The best places in the world for solo travelers in 2026

From Iceland's predator-free trails and midnight sun hikes to Queenstown's flashpacker hostels at the gateway to Milford Sound

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Traveling alone looks daunting on paper and feels completely different in practice. The moment you check into your first accommodation and step outside in search of food, the nerves tend to dissolve into something more like curiosity and freedom. But destination choice matters more for solo travel than for group trips. Some places are naturally sociable, with hostel cultures, communal dining, and a steady stream of other travelers passing through. Others offer genuine safety and ease of navigation, making solo logistics feel effortless. A few do both.

This list spans four continents and covers the full range of solo travel scenarios: cities where you can disappear into the crowd or instantly join a neighborhood, destinations where traveler infrastructure is specifically designed for solo travelers, and a few places where the very low tourist density makes encountering locals a given. Every destination here has been recommended by a Lonely Planet writer who knows it firsthand, not through remote research.

The 10 destinations below appear in Lonely Planet, compiled by Lonely Planet editors from writer recommendations across regions. The 10 include some of the world’s most established solo travel destinations alongside a few that genuinely deserve more attention than they currently receive on the international solo circuit. The selection deliberately avoids the most obvious solo travel clichés, focusing on places with genuine safety, social accessibility, or both, and on specific practical details worth knowing before booking. Accessibility concerns, budget ranges, and the specific type of social experience each destination offers all vary enough that matching the destination to what a given solo traveler actually wants matters considerably. The ten destinations here aren’t interchangeable: an introvert looking for a slow pace and access to nature will have a different experience in Iceland than an extrovert who wants to land in a city that immediately provides company.

1. Iceland ranks as the world’s safest and happiest country

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Iceland ranked as the world’s safest country in 2024 and the third-happiest place on earth, addressing two of the most significant concerns for solo travelers. The capital, Reykjavík, is the natural base: a walkable old town mixing history museums, excellent restaurants, and corrugated-iron homes painted in pastels that make the city feel distinct, even in winter darkness. The food scene is serious, the café culture is welcoming, and the city’s compact scale means getting oriented takes hours, not days.

The natural surroundings are uniquely low-anxiety for a wilderness destination. There are no predatory animals and no venomous insects on Iceland’s hiking trails. The only carnivorous wild mammal is the Arctic fox, which avoids humans. Summer hiking comes with 24-hour sunlight, removing the concern about being caught out after dark. The country’s sparse forests of tiny trees inspired a local saying: “If you’re lost in the woods, stand up.” Even the Ring Road, which circles the entire island, is easily navigable without a guide or a group.

Day trips from Reykjavík to the Golden Circle, the south coast’s black sand beaches, and the island’s thermal pools work as self-contained itineraries. For travelers who want to extend their trip, a full Ring Road circuit takes roughly a week and rewards those who can stop on their own schedule without needing to negotiate with companions. Iceland’s strong visitor infrastructure for international tourists, including well-signed English-language signage across most of the country, makes independent navigation straightforward even for first-time solo travelers. The country’s small population and cultural openness to foreigners make unexpected social encounters with locals a regular feature of any visit. The geothermal pool culture, with options ranging from the tourist-focused Sky Lagoon to local favorites like Laugardalslaug, creates a relaxed, clothing-optional social environment where conversations with strangers are completely normal and often surprisingly deep. The summer midnight sun period, from roughly mid-June through mid-July, is the most spectacular time to visit for daylight-dependent activities, though the trade-off is higher prices and more tourists at Iceland’s most popular sites.

2. Lisbon, Portugal welcomes solo visitors with open arms

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Lisbon is among the most immediately welcoming major European capitals for solo travelers. The city’s scale is human-sized despite its capital status, and its hilly topography breaks it into distinct village-like neighborhoods that each have their own character without requiring the tourist-circuit approach of larger cities. The light is famously beautiful, the vintage trams are immediately charming, and the azulejo-tiled streets invite slow exploration.

Getting under the surface is easy. Wander the cobbled Alfama early in the morning before the crowds arrive, and the neighborhood belongs to locals going about their days. Eat a pastel de nata fresh from the oven at Manteigaria, which the writer describes as “oven-warm, cinnamon-dusted.” Toast strangers with a ginjinha at A Ginjinha, a cubbyhole bar so small that striking up conversation is essentially mandatory. Hang out at the Miradouro de Santa Catarina at sunset. Join a backstreet food or street art tour to meet other travelers in a structured but casual format.

The practical safety and ease of navigation that Lisbon offers mean the energy usually goes into experiencing the city rather than managing logistics. It’s a place where solo travel feels active and social, not isolated, and it’s one of the rarer destinations that makes it genuinely easier to meet people alone than it would be in a group. Lisbon’s relatively low cost compared to other Western European capitals means the budget that a solo traveler might normally spend on accommodation goes further here. Short-stay apartment rentals in neighborhoods like Mouraria are plentiful and often substantially........

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