Planning a Solo Trip: My Step-by-Step Guide for Female Travelers
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Planning a solo trip, particularly as a woman, can feel overwhelming.
You’re juggling transportation, figuring out which tours will actually take you, whether you’ll feel comfortable at a hostel alone, and what to do if something goes wrong, with no one else there to help.
After planning dozens of solo trips across more than 26 countries—from Gaudí’s architectural marvels in Barcelona to monsoon Thailand—I’ve figured out exactly how to plan a solo trip without spending a ton of money or feeling unsafe.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through every single step I’ve taken, from choosing your destination to sharing your itinerary before you leave. I’ll also share the practical reasons for each that help keep me safe.
Whether this is your first time traveling alone or you’re a seasoned solo traveler looking to simplify your process, this guide will give you a repeatable planning method and includes my free downloadable planning template.
How I Started Planning Solo Trips
Before I ever traveled to Europe, I was doing research the old-fashioned way—library books, travel magazines, and every film set in a foreign country I could get my hands on.
My first international trip was to London with my mom for my 16th birthday.
No smartphone, no GPS, no Uber. Just library research and a paper map I’d printed out before we departed (I still have it too, with all my markings on it).
That trip taught me that most of what goes into good travel planning hasn’t changed, even if the tools have.
And it planted a seed that eventually led me to take my first solo trip at 23, to Ireland.
The skills I’d picked up from the London trip helped me to begin learning how to plan a solo trip. Luckily by then, blogs had become popular so it wasn’t all library visits!
If this is your first solo trip, I have a dedicated guide just for you: First Time Traveling Alone. It answers the questions I was too nervous to ask anyone.
26 Steps on How to Plan a Solo Trip
1. Decide Where to Go
The destination question matters more for solo female travelers than it does for groups.
Beyond the basics of what you want to see, what time of year works, and how long the flight is, you need to think about:
Solo female friendliness: Some destinations are well-established as “good for solo travel” and have infrastructure that makes going alone easy: good public transport, affordable accommodations, things you can do solo, and a great community. Europe is generally excellent for solo travelers. So are parts of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand.
Others require more planning, or even signing up for an organized group trip with a company like Flash Pack, which is designed for solo travelers.
Language barrier: I’ve never been so put out by a language difference that it ruined a trip, but it is something you’ll have to consider, as it can increase difficulty. At the very least, make sure to download Google Translate before you leave and save the language for offline use. Pick up a handful of key phrases. Even that can make a trip significantly smoother.
Solo travel at your comfort level: There’s no shame in starting somewhere familiar—a country that speaks your language or a destination you have visited before. I first visited Ireland (same language as me, English, good public transport, not too large that it’s overwhelming, great community). Now I go almost anywhere. Build confidence incrementally (one of the pros of solo travel), especially if you’re new to this.
Other questions worth asking:
- Are you hoping to visit one country or several?
- What do you want to do — Maya ruins, beaches, food, architecture, hiking?
- What’s the weather like during your travel window?
- Do you need a visa or vaccinations?
⚠️ Always check travel advisories — I review the U.S. Department of State website before every trip, especially if a destination has been in the news recently.
2. Decide When to Go
Weather: Budget for it, really. I arrived in Thailand just before monsoon season and lost a full day to rain. Luckily, it was at the end of my trip, because otherwise I would have been really upset! Have indoor alternatives mapped out if you’re heading for a place notorious for unpredictable weather.
Peak vs. shoulder season: Peak season means more tourists, which often means more people in general. This is something many solo travelers like, especially if you’re looking for a party scene. However, shoulder season is cheaper and less crowded, which is usually when I go, as I get better deals and have more accommodation options.
Build trips around holidays: If your job doesn’t give you much vacation time, plan around a public holiday. Book the days on either side, and suddenly you have a four or five-day window without burning too much PTO.
Research local holidays, too: I planned a short trip to Munich without knowing it landed on a public holiday. Most things were closed, so I was only able to do a walking tour of Old Town on that day. It wasn’t a disaster, but it was avoidable. A quick search before booking saves you that headache.
3. How Long to Go For
My general rule when planning a solo trip: at least 2–3 full days per city.
Any less and you’re rushing; any more and you risk running out of things to do (yes, even in Paris — I’ve done 8 days there and grew restless toward the end).
For solo travelers specifically, I’d add: give yourself an extra buffer day somewhere in the trip.
Not every day needs to be packed.
This is something I’d had to remind myself even now, as I tend to overdo it and get burnt out.
Solo travel can be more mentally demanding than group travel because every decision—where to eat, how to get there, what to do—lands entirely on you. A slower day isn’t wasted if you’re recharging.
The length of your trip also depends on:
- How many cities or countries you’re covering
- Whether you’re a fast-paced traveler or prefer to linger
- How long and exhausting the journey there is
For example, I spent 8 full days in Belize:
- Day 0: Travel day (flight to Belize City and hopper plane to Ambergris Caye)
- Day 1-3: Explored Ambergris Caye
- Day 4: Transport day to San Ignacio
- Day 5-8: Explored San Ignacio (extra day wound up being helpful for weather delays)
- Day 9: Left Belize by bus for Bacalar
4. Work Within Your Travel Budget
You do not need to be a millionaire to travel, but you also need to know where to actually spend, especially when it comes to safety.
Don’t book accommodation just because they’re cheap. It could be that they’re poorly located, either in a sketchy area or so far out of the city that you’re burning time and money getting to attractions.
Centrally located accommodations are almost always worth the extra cash.
If you’re on a limited budget, stick to places that offer a lot of bang for your buck!
My trip to Thailand cost a fraction of my trip to Norway, because Norway is expensive across the board, even for “budget” meals (hello $17 chicken wrap).
Countries with favorable currency exchange rates help you get more value for your money.
My favorites for cheap solo travel are Mexico and Thailand.
5. Find a Flight Deal
I rarely pay full price for flights, and here’s how:
Flight deal newsletters: I’ve subscribed to NextVacay and Secret Flying since 2019. NextVacay charges a small subscription fee but sends deals from your home airport directly to your inbox. I used it to book my trip to Barcelona for around $300. Secret Flying has no subscription fees.
Google Flights’ “Anywhere” feature: Put in your home airport, type “Anywhere” in the destination field, and it generates a map of prices. This is how I found a $273 flight from LAX to Amsterdam. I knew I wanted to be in Europe in April, so I just let the deal tell me where to start.
Hopper flights can be cheaper than direct: When my friend and I flew to Rovaniemi, Finland, we routed through London because flying from San Diego to London and then London to Rovaniemi cost less than flying direct. We got a few bonus days in London out of it. Not a bad deal!
Solo safety note on flights: Save your confirmation numbers somewhere offline and share your booking details with someone you trust. More on that in step 23.
6. Gather the Things You’d Like to Do
I’ve been doing this since I was 16, and it’s still one of the most useful things in my planning a solo trip process.
A Google Doc, organized by country, then city, with photos, opening hours, admission costs, and—this one gets overlooked—duration.
Knowing whether a site takes 45 minutes or half a day changes how you structure your days.
And when you’re solo, you’re the only one calibrating the pace, so if you know you take longer at history museums, like me, estimate higher.
I also highlight sites that are covered by a sightseeing pass, so I don’t accidentally buy a separate ticket. I did this in Norway with their Oslo Pass, and I wanted to kick myself.
Research whether any sites are known for being solo-unfriendly (e.g., certain restaurants that don’t love single tables). It’s rare, but it happens. Especially in some Asian countries, such as South Korea, from what I’ve heard from others.
Note also which sites are easy to visit on your own without a tour vs. which benefit from a guide. Ruins and archaeological sites, for example, are often much richer with context and often don’t offer much in signage.
Here are some of my solo specific city guides to give you a shortcut:
- Lisbon Solo Travel Guide: 34 Awesome Things to Do Alone
- How to Solo Travel Barcelona and Not Feel Lonely
- 14 of the Best Things to Do in Seville for Solo Travelers
- What to Do at Night in Rome, Italy, While Solo + Safe Walking Route
- How to Spend 2 Days in Budapest: A Walkable Solo Travel Itinerary
- 2 Days in Dublin, Ireland: My Solo Itinerary for First-Timers + Map
7. Narrow Your Itinerary Using Google Maps
Google My Maps is how I figure out whether my list is actually doable or whether I’ve been overly ambitious (95% of the time, I’m overly ambitious).
Pin everything you want to see.
Suddenly, you realize site A and site B are 15 minutes apart on foot, but site C, which you’ve been excited about, is 2 hours away by train.
Once you have this insight, you can decide which sites are worth it.
I also create a Google Saved Places List for each city.
I prefer this to My Maps for actual in-trip use because you can sort by distance and see what’s nearby and open while you’re on the go.
It also helps you to look like you know where you’re going, which is one of my top solo safety tips!
8. Consider a Tourist Card
Many cities offer tourist cards, aka sightseeing passes, that can save you time and money.
How I decide whether a tourist card is worth it is by marking everything on my itinerary that the pass covers, then doing the math.
Is the pass cheaper than buying each ticket individually?
Does it include skip-the-line access that could save time?
During peak season, skipping long lines at places like the Louvre or the Vatican is wonderful!
Lines are obviously a pain, but especially solo, as if you need to leave the line to go to the bathroom, you gotta find some nice person to hold your spot.
Passes I’ve found worth it:
- Salzburg Card (covers attractions and public transport)
- Paris Museum Pass (covers most museums and castles)
- Vienna Pass (cover many attractions and the hop-on hop-off bus)
💰 Budget tip: Sign up for the Card provider’s newsletter before buying, as they sometimes email out discounts!
9. Build in Buffer Time
If something goes wrong, a delayed flight, a missed train, or getting sick, you need to have a backup to make up for the lost time.
I got mildly sick a couple of times during my 4.5-month solo trek through Europe in 2025 and was thankful I didn’t have a back-to-back itinerary.
This allowed me to chill for certain days and take care of myself, which meant I bounced back sooner than dragging myself through exhibits while sick, which isn’t nice to others either.
10. Book Accommodation with Solo Safety in Mind
Location is non-negotiable: Centrally located accommodation means not having to walk too far (especially at night), better transport connections, and generally more people around. Since Oslo was so expensive, I booked a hostel on the outskirts of the city, but it was in a suburban area, so when I arrived in the middle of the night, it was desolate.
Research the neighborhood: Read reviews from other solo female travelers (on their website, blogs, Facebook Groups, etc.). Google Street View the block. Does it look like a sketchy alley? Are there bars or restaurants nearby? Is the walk from the public transport stop short?
Hostels are excellent for solo travel: They’re one of the best ways to meet people and feel less alone. Many have female-only dorms if you want the social atmosphere without sharing with men. I use Hostelworld to research, and I always read recent reviews specifically for safety and cleanliness.
I don’t do vacation rentals: They’re often more isolated, the check-in process relies on a key lockbox or a stranger’s instructions, and there’s no reception to flag issues to. I’ll use them for group trips, but not usually alone unless I’m somewhere long-term.
Hotels, if they’re affordable: Some cities are just not affordable to do on your own. While in Thailand, I was able to live like a Queen at hotels because the exchange rate was just that good!
11. Do You Need to Rent a Car?
I’ve only rented a car when I’m traveling with others.
In each case, public transport genuinely wasn’t a practical option for a variety of reasons.
But for most solo travel, public transit is cheaper, lower stress, and perfectly safe.
Aside from doing road trips by myself in the States, I can’t really imagine myself doing so abroad, as breaking down in a foreign country without assistance (I have AAA here) and possibly not knowing the language is enough to dissuade me.
12. Plan Your Transportation
Europe’s trains and buses are genuinely excellent, and I default to them almost always (in certain cases, I’ll fly).
They’re affordable, they run on time, and they’re how locals get around, which is its own kind of safety signal.
Solo safety tips for transit:
- Book in advance on high-demand routes, especially in summer. It’ll be cheaper, and you’ll have a ton more options, instead of getting stuck with some midnight run.
- For late-night arrivals or very early departures when public transport isn’t running, pre-arrange a taxi or ride-share before you land. Don’t figure it out at 11 p.m. in an unfamiliar airport. But know this isn’t foolproof. I did this in Bangkok and reconfirmed days beforehand, but they forgot about me. I wound up taking a taxi, and they upgraded my room and paid for my taxi back for the mistake.
- Make sure to time accordingly. For example’s sake, say the earliest train I could take to the airport left at 7 a.m., and it takes 3 hours to get there (transfers and such). The earliest flight I could then take is at 11 a.m. Always leave at least an hour for yourself, if not more. I had this issue in Norway and wound up booking a hotel next to the airport for the night before just to avoid the trouble.
- Use ride-shares for extra security. When I heard how prolific pickpocketing was in Barcelona, I didn’t step foot on public transport. Instead, I walked or Ubered. It wasn’t super expensive and made me feel much more at ease.
13. Download Apps
Apps are one of my favorite tips in this how to plan a solo trip guide as they’ve saved me numerous times!
- Download CityMapper for real-time transit info in major cities. I especially love that it’ll alert you to your stop so that even if you don’t understand the name, you know to get off!
- Download Maps.me for offline access to maps and public transport routes. Great for when you’re in remote areas! However, the transport info isn’t live since it’s offline.
📲 Check out all the apps I love for solo travel here!
14. Create a Google Sheet of Your Final Itinerary
I got this system from a solo female traveler I met through Bumble BFF and haven’t looked back.
The sheet has columns for: travel dates, country, city, type (flight/hotel/tour/transport), date, time, company, booking site, confirmation number, and notes.
Color-coded by type: yellow for flights, green for transport, orange for accommodation, blue for tours.
For solo travelers, this sheet does double duty: it’s your planning tool and your safety net. The person at home who’s tracking your whereabouts can pull this up at any time and know exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Make sure to mark the Google Sheet as “available offline” so you can access it without Wi-Fi.
15. Book Tours and Tickets in Advance
Two things I’ve learned the hard way: popular sites sell out (my friend and I nearly missed seeing David in Florence), and tours are one of the best tools in the solo female traveler’s kit.
A good tour means you’re with a group for part of your day, you get context you wouldn’t have had otherwise, and you meet other travelers, which can lead to grabbing dinner together that night, meeting up again, or even becoming friends!
All of which have happened to me, from the Paddywagon tour in Ireland to Krakow’s Auschwitz-Birkenau and Salt Mine tour.
My go-to platforms are GetYourGuide and Viator.
I lean toward GetYourGuide for solo trips specifically because of their cancellation policy. When my cousin was injured in Belize, and we couldn’t give 24 hours’ notice, they still refunded me without any trouble.
16. Passport and Global Entry
Check your passport now, not two weeks before you leave.
Some countries require 3–6 months of validity beyond your return date. Some require unused pages.
A colleague of mine had to rush-renew his passport days before an international work trip. It was expensive and stressful in a way that was entirely avoidable.
Get Global Entry if you travel more than once a year.
My credit card (Capital One) reimbursed the fee, so it cost me nothing.
Check if yours does, as many credit cards reimburse the application fee. You just have to follow their procedure to get the money back.
Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, and coming home to a nearly instant clearance at customs is one of those small luxuries that I genuinely love.
17. Do You Need a Visa or Travel Authorization?
Check your government’s travel site for the most current requirements.
For Americans: travel.state.gov.
Requirements change, and checking the official source rather than an outdated blog (including this one, if it’s been a while) is the only safe approach.
A few things worth noting: the EU’s ETIAS authorization and the UK’s ETA are both quick, low-cost online applications, but don’t wait until the last minute, as fast approvals aren’t guaranteed.
18. Travel Insurance: Do You Need It?
I haven’t always traveled with insurance, and I won’t pretend the risk calculus is the same for everyone.
It depends on your destination, your health, and what activities you’re planning.
For solo female travelers, the argument for insurance is stronger than it is for group travelers, simply because if something goes wrong, you’re managing it alone.
A medical emergency is stressful enough. Doing it in a foreign country without a travel companion is another level.
If that scenario concerns you, insurance is probably worth it.
If you do get it, SafetyWing is consistently recommended in the solo travel community.
19. Vaccinations
Check travel.state.gov for what’s required or recommended for your destination.
I haven’t needed anything for Europe, but I checked before Thailand as I hadn’t been to any Asian country before.
I didn’t need anything, but requirements vary, and some vaccines need to be administered weeks in advance, so don’t leave this until the week before departure.
20. Worried About Eating Alone?
Those worrying about feeling lonely while eating alone.
Honestly, it’s something you get used to and I’ve found it’s actually a bit of a special power cause busy places that you may need a reservation for sometimes take you cause they can squeeze you into places they can’t put groups.
However, if you’re concerned, pre-book a dinner on Timeleft.
It’s my go-to when I’m feeling a little lonely while traveling solo, as you get to have dinner with five strangers.
Don’t worry, you’re all solo, so you’re on even playing ground.
I’ve met people on two continents this way!
21. Check Your Credit Card for Foreign Transaction Fees
This one stings if you miss it when planning a solo trip.
I came home from a trip to Canada to fees I hadn’t expected because I took someone’s word that my card was fine.
Most major travel cards don’t charge foreign transaction fees, but check your specific card before you go.
Cards I’ve used without issue: Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Both also have solid travel rewards programs worth looking into if you travel regularly.
22. Bring Some Cash
Even if you primarily use cards, have some cash on hand.
ATMs abroad can be finicky with foreign cards, and being stuck without local currency in an unfamiliar place is not a situation you want to be in solo.
Having a backup, even if it was my home currency (which I then exchanged), has saved me more than once when I needed to pay someone cash.
23. Share Your Itinerary (Non-Negotiable for Solo Travelers)
Someone at home should have access to your full itinerary and know how to reach you.
I share my Google Sheet with a trusted person before every solo trip and update it as I go.
This way, if I change hotels, switch cities, or extend my stay, they’ll see it.
It takes about 30 seconds and means someone always knows where I’m supposed to be.
24. Setup a Check-in Schedule
If you’re traveling somewhere with limited cell service, establish a check-in schedule before you leave.
Typically, my mother will just send me the daily Connections she can’t solve, and she’ll know I’m alive if I answer LOL.
25. AirTags & Sharing Your Location
Get yourself Airtags or something similar to track your belongings (e.g., purse, suitcase, laptop bag).
I’ve tracked down my suitcase in an airport this way when they put it on a different carousel.
