What makes a destination great for a family holiday can differ greatly from what makes it ideal for a solo traveller. When you’re travelling alone, things like cost, safety and how easy it is to meet people matter even more.
To help adventurers discover Europe’s most solo-friendly cities, we created a Solo Travel Index that considers some of the most important factors for solo travellers, including value, accommodation and safety. Each of the 48 of the most visited cities were scored on 11 factors, from daily costs and safety to hostels, restaurants and experiences, and these scores were averaged to give an overall solo travel score out of 10.
Read on to find out which cities are the best and worst for travelling alone, as well as the safest and most affordable.
Key statistics
- Prague, Czech Republic is Europe’s best city for solo travel, with a score of 7.75 out of 10 thanks to low daily costs and a high safety score.
- Zurich, Switzerland is the worst city for solo travellers, with the lowest Solo Travel Index score of 4.42 out of 10, largely because it has the most expensive accommodation in the study (€168.13/£143.70 a day).
- Salzburg, Austria is the safest city for solo travel, with a safety score of 79.5 out of 100.
- Gdansk, Poland is the most affordable city, at just €74.53/£63.70 a day, around a fifth of the cost of Venice, Italy (€362.27/£309.63). These costs include the average price of accommodation, food, local transport and entertainment.
- France has four of the 10 cities with the lowest safety scores, and Paris ranks just 33rd overall for solo travel.
Best and worst European cities for solo travel
We scored 48 of Europe’s most-visited cities on what matters most when travelling alone: how much a day costs, how safe the city feels, the quality of its hostels, and how much there is to see, do and eat. Each city was given an overall Solo Travel Index score out of 10.
This helped determine which European cities are the best and worst when solo travelling.
Prague is the number one European city for solo travel
Prague (7.75) took the top spot as the best city for solo travel, scoring well across the board. A mid-range day in the Czech capital costs €134.33/£114.81 for accommodation, food, local transport and entertainment combined, less than most cities in the index. It also has the eighth-highest safety score of the 48 cities, and nearly 30 hostels with an average guest rating of 8.7 out of 10.
Krakow, Poland (7.64) and Istanbul, Turkey (7.49) came second and third, respectively. Krakow is the second-cheapest city in the ranking at around €87/£74 a day and is almost as safe as Prague. Istanbul has the cheapest hostel dorm beds in the study (around €16/£13 a night) and more than 10,000 restaurants to choose from.
There’s a good mix of countries in the top 10, with Central and Eastern Europe performing especially well. Poland (Krakow and Gdansk), Portugal (Lisbon and Porto) and Spain (Seville and Barcelona) each have two cities in the top 10.
| Top 10 cities for solo travel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | City | Country | Solo Travel Score |
| 1 | Prague | Czech Republic | 7.75 |
| 2 | Krakow | Poland | 7.64 |
| 3 | Istanbul | Turkey | 7.49 |
| 4 | Lisbon | Portugal | 7.38 |
| 5 | Gdansk | Poland | 7.03 |
| 6 | Berlin | Germany | 6.92 |
| 7 | Porto | Portugal | 6.88 |
| 8 | Seville | Spain | 6.85 |
| 9 | Barcelona | Spain | 6.77 |
| 10 | Riga | Latvia | 6.74 |
Zurich is the worst European city for solo travel
Zurich, Switzerland is the worst city for solo travel, with a score of 4.42. It has the highest accommodation cost (€168.13/£143.70 per day), the second-highest food cost (€105.73/£90.37) and the third-highest transport cost (€35.53/£30.37). With high costs in almost every category, the Swiss city is the least appealing option for anyone travelling alone.
Reykjavik, Iceland (4.50) and Venice, Italy (4.62) came second and third from bottom. In Reykjavik, transport costs €45.93/£39.26 a day and entertainment €71.93/£61.48, and there are just 443 restaurants listed. Venice costs €362.27/£309.63 a day overall, with food at €112.67/£96.30 and entertainment at €101.40/£86.67.
A day in the bottom 10 costs an average of €252/£215, around €100 more than in the top 10 (€153/£131). The bottom 10 cities also average just eight hostels each, compared with 25 in the top 10.
Zurich, Reykjavik, Aarhus, Venice and Geneva all have safety scores above 70, but their high costs pull them down. Marseille, Nice and Dublin rank low mainly because of safety, with scores of 33.0, 44.9 and 45.9 respectively.
| Worst 10 cities for solo travel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Country | Solo Travel Score |
| 1 | Zurich | Switzerland | 4.42 |
| 2 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 4.50 |
| 3 | Venice | Italy | 4.62 |
| 4 | Aarhus | Denmark | 4.76 |
| 5 | Cologne | Germany | 4.77 |
| 6 | Geneva | Switzerland | 4.83 |
| 7 | Frankfurt | Germany | 4.90 |
| 8 | Nice | France | 5.06 |
| 9 | Marseille | France | 5.11 |
| 10 | Dublin | Ireland | 5.16 |
The safest and least safe European cities to solo travel
For many people, safety is the biggest question about travelling alone. According to Hostelworld’s State of Solo Travel report, 41% of solo travellers worry about their safety while away. [1]
Many change how they travel as a result, with a quarter (25%) avoiding walking alone late at night. [1] The safety score reflects this with factors such as how safe people feel walking alone by day and at night, how worried they are about being mugged or attacked, and how big a problem they consider crime and drug use to be in their city. Each city is scored out of 100, and a higher score means the city feels safer.
Salzburg is the safest European city for solo travellers
Salzburg, Austria is the safest city for solo travel, with a safety score of 79.5 out of 100, followed by Tallinn, Estonia (78.5) and Munich, Germany (78.4). Austria is the only country with two cities in the top 10, with Innsbruck, Austria in seventh (75.6). Prague and Krakow are the only cities in the top 10 for safety that also make the overall top 10.
| The safest cities for solo travel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Country | Safety score (out of 100) |
| 1 | Salzburg | Austria | 79.5 |
| 2 | Tallinn | Estonia | 78.5 |
| 3 | Munich | Germany | 78.4 |
| 4 | Santorini | Greece | 78.1 |
| 5= | Aarhus | Denmark | 75.7 |
| 5= | Zurich | Switzerland | 75.7 |
| 7 | Innsbruck | Austria | 75.6 |
| 8 | Prague | Czech Republic | 75.4 |
| 9 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 75.2 |
| 10 | Krakow | Poland | 75.0 |
Marseille is the least safe European city for solo travellers
Marseille, France has the lowest safety score in the study at 33.0 out of 100, less than half the score of Salzburg (79.5). Respondents rate safety walking alone at night as low (26 out of 100), and see drug use and dealing (75) and property crime such as theft and vandalism (75) as the city’s biggest problems. [2]
Paris (42.0) and Dubrovnik, Croatia (44.1) follow. France has four cities in the bottom 10, with Nice (44.9) and Bordeaux (50.4) also on the list. Five capital cities appear too with Paris, Brussels, London, Athens and Dublin. Barcelona is ninth-lowest for safety, yet makes the overall top 10 because it scores well on hostels, restaurants and things to do.
| Least safe cities for solo travel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Country | Safety score (out of 100) |
| 1 | Marseille | France | 33.0 |
| 2 | Paris | France | 42.0 |
| 3 | Dubrovnik | Croatia | 44.1 |
| 4 | Brussels | Belgium | 44.3 |
| 5= | London | United Kingdom | 44.9 |
| 5= | Athens | Greece | 44.9 |
| 5= | Nice | France | 44.9 |
| 8 | Dublin | Ireland | 45.9 |
| 9 | Barcelona | Spain | 47.9 |
| 10 | Bordeaux | France | 50.4 |
Most and least affordable European cities for solo travel
Travelling alone means there’s no one to split the cost of a room, a taxi or a meal with. That may be why a third (33%) of solo travellers say they worry about their budget. [1]
To compare costs, we added up the average mid-range daily spend per person on accommodation, food, local transport and entertainment in each city.
Poland’s Gdansk is the most affordable city in Europe for solo travellers
Gdansk, Poland is the cheapest city for solo travel at €74.53/£63.70 a day, with the lowest accommodation costs in the study (€25.13/£21.48). Krakow, Poland is second (€86.67/£74.07), with the cheapest food (€21.67/£18.52) and local transport (€6.07/£5.19). Vilnius, Lithuania (€122.20/£104.44) is third. Central and Eastern European cities take seven of the ten cheapest spots, although Oslo is a surprise inclusion in ninth (€150.80/£128.89).
| Most affordable cities for solo travel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Country | Average daily cost (£) | Average daily cost (€) |
| 1 | Gdansk | Poland | £63.70 | €74.53 |
| 2 | Krakow | Poland | £74.07 | €86.67 |
| 3 | Vilnius | Lithuania | £104.44 | €122.20 |
| 4 | Tallinn | Estonia | £108.89 | €127.40 |
| 5 | Budapest | Hungary | £109.63 | €128.27 |
| 6= | Prague | Czech Republic | £114.81 | €134.33 |
| 6= | Riga | Latvia | £114.81 | €134.33 |
| 8 | Nuremberg | Germany | £122.22 | €143.00 |
| 9 | Oslo | Norway | £128.89 | €150.80 |
| 10 | Seville | Spain | £144.44 | €169.00 |
Venice is the least affordable European city for solo travellers
At the other end, Venice, Italy is the most expensive city for solo travel at €362.27/£309.63 a day, nearly five times the cost of Gdansk. It has the highest food (€112.67/£96.30) and entertainment (€101.40/£86.67) costs in the study. Zurich, Switzerland (€344.93/£294.81) and Paris, France (€325.00/£277.78) follow. Switzerland and Denmark each have two cities in the ten most expensive, and Copenhagen has the highest local transport costs in the study (€67.60/£57.78 a day).
| Least affordable cities for solo travel | ||||
| Rank | City | Country | Average daily cost (£) | Average daily cost (€) |
| 1 | Venice | Italy | £309.63 | €362.27 |
| 2 | Zurich | Switzerland | £294.81 | €344.93 |
| 3 | Paris | France | £277.78 | €325.00 |
| 4 | Reykjavik | Iceland | £264.44 | €309.40 |
| 5 | Santorini | Greece | £243.70 | €285.13 |
| 6 | Copenhagen | Denmark | £240.74 | €281.67 |
| 7 | Geneva | Switzerland | £231.85 | €271.27 |
| 8 | Aarhus | Denmark | £205.19 | €240.07 |
| 9 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | £204.44 | €239.20 |
| 10 | Rome | Italy | £199.26 | €233.13 |
Best European cities for things to do
Experiences are becoming a bigger part of how people travel, with bookings for tours and activities growing 17% in a year, almost three times faster than travel overall. [3] For solo travellers, they matter even more as one of the easiest ways to meet people. We compared the number of experiences for each city, including walking tours, day trips, food tours, classes and activities.
Rome, Italy has the most experiences of any city in the study, with 8,000 listed, significantly more than second-placed Paris, France (4,561). London and Lisbon share third place with 4,000 each, while Istanbul, Athens and Florence are joint fifth with 3,000. Italy is the only country with two cities in the top five, and five of the seven cities in the top five are capitals. Though our recent study found that more isn’t always better, with some attractions making it onto the world’s most-visited disappointed attractions list.
| European cities with the most to do (ranked) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Country | Number of experiences |
| 1 | Rome | Italy | 8,000 |
| 2 | Paris | France | 4,561 |
| 3= | London | United Kingdom | 4,000 |
| 3= | Lisbon | Portugal | 4,000 |
| 5= | Istanbul | Turkey | 3,000 |
| 5= | Athens | Greece | 3,000 |
| 5= | Florence | Italy | 3,000 |
Methodology
To find the most solo-friendly cities in Europe, we analysed 48 of the 50 most-visited cities on the continent, based on Online Travel Partners’ list of Europe’s 50 most-visited cities. St Petersburg, Russia was removed, along with one duplicate entry (Dubrovnik appears twice on the list), leaving 48 cities to analyse.
Each city was assessed on 11 factors across four areas. The cost factors are the average mid-range daily spend per person on accommodation, food, local transport and entertainment, taken from BudgetYourTrip. Safety is each city’s Safety Index score from Numbeo, based on surveys of how safe people feel walking alone by day and at night, and how concerned they are about crime. Accommodation covers the number of hostels, their average rating, and the average price of dorm beds and private rooms on Hostelworld.
Each factor was converted to a score from 1 to 10 based on how the city compared with the others. Lower costs and higher safety scores, hostel ratings and numbers of hostels, experiences and restaurants earned higher scores. The 11 scores were then averaged to give each city an overall Solo Travel Index score out of 10.
To ensure accuracy:
- All factors were given equal weighting in the final score.
- All prices were converted to euros using exchange rates on 14 September 2026.
- All data was collected in September 2026.
Sources
[1] Hostel World, ‘The 2026 State of Solo Travel Report’,
[2] Numbeo, ‘Crime in Marseille, France’,
[3] Phocuswright, ‘Tours and activities are outgrowing travel overall. Distribution hasn’t caught up.’, 2026
