How to Meet People Solo Traveling Without Hostels

If you are taking your first solo trip and the words “party hostel” make you tired before you have even packed, good news: most of the friendships that travelers actually keep are made in daylight, in small groups, around a shared task. Hostel common rooms are one option, but they are not the only one, and for many independent travelers they are not even the best one.

This guide is for backpackers, road-trippers and first-time solo travelers who want company without the noise. It covers low-pressure ways to meet people, what to expect from each setting, and the simple habits that make a stranger feel like a future travel buddy. Nothing here requires a booking through us; think of it as a planning sheet you can take with you.

Why Hostel-Centered Advice Often Misses Solo Travelers

Most “how to make friends traveling solo” lists default to hostel bars and dorm lounges. That advice works for some people and feels forced for many others. A few realities worth acknowledging:

  • Solo travel now skews older than the backpacker stereotype. Many travelers are in their 30s, 40s and beyond, often on shorter trips with working remotely or long weekends, and they are not looking for a 14-bed dorm.
  • Shared rooms and late-night common rooms are a real accessibility and comfort issue for many people, including light sleepers, introverts, neurodivergent travelers and women who simply prefer not to share sleeping space with strangers.
  • Friendships built entirely in a nightlife context tend to be short. Friendships built around an activity, a walk or a shared task tend to last longer and feel safer.

The healthier question is not “how do I force myself into a hostel?” It is “what kind of low-pressure setting makes it easy for me to talk to one or two people at a time?”

The Core Principle: Put Yourself in Repeat, Low-Stakes Contact

Research on how strangers become friends keeps landing on the same finding: repeated, voluntary contact in a setting where both people are doing the same thing is the most reliable path. Bars and clubs produce fast introductions but rarely produce stable friendships. A morning walking tour, a language class or a half-day volunteer shift produces slower contact, but the contact is repeated around a shared focus, which is exactly what builds trust.

Practically, that means you should pick one or two of the formats below and plan to do them more than once in the same city. Showing up twice at the same Tuesday language exchange is worth more than attending four different one-off events.

Low-Pressure Ways to Meet People Without a Hostel

1. Small-group day walks and city tours

Daytime walking tours are one of the most consistent ways solo travelers meet each other. The format works because everyone is walking the same route at the same pace, has the same map, and has natural moments to talk between stops. Free-tip-based tours in particular attract a high proportion of independent travelers in their late 20s to 50s, which often suits first-time solo travelers better than the 18-to-22 dorm crowd.

What to do on the tour:

  • Stand near the meeting point a few minutes early and introduce yourself to whoever else arrives alone.
  • Ask the guide at the end which cafés or neighborhoods other travelers on the tour are heading to. Guides hear this request often and are used to pointing people to each other.
  • If you click with one or two people, suggest a concrete next step: lunch at a specific place, a visit to a museum, or a sunset walk. “Want to grab a coffee after?” is too open. “Want to come with me to that market the guide mentioned?” is a plan.

2. Short courses and drop-in classes

Cooking classes, language exchanges, drawing and photography workshops, dance lessons, pottery, even one-day hiking skills courses all put you next to the same handful of people for two to four hours. That is enough time to move past first-name introductions into something more real.

Tips for getting the most out of a class:

  • Pick something you would actually enjoy even if you met no one. This sounds small, but it removes the social pressure that makes introductions feel forced.
  • Choose small-group formats (usually capped around 8 to 12 people) over large auditoriums.
  • Stay for the optional coffee or wine that almost every class ends with. That 20 minutes is where most actual friendships begin.

3. Volunteer days and community projects

Half-day or full-day volunteering is one of the quietest ways to meet people, including locals, which is rare on most tourist circuits. Look for things like community gardens, urban farms, beach or river cleanups, food banks, language-tandem volunteering (you teach your language, someone teaches you theirs), heritage restoration days, or trail-maintenance weekends.

Volunteering works socially because:

  • Everyone is doing a task, so conversation starts around the work, not around “so what do you do?”
  • You see how people behave under mild fatigue and shared effort, which is useful information if you are deciding whether to travel with them later.
  • You usually meet a few locals who are not in the tourism industry, which gives a different angle on the city.

You can find these through local volunteer platforms, city-specific Facebook groups, the hostel’s or coworking space’s bulletin board (you do not have to stay there to read it), or simply by searching the city’s name plus “volunteer,” “community garden,” “cleanup,” or “tandem language.”

4. Online meetups and apps, used carefully

Online platforms that organize in-person meetups can be useful, especially in cities where you arrive alone and do not yet have any context. The format is similar across most of them: you join a local group, browse upcoming events, and RSVP. Some groups are touristy, some are very local, and the difference matters.

General norms that are common across these communities:

  • Read the group rules before posting or RSVPing. Most communities expect basic courtesy, respectful disagreement, no personal attacks and no commercial promotion of events. Treat the rules as a filter: a group that enforces them is usually safer than one that does not.
  • Public Trips and Events are for meeting up, not for finding free accommodation. The two are usually kept separate by design.
  • For your first meetup, pick something with a clear time, place and a small RSVP list. Walk-and-talks, language exchanges and food meetups are usually safer than late-night bar crawls.
  • Do not share your full address, phone number or live location in chat. Move to a messaging app only after you have confirmed the event and ideally met at least one organizer.
  • Report anything that feels off. Most platforms have a reporting function and a Trust and Safety process that handles safety-related complaints.

Beyond the bigger hospitality networks, there are smaller community-driven platforms focused on cultural exchange and meetups. Activity in any specific community can rise and fall, and what is active in Lisbon may be quiet in Lyon, so it is worth checking the size of recent attendance before committing your week to a platform.

5. Coworking spaces, libraries and slow cafés

If you are traveling for more than a few days and working remotely, coworking spaces are an underrated social setting. Most have a common kitchen and shared tables, and regulars tend to know each other within a week. Even non-working visitors can usually buy a day pass.

Libraries, university common rooms and slow cafés with long opening hours serve a similar function: you sit down with a book or a notebook, and the regulars become familiar faces. Friendliness in these spaces tends to be quieter than at a bar, which is exactly the point.

6. Group outdoor activities

Day hikes, kayak trips, climbing sessions, ski school groups, cycling meetups and trail-running clubs all create fast camaraderie because the shared physical effort shortens the social distance. You do not need to be an expert; beginner-friendly group hikes exist in most European cities through local outdoor clubs and language-specific expat groups.

7. Religious, cultural and interest-based communities

This category is often overlooked. If you sing in a choir back home, look for community choirs that accept drop-ins for a session. If you practice yoga, many cities have drop-in yoga studios that run social events after class. Bookshops, board game cafés, language tandems and chess clubs all do the same thing.

The trick is that these are not marketed to travelers. You find them by searching the city plus your interest, by asking at a local bookshop, or by browsing expat community boards.

8. Staying in small guesthouses, B&Bs or apartments

Counterintuitively, smaller and quieter accommodation can be more social than a 200-bed hostel. Family-run guesthouses and small B&Bs usually have a shared breakfast table that becomes a rotating group of three to six people over the course of a stay. Apartment rentals in buildings with a shared courtyard or rooftop, especially in southern Europe, often produce the same effect. You will not meet as many people, but the people you meet are more likely to be in your demographic and traveling at your pace.

A One-Week Solo Plan That Actually Produces Friendships

If you have seven nights in a new city and you want to come home with at least two new phone numbers, here is a realistic rhythm.

Day 1: Arrive, check in, do a short orientation walk on your own. Eat dinner at a busy, small-plate restaurant where the tables are close together.

Day 2: Book a small-group morning walking tour. Ask the guide about weekly events and which neighborhood to explore in the afternoon. Suggest lunch with anyone you clicked with.

Day 3: Find a volunteer day, a cooking class or a language exchange for the evening. Stay for the after-class social.

Day 4: Take a half-day hike or outdoor activity with a local group. Plan a meetup with one or two people from earlier in the week.

Day 5: Slow morning at a café or coworking space. Use the afternoon for a museum or neighborhood walk with the people you have already met.

Day 6: Repeat one of the formats from earlier in the week (same class, same volunteer day, same walking group). This is the day where actual friendships consolidate.

Day 7: Departure morning with a contact list and at least one plan to meet again on a future trip.

Safety and Etiquette Without Becoming Paranoid

Meeting strangers while traveling is normal and mostly safe, but a few habits reduce risk without making every interaction feel transactional.

  • Meet in daylight, in public, for the first meeting. Cafés, libraries, well-known squares and tourist paths are all fine.
  • Tell someone where you are going. A quick message to a friend with the name of the place is enough.
  • Keep your first meetup short. Two hours of coffee is safer than a full-day plan with someone you have just met online.
  • Trust your read on energy. If someone pushes past a boundary, talks over you, or pressures you about money, accommodation or alcohol, you do not need a second meeting to confirm that.
  • Be a good guest of the community. Most meetup groups are run by volunteers and rely on people showing up on time, RSVPing honestly, and not promoting their own business in chat.
  • For any platform you use, take a few minutes to read the community guidelines and the safety basics. They are usually short, and they tell you both what behavior is expected and how to report problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it weird to travel solo as a first-time solo traveler?

Not at all. Solo travel is a normal way to travel, especially for people in their late 20s and older. You will not be the only person at any walking tour, class or meetup who is on their own.

How long does it usually take to meet people on a solo trip?

Most travelers who commit to one or two repeat activities in a city make a real connection within three to five days. The mistake is usually trying a different event every night instead of going back to the same small group.

Can introverts meet people without forcing themselves into loud bars?

Yes. The formats above (classes, volunteer days, day walks, coworking, interest-based clubs) are specifically chosen because they let an introvert have one good conversation rather than twelve shallow ones. Pick one and commit for the week.

Are online meetup groups safe?

They can be, when used with the same caution you would use anywhere: meet in public, share plans with someone back home, read the community rules, and use the platform’s reporting tools if something feels off. No platform can guarantee outcomes, so direct specific concerns to the platform’s safety resources.

What if I arrive in a city and nothing is happening that week?

Travel during shoulder season or in smaller cities can mean thinner event calendars. In that case, slow down, stay four or five nights instead of two, and use small accommodation and coworking spaces as your social setting rather than a packed events calendar.

A Short Pre-Trip Checklist

Before you fly, run through this once. It takes about 20 minutes and removes most of the friction from your first three days.

  • Save two or three walking tour companies for your first city, with morning slots if you can.
  • Look up one volunteer platform or community garden for the city and note the next open day.
  • Search the city plus “language exchange,” “hiking group,” “board games” or whatever your interest is, and bookmark one group.
  • Skim the community guidelines of any platform you plan to use.
  • Decide which type of accommodation matches your social style this trip.
  • Pack one item that makes conversation easy: a deck of cards, a small sketchbook, a travel chess set, a phrasebook for the local language.

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