Women-Only Travel Meetups: How Solo Female Travelers Meet People

Ask women who travel alone what the hardest part is, and "safety" usually comes second. The first answer is closer to "the first evening". You've arrived, you'd love some company, and every way of finding it comes with a calculation: who's going to be there, will it be a group of guys, will someone read "want to grab dinner?" as something it isn't.

Women-only meetups take the calculation away. Not because mixed groups are dangerous (most are lovely), but because a table of women traveling alone is relaxed from the first minute. Nobody's performing, nobody's misreading anything, and the conversation goes straight to the good stuff. Here's where to find them, and how to start one yourself.

Why women-only works so well on the road

• It makes yes easier. Joining a dinner with five strangers is easier when you already know who they are, broadly. More yeses means more good evenings.
• Everyone's in the same boat. The woman across the table has also walked home from the station holding her keys, and also had the "are you alone?" conversation with a taxi driver. You skip a lot of explaining.
• The tips are better. Women swap the practical stuff: which neighbourhood felt fine at night, which hostel has the good women's dorm, which bar to skip.
• It's a start, not a bubble. Plenty of women use women-only plans for the first night or two, then mix freely once they've found their feet and a couple of friends.

Women-only plans on Suppertime

This is the easiest way to find them, and it's why we built them. On Suppertime you see small plans other travelers in your city have posted for today, like a dinner at 8, a sunset walk or a gallery, and some of them are women-only, so only women can join. Or host your own: post a plan, make it women-only, pick the place and the time, and see who comes.

Everything else that keeps Suppertime calm works in your favour too. There are no DMs, so nobody can slide into your messages. Links are blocked in chats. The chat belongs to the plan and disappears when it's over, so there's no long tail of strangers in your inbox. And every report is reviewed by a person.

Other women-only options worth knowing

• Female dorms in hostels. Most big hostels have them. They're a quick way to meet other women traveling alone, and to find someone for that evening's plan.
• Women's walking and food tours. Some cities have tours run by and for women, often by local guides showing their own city. Search "women's walking tour" plus the city.
• Women-only group trips. A growing number of operators run trips just for women, from long weekends to multi-week adventures. Good if you'd like someone else to handle the planning.
• Women's travel communities online. Big women's travel groups on Facebook and Reddit have threads where women post "anyone in Lisbon this week?" Lovely for advice, slower for tonight.
• Women's hours and spaces. Hammams in Istanbul and Marrakech, many bathhouses in Japan and plenty of yoga studios have women's sessions. Not a meetup, but a very easy place to start talking.

How to host a women-only plan

Hosting sounds like a big step. It isn't, and it's the fastest way to meet people, because the host gets to know everyone at the table.

• Be specific. "Dinner at this taquería at 8" gets more joins than "anyone want to hang out?"
• Public and central. A busy restaurant, a café, a viewpoint at sunset. Easy to find, easy to leave.
• Keep it small. Four to six is the sweet spot: everyone talks, and nobody gets stranded at the end of the table.
• Pick something you'd do anyway. If nobody joins, you still get the dinner you wanted. (Someone usually joins.)

Cities that are easy to start in

Women travel alone everywhere, but some cities make a first solo trip feel especially easy: walkable, well lit, good public transport, and plenty of other women doing the same thing. Lisbon, Tokyo, Seoul, Copenhagen, Ljubljana and Tallinn are all good first picks. Each city page has a solo travel guide and a month-by-month climate guide.

The usual safety habits still apply

A women-only plan is a lower-pressure plan, not a reason to drop your guard. Meet somewhere public, tell one person where you'll be, and know how you're getting home. Our safety checklist for meeting people from apps has the full list, with a section for women traveling alone.

Find your table tonight

Open Suppertime in whatever city you've landed in, look for women-only plans, and join one, or post your own and let the table come to you. It's free on iOS.