Taking a first solo trip is a big decision, and picking where to go matters more than most people realise. A new Solo Travel Index from luggage storage company Radical Storage has crunched the numbers on Europe's 48 most-visited cities to work out which ones actually work for people travelling alone.
The methodology is straightforward: 11 factors were scored from one to 10, including average daily spend, safety ratings from Numbeo, and the number of hostels — still the backbone of solo travel. The scores were then averaged into an overall ranking.
Prague came out on top. A mid-range day there — accommodation, food, transport and entertainment — costs €134.33, and the city has the eighth-highest safety score of anywhere in the study. Kraków in Poland took second place as the second-cheapest city in the entire ranking, while Istanbul claimed third thanks to the cheapest hostel dorm beds of all 48 cities.
The rest of the top 10 is heavy on central and southern Europe. Gdansk joins Kraków to give Poland two entries, Portugal has Lisbon (fourth) and Porto (seventh), Spain has Seville (eighth) and Barcelona (ninth), and Berlin and Riga round out the list.
The worst performers tell a clear story: it's mostly about money. Zürich finished last, with the study's highest daily accommodation cost at €168.13, plus the second-highest food costs and third-highest transport costs. Reykjavík came second from bottom, Venice third from bottom, and the rest of the bottom 10 reads like a list of expensive city breaks — Aarhus, Cologne, Geneva, Frankfurt, Nice, Marseille and Dublin.
The cost gap is striking. A day in the worst-ranked cities averages €252, roughly €100 more than the €153 daily average across the top 10. That difference hits solo travellers hardest, since there's nobody to split the hotel or apartment bill with.
For anyone planning a trip alone this year, the takeaway is simple. Central and Eastern Europe — plus Iberia and Türkiye — deliver the best combination of safety, hostel availability and affordability, while the classic Alpine and Nordic short-break cities will cost you a serious premium. If you're set on Venice or Reykjavík, budget accordingly; if you want value, Kraków or Istanbul stretch a solo budget furthest.
