The 20 best European cities for solo travellers have been revealed – and Rhodes in Greece tops the list.
It was produced by a Wizz Air study, with researchers ranking cities based on Tripadvisor reviews – specifically for restaurants and attractions in each destination – tagged ‘solo travellers’ in 2023.
The budget airline then calculated the percentage of five-star reviews for each city and ranked them accordingly, it explains. This process involved selecting only the highest-scoring city from each country to ensure that each country was represented only once on the list.
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1. Rhodes, Greece
In first place is the Greek city of Rhodes, which saw 76 per cent of its solo-traveller user reviews rated with five stars, according to the Wizz Air study.
Of these, the city’s attractions received the majority of five-star reviews (79 per cent), with 73 per cent of restaurants in the city attracting perfect scores.
2. Split, Croatia
Runner-up is Split, with 73 per cent of solo travel reviews awarded five stars.
Attractions in the Croatian city received the most five-star reviews (81 per cent), followed by restaurant reviews at 66 per cent, the report reveals.
3= Faro, Portugal
In joint third place is Faro, Portugal, which saw 67 per cent of its reviews at five stars.
The city, in the Algarve region, earned the bulk of its five-star reviews for its attractions (74 per cent). Fifty-nine per cent of restaurants garnered top marks.
3= Istanbul, Türkiye (Turkey)
Tying with Faro is the Turkish city of Istanbul, also with an overall five-star review score of 67 per cent.
The restaurants performed best, with 71 per cent of them attracting perfect scores.
4. Florence, Italy
Rounding off the top five is Florence in Italy, which saw 66 per cent of its solo-traveller user reviews at the five-star level.
Attractions garnered the majority of five-star reviews (71 per cent), with 61 per cent of restaurants clocking up five-star reviews.
5. London, UK
In fifth place, and the sixth destination in the ranking, it’s London, where an overall 63 per cent of reviews relating to travelling solo awarded it five stars.
‘Overall, 63 per cent of the English city’s reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star – highlighting just how great an option the destination is for a trip alone,’ Wizz Air said. In total, 74 per cent of the UK capital’s attractions were given five-star reviews, while 51 per cent of restaurants attracted top marks.
6= Reykjavik, Iceland
‘Reykjavik ranks as the joint sixth-best destination in Europe for those travelling by themselves in 2023,’ Wizz Air said.
Overall, 62 per cent of the Icelandic city’s reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star.
6= Seville, Spain
Seville comes joint sixth thanks to 62 per cent of its reviews being awarded five stars on average.
7= Valletta, Malta
Overall, 60 per cent of Valletta’s reviews relating to solo travel were five-star.
7= Nice, France
Sixty per cent of Nice’s reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star, according to Wizz Air, which ranks it joint seventh with Valletta. Sixty-eight per cent of its attractions were deemed five-star versus 51 per cent of its restaurants.
8. Lucerne, Switzerland
Here, 59 per cent of solo travellers left five-star reviews. The split between attractions and restaurants was 66 per cent and 51 per cent.
9= Varna, Bulgaria
Varna earns joint ninth thanks to 58 per cent of its reviews being five-star. The split between attractions and restaurants was 63 per cent and 53 per cent.
9= Riga, Latvia
The Latvian capital of Riga came ninth with an identical overall score, of 58 per cent, to that of Varna. The split between attractions and restaurants was 60 per cent and 56 per cent.
10= Bruges, Belgium
For Bruge, in joint tenth place, 57 per cent of reviews relating to travelling solo were five-star. The split between attractions and restaurants was 62.5 per cent and 51 per cent.
10= Kaunas, Lithuania
Also sharing the last spot in the top ten ranking is the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, with 57 per cent of reviews marked as five stars. The split between attractions and restaurants was 51 per cent and 63 per cent.
10= Krakow, Poland
The third city to rank joint tenth is Krakow, with an overall score of 57 per cent and a split between attractions and restaurants of 56 per cent and 57 per cent.
11. Bucharest, Romania
Coming in as the eleventh-best city for solo travellers, Bucharest has an overall five-star percentage of 55 with 56 per cent of attractions awarded five stars and 54 per cent of restaurants.
12= Prague, Czech Republic
Prague comes in at joint twelfth-best on the list. The numbers? It has an overall five-star percent of 54, with attractions and restaurants almost neck and neck – 53 per cent and 54 percent respectively.
12= Budapest, Hungary
The capital city of Hungary ranks the same as Prague at 12th. Overall, 54 per cent of reviews were rated five stars. The split between attractions and restaurants? Fifty-one per cent and 57 per cent.
12= Roosendaal, Netherlands
Also in joint 12th place is the Dutch city of Roosendaal with 54 per cent of reviews being five-star. Attractions here (60 per cent) had more critical success than restaurants (48 per cent).
Andras Rado, corporate communications manager at Wizz Air, commented: ‘There is a lot to be said about the benefits of travelling on your own – from freedom of location to cheaper travel expenses.
‘Of course, those choosing to go on holiday on their own want to ensure that the destinations they’re heading off to have plenty to keep them entertained, which is why we have collated a ranking of the best city destinations for solo travellers.
‘One of the most reliable ways for travellers to gain information about the realities of travelling to a destination is through the experiences of other travellers that have been there before, which is why we know the importance of basing our ranking on reviews left by prior solo-travellers to ensure that these cities have the most to offer those jetting off alone.’
The list of cities ranked in the Wizz Air report was gathered based on Euromonitor’s top 100 cities in 2019, Europa’s list of culture and tourism cities, and Holidu magazine’s list of European cities with the most tourism.
The study was not officially endorsed by Tripadvisor.
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