America’s Best Places For Solo Travel

Beach lounging and surfing are both time-honored solo endeavors, and San Diego has ample opportunities for both. Hitting the waves off Pacific or Mission Beach is pretty straightforward if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t know how to surf, simply laying on the sand is still every bit a Southern California fantasy. Off the sand, the massive San Diego Zoo makes for an educational afternoon, where you can hang out with red pandas, polar bears and Galapagos tortoises. Exploring San Diego’s neighborhoods is always a surprise, too, especially if you poke around its underrated Little Italy or the treasures of Old Town. Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, can be a social experience for solo travelers; you can buy a ticket to walk around the outfield and enjoy cold beers with other semi-interested fans. What’s more, San Diego made our “Where to go 2023,” a list of cities we think you should visit because they take sustainability seriously, but still know how to have a good time.

The trip down the Overseas Highway to this little island at the end of the Florida Keys is a water-lined, main-character moment. Driving it solo, you’re free to roll down the windows, blast the AC and crank up the 80s rock without anyone else to think about. Once on the island, you can rent a kayak and explore the mangroves and shoreline that make up this unique ecosystem, or head out on a snorkeling or diving trip to see the Keys’ coral reef. At night, the bars along Duval Street are an endless sea of carefree visitors always up to meet new people. Though if you want something more low key, the locals who populate bars off of Duval are always colorful characters.

Another entry in our sustainability-focused “Where to go in 2023,” Denver is a city that comes from a place of yes. Whoever you meet along your solo travels in the Mile High City will likely be down for whatever adventures you have in mind. Yes, part of this may be because legal cannabis dispensaries here are more common than Starbucks or McDonalds, and the people are decidedly laid back and happy. Denver’s also a popular transplant city. Folks who fit in better in the mountains have flocked over the past decade, so you can cruise the bars and breweries in the artsy River North (or Rino) district and make friends with people who may also be new in town. Maybe you and your new friends can savor an edible then wander the trippy installations at Meow Wolf. For something a little more International, head out to Aurora to find one of the highest concentrations of Korean restaurants in America or sample the food stalls at Stanley Marketplace.

We get it, New York City has endless opportunities for solo travelers, and we’d never argue otherwise. Buffalo, however, is the kind of place where you show up at a bar by yourself, order some wings, and, within an hour, have five new best friends inviting you to join them for the rest of the night. The city is awash in history, architecture and culture, all of which are fascinating to explore on your own. And every Buffalonian you meet will eagerly tell you the best place for wings (Not Anchor Bar. Not EVER Anchor Bar.) The real kicker comes when you’re ready to bid your new friends good night at 2 am, and they jovially convince you to stay out until 5 a.m.: then you’ll really understand why solo trips to Nickel City are never anything less than an adventure.

Chattanooga combines food, drinks, and outdoor excitement better than any city in the South, and, while it may not have the nightlife of Nashville, it’s still a solid place to travel on your own. Rock climbers converge here to traverse the sandstone faces around the city, and, if you’re an experienced solo climber you’ll find enough challenge to make the trip worthwhile. Chattanooga also sits a short drive from the Ocoee River where solo travelers can jump on a group whitewater rafting trip. For less hair-raising endeavors, you can meander through the Tennessee Aquarium or play guitars used by rock gods at Songbirds guitar museum. The city has a massive citywide gigbit network, so, if you’re working while on the road, you’ll find high speed connections everywhere.

While much is made of Sedona’s spirituality, you don’t need to be on a vision quest to enjoy this red rock paradise. The Devil’s Bridge hike is probably the area’s most popular, passing through pine forests and red boulders before arriving at Sedona’s signature natural arch. You can also take the 4-mile jaunt to Bell Rock, one of the city’s famous energy vortexes, which is a scenic place to sit with your thoughts. The quirky desert city is teeming with psychics, energy healers and yoga studios. Even if you’re not typically into that stuff, trying them out in Sedona is very much a “When in Rome” experience. Just don’t get sucked into the energy vortex and you’ll be fine.

Texas is big, as anyone who lives in the Lone Star State will eagerly tell you without provocation. Yet Austin somehow feels manageably small, and meeting people while traveling solo is far easier here than in some of the state’s more sprawling cities. Live music venues abound in Austin, and hitting a show at Broken Spoke, the Cactus Café, or Carousel Lounge is a way to fall into a crowd. While the famous line at Franklin’s BBQ is debatably worth standing in, you can still snag some of the state’s best brisket at less-packed places like Terry Black’s and Interstellar. If it’s hot, you can cool off at Barton Springs, where you’ll meet most of the rest of Austin any time the temperature is above 90 degrees.

Asheville is North Carolina’s most popular mountain destination. As a hub for Appalachian backpackers, the city is always filled with solo travelers. That means you’ll rarely find yourself at a bar in this city without running into someone else there by themselves. The world-class mountain biking is also a big draw for outdoorsy types venturing here alone, and beer lovers come on pilgrimages to breweries like Sierra Nevada and Wicked Weed. Even the city’s food is tailor made for solo travel, eschewing fancy sit down spots for places like Chai Pani Indian street food and Jettie Ray’s Oyster House.

Adobe architecture aside, the New Mexican capital is filled with history, scenery, fantastic food, and some great sustainability initiatives. Stop in for green chiles at The Shed or Café Pasquales, then relax with a margarita in the courtyard of the La Fonda hotel, where a hotel has stood for over 400 years. Take a walk down Canyon Road and visit over 100 art galleries for some home décor inspiration. If you’re going to Santa Fe in the summer, you can join one of the city’s famous pre-opera tailgates. In the winter, Ski Santa Fe is a perfect high-elevation day hill. After a day on the slopes, you will have earned some pampering at the Ten Thousand Waves spa.

Kailua-Kona is an ideal jumping off point for everything that’s great about the Big Island, and, if you’re rolling to Hawaii by yourself, it’s easily the best place to stay. Renting bikes in Kona is a breeze, allowing you to cycle through the moon-like lava fields like you’re competing in the Ironman (you’re not). Diving off the coast is breathtaking, too: you’ll find yourself face to face with sea turtles, manta rays and schools of colorful fish. You can also take the 12-mile trek to the top of Mauna Kea, and do some serious soul searching once you get to the summit. After you get back down, reward yourself with a Longboard at the Kona Brewing taphouse.

If you saw or read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” you know Savannah is filled with characters. You’ll still find that quirky, southern ethos everywhere in Savannah, from the bars on River Street to the guides on haunted ghost tours. If you’re looking for something a little more low-key, an afternoon of quiet contemplation on one of the many park benches in the city’s squares is pretty zen — probably why Forrest Gump sat for so long on one. Although, if you’re looking to find people to party with, Savannah is never lacking for bachelor and bachelorette parties either. 

For all its sports, history, and culture, Boston may be best described as America’s largest college town, with over 70 institutions of higher learning calling the area home. So if you’re in your early-to-mid 20s, you’ll find no shortage of people to party with. Even if you’re a little older, Boston offers plenty for solo travelers, from walking the historic Freedom Trail to relaxing in Boston Common. Fenway Park and the bars that surround it are always lively, and full of fans happy to chat baseball with whoever sits next to them. And a fairly easy city train system makes Boston easy to get around while traveling alone.

One might find it easy to dismiss Alexandria as little more than another Washington D.C. suburb. However, if you’re looking to visit the district and all its museums and monuments, staying in Alexandria is the move. It has easy access to pretty much everything you’d want to see in D.C. via the city’s Metro system, but also offers a walkable, quiet respite from the city. Here, you can bar-hop through historic brick-lined streets and meet locals who (thankfully) talk about something other than politics. Alexandria sits right along the Potomac River, situated so that’s where you can rent a bike and ride by the water to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon in about half an hour.