhere exotic. The 2026 Global Peace Index put Iceland at the top again, with New Zealand, Switzerland and Slovenia close behind. Beyond low crime, good solo-friendly destinations offer simple transport from the airport and a culture where dining alone raises no eyebrows.
Ljubljana makes a brilliant test run: shuttles reach the centre in under 40 minutes, and the old town is small enough to cross on foot in 20. Ireland, fifth on the same index, is another gentle option if you’d prefer no language barrier on your first solo trip.
Planning Your Itinerary and Travel Budget
Lock in the first two nights and leave the rest open, because arrival day is when you’re most tired. So for five days in Lisbon, I’d book two nights in Baixa and leave the rest open. A day trip to Sintra or a lazy beach afternoon in Cascais can wait until you’ve worked out which tram goes where.
And then there’s money. With no one to split the taxi or the room with, costs add up faster than you expect. My tip is dull but effective: whatever number you’ve figured out for your travel budget, add 15% to it. So if you’ve planned $100 a day, budget $115. I call it the solo buffer, and it’s why I never end up dipping into my savings on day four.
Solo Travel Tips for Beginners on Booking Flights and Accommodation
One of my favourite solo travel tips for beginners: book a flight that lands before 4 p.m., so you reach your accommodation in daylight.
I’ve stopped paying much attention to the star rating. On Booking.com, I filter the reviews to show only solo travellers. On Hostelworld, I sort the hostel reviews by newest and search for the words “walk” and “night.” That’s how I learn what the photos never show. A 9.2 score with several recent reviews mentioning a long, dark walk back from the metro is a deal-breaker for me, even if there’s a rooftop bar.
I’m happy to pay extra to stay central, close to a metro or tram stop, because it means fewer late-night taxis. If I could keep only one of my solo travel tips for beginners, it would be this one. In a hotel, ask for a room between the second and sixth floors. Ground-floor rooms are easier to break into, and fire-service ladders may not reach above the sixth floor. In a hostel, book a women-only dorm whenever you can.
Tips for Solo Travel: Building Confidence and Meeting People
On the first morning, do a walking tour. Almost every European capital has tip-based “free” tours. You’ll get a feel for the city’s layout and meet people in the same boat. The group often heads off to lunch together afterwards, and that has been my main way of meeting other travellers.
Feel awkward eating alone? Sit at the bar. Bartenders like to chat, and so does whoever is on the next stool. It beats staring at the menu at a table for one. Whenever I get lost (which happens a lot), I step into a café to check the map. Standing on a street corner staring at your phone tells everyone you’re lost. Of all my solo travel tips for beginners, this is the one I use most.
Basic Safety: Documents, Money and Communication
Photograph your passport, save the photo offline, and keep a paper copy separate from the passport itself. Also, carry two bank cards on different networks, such as a Visa and a Mastercard. Keep one in your crossbody bag and the other in the room safe. That way, losing your wallet is a hassle, not a crisis: you can still pay for dinner.
Before you go, enter your emergency contacts in your phone’s Medical ID (that way, they will be visible on the locked screen) and share your live location with someone at home. Americans should consider enrolling in the State Department’s STEP program, and Brits can sign up for FCDO travel advice email alerts for their destination. Check that your travel insurance covers medical evacuation, not just luggage. None of these solo travel tips for beginners is exciting, but you’ll be glad of them if something goes wrong.
What to Put on Your Packing List
Packing gets easy with one rule: take only what you can carry up a flight of stairs on your own. Test it at home: if your bag is a struggle on your own stairs, it will be far worse on a steep Lisbon street. I always pack a portable door-stop alarm and a padlock for hostel lockers. I also take a power bank and a crossbody bag.
Solo Travel Tips for Staying Safe Online
Using Public Wi-Fi in Hotels, Cafés and Airports
Free hotspots are tempting when you’re dodging roaming charges. A recent survey found that 71% of UK travellers and 60% of US travellers connect to public networks abroad, which means logins and card details pass through networks they don’t control.
An “evil twin” hotspot named “Airport_Free_WiFi” can look identical to the real one, so ask staff for the exact network name and switch off auto-join. For online banking or paying for a room, switch to mobile data (a local eSIM keeps it cheap). If you often book and pay from hotel lobbies or cafés, you can also buy proxy servers to route your traffic through a dedicated IP address and keep your real one hidden. Proxies add an extra privacy layer on top of two-factor authentication and trusted networks.
Lock Down Your Accounts Before You Leave
Set up 2FA through an authenticator app instead of SMS, since your home SIM may be off abroad. Print your backup codes and keep them with your passport copy.
If a message in a booking app asks you to “re-confirm” your card within 24 hours, don’t click anything. Call the property on the number from its official website, as scammers have hijacked hotel accounts to send exactly these requests.
Ready for Your First Solo Trip?
At some point on your first solo adventure you’ll probably board the wrong tram or order something you can’t pronounce. That’s normal, and with these solo travel tips for beginners in your back pocket, you’ll sort it out faster than you think.
