Although it can be frightening, travelling alone is often the best way to explore a new country or city.
Unrestricted by the wishes and to-do lists of companions, solo travellers get to experience a side of their destination which is completely tailored to their own interests.
Business Insider has compiled a list of the 50 best cities in the world that everyone should travel to alone in their lifetime.
The cities were chosen and ranked based on three main criteria:
- A city's popularity with tourists
- MasterCard's 2017
- Its crime rate out of 100
- Numbeo's 2017 Crime Index
- The cost of living
- Numbeo's 2017 Cost of Living Index
- ranked one of the most expensive cities to live in
Hostelworld's 2017 survey of the world's most sociable and friendly cities also provides an idea of how welcoming the locals are to solo travellers for some cities, though not all destinations were not included in the survey so this did not influence the ranking.
Scroll on to discover the 50 best cities in the world for travelling alone, ranked in ascending order.
50. Bogotá, Colombia.
Destination Popularity: 76th
Crime Index: 62.68
Cost of Living: 38.11% of New York
49. Vancouver, Canada.
Destination Popularity: 34th
Crime Index: 34.99
Sociability: 17th
Cost of Living: 75.89% of New York
48. New York, USA.
Destination Popularity: 6th
Crime Index: 45.2
Sociability: 5th
Cost of Living: 100%
47. Sofia, Bulgaria.
Destination Popularity: 77th
Crime Index: 44.64
Cost of Living: 41.89% of New York
46. Paris, France.
Destination Popularity: 3rd
Crime Index: 53.24
Sociability: 13th
Cost of Living: 90.45% of New York
45. Milan, Italy.
Destination Popularity: 14th
Crime Index: 46.18
Sociability: 18th
Cost of Living: 84.36% of New York
44. Tehran, Iran.
Destination Popularity: 68th
Crime Index: 54.47
Cost of Living: 41.33% of New York
43. Lima, Peru.
Destination Popularity: 45th
Crime Index: 69.63
Cost of Living: 43.79% of New York
42. Johannesburg, South Africa.
Destination Popularity: 30th
Crime Index: 78.63
Sociability: 28th
Cost of Living: 45.63% of New York
41. Berlin, Germany.
Destination Popularity: 28th
Crime Index: 39.13
Sociability: 19th
Cost of Living: 72.03% of New York
40. Shenzhen, China.
Destination Popularity: 56th
Crime Index: 39.9
Cost of Living: 49.66% of New York
39. Toronto, Canada.
Destination Popularity: 27th
Crime Index: 34.88
Sociability: 11th
Cost of Living: 75.27% of New York
38. London, UK.
Destination Popularity: 2nd
Crime Index: 46.48
Sociability: 21st
Cost of Living: 90.3% of New York
37. Bucharest, Romania.
Destination Popularity: 74th
Crime Index: 28.18
Cost of Living: 42.49% of New York
36. Mexico City, Mexico.
Destination Popularity: 42nd
Crime Index: 65.35
Sociability: 29th
Cost of Living: 40.34% of New York
35. Kiev, Ukraine.
Destination Popularity: 96th
Crime Index: 48.83
Cost of Living: 29.82% of New York
34. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Destination Popularity: 78th
Crime Index: 32.47
Cost of Living: 38.52% of New York
33. Warsaw, Poland.
Destination Popularity: 65th
Crime Index: 26.3
Sociability: 15th
Cost of Living: 45.98% of New York
32. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Destination Popularity: 13th
Crime Index: 34.36
Cost of Living: 86.65% of New York
31. Hanoi, Vietnam.
Destination Popularity: 44th
Crime Index: 49.51
Cost of Living: 43.53% of New York
30. Cairo, Egypt.
Destination Popularity: 95th
Crime Index: 55.96
Cost of Living: 26.77% of New York
29. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Destination Popularity: 40th
Crime Index: 57.11
Cost of Living: 41.48% of New York
28. Pune, India.
Destination Popularity: 92nd
Crime Index: 43.41
Cost of Living: 29.28% of New York
27. Budapest, Hungary.
Destination Popularity: 39th
Crime Index: 38.42
Cost of Living: 48.65% of New York
26. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Destination Popularity: 43rd
Crime Index: 13.54
Cost of Living: 66.3% of New York
25. Madrid, Spain.
Destination Popularity: 25th
Crime Index: 30.15
Sociability: 7th
Cost of Living: 84.06% of New York
26. Lisbon, Portugal.
Destination Popularity: 33rd
Crime Index: 32.52
Cost of living: 55.5% of New York
25. Gothenburg, Sweden.
Crime Index: 41.36
Sociability: 1st
Cost of Living: 85.06% of New York
24. Helsinki, Finland.
Crime Index: 24.64
Sociability: 16th
Cost of Living: 87.24% of New York
23. Kuala Kumpur, Malaysia.
Destination Popularity: 8th
Crime Index: 68.56
Cost of Living: 45.92% of New York
22. Guangzhou, China.
Destination Popularity: 37th
Crime Index: 41.25
Cost of Living: 43.68% of New York
21. Barcelona, Spain.
Destination Popularity: 12th
Crime Index: 37.38
Sociability: 22nd
Cost of Living: 68.39% of New York
20. Delhi, India.
Destination Popularity: 48th
Crime Index: 59.69
Sociability: 36th
Cost of Living: 31.19% of New York
19. Beijing, China.
Destination Popularity: 35th
Crime Index: 38.21
Sociability: 38th
Cost of Living: 45.38% of New York
18. Munich, Germany.
Destination Popularity: 24th
Crime Index: 16.4
Cost of Living: 80.47% of New York
17. Kolkata, India.
Destination Popularity: 67th
Crime Index: 50.16
Cost of Living: 26.91% of New York
16. Vienna, Austria.
Destination Popularity: 18th
Crime Index: 21.09
Cost of Living: 77.36% of New York
15. Seoul, South Korea.
Destination Popularity: 7th
Crime Index: 28.34
Sociability: 34th
Cost of Living: 84.29% of New York
14. Shanghai, China.
Destination Popularity: 19th
Crime Index: 32.87
Sociability: 39th
Cost of Living: 56.71% of New York
13. Istanbul, Turkey.
Destination Popularity: 10th
Crime Index: 50.28
Sociability: 33rd
Cost of Living: 46.99% of New York
12. Bangkok, Thailand.
Destination Popularity: 1st
Crime Index: 48.39
Sociability: 24th
Cost of Living: 54.82% of New York
11. Tokyo, Japan.
Destination Popularity: 9th
Crime Index: 19.38
Sociability: 23rd
Cost of Living: 95.11% of New York
10. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Destination Popularity: 31st
Crime Index: 24.15
Cost of Living: 48.42% of New York
9. Hong Kong.
Destination Popularity: 11th
Crime Index: 20.07
Cost of Living: 79.85% of New York
6. Prague, Czech Republic.
Destination Popularity: 20th
Crime Index: 28.42
Sociability: 32nd
Cost of Living: 51.09% of New York
5. Mumbai, India.
Destination Popularity: 29th
Crime Index: 45.45
Sociability: 35th
Cost of Living: 31.69% of New York
4. Taipei, Taiwan.
Destination Popularity: 15th
Crime Index: 17.38
Cost of Living: 71.58% of New York
3. Singapore.
Destination Popularity: 5th
Crime Index: 16.9
Cost of Living: 88.88% of New York
2. Chennai, India.
Destination Popularity: 26th
Crime Index: 42.74
Cost of Living: 27.99% of New York
1. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Destination Popularity: 4th
Crime Index: 19.52
Cost of Living: 72.69% of New York