Solo travel in Europe. Any suggestions or helpful ideas?

[SoloTravel26]

I'm newly divorced with young adult children. I haven't been abroad for a few years as I couldn't afford it, but should be able to travel abroad next year. I'll have a reasonable budget and I'll be travelling solo. I'd love to get some tips from more seasoned travellers.
I'm more a city break person than a beach person and I like museums and galleries. I would like to meet people rather than be totally alone for the whole time.
Thanks in advance.

I think signing up for things like free city walking tours can get you chatting with others - and often heading off for a meal after together too.

Day trips/tours - check out GetYourGuide, Urban Adventures, Viator (and Trip Advisor) to see what’s on offer in the places you will visit - also a great way to meet others.

Walkable cities: Boston, Copenhagen, Seville.

Aarhus is on my list.

Stockholm is great - very safe and walkable, lots to do.

Look on the Explore website for small group tours? You can pay for a single room and phone up to check the age, sex and single/couple ratio

Poland is great. Still reasonably cheap and trains are great to travel around. It's easy to book day trips and you get to meet people but aren't tied to an itinerary as you would be doing a group trip.

Agree Stockholm is amazing and you could take the overnight ferry to Tallin and then travel onto Riga.

I second Poland- you can get a nice studio Air BnB pretty reasonably, food and public transport are cheap and there’s a lot to see.
I loved Warsaw, even though I believe it’s pretty controversial.

Krakow is absolutely beautiful, I’d have a flat there if I could- great for trips out of the city too. It’s good for foodies, sightseers and history/ culture buffs.
I’m going to Gdansk in October, and really looking forward to it.

More details required, what is a 'reasonable' budget and how long are you going for? It's not clear if you want to go on a city break or travel between multiple places.

I agree with PP about looking at small group tours. Look at sites like Exodus, Flash Pack and G Adventures. It will be a bit more expensive than traveling independently, but you'll have a tour guide to help with any issues/language barrier, and a group to eat dinner with etc if you want. Going abroad and hoping to meet people is a gamble, most people on holiday are happy doing their own thing.

My budget will be up to £2,000. I'm not sure myself if I want to go alone or join a group. I'm just looking for a starting point to start Googling from, really.
A short break in a nice city with a walking tour might be a good place to start. Copenhagen is jumping out at me as not too intimidating. I've been to Krakow before and absolutely loved it. I have extended family in the US and hope to visit Boston in the future, but wouldn't be alone then.
Being single in middle age wasn't in my original plan, but now that life has worked out that way I want to embrace it and still travel and enjoy it.

Copenhagen would be good. I did that one with a friend but would have been great as a solo. I loved Madrid. Small enough for a walking city. Lots to do. Great food. It was my first solo break. I did 3 nights. Just booked for Vilnius for 4 nights. Just do it. It’s really liberating

I love Barcelona and Madrid for solo trips. Lots to do, easy transport and not long flights.

Reykjavik- you’ll love it. Also, Vienna is glorious.

Rome or Florence, lovely relaxed atmosphere, plenty to see and do within walking distance and then park yourself outside a cafe with a coffee and watch the world go by. Bliss 😊

Another vote here for Poland. Gdansk is stunning. £2k is probably £1k too much!

Copenhagen very safe and lovely place to be

Barcelona - sun, art, beach, shopping but be careful of pick pockets

Agreed! Very friendly people. And a must if you are an ABBA fan.

Agreed! I went on a package holiday with Iceland Air recently..Only stayed 3 nights. The package included a coach tour of the Golden Circle (you see geysers, waterfalls etc), a coach trip to see the northern lights, then we added on a trip to the Blue Lagoon.

It was absolutely excellent . I normally would avoid coach tours with a barge pole but it was by far the most affordable way to visit Iceland. The tours were sooo good because the guides were absolutely brilliant .

And the Blue Lagoon is an absolutely amazing place .

Iceland people are very friendly. The food was very good. Iceland has a reputation for being extorrrionately expensive but we did manage to find decent affordable restaurant meals - we went for backpacker type places. The Iceland Air package was a bargain. We bought in their Christmas sale at the beginning of January and went in March.

Italy
Very easy to get around if you want to see lots of places - trains are excellent and clean

My adult daughter just went solo travelling in Italy for 2 1/2 weeks and loved it. Venice, Como, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Amalfi. I think if you like galleries, museums and art then Italy is a great option. She was happy eating alone in restaurants and never felt unsafe.

The Italian cities are fantastic. Great food, museums, architecture, friendly people and plenty of walking tours if that’s your sort of thing. Whilst I do solo parent trips with my 8yo now, I’d have no problems doing it solo if she doesn’t want to travel with me in future. I’d say Venice in the off season (April) is one of my favourites. I love just getting lost down the canals, admiring the architecture and stopping at a little bar in a square to drink a spritz, eat cicchetti and people watch or with a good book

https://www.friendshiptravel.com/holiday/h10-corregidor-boutique-hotel/

Can recommend this company :-)