Twenty-one years of travelling alone teaches you a thing or two about what makes a good solo city break. Travel writer Lydia Swinscoe, who recently turned 40 and is now based in Sri Lanka, has picked six cities that suit the more mature lone traveller — places with history, good food and proper hotel beds rather than dorm bunks.
Her list skips the backpacker party circuit entirely. In Antigua, Guatemala — where she took her very first solo trip as a teenager — the draw is colonial streets, Mayan textiles at market stalls and volcano hikes, plus a growing food scene (tacos at Frida's on Calle del Arco, Guatemalan classics at Rincón Tipico). Rooms at Villas de la Ermita start from £61 a night.
Florence makes the cut for people who like to eat their way through a city. Swinscoe spent five solo September nights there — gelato, Tuscan wine at Mercato Centrale, bistecca alla Fiorentina at Trattoria Za'Za', and traditional Tortelli Mugellani at Antica Trattoria da Tito dal 1913. It's touristy and pricey, so she suggests an Airbnb instead of a hotel.
Bangkok, she argues, is far better in your forties than it was at 22. Beyond the temples and night markets like Talat Phlu, she points solo travellers towards the Bangkok Yai and Talat Noi neighbourhoods — hidden temples, street food and the 200-year-old So Heng Tai Mansion. For a splurge, Siri Sala, a canal-side villa featured in The White Lotus, now takes individual bookings from £535 a night with meals, massages and excursions included.
Pamplona in Spain is the low-key pick: follow Hemingway's footsteps to Cafe Iruña, work through pintxos at Bodegon Sarria, or walk a stretch of the Camino de Santiago. The Pamplona Catedral Hotel is good value from £65 — but avoid mid-July, when the San Fermín festival sends rates soaring.
Quito, Ecuador earns a warning and a recommendation in the same breath: not for first-time solo travellers because of pickpocketing risk, but rewarding for the experienced, with museums like Casa del Alabado (over 5,000 artefacts) and boutique stays such as Casa Santa Clara. Finally, Yerevan, Armenia offers Soviet-era architecture, mulberry vodka, cheap hearty food and snow-capped views of Mount Ararat from the 572-step Cascade Complex.
The common thread: none of these are budget backpacker destinations, and none are party towns. They suit travellers with a bit more spending power who want culture, comfort and the freedom of moving alone — without the hostel bunk or the overnight bus.
