Best places to travel solo in Europe: 8 easy cities

You have had the flight search open for twenty minutes. Lisbon, Prague, Porto, Budapest: they all look good and they all cost roughly the same from your nearest airport. What a screen cannot tell you is where you will feel at ease on the second day, when the main sights are done and it is just you and the city.

The short answer: the best places to travel solo in Europe for a first trip are mid-sized cities that are easy to reach from the UK and easy to walk, such as Porto, Seville, Budapest, Ljubljana, Bologna and Edinburgh, plus the Camino de Santiago if you want to meet people without trying and the Azores once you have some miles behind you. Where to travel alone matters less than it seems, except in one way: how much work the place gives you.

If this is your very first trip alone and you want help with the first night and the planning, start with First solo trip: where to go (and how to make it easy).

What makes a place easy when you are on your own

Getting there comes first. A direct flight from an airport you can reach, or a train, and a metro or bus from the airport into the centre take the most tiring decisions out of the first day. Some cities need no flight at all: Eurostar runs direct from London St Pancras to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Then size. A mid-sized city makes sense in two days, and being able to walk back to where you are staying without a map does more for a first solo trip than any museum. Add life on the street: places where people are out late, where eating alone at a counter is normal and where plenty of others are travelling solo, so you have company when you want it and not when you do not.

Finally, cost. Travelling alone, you pay for the whole room. Eurostat's price level index for restaurants and hotels, where the EU average is 100, is a fair way to compare: in 2024 Hungary stood at 71.8, Portugal at 75.5 and Spain at 83.9, while the Netherlands was at 124.6.

1 · Porto, Portugal

Probably the easiest first solo trip in Europe, because you do it on foot. From the Ribeira to the Clérigos tower, and across the Dom Luís I bridge to the port cellars, it fits into two days of walking. The metro runs from the airport to the centre, many UK airports fly direct, and there are people on the street until late.

Best for: an absolute first time, or a long weekend.

2 · Seville, Spain

The centre is compact and flat, the streets stay busy until midnight and eating alone at a bar counter is completely normal; tapas almost seem designed for it. Several UK airports fly direct, and bike lanes cross the city.

Best for: anyone worried about standing out while travelling alone.

3 · Budapest, Hungary

Beautiful, easy to cross by metro and tram, and the lowest of the countries on this list in Eurostat's index. The thermal baths are the kind of place where you happily spend an afternoon on your own.

Best for: getting a lot of city for your budget.

4 · Ljubljana, Slovenia

Possibly the most comfortable capital in Europe for a first solo trip: small, green, with a pedestrianised old centre. easyJet flies there from Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh, adding Luton from late October 2026, and Lake Bled is about an hour and a quarter away by bus.

Best for: small, calm and effortless.

5 · Bologna, Italy

Big enough to have life, small enough not to get lost in. You walk it under porticoes, so rain rarely ruins a day, and it sits on Italy's high-speed line, with Florence around forty minutes away. Italy is above the EU average in Eurostat's index (106.9), so budget a little more.

Best for: food, walking, and using it as a base.

6 · Edinburgh, Scotland

No passport check and no language to think about. Compact, dramatic and full of people doing exactly what you are doing, with Arthur's Seat for a viewpoint. From London it is around four and a half hours by train from King's Cross.

Best for: a first time without leaving the UK.

7 · The Camino de Santiago

Not a city but a route, and it is here because it is the one place in Europe where you meet people without having to try. You walk alone and by the third evening you are having dinner with others who started the same day. The stretch from Sarria is around 115 km in six official stages and needs no experience; it is all in the Camino from Sarria.

Best for: anyone who wants company without organising it.

8 · The Azores, Portugal

The one that needs more days and more planning. São Miguel has crater lakes, hot springs and viewpoints close together, but you need a car to see it properly. Since Ryanair dropped its Stansted route in March 2026, getting there from the UK usually means changing in Lisbon or Porto.

Best for: once you have some mileage, or when you are going with someone.

Where to go solo in autumn and winter

Search for solo travel in Europe and Google suggests months: September, November, winter. Out of summer, Seville and Porto are milder than the UK and stay lively in the evenings, and Budapest's outdoor thermal baths are open all year. From late November, Central Europe has its Christmas markets, which work well alone because the whole point is wandering; check the dates in when to go to European Christmas markets. Further north, plan around the light: in Edinburgh the sun sets before four in late December. And if the dark months have you looking further afield, the best places to travel solo beyond Europe covers seven long-haul options.

The trips that are better shared

A city you walk costs about the same alone or with company. A trip that needs a car, or a place where everything is expensive, does not. In the Azores, the Highlands and Skye, Iceland (167.3 in Eurostat's index) or Switzerland (170.8), alone you pay for the whole car and the whole room; shared, both are split.

That is where TravelMatch fits. You post the trip you have in mind, or join one somebody else has posted, and before accepting anyone you see their budget, pace, daily rhythm and how they plan. You can look for company for the whole trip or just the days with a car, and talk inside the app before deciding. It is the idea behind solo travel in a group.

Before you book

Read the UK government's foreign travel advice for the country. For the Schengen area your passport must have been issued less than ten years before the day you arrive and be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave, and at the border you may be asked for fingerprints and a photo for the EU's Entry/Exit System.

Then keep it simple: two or three nights, a central place to stay, arriving in daylight if you can, and your itinerary shared with someone you trust. Book the first night and decide the rest once you are there. If you are still wondering whether to go at all, start with how to take the leap if you want to travel alone. And if the place is chosen and what is left is who with, that has its own guide: how to find travel companions.

Where we fit

TravelMatch is a free app for finding people to travel with. You post your trip with a destination and dates, or ask to join one someone else has posted, set the age range you want, and see where you match on budget and pace before you accept anyone. Reviews can only be written by people who have actually travelled with that person, and you can block and report anyone.

→ Find people for your next trip · Free.

Reviewed in October 2026. Price levels are from Eurostat's 2024 index for restaurants and hotels (EU = 100), checked on 7 October 2026. Passport and Entry/Exit System rules are from GOV.UK, checked on 7 October 2026. Routes change by season: check them from your own airport.