Image credit: Maximilien T'Scharner on Unsplash
For many people, solo travel can be incredibly rewarding, life affirming and fulfilling. A chance to spread your wings and get to know yourself, it’s a trend that continues to rise, especially in a post-Covid world where luxury resorts and beach destinations make it seem so easy. But for women, travelling alone can be fraught with challenges, with some countries proving more welcoming and easier to navigate alone than others. Often, it’s the little things, like how safe you feel walking alone at night, or a country’s overall stance on violence against women that can really stack up. And other obvious cultural differences aside, the simple truth is that some places aren’t as safe as others for female solo travellers. And there’s ample data to back this up.
In a 2023 update on a study published by luggage storage expert Bounce, it has devised a list of the 10 best countries for solo female travellers and the five worst. Basing its findings on a number of factors, including the percentage of women who have experienced violence from a partner in their lifetime, number of female homicide victims, number of women who report feeling safe walking alone at night, the attitudes towards violence against women, the laws on domestic violence and also a country’s gender gap index score, Bounce gave each country a safety score out of 10.
While Australia neither made it to the top 10 safest countries, nor scored a mention in the five least safe places to tracel, you might be surprised to see some rather well-known and popular countries on this list. Keep reading to discover the results, and for the full results of the 2023 study head to Bounce.com.
