The best destinations for women traveling solo

Solo female travel is one of the biggest trends in the tourism sector that has emerged in the last decade – more and more women are choosing to explore the world alone. The freedom that solo travel provides gives a sense of empowerment, independence, and openness to local culture and community. According to research conducted by the Solo Female Travellers organization, 73% of solo female travellers worry about their safety. These concerns cross all age, national, and cultural groups, which makes choosing the right travel destination extremely important. Holidu, a search engine for apartments and holiday homes, has decided to analyse which cities are the safest for solo female travellers, creating a global ranking of destinations based on several key factors important for women travelling alone, such as safety at night and levels of crime in the destination. Where is the best place to travel as a solo female traveller?

1. Montreal, Canada

In first place is Canada’s second largest city, Montreal. Although it is not the cheapest place to travel, Montreal scored high particularly in terms of brightness at night and the sense of safety during solo night walks. This city ranked 12th among all cities in terms of lighting levels, which means that many streets in Montreal are well-lit at night, so women can feel safer walking alone. Additionally, despite being one of Canada's largest cities, it has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

2. Colombo, Sri Lanka

In second place in our ranking is the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo. The average taxi fare in this city is about 1 PLN per kilometre, ranking Colombo fifth among the cheapest cities when considering the average price for this form of transport, with accommodation costing around 68 PLN per night. Colombo ranked slightly lower in terms of night lighting compared to Montreal and found itself in sixth place regarding the sense of security for women walking alone at night.

3. Ljubljana, Slovenia

Closing the podium is Ljubljana in Slovenia, taking the bronze medal in our overall ranking but securing first place in Europe. Ljubljana is not the best-lit city at night, but the entire country is considered a very safe place for women when it comes to solo walks, confirmed by 76% of women. Of course, this does not mean that caution should be disregarded; it is advisable to choose well-lit roads and avoid deserted places.

4. Ottawa, Canada

In fourth place is Canada’s capital, Ottawa, which also secured second place among the three cities from this country in the top five of our ranking. This is a very impressive result. However, being the capital comes at a price – Ottawa is the most expensive city in the top five ranking when it comes to accommodation costs – averaging 180 PLN per night.

One of the factors that distinguishes Ottawa is the rate of violence against women. Here, around 1.9% of women reported experiencing some form of violence in their lives, which is a very optimistic result indicating society's intolerance towards any violence against women.

5. Edmonton, Canada

Another Canadian city made the top five, this time from the western part of the country – Edmonton. This city also ranks high in terms of women's safety at night and low tolerance regarding violence against women. Naturally, when travelling solo, common sense is important. Remember to take precautions such as being aware of your surroundings, showing kindness and respect to others, and having someone trustworthy to contact in emergencies.

When planning a trip to Ottawa, Montreal, or Edmonton, it is worth bringing mobile internet for your trip to Canada. More details can be found here.

Łódź in the TOP 10!

We are very pleased to report that in our ranking, at 8th place, is the Polish city of Łódź. Affordable accommodation prices, local transport, low crime rates, and a sense of security have certainly contributed to such a high position in our global ranking of cities that solo female travellers should not be afraid of. In the top 20, Gdańsk, Poznań, and Wrocław also made it!

Which country do women consider to be the safest at night? Singapore. Here, as many as 88% of women confirm that they feel safe in this city at night. Which city is the best lit at night? Chicago. This windy city is also incredibly well-lit. Which city has the lowest rise in crime over the past three years? Vilnius. The capital of Lithuania has recorded the lowest increase in crime over the past three years.

Methodology

Our “Global ranking of places for solo travellers post-pandemic” was created considering all major cities in the respective country worldwide, and then we analysed each of them based on the following factors: Women’s safety at night - the percentage of women feeling safe walking alone at night in a given city. This factor was considered the most important in this study (weight of the factor - 4). Night lighting - street / artificial light intensity. The weight of this indicator is 2. Increase in crime over the last 3 years - checking how much crime has increased in a given city over the past three years. This factor was assigned a weight of 3 in the ranking, making it the second most important factor in this study. Freedom of movement for women - this factor indicates whether women in a given country have the same freedom to move / choose residence / travel beyond the country’s borders as men. The weight of this indicator is 2. Incidence of violence - the percentage of women who have ever experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a partner. While this directly relates to domestic violence, it is a good indicator of safety and freedom for women in a given country. The weight of this indicator is 2. COVID-19 response - we examined data on how a given country managed the coronavirus pandemic over 43 weeks from the hundredth confirmed COVID-19 case. The weight of this indicator is 1. Taxi prices - the average fare for a taxi ride per km. Accommodation price - the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in a given city for one night. We used data from various reliable sources (including Gallup, World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to find data for each of the above categories and then create our ranking. Cities for which data was lacking were excluded from this summary.