October has a way of softening the world. The heat cools, the light tilts golden, and suddenly destinations that felt overwhelming in peak season feel made for wandering.
For solo female travelers, it’s one of the best months to take a trip. Long enough after summer crowds, early enough before winter winds. You get space, atmosphere, and a rhythm that lets you sink in.
This isn’t a list of overdone capitals or “digital nomad” clichés. These are cities and landscapes where art and nature meet, where beauty is in both the museums and the morning light, and where a solo woman can feel not just safe, but inspired. Consider this your October compass:
Berat, Albania
Called the “City of a Thousand Windows,” Berat looks like it was arranged for a painter’s still life. Ottoman houses spill down the hillside, their windows catching the late afternoon light in soft gold. A town ringed by mountains, its cobblestones lead to castle views that feel more like meditation than sightseeing.
For solo travelers, Berat is Albania distilled: history alive in every stone, locals who greet you like old friends, and meals that are fresh, hearty, and unpretentious. Just two hours from Tirana, it’s an easy escape. Stay longer and you can head north to Koman Lake, a fjord-like reservoir framed by dramatic peaks, remote and spiritual, though solitude here can feel intense unless you’ve got a heart of steel (and a very good book).
Best time to visit: April to June, or September to October.
Copenhagen, Denmark
This city is the definition of soulful. Copenhagen leans into hygge: tree-lined boulevards, bicycles gliding past canals, and cafés glowing with candlelight. if you’re alone, that means cozy dinners without a second glance, design museums to linger in, and a city that knows how to romanticize ordinary days.
Coffee here is practically a religion. Danes are among the world’s highest coffee consumers, and their cafés are warm, design-forward spaces with locally roasted beans and a culture that invites you to linger.
Picture yourself people-watching by a window, reading a book, or striking up an easy conversation with a stranger. Evenings are best spent in a jazz bar or strolling through Nyhavn, where facades shimmer like brushstrokes.
Copenhagen makes solitude chic, proof that traveling alone is really about belonging anywhere.
☕ Coffee Note: Copenhagen is also home to some of the world’s most aesthetic coffee shops, equal parts design studios and living rooms. If you want the full list (and where to order that perfect flat white), read our guide to Copenhagen’s Most Beautiful Coffee Shops for Creatives.
Best time to visit: May to September.
Cantabria, Spain
Cantabria is northern Spain’s green heart, a coastline of dramatic cliffs, misty mornings, and medieval towns where wooden balconies lean out over cobbled streets. The landscapes feel hand-painted: valleys rolling into the Bay of Biscay, trails carved by sea winds, and fishing villages alive with color and rhythm.
For creative travelers, Cantabria is artistry in many forms: prehistoric cave paintings at Altamira, Gaudí’s whimsical El Capricho in Comillas, and medieval towns like Santillana del Mar that feel timeless. Base yourself in Santander, with its beautifully kept old town, and day-trip to gems like the Peninsula of Magdalena. Safe and atmospheric, Cantabria is perfect for solo travelers seeking beauty without noise.
Best time to visit: May to early July, or September to mid-October.
Valetta, Malta
Valletta may be one of Europe’s smallest capitals, but it carries the weight of an open-air museum. Honey-colored limestone facades glow in the Mediterranean light, baroque palaces rise beside fortress walls, and narrow streets wind down to the sea like stage sets.
The town is layered with artistry: Caravaggio’s works at St. John’s Co-Cathedral, open-air theaters and festivals, and balconies so ornate they feel sculpted. It’s also wonderfully solo-friendly: everything is within reach, meals lean Mediterranean with Arabic undertones, and its compact scale makes wandering easy. Intimate yet grand, Valletta is proof that artistry doesn’t require size, only soul.
Best time to visit: April to June, or late September to early November.
The Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
While it’s technically not a city, The Red Sea coast is Saudi’s quiet revolution: a stretch of untouched coral reefs, extravagant resorts, turquoise lagoons, and desert cliffs glowing like fire at sunset. The resorts here are built less like hotels and more like sanctuaries, offering equal parts stillness and spectacle.
It’s a little more on the expensive side, but the hospitality is unmatched. Think blue waters with untouched coral reefs, wellness experiences designed to reset you, and service that feels almost otherworldly. For women looking to treat themselves, it’s both sanctuary and frontier: dive among reefs that rival the Maldives, sail between islands with no one else in sight, or journal against a horizon of desert silence.
Best time to visit: October to April, when the sea is warm and the sun is gentle.
Aswan, Egypt
While Egypt usually gets a bad rep for not being one of the safest countries for women solo, it’s not often the case – Especially in Aswan. A Nubian history that’s poetic with culture, The Nile slows here, carrying feluccas with white sails that cut across the river like strokes on a canvas. Temples carved with hieroglyphs stand beside Nubian houses painted in bold blues and yellows, an artistry that feels alive rather than archived.
It’s truly perfect to reset your pace: mornings on the river, afternoons wandering souks, evenings watching the sky turn copper over the desert. For women traveling alone, Aswan offers history with softness, a living culture that meets you with color, rhythm, and warmth.
Best time to visit: October to April, when days are warm but not sweltering
Kotor, Montenegro
Kotor is a city written in stone and sea. Its medieval old town is a labyrinth of narrow alleys, Venetian facades, and hidden piazzas that open suddenly into light. Outside the walls, the Bay of Kotor stretches like a fjord, mountains plunging dramatically into sapphire water, a landscape that feels cinematic from every angle.
For the independent wanderer, Kotor offers both intimacy and grandeur. You can spend mornings climbing fortress steps for sweeping views, afternoons sketching in quiet cafés tucked into courtyards, and evenings watching the harbor glow at golden hour. It’s a place where history and nature perform side by side, reminding you that beauty doesn’t need an audience to be profound.
Best time to visit: May to June, or September to October.
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