The world is the solo traveler’s own special oyster. With no one else on the journey, you can stop and see whatever you want, eat when you want and spend the night where you want. Take full advantage of this freedom in 2025 by planning a trip that is all about your interests. Consider one — or all — of these four paths. They lead to the same ending: a fulfilling solo experience.
Focus on wellness
Yoga is a great way to start the morning at Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai (Image credit: Aleenta)
Staying at a wellness retreat ensures the quiet necessary to “reflect and connect” with yourself, Essence said. Rancho La Puerta, an immersive wellness resort and spa in Mexico’s Baja California, gives guests exactly that. This “serene” sanctuary has been “rejuvenating body and soul for over 80 years,” Locale Magazine said, with workshops, activities, evening entertainment and dining included in the rate. Situated at the base of Mount Kuchumaa, Rancho La Puerta’s “vast property” is a “playground” for visitors, who can hike along the trails and meadows, practice yoga and swim in one of the resort’s four pools.
The Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai in Thailand offers the best of both worlds. It is within Chiang Mai’s city limits but located in the foothills of Doi Suthep Mountain. The location achieves a “rural-resort atmosphere,” the Michelin Guide said. This resort is perfect for yogi, with guests able to attend mindfulness yoga and Vipassana meditation sessions, and the luxurious poolside spa pavilion is “key to the Aleenta’s appeal.” Thai healing treatments, like the traditional lanna massage, are among the spa’s comprehensive offerings, alongside ayuravada therapies and body wraps and scrubs.
Experience the great outdoors
Get your steps in walking along the Northern California coastline (Image credit: Paul Chinn / The San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images)
Exploring the wilderness as a solo traveler can be an incredible experience — being alone in a vast space is humbling. There are a few safety tips to keep in mind when going off the beaten path, and the first is to let family and friends know where you are going and when you expect to be back (and when you get to your destination, drop them a location pin). Read up on how to stay safe in the area you are visiting and the exact items you need to pack, based on the weather, time of year and the area’s security needs. Once you arrive, “listen to your intuition,” travel writer Lauren Gay said to National Geographic. “If something doesn’t feel right or doesn’t feel safe, pack up and go.”
Being a solo traveler does not mean you have to do everything alone. If you want to witness nature’s grandeur in a more remote place, like the colorful Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona, but have concerns, join a small tour group. If the sea is calling your name, even smaller beaches have visitors year-round, so you will always see other people. Because of cooler temperatures, the Point Reyes National Seashore near San Francisco is not for those seeking days of sunshine but still offers a “perfect, mellow escape,” Afar said. Hike along the coast, stop at the Point Reyes Lighthouse and cap off the day with bivalves and sparkling wine at the Hog Island Oyster Company on Tomales Bay.
Escape to the big city
New York City is the ultimate playground for solo travelers looking for action (Image credit: Alexander Spatari / Getty Images)
Bring on the bright lights. The beauty of spending time in a major metropolitan area like London, Tokyo or Mexico City is there is something to do at all times, and you can easily fill your days and nights with concerts, theater, parks and all types of cuisines. No place does this better than New York City, which “might be full of crowds,” Travel and Leisure said, but is also a “welcoming hub for parties of one.” Solo travelers can explore at their own pace “some of the best art and shopping in the world, and more food and drink options than you can fit into a month-long trip.”
Paris is another city where a companion is unnecessary. Here, you can “binge on some of the world’s best museums” and indulge in a “long meditative sit in front of centuries-old paintings,” Thrillist said. Book a hotel “somewhere central and walkable” so you can see the sights by foot, especially the “architecture that makes Paris, well, Paris.” It is one beauty after another, like the Museum of the Army, an impressive palace built by Louis XIV for injured veterans that is across from the Rodin Museum, which sits on the grounds of a “grand, 18th-century mansion that the artist himself took over in 1911.”
See history come alive
Reflect on the capital’s reflecting waters (Image credit: Zach Frailey / Getty Images)
Every city, town and village has a story, and if you dig deep enough you can find it. Prefer to go where the history is already front and center? Head to Washington, D.C., where it is “impossible to get bored,” Good Housekeeping said.
Stroll by the White House, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument and take your time wandering the halls of the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the International Spy Museum. After all, you are flying solo and can take your time soaking it all in. D.C.’s pull extends beyond monuments and museums; there are countless culinary institutions, like Union Market, Eastern Market and Ben’s Chili Bowl, where diners line up for the legendary half-smokes: half-beef and half-pork smoked sausage covered in chili.
Offering a “veritable feast of museums and historical hotspots,” Berlin is an “excellent city for entry-level solo travel,” Thrillist said. A guided walking tour will take you past landmarks like Brandenburg Gate and such sobering sites as the Topography of Terror Museum. Be sure to visit East Side Gallery, the “spectacularly painted remains of the Berlin Wall,” and visit Bauhaus-Archiv to view items from the “iconic design school.” Between stops, grab a doner kebab and enjoy it while people watching.