The A-Z of Solo Female Travel: E is for Europe

Posted on by Julie

In today’s installment of the A-Z of Solo Female Travel, I’m going to talk about Europe. I know, when you “go travelling”, you’re supposed to go somewhere cheap, like south-east Asia or south America – somewhere with lots of sunshine and parties and cheap booze. But I’m here to advocate for Europe. In 2022, around 46% of my views were from Europe – for a certain definition of Europe, which is mostly “not across the Atlantic or the Med” – so for a lot of you, it’s going to be true when I say Europe is good because it’s nearby. That means cheaper and easier and it means it’s more practical to go for a shorter trip. If I went to another continent, I’m going to want to stay at least a week or two to make it worth the effort, and that’s quite a chunk out of my annual leave. Europe – I can go off for five days quite easily. Maybe even a long weekend. If you’re new to solo travel, a shorter, cheaper and easier trip might be just what you’re after as a warm-up for something bigger, or for an introduction to the art of travelling alone.

Pricing

Thailand and Colombia and all the other travel favourites may be cheap when you get there but my bank account would scream if I showed it the price of a flight to those places, to say nothing of my annual leave allowance. I had a weekend in Paris for £50 return flights – not back in the early days of the budget airlines, when you genuinely could fly for 50p, but in 2018. I would consider £200 for anything within Europe extortionate. Come to that, I had a weekend in Malta for £200 all-in – flights, accommodation, food, souvenirs, travel. And because Europe has so much diversity in such a relatively small place, and pretty well-organised public transport, there’s plenty you can do overland instead of taking flights if you prefer that.

You can still find budget accommodation. Cheap multi-bunkbed hostels exist in Europe. Campsites exist, if you’re willing to travel with a tent. Housesitting and couchsurfing exist, although I’d approach something like couchsurfing with extreme caution, ever since I heard two girls in a hot tub discussing how their host had attempted to assault them but they didn’t want to put that on the website or give him a low rating because “he’s such a nice guy”. Yeah. Really. Folks, if that happens to you, shout that loud and clear across his reviews. Report him to the site, if not to the police! Anyway, that’s beside the point. My point is that sunny countries with cheap alcohol are not the only places you can stay somewhere cheap.

And with the money you’ve saved on the flights, maybe you’d like to upgrade your accommodation anyway. Private rooms in better hostels. Cheap hotels. Expensive hotels. Glamping. Hire a camper van. Europe’s a great place for driving, what with the utter lack of borders between anywhere except the UK. Plot yourself a continental road trip, if you want. Start in Sicily and finish in the Arctic Circle.

Seeing something new

There’s so much of Europe you haven’t seen. If you like the budget backpacker vibe, getting off the beaten track, there are thousands, millions, of tiny rural villages just waiting to be found. Backpacking Bananas went to Albania & Montenegro last year and treated it exactly as she would Peru or the Philippines – maybe fewer bikinis and scuba trips. Have you ever been to Latvia or Lithuania? The Arctic Circle? There’s far more to Europe than London, Paris, Berlin and the all-inclusive family-friendly beach resorts of France and Spain. What do you like? What do you want to try out? Europe has it, I promise. City breaks, beach holidays, obscure places untouched by tourism, adventure sports, rural retreats, anything you fancy. There is so much variety! This is an entire continent! How can you consider the snow-covered peaks along the north Norwegian coast the same place as the glitzy resorts of the French Riviera or the party beaches of the Mediterranean islands or the Baltic states? I can’t emphasise enough that whatever you’re looking for around the world, you can find something to your taste in Europe.

Practicalities

There’s a lower language barrier too, if that’s something you’re worried about. A lot of people in Europe speak English and figuring out European languages written in Latin script is far easier than figuring out, say, Thai language in Thai script. If you want to learn the language before you go, you’re more likely to a) find learning resources b) find it easier to learn it yourself c) find an actual class with an actual teacher.

Next up, you’ll probably have less difficulty with visas and documentation – or at least, it’s something you’ll have to think about and worry about a little less. Cross a border and you don’t need to show your passport or get it stamped or get a visa for the next country. You probably don’t even have to change currencies. If you’re a first-timer or you want to practice a multi-country trip, Europe’s a really good testing ground. You can learn the basics of solo travel and then add on the harder bits later when you’ve got more experience.

My recommendations

If anyone was to ask my Europe recommendations – and I try to press these on my parents, who are not interested in anything except Austria and Germany:

Helsinki

The harbourfront of Helsinki as seen from the water. The big square white cathedral pokes out from Baroque-style buildings which reflect faintly in the water. It's late afternoon in winter and although the sky is blue, there's a hint of pink about it.

I say it over and over again. Helsinki is a gem. It’s a beautiful city with wild wooded islands within very easy reach, a proper Finnish sauna experience and a harbourside open air thermal pool. I wish I’d spent more time there. I’m going to go there in the autumn, when I can enjoy the chill properly.

Tallinn

Tallinn's Old Town as seen from the top of a church tower. There are lots of trees and lots of pointed red roofs.

I really liked Tallinn! Beautiful medieval Old Town with castles and walls and churches, easyJet flights, easy reach of quiet beaches – if you like Hanseatic Germany or Poland, you’ll probably like Tallinn.

Tromsø

Tromso as seen from the mountain opposite. The city is on two sides of the water, connected by a bridge. The water is deep blue, the city is covered in snow and there is a backdrop of pristine snow-covered mountains.

One of my favourite cities ever. Tromsø works particularly well in the winter – take a snowmobiling trip or visit the local Sami reindeer farm, luxuriate in the “Paris of the North” and then go out by night and look for the Northern Lights. It’s not exactly a tip because the Northern Lights will do what they want but I’ve always seen good lights when I’ve been out looking in Tromsø.

Svalbard

Svalbard in November. A small town sits at the foot of pointed mountains which are silhouetted by the dark blue sky. Anywhere else, this would be 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. This is about lunchtime in Svalbard in "dark winter".

It sounds a bit exotic to suggest an archipelago in the High Arctic but the reason I went there in the first place was that flights to Svalbard were cheaper than flights to towns in mainland Arctic Norway. I was looking for Alta or Hammerfest, somewhere cold and snowy and dark, and they were more expensive than going to Svalbard. It’s exotic. It’s proper polar bear land and you’re going to want to explore its frozen lands because there’s precious little in town. I was going to spend another week there this winter but the sun is already above the horizon by now and summer is heading in, so next winter it will have to be.

Neuchâtel

Neuchatel, a city built from yellow sandstone at the foot of a low mountain. This picture is taken across the marina, looking to the opulent yellow post office building and lots of small boats, admittedly mostly dressed up in blue tarpaulins to keep them dry and clean.

My Swiss homeland? Surely not? Yeah. Look, when you go to Switzerland, you think of lakes and mountains – Interlaken and the Oberland. Well, there’s a lot more to Switzerland. Neuchâtel is a relatively small town on a lake, a sun-soaked yellow sandstone, a piece of the French riviera transplanted into the wrong country. Wine Switzerland rather than Beer Switzerland. There’s boat trips, mountain trips and plenty of opportunity for day trips further afield since it’s on the high speed Geneva/Lausanne to Basel/Zurich lines and only an hour or so from Bern.

Germany

A back street of Frankfurt near the station. The buildings are low, about four storeys and mostly red brick. In the background is a gleaming glass tower reflecting the pastel pinks and blues of the setting sun.

I haven’t seen a lot of Germany but I’ve liked what I have. What’s not to like about an organised modern country with a slick public transport system and a culture of beer and sausages? In the north you have beach resorts – I admit, the Baltic might not be your first thought for a beach holidays – and in the south you have mountains. In between you have all kinds of cities, you have spa towns

There’s plenty more on my to-do list too. Croatia, Slovenia, more of Germany, Sicily, more of Poland, more of Finland – oh, I could keep myself busy and happy for the rest of my life without ever venturing beyond Europe! I mean, I hope I will one day. I have a vague idea about spending a certain upcoming birthday in New Zealand and one day I’m going to have to bite the bullet and do a group tour around Egypt but let’s quit with the whole “Europe is boring and not real travelling” because none of that is true.