Ten cities where one person is never at a disadvantage: safe streets, transit that replaces a car, and tables, bars and hostels where a stranger soon becomes company.
Ranked by safety first, using each country's place in the 2026 Global Peace Index, then by how far one person gets without a car and how readily they meet people. Every pick hands off to a full city guide.
Iceland has topped the Global Peace Index every year since 2008, and its capital is small enough to cross on foot in an afternoon. Day tours to the Golden Circle and the south coast leave from town, so a solo traveller needs no car to see the country.
A compact harbour centre where the waterfront, the cable car and the bars of Cuba Street are all a short walk apart. New Zealand ranks second for peace, and the hostel and craft-beer scene makes an evening alone easy to turn into company.
The old centre has been closed to cars since 2007, so the whole of it is a walk along the river. Slovenia ranks fourth for peace, and the riverside cafés and the Saturday market make a single traveller look like a local within a day.
Portugal ranks seventh for peace, and Lisbon's four metro lines and its trams cover the hills you would rather not climb. Hostel walking tours and the street drinking of Bairro Alto make it one of the easiest cities in Europe to meet people.
The city is built for one: counter seats at ramen and sushi bars, solo karaoke booths, and a rail network that reaches everything on time. Japan entered the peace top ten in 2026, and walking home alone at midnight is routine.
Canada ranks 14th for peace, and Montreal's metro, its BIXI bikes and its walkable Plateau mean a car is a burden here. The festival calendar fills the summer with free outdoor shows, which is the simplest way to join a crowd.
A bike and a tram card cover the whole city, and the canal ring is flat enough to walk end to end. The Netherlands ranks 17th for peace; the city's brown cafés seat strangers side by side, and English is spoken almost everywhere.
Trams are free inside the city centre's Free Tram Zone, and the laneway cafés and bars around it are built for sitting at a counter. Australia ranks 20th for peace, and its hostels make it a common first stop for working-holiday visitors.
The MRT is clean, cheap and signed in English, and 24-hour convenience stores sit on almost every corner. Taiwan ranks 42nd for peace, a figure driven down by regional military tension; its street safety ranks far higher, and the night markets are made for eating alone.
Korea has a word for eating alone, honbap, and the city has the restaurants to match. A T-money card runs the subway and buses, which reach every district. South Korea ranks 57th for peace, a score weighed down by militarisation and the standoff with the North.
Subscribe to the Wimup newsletter for new guides, travel news and more.
