Imagine being in Paris long enough to have a favorite bakery, go back to a museum a second time, and find the best bench to watch the sun set over the Seine. 

When you are considering traveling on your own, picking one city and allowing yourself the time to get comfortable and explore at your own pace can be exhilarating and low risk.  You can practice your travel chops with very few logistics to manage.

There are three factors that work for me: a few group activities, the right hotel, and intentional listening about priorities every day.

Booking Activities.  Being on your own is glorious and you will likely have planned out things you want to do and see. Having just a couple of activities on the schedule that put you in contact with other travelers can be a break. (If nothing else, you might appreciate being on your own even more after.) This could be booking a half-day city tour, a segway excursion, or a group class. If groups aren’t your thing, you might book a private walking tour guide.  I love to try cooking classes or foodie events (because local cheese tastings, wow). Group activities are easy to book in advance and—your hotel may have ideas. 

The Right Hotel.  I love hotels and spend more time reading about hotels, inns, and AirBnBs than any other part of planning. There are at least three ways the right hotel can support your plan.

• Location. If you want a bit more confidence, choose a hotel central to the sites and activities you are most interested in. It may be more expensive but it can be worth it.  The city is just outside your door. Walking to the theatre or taking an early morning through the historic center is priceless. 
• Public space.  Have you ever spent the day walking and exploring – and find that you are too tired for even one more block – but it’s your dream city and you are not ready to leave it all – certainly not to go to your room and close the door?   Choosing a hotel with lots of options for a quiet drink with a view, a bustling lobby for people-watching, or a library bar let’s you stay in the swing but with your feet up.
• Accommodations: Hotels vs Other Choices.  Today we have access to information about hotels, inns, AirBnBs, and bed and breakfasts – even unusual accommodations that are quirky. (I once stayed in a guest room at Hotel Dieu, a hospital in Paris. Very odd, great gardens, creepy at night, wouldn’t have missed it.)  In cities, hotels can offer you a few benefits that are valuable when you are alone. 
  • Staff.  When you arrive, regardless of the hour, staff are there to greet and help.  If you have a problem, from a medical issue to a haircut, they have advice.  Basically they are your team
  • Predictability. Not always true but between the website and TripAdvisor.com and other sites, you can a realistic sense of what your experience will be at a hotel.
  • Services.  Bellmen, room service, a coffee shop or dining room, maybe a spa or business center.  The city has so much to offer but sometimes you will want an easy fix!
  • And don’t discount that a hotel is easier to find when you arrived, travel weary in a new place, and just less lonely when you are on your own. At least for now.

Listen.  And last, this kind of trip gives you a precious opportunity to learn how to be alone with yourself and to be intentional in your choices. You’d think that traveling alone makes it obvious that you’ll do what you most want to do and yet some of us are out of practice.  Will you hear yourself saying, “I should go to see…”, “I told everyone that I would…”.   Two things to tuck away in our mental fanny bag:

• You are the only one you have to please on this trip. It’s not just what you want to do but what you want to do this morning. You’ve arrived, you’ve learned things since you made your list of must-dos. Ask yourself what you, not you ‘the trip planner of last month’, want to do today.
• Make sure fear isn’t holding you back.  When you choose not to do something that was on your wish list that’s making a choice today, unless it’s because you are nervous or afraid. Maybe once you are there, you realize that like me, you are as self conscious in this new place as you are at home. Take a minute to ask, am I self-conscious about going to this place alone? Will they laugh at my French? Will it be weird? Go for it – no one is watching. 

Important disclaimer.  Listen to your instincts about fear for security. Ask hotel staff about safety in our area. What I’m talking about here is being afraid to go alone to a top restaurant or to try climbing the steps to Sacre Coeur.

Explore your dream city. The only logistics are the cab to and from the airport. The rest is literally a walk in the park.