Meeting people while traveling solo can feel intimidating, especially if you are someone who does not naturally walk up to strangers and start conversations. But here is the thing: solo travel is actually one of the easiest ways to form real, meaningful connections with people from all over the world. Whether you are staying in a hostel in Lisbon, browsing a morning market in Chiang Mai, or sitting at a cafe in Buenos Aires, traveling alone makes you more approachable, more open, and more willing to say yes to the unexpected. This guide covers practical, tested ways to meet people when you travel solo, without forcing it, without awkward small talk, and without pretending to be someone you are not.
I used to think being alone in a foreign city meant I would stay alone. The opposite turned out to be true.
Why Solo Travel Makes It Easier to Meet People
When you travel with friends, you have a built in social bubble. You eat together, walk together, decide together. There is no real reason to talk to anyone outside your group. Solo travel removes that bubble. You sit at a counter instead of a table. You read a book in a hostel common room. You ask for directions because there is no one beside you to ask first.
That small shift changes how the world sees you, and how you see the world. A 2024 Solo Female Traveler Network survey reported that 73 percent of women who travel alone make at least one lasting friendship per trip. The opportunity is built into the format.
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How to Meet People Traveling Solo Through the Right Accommodation
Where you stay matters more than almost anything else. A private Airbnb feels safe but can also be the loneliest choice on a long trip. If meeting people is a goal, choose accommodation that is designed for it.
Social hostels are the most obvious option. Generator Hostels in Madrid, Selina in Mexico City, and The Hat in Lisbon all run nightly events like family dinners, walking tours, and rooftop drinks. You do not have to attend every event. Just showing up to one in the first 48 hours is usually enough to find your group for the rest of the stay.
If hostels are not your scene, coliving spaces are a quieter alternative. Outsite, Selina CoLive, and WiFi Tribe attract remote workers in their 20s and 30s who stay longer and form real friendships. Boutique guesthouses with shared breakfasts also work, especially in countries like Japan and Portugal where breakfast tables are communal by default.
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Use Apps Built for Solo Travelers (And Use Them Well)
Apps are easily the fastest way to meet people while solo traveling, but most travelers use them wrong. They download three, swipe for ten minutes, then quit. Here is what actually works.
Meetup is underrated. Search for the city you are in plus a hobby you actually have, language exchange, hiking, board games, photography. The crowd skews local rather than tourist, which means the friendships have texture.
Couchsurfing Hangouts is built specifically for meeting other travelers nearby, in real time. You set your location to public for a few hours and people in the same city ping you for coffee or a walk.
Bumble BFF works surprisingly well in major cities like Bangkok, Berlin, and Buenos Aires. The platform attracts a lot of expat women looking for local friends, which means there is real receptivity to a quick coffee.
Set your bio honestly: where you are, how long you are staying, what you would like to do. Vague bios get vague responses.
The trick is to use one app deeply rather than four apps shallowly.
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Join Activities, Not Tours
There is a big difference between a tour and an activity. A tour is passive. A bus, a guide, a microphone. An activity is participatory. A cooking class, a yoga retreat, a surf lesson, a pottery workshop, a free walking tour where you actually talk to the small group.
Activities create conversation by design. You ask the person next to you for an ingredient, you spot for them on the surfboard, you compare your awful clay bowl with theirs at the kiln. The shared experience does the social labor for you.
Some of my favorite picks:
A pasta class at La Tavola Marche in Italy, where you eat what you cook and the table conversation lasts hours. A free walking tour with Strawberry Tours in Lisbon, where the guide quietly seats solo travelers next to each other at the post tour drinks. A morning yoga session at any Yogabarn affiliated studio in Ubud, where the post class smoothie counter is essentially a friendship factory.
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The Cafe and Bookshop Rule
If apps and activities feel like too much, try the slow approach. Find one cafe or one bookshop in the city you love, and go back to it three days in a row. Same time, same order, same seat if you can.
By day three, the barista knows you. Other regulars start to recognize you. Eye contact turns into a nod, a nod turns into a "where are you from", a "where are you from" turns into a coffee together. This worked for me at Cafe Origens in Lisbon, at Sweet Time in Tokyo, and at CafebrerÃa El Péndulo in Mexico City. The pattern is reliable.
The same logic applies to bookshops with cafes, to small gyms, to morning swim spots. Repetition makes you a regular, and regulars get talked to.
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Be the Person Who Initiates Once
You only have to be brave once per day. One question, one invitation, one "do you mind if I join". After that, momentum carries you. The hardest part is the first sentence, and the first sentence is almost always something simple, a comment on the weather, a question about the menu, asking if they are also alone.
I keep a mental list of openers that have never failed me:
"Is this seat taken?" at a communal table. "What did you order, that looks amazing?" at a market. "Are you also doing the walking tour?" outside the meeting point. "Is the wifi working for you?" in a cafe. "Excuse me, are you American?" only ever delivered by other Americans, but it works.
None of these are clever. That is the point. Clever scares people off. Simple invites them in.
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Make Friends Who Are Not Travelers
The deepest friendships I have made on the road have been with locals, not other tourists. Other travelers leave when you leave. Locals stay, and the connection lasts long past your flight home.
Language exchange events are gold for this. Tandem app meetups, Mundo Lingo nights, university campus boards, and free coworking nights at places like WeWork or Selina almost always have a local crowd looking to meet foreigners practicing their language.
Volunteer for two hours. Beach cleanups, animal shelters, community gardens. The barrier to entry is low and the people there are choosing to be there, which already tells you something good about them.
If you take a Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese class for even one week, the classmates become your social ecosystem. I made my closest friend from a 2026 trip at a beginner Spanish class in Oaxaca, four classmates, two of whom I still text weekly.
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The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
The biggest unlock is not a tactic, it is a mindset. Decide before you arrive that you are open to meeting people. That sounds obvious, but most of us travel with our headphones in, our heads down, our defenses up. Closing the laptop in the hostel lounge instead of opening it. Looking up from your phone at the bar. Saying yes to the dinner invitation even when you are tired.
Solo travel is a series of small bravery moments. Each one compounds. By week two of any trip, you will not recognize the person you were on day one.
For more on what slow, intentional solo travel actually feels like, my Mexico City four day guide and my Kyoto five day slow travel guide have more examples of the kinds of conversations and connections that happen when you let them.
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Key Takeaways
- Stay in social hostels, coliving spaces, or guesthouses with shared meals to remove the friction of meeting people
- Use Meetup, Couchsurfing Hangouts, and Bumble BFF deeply rather than spreading yourself across many apps
- Choose participatory activities like cooking classes and walking tours over passive bus tours
- Become a regular at one cafe or bookshop and let repetition do the social work for you
- Make local friends through language exchanges and short classes for connections that outlast your trip
FAQ
How do I meet people traveling solo as an introvert?
Start with structured environments where conversation is built in, a cooking class, a yoga session, a walking tour, or a coliving common room. These remove the pressure of starting the conversation cold. Pick one social moment per day instead of trying to be on all the time.
Is it safer to travel solo and meet new people in hostels or through apps?
Both can be safe with the right precautions. Hostels with strong reviews on Hostelworld and verified profiles on Couchsurfing both have community accountability built in. Meet in public spaces for the first hangout, share your location with someone you trust, and trust your instincts.
What are the best cities for solo female travelers to make friends?
Lisbon, Mexico City, Chiang Mai, Bali, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo consistently rank as the most welcoming for solo female travelers, with strong digital nomad and backpacker scenes that make connection easy.
How long does it take to make friends while solo traveling?
Most travelers form their first connection within 48 hours if they stay in social accommodation. Deeper friendships usually form after three to seven days in the same place, which is why slow travel makes friendship easier.
What if I prefer some alone time during my solo trip?
That is the whole beauty of traveling alone. You can dip in and out of social moments on your own schedule. Plan one social day, one quiet day, and listen to what your energy actually wants.
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If this guide helped, share it with a friend who has been talking about a solo trip but feels nervous about going alone. The community is already there. You just have to walk in.
For more practical takes on solo travel, slow living, and cooking for yourself on the road, follow Info Planet for new posts every week. For another angle on solo travel safety and planning, the Solo Female Traveler Network and Lonely Planet both have rich resources.