Solo Travel Index: Riga Makes Europe's Top Ten Cities for Travelling Alone

Riga, the capital of Latvia, has made the list of the ten best European cities for travelling alone. This is shown by the new Solo Travel Index from the luggage storage company Radical Storage, which assessed the 48 most visited cities in Europe. According to the authors, Riga offers some of the most suitable conditions for solo travellers and outranked several popular tourist cities in Germany, France and Spain.

How the ranking was built

Cities were scored on 11 criteria, including daily costs, safety, and the availability of hostels, restaurants and entertainment. The result is given on a ten-point scale showing how well a city suits solo travel. The study's authors note that cost, safety and the ease of meeting new people matter most when travelling alone. The findings were reported by Unian.net.

Best cities

Prague takes first place: one day there, including accommodation, food, local transport and entertainment, costs 134.33 euros on average. It ranks eighth for safety and has about 30 hostels with an average rating of 8.7 out of 10. Kraków, Poland, is second with 7.64 points, and Istanbul, Turkey, third with 7.49. A day in Kraków costs about 87 euros, while in Istanbul a dormitory bed in a hostel costs about 16 euros a night, and the city has more than 10,000 restaurants. The top ten also includes Lisbon, Gdańsk, Berlin, Porto, Seville, Barcelona and Riga.

Least suitable cities

Zurich scored lowest, with 4.42 points. Accommodation there averages 168.13 euros a day, food 105.73 euros and transport 35.53 euros. Solo travellers often pay more because a single hotel room costs almost as much as a double in many places, while groups more often get discounts. Reykjavik and Venice complete the bottom three, with expensive transport, lodging and entertainment and a limited choice of budget hostels.