First-timers
371 travellers surveyed
They want reassurance. They’ll read what other solo travellers said before they book anything.
63.3%cite reviews from solo stayers
39.1%want same-gender dorms
57.4%go to challenge themselves
The 2026 State of Solo Travel Report
Vietnam breaks into the top three, Americans stay home, and more solo travellers head for places nobody’s posting about.
4.5msolo trips analysed
3,309travellers surveyed
59destinations with growth data
Solo travel stopped being a phase.
It’s how a whole generation books!
Behind this report: 4.5 million solo trips booked through Hostelworld between July 2025 and June 2026, and a survey of 3,309 people who travel alone. Between them they show a crowd who’ve done this before, don’t buy the hype and know exactly how much they’re willing to spend.
01 – Who they are
Who travels solo now
The crowd barely changed shape this year. What changed is how many of them have done this before.
65.8%are aged 18–3066% in 2025
59.3%are women60% in 2025
19.7%identify as LGBTQIA+18% in 2025
11.2%haven’t gone solo yetnew question
7.9%take 10+ solo trips a yearnew question
02 – Why they go
Why people travel solo
Being in charge of your own trip is the strongest motivation to travel solo.
“I always choose hostels based on if they have female only dorms, price, and if they have privacy curtains on the beds.”
SURVEY RESPONDENT · 3,309 SOLO TRAVELLERS SURVEYED
03 – Traveller types
Three kinds of solo traveller
How much someone has travelled alone shapes their answers more than anything else in the survey. That’s why these groups come back through the rest of the report.
Regulars
1,974 travellers surveyed · 2–10 trips a year
The core of the crowd. They’ve done this before and they know what they’ll spend.
58.2%cite reviews from solo stayers
28.6%travel off-season to save
19.0%won’t travel any other way
Frequent travellers
260 travellers surveyed · 10+ trips a year
They sort themselves out and they don’t buy the hype. The closest thing to actual digital nomads.
35.8%actively avoid trending spots
24.6%say nothing would change their booking
20.8%work remotely while travelling
04 – Destinations
Top solo travel destinations 2026
Same twenty countries as last year, eleven of them in exactly the same spot – but the top three changed for the first time in three years!
#DestinationSharevs 2025Move
01
Thailand7.6%−5.3%—
Thailand7.6%−5.3%—02
Spain6.4%+3.7%—
Spain6.4%+3.7%—03
Vietnam5.6%+9.6%+1
Vietnam5.6%+9.6%+104
Italy5.2%+0.6%−1
Italy5.2%+0.6%−105
Australia5.1%+3.2%—
Australia5.1%+3.2%—06
Indonesia3.8%−10.4%—
Indonesia3.8%−10.4%—07
USA3.2%+1.0%—
USA3.2%+1.0%—08
France3.2%+5.2%+1
France3.2%+5.2%+109
Germany3.1%+1.2%−1
Germany3.1%+1.2%−110
Portugal3.0%+0.7%—
Portugal3.0%+0.7%—11
England2.9%−1.2%—
England2.9%−1.2%—12
Mexico2.6%−10.1%—
Mexico2.6%−10.1%—13
Colombia2.4%−4.7%—
Colombia2.4%−4.7%—14
New Zealand1.9%−2.4%—
New Zealand1.9%−2.4%—15
Sri Lanka1.9%+21.2%+4
Sri Lanka1.9%+21.2%+416
Peru1.9%+6.8%+2
Peru1.9%+6.8%+217
Japan1.9%−2.2%−1
Japan1.9%−2.2%−118
Netherlands1.8%−0.1%−1
Netherlands1.8%−0.1%−119
Philippines1.8%−6.9%−4
Philippines1.8%−6.9%−420
Guatemala1.7%+17.9%—
Guatemala1.7%+17.9%—
Vietnam takes third
Fourth last year, fifth the year before. Up 22.3% over two years while Italy grew 0.3%.
Thailand slips 5.3%
Its first drop since we started tracking, after a year of double-digit growth, and it’s still number one, just by less than before.
Sri Lanka up 21.2%
Up four places to 15th, though growth slowed from 44% in late 2025 to 7.2% in early 2026.
05 – Movement
Who is rising, who is falling
What changed since last year among Hostelworld solo travellers, across 59 destinations.
Fastest growing
DestinationRankvs 2025vs 2024
China#49+80.7%+194.6%
El Salvador#47+47.6%+89.3%
Albania#40+27.9%+39.0%
Montenegro#55+27.2%+32.4%
Taiwan#53+24.7%+43.3%
Bosnia and Herzegovina#59+21.8%+40.4%Sri Lanka#15+21.2%+103.0%
Brazil#21+18.4%+50.5%
Panama#46+18.3%+17.4%Guatemala#20+17.9%+37.1%
Poland#37+16.4%+22.3%
Romania#58+14.7%+20.9%Biggest declines
DestinationRankvs 2025vs 2024
Cambodia#26−15.4%+5.7%
India#31−11.8%−18.4%Indonesia#6−10.4%−5.8%Mexico#12−10.1%−16.1%
Turkey#39−7.9%−11.3%Philippines#19−6.9%+21.1%Thailand#1−5.3%+8.6%
Denmark#44−5.2%−8.4%Colombia#13−4.7%−8.6%
Croatia#33−4.7%−6.9%
Switzerland#42−4.3%−13.0%
Singapore#54−4.2%+7.7%Rank = position among all destinations by share of Hostelworld solo bookings.
+80.7% China, in one year – and +194.6% over two, climbing from 58th to 49th
The fastest-growing destination on the list
It isn’t one single market pushing it: bookings from England are up 167%, Australia 145%, the USA 87%, Germany 77% and the Netherlands 74%. It’s growing fast, and there’s plenty of room to climb as it currently sits in 49th position.
The backpacker trail is shifting
Every one of these grew last year. Now the classic Southeast Asia trail has more stops shrinking than growing – a first.
+9.6%Vietnam
Vietnam+10.6%
Laos
Laos−2.5%
Malaysia
Malaysia−4.2%Singapore
Singapore−6.9%Philippines
Philippines−10.4%Indonesia
Indonesia−15.4%Cambodia
CambodiaThe Balkans are the new Croatia
Albania +27.9% · Montenegro +27.2% · Bosnia and Herzegovina +21.8%
All three accelerated through the year, while Croatia fell 4.7% and Greece was flat.
Central America pulls away from Mexico
El Salvador +47.6% · Panama +18.3% · Guatemala +17.9%
Mexico fell 10.1% and Colombia 4.7% over the same period.
Africa is the fastest-growing source region
+16.4% this year · +40.2% over two years
African travellers are 1.7% of all bookings, so read the percentage with that in mind.
We only show growth percentages for destinations with at least 10,000 solo trips between July 2025 and June 2026. That’s 59 destinations.
06 – The USA
The world is skipping the USA
The USA holds seventh place. That one number is hiding two opposite trends.
−9.1%
trips into the USA by non-American travellers
The steepest fall of any major destination we track.
+17.6%
solo travel by Americans inside their own country
This is the only reason the USA still holds seventh place.
How much each market cut its trips to the USA
NetherlandsSwitzerland
ArgentinaGermany
CanadaAustralia
Europe, all marketsOceania, all markets
Indian travellers are the exception, up 21%. Domestic American trips rose 17.6% over the same period.
Still seventh, but only because Americans are staying home
On the surface the USA looks steady: 3.2% of all solo bookings, up 1.0%, still seventh. Split it and you get two trends cancelling each other out – far fewer people arriving from almost everywhere, and more Americans travelling alone at home.
07 – Regions
Where each region goes
Six regions this year instead of three. Asia and Africa are new, and they behave nothing like each other.
Europe
+0.9% volume
1Thailand9.7%
Thailand9.7%2Vietnam7.1%
Vietnam7.1%3Australia6.9%
Australia6.9%4Spain5.2%
Spain5.2%5Indonesia5.0%
Indonesia5.0%Vietnam moved past Australia into second.
Northern America
+7.0% volume
1USA7.4%
USA7.4%2Spain7.0%
Spain7.0%3Italy6.1%
Italy6.1%4Thailand5.4%
Thailand5.4%5Portugal3.9%
Portugal3.9%The USA knocked Spain off the top, and that’s Americans staying home rather than new appetite.
Latin America & Caribbean
−2.2% volume
1Spain13.6%
Spain13.6%2Italy9.4%
Italy9.4%3Mexico6.2%
Mexico6.2%4USA4.8%
USA4.8%5France4.6%
France4.6%The only region whose top five didn’t move at all.
Asia
+2.0% volume
1Italy6.4%
Italy6.4%2India6.1%
India6.1%3Spain6.0%
Spain6.0%4Germany5.8%
Germany5.8%5Thailand5.6%
Thailand5.6%The most evenly spread region – nothing above 6.4%.
Oceania
−1.6% volume
1Thailand6.0%
Thailand6.0%2Italy5.7%
Italy5.7%3Vietnam5.6%
Vietnam5.6%4Spain5.0%
Spain5.0%5Australia4.6%
Australia4.6%Vietnam climbed from fifth to third, and Australia is back in at five.
Africa
+16.4% volume
1Spain18.0%
Spain18.0%2Italy9.2%
Italy9.2%3France7.6%
France7.6%4Germany5.6%
Germany5.6%5Portugal4.9%
Portugal4.9%Fastest-growing source region, up 40.2% over two years, and the most concentrated, though it’s only 1.7% of all bookings.
08 – Source markets
Who is going where
New this year: the fifteen largest source markets, their top five destinations, and how much of their travel stays at home.
Source marketTop five destinationsDomestic sharevs 2025
USAUSA · Spain · Italy · Thailand · France9.1%+8.7%EnglandThailand · Vietnam · Australia · Indonesia · England3.9%−0.6%GermanyThailand · Australia · Vietnam · Indonesia · Spain4.2%+2.6%FranceAustralia · Thailand · France · Vietnam · Spain6.4%+0.7%AustraliaThailand · Italy · Vietnam · Spain · Australia4.6%−1.3%CanadaThailand · Spain · Canada · Italy · Vietnam5.3%+2.2%NetherlandsThailand · Vietnam · Indonesia · Australia · Sri Lanka1.1%−5.5%ItalyItaly · Spain · Australia · Thailand · Vietnam13.0%+7.0%IndiaIndia · Thailand · Germany · Italy · Spain16.3%+8.4%
IrelandThailand · Vietnam · Ireland · Australia · Spain6.1%+0.9%SwitzerlandThailand · Vietnam · Indonesia · Australia · Colombia0.9%+1.3%MexicoMexico · Spain · Italy · USA · France19.5%−2.9%SpainSpain · Thailand · Italy · Indonesia · Vietnam18.0%−1.3%BrazilSpain · Italy · Brazil · Portugal · France8.4%+2.6%New ZealandThailand · Vietnam · Italy · Spain · Australia4.4%−3.9% 15.8%
The USA is now clearly the largest source market
Growing 8.7% while England was flat and Australia fell 1.3%.
4 markets
Vietnam is the common thread
It went top three for English, German, French and Irish travellers all at the same time, and grew 41% among Mexican travellers.
−34%
The retreat from the USA is everywhere
Dutch travellers cut trips to the USA by 34%, Swiss by 32%, Germans 22%, Canadians 21%, Australians 18%. Indian travellers are the exception, up 21%.
11 of 15
Domestic solo travel is rising almost everywhere
Eleven of the fifteen biggest source markets now keep more of their trips inside their own country than last year.
09 – The wish list
Where they still want to go
What country sits atop the bucket list for our solo travellers?
SpainItalyThailandVietnamJapanAustraliaBrazilPortugalFranceIndonesiaJAPAN: 1ST IN 2025 → 5TH IN 2026
Spain is top of the wish list now
Japan topped the bucket list last year and now sits fifth, with Spain, Italy and Thailand moving up around it. As you’d expect with wish lists, there was some gap between real and desired travel: Brazil is seventh on the wish list but twenty-first on actual trips.
10 – Booking
What actually makes them book
Safety shapes the booking decision, and it produced the biggest gap between women and men anywhere in the survey.
54.5%
of women say same-gender dorms make them more likely to book
3.3%
of men say the same
The biggest gap of any question in the survey, and it holds at every experience level. 34.4% of all solo travellers say it changes whether they book, rising to 43.0% among LGBTQIA+ travellers. It works the other way too: 25.6% of men say nothing would change their booking decision, against 12.2% of women.
When it really matters, they trust people over platforms
44.5%Friends who’ve been there
38.1%Hostel staff and travellers on the ground
4.8%Official tourism sites
4.5%Creators on TikTok or Instagram
4.5%AI chatbots
3.7%Reddit or forums
In person or through the Hostelworld app: the two main ways solo travellers meet people
Nearly half meet people face to face with no apps involved (46.6%), and almost as many use the Hostelworld app (45.8%). Instagram is a distant third at 19.5%, and dating-style apps like Bumble For Friends are in single digits. Among 18–25s the app comes out on top, used by 54.9%. And the more people travel, the more those chats turn into real meet-ups: 49.6% of frequent travellers do it “loads of times”.
See how the app helps travellers find each other12 – Identity
Travelling as LGBTQIA+
LGBTQIA+ travellers are nearly a fifth of everyone we surveyed, and their answers look nothing like everyone else’s.
19.7%of solo travellers identify as LGBTQIA+ – 651 of the 3,309 surveyed
37.5%have avoided a destination over how LGBTQIA+ people are treated there
43.0%say same-gender dorms would make them more likely to book, against 34.4% overall
50.5%trust friends who have been there – the highest of any segment
“Destination choice is the first filter, not the last.”
RESEARCH NOTE · 651 LGBTQIA+ TRAVELLERS SURVEYED
13 – Money & work
Solo travel budgets and remote work
Entirely new ground this year. Only 15.9% say nothing has changed about how they travel.
The older the traveller, the more remote work
Remote work climbs even faster with experience
Experience matters more than age here
Travellers aged 36+ mix remote work and travel regularly at more than double the rate of 18–25s. Another 34.6% of everyone says “no, but I want to” – the biggest single answer.
14 – Hype
They stopped chasing what is trending
This one goes against the whole tone of last year’s report, and it gets stronger the more experienced the traveller.
23.4%actively avoid trending spots
35.6%seek alternatives to viral places because they feel more real – a further 28.0% because of the crowds
12.6%went somewhere because it was blowing up online and found it overhyped
Avoiding trending spots, by experience
15 – Sustainability
Sustainable solo travel
Solo travellers care about sustainability – so how is this being put into practice?
Doing it is easy. Paying for it isn’t.
Would you pay 5–10% more to stay at a hostel with verified sustainability practices?
Willingness rises with experience: 15.9% of first-timers against 23.8% of frequent travellers.
16 – AI
AI is a tool, not an adviser
AI may be ubiquitous, but solo travellers are using it more selectively.
34.6%don’t use AI for travel at all
33.7%use it only for logistics
4.5%trust AI chatbots for advice – joint last with creators
“I was able to put my rough plan into AI and it gave me a more detailed itinerary.”
SURVEY RESPONDENT · MEN 29.6% NON-USE VS WOMEN 37.0%
17 – The short version
Ten things to take away
If you read nothing else.
Solo is the default, not the fallback
Most people chose to travel alone rather than ending up alone. Freedom and self-discovery beat “nobody could come”.
Vietnam breaks into the top three
Thailand still leads and Spain holds second, but Vietnam climbs into third with the strongest growth in the top ten.
The rest of the world is skipping the USA
Trips into the USA by non-Americans are down 9.1%. The USA only holds seventh because domestic American solo travel rose 17.6%.
Meeting people is still the point
Hostels win on people first, price second. For most, it’s about who else is there.
Safety reshapes the trip, it doesn’t cancel it
Solo travellers adjust routes, timing and accommodation. Very few stop travelling.
The digital-nomad cliché is dead
Remote work while travelling stays in single digits for the youngest group and only rises with experience.
Off the trail is a minority sport
A third avoid trending spots, but only with experience. First-timers still follow the map.
They’ll do it, as long as it’s free
Two thirds took the train. Only 17% would pay more for a certified hostel.
AI plans, it doesn’t advise
A third don’t use AI at all, a third use it only for logistics, and 4.5% trust it for advice.
LGBTQIA+ travellers plan differently
Safety comes first – in where they go and where they stay.
About Hostelworld
Hostelworld Group PLC is a social-network-powered OTA focused on hostelling, with a mission to help travellers find people to hang out with. Most travellers go hostelling to meet other people, and our social features connect them in hostels and cities based on their booking data.
About the methodology
Destination data was sourced from solo trips booked on Hostelworld’s platform in H2 2025 and H1 2026. All other figures come from a poll of solo travellers conducted in 2026. Booking volumes are not published – shares, ranks and year-on-year change only.
The archive
Revisit last year’s insights
Want to see how much changed? The 2025 State of Solo Travel Report has the trends, data and stories behind this year’s numbers.
11 – Connection
Solo, but not alone
We already know solo travellers make lots of connections while travelling – but how do they do it?
How solo travellers meet people on the road
Base: 3,309 solo travellers. They could pick more than one, so the shares add up to more than 100%.