How to Travel Alone: What to do at Night When Traveling Solo
Are you planning on taking a solo vacation and you’re a little unsure of how to travel alone? You may think your evenings are going to be wasted because you may not feel safe to explore at night on your own. When you are learning how to travel alone, you’ll begin to realize there are a number of things you can do in the evenings. I’ll be sharing my favourites here.
Solo Travel Evenings #1
Theatre, Opera, Ballet & Symphony Tickets
A lot of cities around the world have live theatre performances so I like to look for theatre tickets when traveling alone. In popular theatre cities, I head to the inexpensive same day ticket booths to save money. The best thing about traveling solo is you can usually get a great seat because we only need one ticket, plus I’m usually able to find a ticket a lot easier than if I was with someone else. I have seen ballet in Russia, lots of theatre in London and NYC and also gone to some music events around the world. Try and experience what that country/city is known for.
Solo Travel Evenings #2
Late Night Museums
A really great trick for museums is to check out when they have late nights. Now they don’t usually happen every night, but they generally have one or two evenings a week where they are open late. I love museums in the evenings because they are commonly a lot quieter at this time. This way you’ll be able to walk around and feel like you have the place a little bit more to yourself.
Live Music Venues No matter where you go, you are more than likely going to be able to find some live music venues. Ask your front desk, look for it online and see what live music you can go and see. The best are usually in little pubs and bars and small little venues so they feel a little bit more intimate and safe for you to go and see. Night Tours Night tours are a great way to see the city in lights and feel safe doing it. I did one in Paris and it was a great way to see all the sights lit up. Night Markets & Festivals Many places in the world have night markets and festivals in the evenings. If you’re in a location that is having a festival while you are there, inquire what events are in the evening (just watch out for pickpockets). Night markets are a favourite of mine. They usually occur on weekends but some have it every single night. Check with your accommodations to see how safe both of these are before you head out.
Inquire At Your Accommodations If you haven’t done any research beforehand, you can definitely talk to the concierge, front desk or your host if you are not staying in a hotel. Ask what they recommend to do in the evenings there. They should have some good suggestions and possibly be able to score you some tickets as well. Walk Around the City Centre When I plan to explore in the evenings, I always check to see if the location is safe at night and if there’s any neighborhoods that I should avoid. Once I know it is safe, I will usually take a stroll after dinner and walk around for a little bit of the evening then make my way back to my accommodations. Relax and Recover in Your Accommodations It is perfectly ok to head back to your accommodations and just relax or even go to bed early. You will be pretty tired from all your activities during the day so you may not necessarily want to fill up your evenings as well. Get a good sleep and be ready for the next day to have another great day of adventures.
When you are learning how to travel alone, I hope these give you plenty to think about on what to do during your evenings. If you want to learn more about how to travel alone, check out my course How to Have The Solo Trip of a Lifetime. Get all the information on this detailed course here.Solo Travel Evenings #3
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2 Comments
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I’d add one thing to “what to do at night” when traveling alone. If you journal about your travels, you can have dinner alone and jot some notes while waiting for dinner to arrive and/or make more full bodied reports of your travels that day after returning to your lodging that evening. Here are some items to consider writing about.
Record a conversation you had with a child, stranger or tour guide.
Describe using all the senses a place, experience, or person you met.
Write your reactions (emotions, thoughts, challenged beliefs) to what you encounter during this day.
Reflect on a theme you set for your journey (ie, as big as history or architecture, as small as slang or t-shirt sayings).
Report your progress on an intention you set for yourself before traveling (such as do something each day you’ve never done before or practice your second language with locals).
Great ideas!! I completely agree with you about recording or writing down all the little things that happened through the day using all of your senses. It really enhances your travels reflecting on these things each day and in the future you get a full sense of what you were feeling and seeing on that particular trip. Thank you for your suggestions 😀