Solo Female Travel Safety Tips: 15 Tips for Women Travelling Alone

Safety is always a topic for travellers, especially if you are travelling solo AND a woman. Women have different sets of travel safety issues, but don’t let that stop you from seeing the world.

People always ask me to share my travel safety tips for a solo female traveller. I can think of a few basic ones, like not wearing flashy jewellery to attract unwanted attention, being aware of pick pocketing in busy places, and not hanging out in dark alleys. These are just some basic safety tips for women, even if you are not travelling. If there are certain things you don’t do in your home city, don’t do them in a foreign city. 

There are a few other tips I can share with you that are related to travelling solo and safety. I learned most of these while travelling alone for the last 19+ years. And I’m sharing my stories so you won’t make the same mistakes as I did.

In this post, I’ll share with you my top 15 solo female travel safety tips (and I’ll keep adding more when I think of more).

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15 tips for women travelling alone

I genuinely feel that I’ve had such amazing travel experiences in the past 19+ years because I always practice safety precautions wherever I go. So here are my top 15 travelling safety tips for women who travel solo.

1. Choose a destination where you feel safe

First, I google my destination to see if it is “safe”, which means I search for the country’s safety ranking. And I’m usually pretty good at keeping up with current events so that I am aware of certain countries are going through a war, if a natural disaster just struck, etc.

Before I decided to go to Colombia on my own, I had a lot of doubts. I was mostly concerned with my safety because I heard on the news how many tourists are kidnapped. It was only after talking to a few travellers who have actually been to the country and told me how safe they felt.

I was nervous when I arrived in Cartegena. But my insecurities and safety concerns quickly went away as I met many friendly and helpful locals. Everything that was said in the media was not how I experienced Colombia. So to be fair, don’t purely believe and listen to what the media says. The news always highlights all the negative aspects and doesn’t promote positive ones.

Do your own research. Read travel guides, sift through travel blogs, and talk to people who have been to the places you want to go.

When you pick a destination you feel safe, you will have a better time and not be paranoid all the time.

Here I will get you started on your research. I have a post about the best destinations for first-time solo travellers so you can start there.

2. Research your accommodation & location

Do thorough research on where you are going to stay and the location of your accommodation. It also helps if you read reviews of your accommodation. I find that most reviews are helpful because other people genuinely want to leave a review that will help other travellers. 

Agoda is a website where you can book hostels and other types of accommodations. They have an extensive review section of each of the accommodations, so you can really get a feel for what the accommodations will be like. Definitely, spend some time reading the reviews of the places you want to stay.

Also, research the location as well. Sometimes, when accommodation is too cheap, available, or something, something doesn’t align. It might be in the middle of a seedy area that you don’t want to be in.

3. Arrive at your destination during the day

During my first solo trip, I arrived in Florence, Italy, at night via a train from Rome. I felt nervous immediately because I was in a new city, and it was my first solo trip ever. I felt intimidated because it was dark, and I couldn’t properly navigate my way around. Somehow I managed to find my hotel after wandering around a bit near the train station.

As soon as I woke up the next day, I felt so much better because I was on an amazing adventure and could actually see everything around me.

So at that point, I made a rule for myself: always arrive at a new destination during the day when I can see where I am going. It seems a little less daunting to be able to see your surroundings.

4. And if you have to arrive late at night, pre-arrange your transportation

The first time I went to South America, I flew directly to Lima, Peru. I arrived at night because that was the only flight from Toronto. I felt a bit nervous because I had previously read about safety issues at the Lima airport and about cab drivers driving you away from where you are supposed to go and rob you in the middle of nowhere. Yikes!

So I made sure to contact my hostel ahead of time and arrange for a pick-up at the airport. Even though it cost a bit more money (and it wasn’t even a lot more), I felt safe, which is worth more than the money itself.

Sometimes it is really worth spending a bit more to pre-arrange your transportation from the airport to your accommodation just to get peace of mind.

5. Stay in a hostel dorm room

If you are concerned about staying in a room by yourself, then stay in a hostel dorm. You will always be around people, and you will never feel alone.

Whether you stay in an all-girls dorm or a mixed dorm, you will be surrounded by other like-minded travellers. And we travellers always take care of each other and have each other’s backs. 

6. If you stay in your own room, use a door stopper or a portable lock

And if you want some privacy or alone time, staying in your own hostel room, hotel room or apartment is also an option. 

However, if you feel nervous about staying in a room by yourself, lock your door whenever you are inside.

And if you want further security, buy a traditional door stopper where you can wedge the door from the inside of your room so people cannot uninvitingly come into your room. And if you want to get fancy, a door stopper with an alarm is also available.

I also learned about the Addalock, a portable door lock where you can quickly secure your door by placing the device between the door and the frame. The device prevents the door from opening on either side of the door. It is a pretty small device, so it may be worth considering when you are travelling solo.

7. Lock your valuables away, including your passport

Some travellers may not agree with me, but I always do this. If there is a safe in my room, I would put my passport, extra money and other valuable things inside a secured safe.

I would put all my valuables deep inside my backpack if there weren’t a safe. The idea is to not bring everything out with me. I feel there is a bigger chance for me to lose my wallet and passport when I’m out. So for me, it is safer to leave most of my valuables at my accommodation.

When my bag was snatched in Ho Chi Minh City, I lost my laptop and mobile phone. My wallet was with me, and my passport was in my hotel room. I was lucky I didn’t lose any money or my passport, but sadly, I lost the two pieces of electronics that I really needed. But hey, I wasn’t hurt and still had my passport and money.

8. Use a small backpack as a day bag

Continuing from the point above, whatever you bring out during the day while you are roaming around the city, put everything inside your backpack.

And make sure to use a backpack and not a messenger bag. It is harder for someone to rip a backpack away from a person than a messenger bag because there are two straps instead of one. And I would avoid any handheld type of bags.

Typically, I use a small day pack like my Fjallraven Re-Kanken backpack during the day when I am roaming around a city or taking a day trip. I like to have both backpack straps on me, and it feels more secure.

9. Don’t take out too much cash from the ATM

This might be something that I do because I get paranoid when I carry too much money. I feel like other people would know that I have wads of cash in my bag. Ha!

Typically, I take enough cash for the day when I am out. And also a credit card (depends on where I am. i.e. if I’m in a city where I can buy things, I will need a credit card. But if I’m on an island or desert somewhere, the little plastic card is pretty useless).

Plus, if you are anything like me, any time I have a lot of cash, I tend to forget where I spent it. So in my mind, I think I either lost money or someone took it from me. Ha!

10. Don’t linger at the train station or other public transportation hub

I’ve read many tips for travel safety about not lingering at train stations and public transportation hubs. They are the type of places that are not very friendly or appealing, especially the older train stations. Some travellers are targeted at train stations because they usually have all their belongings with them and don’t really know where they are going or what they are doing. 

Generally, I research, go to the train station before my departure date, and purchase a ticket in advance. The idea is to buy a train ticket when I don’t have all my belongings with me. I’m in and out of the station. On the day of my departure, I was already familiar with the layout of the train station, so I didn’t look like I was completely lost and didn’t know what I was doing.

11. Download Uber, Grab, Lyft or other apps before you leave for your trip

Check if your destination city has Uber, Grab, or other peer-to-peer ridesharing options because they are efficient ways of moving around in a new city.

It is better to use one of these car programs while you are travelling.

First, you can avoid any type of language barrier by simply entering your destination on the app. Second, the app will tell you exactly how much your ride will cost and you can avoid any miscommunication with taxi scams. And third, these are regulated programs so you don’t have to worry about your safety and the driver will ensure you arrive at your destination safely.

Make sure to download some or all of these apps before you leave for your trip.

12. Don’t listen to music with your headphones when you are wandering in a city 

I was walking around Valencia, Spain, with my headphones on because I wanted to listen to music. But my intuition sensed something was wrong and that someone might be following me. As soon as I removed my headphones and turned around, someone followed me.

Luckily nothing happened, but I shouldn’t have worn my headphones as I appeared as someone who was not aware of my surroundings.

So if you are roaming around in a new city, don’t listen to music or podcasts while you are walking around. It is so much nicer to hear the city and nature (or wherever you are), and you can always be aware and alert. 

13. Enjoy a drink but don’t drink too much 

There are many fun solo activities that you can do during your trip, and going to a bar and having a drink is one of them. But ladies, you can have fun and enjoy a glass of vino or two. But don’t drink too much as you may appear to be a target.

And watch your drink at all times. Don’t leave your drink unattended just in case someone slips a mysterious substance in it. 

14. Stay alert at all times (but not paranoid)

Whether you are travelling solo for the first time or a seasoned traveller, you will have to be alert at all times. But don’t be too paranoid about things that can potentially happen. There is a delicate balance between the two.

I’ve been travelling for so long that being alert is just second nature to me now. It is just a way of life for me. And I don’t travel or go anywhere with any mace, and I don’t know any self-defence moves either. I trust my intuition fully and be on my game at all times. This leads me to my next point…

15. Always walk with confidence

Walk at a steady pace confidently (even if you are lost), so at least it looks like you know where you are going and there are fewer chances of someone disturbing you.

It works for me!  If you exude confidence and show that you know where you are going and what you are doing, chances are nobody will bother you. Even if you are lost, keep walking at a good pace. Then find somewhere away from the crowd, or somewhere you can stand with a wall behind you, then look at your map and figure out where you need to go.

Seriously, being confident helps with solo travelling. And this is my best safety tips for travelling alone. If you don’t do anything else, do this!

Do you find these solo travel safety tips useful?

What do you think of these travelling safety tips? Do you have any of your own that you would like to share? Comment below!

Thank you for reading my post about solo travel safety tips

You might also like these other travel solo posts:

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• 56 tips for travelling abroad for the first time
• 10 best activities for solo travellers
• 10 off-the-beaten-path travel destinations for solo travellers
• When sh*t hits the fan, stay positive, strong and focused
• Don’t let fear stop you from travelling
• How does it feel to be a solo traveller

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