Where to go when going alone?
 

The recently topped thread, "do you vant to be alone" about solo traveling has me thinking. I've been to Europe 5 times in the past 4 years but always with others (husband, friend, whole family, teenage daughter). Now, partly due to circumstances, but partly because I'd like to try it, I'm thinking of next summer doing a two week trip alone. I'm sure I'd be comfortable in London (or anywhere in England) or Paris, but those are the two places I've been the most (3 times to each) and I'd really like to try somewhere different. But I'm concerned about both language barriers and ease of finding my way around. Where have people (especially women) gone and felt are good places to go solo for the first time? I've done more car rentals than train travel but for a solo trip would probably want to stick to trains, and I do like to move around quite a bit, rather than stay in one place the whole time. Any suggeestions?

My daughter, when she was 25, spent the summer alone (sort of; she was part of an opera company) in Lucca, Otaly, and after the opera was over, stayed another week there, visiting Cinque Terre several times, and enjoyed it very much.

She especially like the peace of being alone after the performance season was over and she could relax.

I've been alone (man) in Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Paris, and London, and prefer the latter two, just because they are more intereting cities.

Perhaps your best bet would be to use London or Paris (or both) as a home base, and then take one day or two-three day trips from each of them.

I have two friends, sistes, women in ther 50s, who travel a fair bit on business. When one sister had to go to a convention in Switzerland, the otehr joined her after the convention, and instead of organizing their own trip, as they've done on busienss many times, they threw themselves on the mercy of a bus tour operator, and loved it.

No thinking, no planning, just enjoying, and they saw a lot of the country. If you were to pick the right tour (which ain't all that easy) you'd have decent company, lots to see, and no worries.

BAK

BAK

I would honestly pick THE place you've ALWAYS wanted to see that ALSO seems like it would have the absolutely worst "language barriers" and that seems as if it would be impossible to find your way around.

Then, I would research it and then DO it.
The amount of pleasure AND the self-confidence building you'll get out of this success will be invaluable.

Otherwise, stick to where everyone else has gone, and "felt comfortable" etc., etc.,..and end up being not yourself, but like everybody else! This is the chance you've been waiting for...don't blow it by being too cautious.

I've only been to London & Paris alone so I guess I'm not much help :)I find London alone great. There's so much to see & do and in the evening theater. My biggest problem traveling alone is what to do at night. London theater solves the problem. York is some place I've never been & people on this board like it a lot. I think cities are easier alone because of cabs & public transport.

Although I love Paris,, I found it lonely on my own. Perhaps because to me it's a very romantic place (although I've been with a girlfriend & thought that was great!).

I think Nice & the cote d'azure would be fine alone. Plenty of public transport & lots to see & do. I also think Venice is an easy city to manage but you might miss not being able to share the magic. I've never been, but Ireland sounds very friendly.

PS, if you have a particular interest that your husband doesn't share (ie gardening, art, music) you might consider a tour that concentrates on that.

Venice (4 nights), Florence (4 nights),
Orvieto (1 night) and Rome (5 nights).

Easy to use the train. Open-Jaw ticket.

Do daytrips from Florence to Sienna and Lucca.

Scandinavia is very easy for solo female English speakers.

I've been lots of places alone and never felt particularly uncomfortable; the Netherlands, Italy, London, Paris, Lyon, Switzerland, Croatia and Slovenia. One advantage of traveling alone in Europe (particularly Switzerland) is that the hotels often cost about half what they do for two. Go where you have been wanting to go and don't worry about being solo.

If you're big concern about being alone is safety, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries have certainly felt the safest to me...mostly becauise they are incredibly rich countris so there aren't any destitute beggars or "young toughs" to muck up your experiences.

In Switzerland, much of the "sightseeing" is just hiking in the Alps or skiing, depending on the season, and those are perfect activities for a solitary traveler yet also offer you the opportunity to meet lots of people, so you won't be alone if you don't want to.

I often travel alone. I've found Italy easiest. In general, I'd rather not travel alone where I do not know the local language, but I did travel alone a little bit in Greece and enjoyed it. However, in Greece I did not go to remote places where there are few foreign visitors, as I occasionally do in Italy.

I, too, have traveled alone, mainly for business. As a woman I have had the problem of what to do in the evening. It's OK if there are movies, theatre, or concerts, but if not...bring a good book. In the US one can always shop the malls..it's boring, but it is something to do. In Europe, most of the shops close early, so shopping is out. With a group, the evening problem is solved. So I would recommend joining a group trip or go to England. There are lots of places to go in England, the trains are excellent, and there are malls that are open in the evening.

I tried going to/through Italy 3 times alone, but couldn't stay alone for very long! ;)

I've been to a huge chunk of Europe alone. Ireland is fantastic for the solo female traveler, in my opinion, because it's so easy to make friends if you can stir up the guts to go into a pub alone.

Italy would get my vote, although it was not my favorite country. People are pretty friendly; they are used to tourists so language isn't that much of a problem in tourist areas, (and if they can't speak English, it's amazing how much you can communicate with gestures!) There's plenty to do, see, and eat there. It's pretty hard to get bored in Italy, and there is a lot to see in one country, so you can hop around on a train all over the place if you get bored.

Thanks for all the replys. It's sounding like Italy might be good for me. I have been there only once for two weeks so obviously there's plenty more to see. I really wanted to go somewhere besides France and England, for though I really love them, there is so much in Europe that it seems foolish to keep going back to the same two countries until I've seen more of the rest of it.

I was kind of thinking about Prague, Vienna, Venice and Florence. Anyone done Prague alone? Can you get by with just English and whatever phrases you can get from a guide book? Also, is it possible to do any of the Italian Lakes region without a car? Thanks again.

I highly recommend Vienna as a destination for a woman traveling alone. I have always felt very safe walking around central Vienna alone after dark. Plus, there are many things to see. My command of German is modest at best, but I've never had any problems. It's also a city where you will see many women alone at cafes, etc.
Vienna is a good base for doing side trips to Prague (either alone or on an organized day trip) or Salzburg (3.5 hours by train each way; so it's a long day, but still doable).
Switzerland is also a good place for a solo women. For example, you could be based in Basel (excellent museums, good restaurants, great shopping, charming old town) and do a variety of day trips--Luzern, Thun, Bern, Zurich--all reached by train in 1 to 2 hours. It might be nice to be based in a smaller city as a change (since you have already visited two large European capitals).

You could do Prague, Vienna, and Venice in 14 days and travel by train without a car. You would also have time for a few daytrips as well.

Do an open jaw ticket. The Vienna to Venice leg is long (7 hours), but has some great mountain and lake views.

On the Italy forum, Ira posted an amazing journal of his trip with his wife. I don't know what the future brings but, at the moment, I am alone.
His journal made it clear to me that I could do it too! Apparently, they got around beautifully on public transport...safe and sound. AND they got to see an awful lot of great "stuff"! Take a look for that post. With more and more women in the working world travelling and more and more women going along just "cause we can", it is possibly getting safer and safer and more "open" attitudes...like dining alone, etc.

I'm so glad to hear some of you think Prague, Vienna and Venice might be a sensible trip since for some reason that combination appeals to me.

Degas - thanks for the info that the Vienna Venice train ride has great scenery. The length of the ride was one of the things I was concerned about, but if the scenery is great that would help. So does a day train make more sense than an overnight?

BTilke - I'm glad to hear that Vienna is a comfortable place for a single female.

susancoleman - I think we have something in common - aren't you the other person (besides me) who keeps recommending the Hotel St Andre des Arts in Paris? Any suggestions for places of that caliber in Prague or Vienna?

Anyone know of any good websites for booking accomodations in Prague or Vienna? I know of many for London, Paris and Italy, but haven't found too many for Prague or Vienna? I'm pretty much a two star kind of person.

Isabel, I also did the Prague, Vienna and Venice thing (except I stopped by Florence, then backtracked to Venice). It's totally great to do alone in my opinion. Prague is amazing, and definitely in the top 3 of the large cities I visited in Europe. In fact, Vienna was anticlimactic to me after Prague (seemed too expensive when it really wasn't terrible), but many people love Vienna, and you will have a great chance to decide for yourself.

In Prague I can recommend the Betlem Club. Great location near the Charles Bridge and in the middle of everything. Not that expensive too, but nothing fancy either. Decent breakfast is included. There are lots of recs for Prague hotels here that come up easily in a search. You can book directly with the hotels.

In Vienna I stayed at the Hotel Drei Kronen. It was nice, clean, and not far from the "ring". The breakfast here was pretty good.

Isabel, that sounds like a lovely trip! I've always particularly enjoyed being alone in Vienna, but I do recommend you stay "within the Ring" -- that way you can walk out comfortably at night. Strolling through the Stephensplatz and down Kartnerstrasse is a great evening activity.

The Konig von Ungarian is a wonderful, family-like hotel, right behind St. Stephens Cathedral -- but if you find it too pricey, I'm sure there are others within the Ring that you'd like.

Have fun!

The hardest part of traveling alone for me is dining by myself in a really great restaurant. I'm going to Paris next month for the first time, and would love to have a few great, luxurious meals. Does anyone have any suggestions for restaurants where I might feel welcome dining alone? Thanks, Dan

isabel, my daughter and I loved Vienna. As someone else stated before, try to stay inside the Ring area and you can walk just about everywhere.

The train ride from Venice to Vienna was long, but we were tired from four days of no-stop walking and needed a low key "break day". Some nice sights along the way, but also some "dead spots." If I had to do over again, I might try to break up the journey and stop somewhere in the mountains. Could not do that last time do to time constraints. Play around with the italian railroad website or the german one and see what alternate routes you can come up with and keep the legs around four hours.

Venice was a fantastic trip (I've done twice now). Easy to do solo female. I also liked Paris & Amsterdam.

On an overnight train, I did spring for a private sleeper compartment (between Geneva and Venice) which made that more comfortable. Honestly I have never had a problem with finding a "language barrier" (unfortunately I speak no language but English). Things just always seem to work themselves out.

As far as getting around, just make sure you have the address of your hotel with you & you can always catch a taxi back (should you become lost). I start out on foot in small circles near my hotel to get the lay of the land.

Pack light! Is my best suggestion for solo travel. It *really* makes things easier. I don't do "fine" restaurants so solo dining is fine. I keep my eyes open during the day and choose a nice low-key place near my hotel for dinner. Take a paperback novel, if you are new to eating alone.

Safe & happy travels!

If you go to Prague, PLEASE be careful, my schoolgroup has been robbed 3 times in 2 days in the market-clocktower square

I've done Prague, Rome, Bratislava, and The Netherlands alone. No problems, just some jerky Italian men trying to pick me up in Rome. Never been pick-pocketed anywhere. Prague IS NOT more dangerous than Amsterdam or Rome. In fact, Amsterdam was THE scariest place of all, due to scruffy looking dudes hanging outside the central station. When you travel alone, you have the advantage of trying to blend in with the locals, rather than being a part of a "touristy" looking crowd, which puts you at risk of being targeted more. Don't let these people with their pickpocket stories scare you. If you are cautious, don't do anything stupid (like wear a backpack -with all your valuables stashed in the back zippered compartment - on the metro at rush hour..), and make an attempt to "do as the Romans do", you will be fine. Enjoy your freedom, and the valuable life adventures that travelling solo can provide!!! (PS - none of the places I've listed has a big language barrier. Most big cities will have plenty of English signs, and the younger natives will ALL know some English..)

I was in Vienna, Zakopane and Krakow alone and never felt concerned. While I was staying with friends in Berlin, I spent most of the days alone as they were working and it was great. Dresden, Prague, Budapest, Interlaken area of Switzerland, Florence.
The only suggestions are, if you go by train, find a compartment with other women; stay in small hotels, B&B or pensions so they will miss you if something should happen; and have fun doing what you want to when you want to do it.

I have traveled solo in Western Europe both before and after kids (mine are grown and one lives in Germany now). I took the kids with me when they were still at home with me.

Most of my traveling has been done by home exchanges since 1990. I would not feel going solo in Western Europe anywhere to be uncomfortable.

By the way, home exchanges include a car, so I get to drive around a lot when I go. I am most widely traveled in the UK, France & Germany--although, of course, I have not been everywhere.

I'm curious to the Prague posting about robberies (the same group and 3 times in 2 days). What was the situation? Were people using moneybelts under their clothing for safety? What exactly was stolen and how?

I am sorry to hear an unfortunate travel report like Franit's post, but wonder about the specific circumstances. Plus it is a helpful warning to only others if we have more details.

For the poster who feels awkward about eating alone at nice restaurants, and others who feel that way: how about suggesting some dates on this board so Fodorites in the same city on the same dates can get together for a meal? I don't frequent this board much so I don't know if this has been suggested, but it's something I would do.

I really enjoy travelling solo, I think the locals take more time to chat with you and have never had any problem about dining out alone, sometimes meeting other diners and sharing part of the dinner hour with them.
I travelled round Europe by three forms of transport, train, plane and coach and enjoyed them all. To England, Scotland, Holland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Greece and Germany.
For my first trip I did a coach tour but after that went solo. In some places I have friends to visit but in many do not know anyone.
In total I have spent nine months in Europe, I have some french, enough to get by and a little italian but did not find the lack of any language a problem. So many Europeans speak english now that there is always someone close by to help out.
One just has to be sensible about where you are, train stations, out at night etc. and remain alert but also calm. It's a good idea to let the receptionist at the hotel you are staying at know if you are going to be out of the area for the day, eg a long hike, a day trip. Don't advertise that you're a tourist by drawing attention to yourself by reading maps in the street, swinging a camera in non touristy spots.
Go for it, take advantage of being solo to enjoy things you may not be able to experience with others, museums, concerts, shopping and don't think about being alone, think of all the new friends you will meet.