Things to Do Alone at Night When Traveling (No Bar Required)

Solo travel has a timetable problem. The days fill themselves: a museum to see, a train to catch, a hill someone online said was worth the climb. Then the sun goes down, the sights close, and the default evening for someone on their own is a bar, a phone or an early night.

Bars are fine. But they're the hardest place to be alone, the most expensive way to fill four hours, and not everyone drinks. So here are better things to do alone at night when you're traveling, sorted by how much company you're in the mood for.

When you want to be alone, nicely

• Go to a late opening. Many big museums and galleries stay open late one night a week, often with music and a completely different crowd. Check the museum's own website rather than the guidebook.
• See a film. Cinema is the one entertainment designed for sitting in silence next to strangers. In summer, look for outdoor screenings in parks and on rooftops.
• Take a night walk through a neighbourhood you saw in daylight. Cities change completely after dark, and you'll notice things you walked straight past at noon. Stick to busy, well-lit streets.
• Find a bath. A thermal bath in Budapest, a hammam in Istanbul, a public bathhouse in Japan. Some of the best evenings in travel are spent warm, quiet and alone among strangers.
• Go up high. A rooftop viewpoint, a hilltop park, an observation deck. City lights from above beat any sunset photo.

When you want people around, but not to talk to

• Night markets.Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Taipei and much of Asia do their best eating after dark at plastic tables, where eating alone is completely normal. Plenty of European cities have late-opening food halls doing the same job.
• Live music in a small room. Jazz bars, fado in Lisbon, folk nights, a band in a back room. Everyone faces the stage, nobody notices you're alone, and the talking happens between sets if you want it.
• A match. Football, baseball in Japan, a local derby on a screen in a bar full of fans. Pick a side and you'll have friends by half-time.
• Karaoke for one. In Tokyo and Seoul you can rent a karaoke room by yourself and sing badly with nobody watching. It's more fun than it sounds.

When you want to meet someone

• Comedy nights. English-language stand-up and open mics run weekly in most big cities. Small rooms, cheap tickets, and half the audience is usually expats and travelers who are easy to talk to afterwards.
• Language exchanges. Bars and cafés host them on weeknights all over the world. The format forces conversation, which is the point, and locals come too. You don't need to speak the language; teaching yours counts.
• Evening run clubs. Most go at an easy pace, cost nothing and finish at a café or a bar. Running side by side is one of the least awkward ways to talk to a stranger.
• Board game cafés and quiz nights. Turn up alone and ask to join a table. Games need players, so you're nearly always welcome.
• A night tour. Street food tours, ghost walks, night photography walks. A small group, a shared activity and a natural invitation to keep going afterwards.
• A dinner with other travelers. The simplest one. A hostel family dinner, a supper club, or a plan someone posted on Suppertime for tonight.

Staying safe after dark

Nothing on this list needs more than the usual care. Know how you're getting back before you go out, keep your phone charged, and choose busy streets over shortcuts. If you're meeting people from an app, our safety checklist covers the details.

The 7pm problem has a fix

We've written before about the loneliest part of solo travel: not the days, the evenings. The fix isn't getting better at being alone. It's having something in the diary before the sun goes down.

That's what Suppertime is for. Open it in the afternoon and you'll see small plans other travelers in your city have posted for tonight: a comedy show, a night market, dinner at 8, a walk up to a viewpoint. Join one, or post your own idea and see who comes. It's free on iOS. For daytime, our city guides list things to do alone in more than 50 cities.