The number of women heading off across the planet solo is higher than ever right now, and while the saying goes that the world is, in theory, our oyster, the reality is that some destinations are much better suited to women travelling alone than others.
Handily, a new study by DIPNDIVE has provided us with some in-depth analysis to locate the best destinations, assessing everything from the weather, friendliness and safety of a place to the average cost of living, the average cost of a hotel and the number of free attractions on offer.
Topping the ranks as the best place in the world for women travelling solo was Helsinki, the brilliant and notoriously safe Finnish capital city.
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In fact, Helsinki ranked as the third safest city overall on this list (after Zagreb and Singapore), with a score of 75.3. It’s also the second most welcoming place, with an impressive friendliness score of 90, and it has a decent number of free attractions on offer, to combat the slightly higher living costs and hotel prices.
So what’s so great about Helsinki? Well, the city itself is brilliant – we named it as one of our top picks for city breaks in Europe for 2025, thanks to its excellent cultural spaces, such as HAM, the Helsinki Art Museum, and Finlandia Hall, which is reopening after extensive renovations, and the population’s love for karaoke.
However, outside of the city, Helsinki should also be on your bucket list as a base for exploring the dazzling Finnish landscape – go exploring around Nuuksio National Park before warming up in one of the city’s many, many saunas (the Finnish Sauna Society is our favourite).
But it’s not all about Helsinki – elsewhere on the list are outstanding cities like Berlin, Chicago and Vienna, so read on for the full top 10.
These are the best destinations for women solo travellers
- Helsinki
- Zagreb
- Berlin
- Singapore
- Warsaw
- Chicago
- Madrid
- Vienna
- New York
- Budapest
Travel the world solo with Time Out
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