Although it can be frightening, travelling alone is often the best way to explore a new country or city.
Unrestricted by the wishes and to-do lists of companions, solo travellers get to experience a side of their destination which is completely tailored to their own interests.
Business Insider has compiled a list of the 50 best cities in the world that everyone should travel to alone in their lifetime.
The cities were chosen and ranked based on three main criteria:
- A city's popularity with tourists according to MasterCard's 2017 Global Destination Cities Index.
- Its crime rate out of 100 according to Numbeo's 2017 Crime Index (where 0 is utterly safe and 100 is the most crime-ridden).
- The cost of living according to Numbeo's 2017 Cost of Living Index, which compared the prices of consumer goods such as restaurants, groceries, and transportation in each city against prices in New York City, which was ranked one of the most expensive cities to live in in 2017.
Hostelworld's 2017 survey of the world's most sociable and friendly cities also provides an idea of how welcoming the locals are to solo travellers for some cities, though not all destinations were not included in the survey so this did not influence the ranking.
Scroll on to discover the 50 best cities in the world for travelling alone, ranked in ascending order.
50. Bogotá, Colombia.
Destination Popularity: 76th
Crime Index: 62.68
Cost of Living: 38.11% of New York
49. Vancouver, Canada.
Destination Popularity: 34th
Crime Index: 34.99
Sociability: 17th
Cost of Living: 75.89% of New York
48. New York, USA.
Destination Popularity: 6th
Crime Index: 45.2
Sociability: 5th
Cost of Living: 100%
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