It’s 7pm. Your hotel room is quiet, the shower was hot, and the street below is filling up with the clink of glasses and the smell of something on a grill. You want company for dinner. You do not want a 12-bed dorm with a snorer on the top bunk. Good news: you can meet people while traveling solo without ever checking into a hostel.
The trick is choosing places and plans that come with people already attached, then deciding how much of yourself you share. Privacy and a social life aren’t opposites. You just control the door.
Here’s how to fill your evenings with good conversation and still go back to a room that’s all yours. If you’re still picking where to go, browse our worldwide travel guides and tips first.
At a glance
- Most social stays: guesthouses, B&Bs and hotels with a bar, rooftop or shared breakfast table
- Fastest icebreakers: walking tours, food tours and cooking classes
- Useful apps: Couchsurfing Hangouts, Meetup, Bumble’s BFF and dinner-with-strangers apps like Timeleft
- Privacy rule number one: meet in public and keep your hotel name to yourself
- Budget: from free (tip-based walking tours) to the price of a nice dinner
Why skipping the dorm won’t leave you eating alone
Hostels get all the credit for solo friendships, but the magic isn’t the bunk beds. It’s two things: shared activities and repeat faces. You see the same people at breakfast, you do the same pub crawl, and by day three you’re sharing fries.
You can recreate both anywhere. A cooking class gives you the shared activity. A small guesthouse, a favorite café or a weekly meetup gives you the repeat faces. The barista who nods at you on your third morning counts too.
And honestly? Dorm life isn’t for everyone. If you’re over the party phase, working remotely or just like sleeping through the night, a private room plus a few smart plans beats a common room full of 19-year-olds doing shots.
Book a stay that’s social on your terms
Where you sleep sets the tone for your whole trip. Skip the anonymous tower hotel by the ring road and look for places built around people.
- Guesthouses and B&Bs: one big breakfast table, a host who introduces guests, and coffee that tastes like someone’s kitchen.
- Hotels with a lobby bar, rooftop or social hour: a lively lobby makes it normal to sit near strangers with a drink.
- A private room with a host: renting a whole apartment can feel isolating, while a room in a local’s home comes with instant restaurant tips. Compare the real price in our breakdown of Airbnb versus hotel costs after fees.
One loophole worth knowing: plenty of hostels also rent private rooms with their own bathroom. You get the walking tours, game nights and family dinners, plus a door that locks. If that sounds like your balance, you can filter hostels for private en-suite rooms and skip the dorm entirely.
Location matters as much as the property. Pick a walkable neighborhood where locals eat out in the evening, not a business district that empties at 6pm. Our guide to Tokyo’s best areas for first-timers shows how much the right neighborhood changes your nights.
Join something with the group already built in
The fastest way to make friends is to do something together for a few hours. Conversation happens on its own when you’re both squinting at the same map.
Walking tours on day one
Book a walking tour on your first morning. Fifteen strangers, two hours of cobblestones, and a guide who asks everyone where they’re from. When it ends, invite one or two people for coffee. Almost everyone says yes, because they’re alone too.
Food tours and cooking classes
Nothing breaks the ice like eating from the same paper plate. On a food tour you’ll try crispy street snacks, argue about the best stall and swap numbers over dessert. Look for a small-group food tour in the city you’re visiting so you can actually talk to people.
Cooking classes are even better. Flour on your hands, a shared chopping board, and the whole group sits down to eat what you made. It feels like a dinner party you were invited to.
Day trips and small group tours
A group day trip means eight hours in the same minibus, lunch at one table and a lot of shared snacks. If you need a quiet day after all that chatter, plan a solo escape instead, like these easy day trips from Rome by train.
Apps to meet people while traveling solo
Your phone can do a lot of the awkward work. Each app has a different vibe, so pick one or two that match yours.
- Couchsurfing Hangouts: you don’t have to sleep on anyone’s couch. The Hangouts feature shows travelers and locals nearby who want to meet up right now, and members also post local events. It’s a paid membership.
- Meetup: language exchanges, running clubs, hiking groups and board game nights, mostly full of locals. Great for longer stays.
- Bumble’s BFF app: friend-finding with selfie-verified profiles and interest groups. The app’s name and format have changed over the years, so search your app store for the current version.
- Timeleft: it matches you with five strangers for dinner on a set weeknight, and you only find out the restaurant that morning. An optional after-dinner bar lets you meet the other tables too. Check that it runs in your destination.
- Facebook groups: expat and traveler groups for your city are full of people posting “anyone up for sunset drinks?”
Apps are strongest in big cities. In a small beach town, the bar with the good sunset is still the better bet.
How to keep your privacy while making friends
Being social doesn’t mean being an open book. A few habits let you relax and enjoy the company.
- Keep your hotel name and room number to yourself. Say the neighborhood if someone asks.
- Meet in busy, public places for the first hangout: a café, a market, a tour meeting point.
- Get yourself home. Use an app-based taxi so the ride is recorded, and share the trip with a friend.
- Chat inside the app first. Swap numbers once you’ve actually met.
- Post later. Share photos after you’ve left a place, not while you’re sitting in it.
- Tell someone at home where you’re going and who you’re meeting.
The US State Department’s safety tips for women travelers are worth a read for anyone, and they back the same advice: don’t tell strangers where you’re staying.
Keep a friendly exit line ready too. “I’ve got an early tour tomorrow” works everywhere and hurts nobody’s feelings.
Openers that don’t feel awkward
You don’t need a big personality. You need a reason to talk. Here are a few swaps that make it easy.
- Skip the corner table, sit at the counter. Bar seats, ramen counters and wine bars put you elbow to elbow with people who are often solo too.
- Skip small talk, ask for a recommendation. “What should I order here?” gets a real answer, and sometimes an invite.
- Skip the café laptop, try a coworking day pass. Remote workers are usually happy to show a newcomer the best lunch spot.
- Skip the nightclub, go to a language exchange. Everyone is there to talk, and nobody expects perfect grammar.
Small habits help as well. Go back to the same café twice, learn the owner’s name, and say hello in the local language. Repeat faces turn into real conversations surprisingly fast.
Questions travelers ask
Is it safe to meet strangers when you’re traveling alone?
Mostly, yes, if you set it up well. Meet in public for the first time, get yourself home, and don’t share where you’re staying. Organized tours and verified apps add another layer of comfort.
How do you meet people if you’re staying in a hotel?
Choose a hotel with a bar, rooftop or social hour, and book a walking tour or cooking class for your first day. Sitting at the bar counter instead of a table helps a lot, too.
What’s the best app to meet people while traveling solo?
It depends on your style. Couchsurfing Hangouts is best for spontaneous meetups with other travelers, Meetup for local groups and hobbies, and dinner apps like Timeleft for a planned evening out with strangers.
Can introverts make friends while traveling alone?
Absolutely. Structured activities like cooking classes and food tours give you something to focus on, so conversation comes naturally. You can also leave whenever you want, which takes the pressure off.
One last trick: book something social for your very first evening, before jet lag convinces you to stay in. By the time you’re heading home, the people you met will be the best part of the story.
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Cover photo by Bob Jenkin on Pexels
