Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers in Europe (With Reviews)
Solo female travel has never been more popular, and Europe remains one of the best continents in the world for women travelling alone. The cities are walkable, the hostel scenes are established, and the communities of fellow travellers are large enough that arriving somewhere new rarely means spending the evening alone unless you want to.
But the right hostel makes an enormous difference. Not all hostels are created equal for solo women. The things that matter most: female-only dorm options, strong security, a genuinely social atmosphere, staff who know the city, and a community where arriving alone doesn’t feel like arriving alone. These are the elements that turn a functional stay into the kind of experience that makes you extend by a night or two.
This guide covers the best hostels for solo female travellers across Europe’s most popular destinations, all sourced and verified directly from Hostelworld. Each one has been selected for its rating, its review quality, its specific suitability for women travelling solo, and its track record with the Hostelworld community.
🔒 What Solo Female Travellers Should Look For
Before the hostel picks, a quick framework. These are the five things that consistently separate a great solo female hostel experience from a mediocre one:
- Female-only dorm options: not essential, but valuable. A female-only dorm gives you the social hostel experience with a quieter, more communal dynamic. Many solo women find them easier to settle into than mixed dorms.
- Security: lockers with reliable locks, 24-hour reception, well-lit common areas, and CCTV in communal spaces.
- Social infrastructure: organised events, a communal kitchen, common areas that invite lingering. The easier it is to meet people, the less alone you feel.
- Staff knowledge: staff who know the city, who give safety-relevant local advice without being patronising, and who are genuinely invested in guests having a good time.
- Rating and review count: a hostel with a 9.0+ rating from 500+ reviews is a very reliable signal. Look specifically for reviews from solo women mentioning safety, atmosphere, and staff.
From Sam, a real Hostelworld user: “Being a solo female traveller it really means a lot to me that I can find a larger variety of people who are down to just hang out and have a great time.” The City Chat and Hostel Chat on the Hostelworld app give solo female travellers a community that starts before check-in.
🇪🇸 Madrid: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Madrid’s hostel scene is one of Europe’s strongest, and the city is consistently rated among the safest in Western Europe for solo women. The metro is reliable, the neighbourhoods around Sol and Chueca are lively and well-lit at night, and the hostels in the city centre are close enough to everything that you rarely need to venture far alone.
The Hat Madrid
Rated 9.5 from nearly 10,000 reviews. 2025 Hoscars 2nd Best Large Hostel. Located 0.15km from the city centre, The Hat is Madrid’s original boutique hostel with a rooftop terrace, solar panels, and one of the best atmospheres in the city. Organises walking tours, bar crawls, and group dinners. Female-only dorm available. Reviews consistently praise the social vibe and the approachability of both staff and guests.
Onefam Sungate
Rated 9.9 from over 7,300 reviews and 2025 Hoscars 1st Best Small Hostel. Free last-minute cancellation available. Located in Madrid’s Chueca neighbourhood, known for being one of the most inclusive and safe areas in the city for all travellers. 22 organised events. The highest-rated hostel in Madrid, built entirely around community: pub crawls, group dinners, and sightseeing trips make meeting people effortless.
“The staff went out of their way to create a sense of community. I arrived alone and left with friends I’m still in contact with.” — Hostelworld guest
Onefam Madrid
Rated 9.8 from over 2,600 reviews. 2025 Hoscars 1st Best Hostel Chain. 1.46km from city centre with 14 events. Family-like atmosphere that solo female travellers repeatedly mention in reviews as immediately welcoming. Free dinners, group activities, and the Onefam social model mean you’re never left to figure out the evening alone.
🇬🇧 London: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
London is expensive, but its hostel scene for solo female travellers is genuinely excellent, with several properties that have built a specific reputation for being social, safe, and female-friendly.
Urbany Hostel London
Rated 9.7 from over 2,000 reviews and 2025 Hoscars 1st Country Winner for England. Located in Notting Hill in a Victorian terraced house with free WiFi, luggage storage, towel rental, basic laundry service, and CCTV throughout for security. 11 organised events. Reviews describe the atmosphere as warm, intimate, and immediately welcoming for solo arrivals.
Onefam Notting Hill
Rated 9.7 from over 4,000 reviews. The Onefam brand built its reputation specifically around solo travellers, and this London outpost delivers consistently. 32 organised events per stay period. The perfect place for solo travellers to connect, explore and party, in their own words. Multiple Hoscars wins across the chain.
Wombat’s City Hostel London
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Rated 9.2 from nearly 19,000 reviews. 2025 Hoscars 5th Continent Winner. Located next to Tower Bridge with over 350 travellers staying at any given time, making it one of the most socially active hostels in London. A well-established, consistently reviewed property that solo travellers cite for its security, staff quality, and easy-to-meet atmosphere.
🇵🇹 Lisbon: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Lisbon is one of Europe’s top destinations for solo female travellers. Cities like Lisbon appear frequently in female-led meetup messages, with active hostel communities, affordable activities and strong infrastructure, making them ideal for women seeking connection and safety.
Goodmorning Solo Traveller Hostel
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A hostel built specifically for solo travellers, located right in Praça dos Restauradores in the heart of the city. The Not-so-Solo Package includes daily activities, communal dinners, and open bar that make meeting people genuinely effortless. Most guests arrive solo, so you never feel like the odd one out.
“The staff made the entire trip better than I could have anticipated.” — Hostelworld guest, Lisbon
“Such a chill vibe! The free walking tour was amazing and the rooftop bar had the best sunset views. Would 100% return!” — Hostelworld guest, Alfama
We Love F. Tourists
Located in Baixa, Lisbon’s most central neighbourhood, surrounded by museums, boutique stores, and food markets. Staff are described in reviews as legendary: expect free drinks on arrival, city maps, and expert local tips. Breakfast, dinners, pub crawls, and daily tours all included. The free hour of sangria and beer every evening is a specific favourite among solo female guests as an ice-breaker.
“One of our guests said that ‘the staff made the entire trip better than I could have anticipated’.” — Hostelworld
🇨🇿 Prague: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Prague is one of the most affordable city breaks in Europe, with a well-developed hostel scene and two dedicated female-only properties that have no real equivalent in any other European capital.
Women’s Only Hostel Prague
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The first female-only hostel in Prague, located 100 metres from Old Town Square. Split across two campuses, one with a flower-filled terrace, one with cosy beamed dorm rooms, all with single beds rather than bunks for maximum privacy and comfort. No curfew, staff who know the best local spots, and a community dynamic that makes arriving alone genuinely comfortable.
“An excellent option for female travelers looking for a safe, comfortable, and convenient place to stay in the very heart of Prague.” — Hostelworld listing
The RoadHouse Prague
Voted Best Hostel for Solo Travellers by Hostelworld guests. Philosophy-first hostel built around the belief that travel is about people as much as places. Home-made hostel dinners every evening, a hostel-family atmosphere, and dorm beds with individual privacy curtains for a better night’s sleep. Near-perfect ratings across thousands of reviews.
“You can have your own free space or you can join the hostel gang for some fun activities.” — Hostelworld guest, The RoadHouse Prague
🇳🇱 Amsterdam: Best Hostel for Solo Female Travellers
ClinkNOORD
A design-forward hostel in Amsterdam Noord in a converted industrial building on the IJ waterfront. Female-only dorms available, strong security infrastructure, a social bar and restaurant, and easy ferry access to central Amsterdam in five minutes. Part of the Clink chain, known across Europe for well-designed, safe, and social properties. Reviews consistently mention the welcoming atmosphere for solo arrivals.
🛡️ Hostelworld Features That Help Solo Female Travellers
Beyond the individual hostels, Hostelworld’s platform has specific features that make solo female travel safer and more social:
Hostel Chat and City Chat: joinable 48 hours before check-in, these connect you with other travellers at your hostel and across the city. As one Hostelworld user, Sam, put it: “Being a solo female traveller it really means a lot to me that I can find a larger variety of people who are down to just hang out and have a great time.” The City Chat is particularly valuable for connecting with other solo women in the same city who might want to explore together.
Linkups: visible on each hostel’s property page in the app, Linkups are hostel-run social events that give solo travellers a structured way into the social life of a hostel without needing to approach strangers cold.
13 million+ verified reviews: the review system on Hostelworld is the most trusted source of hostel-specific information available. Reading reviews from other solo women is the fastest way to assess whether a hostel’s atmosphere is genuinely right for you.
Female-only dorm filter: search specifically for hostels with female-only dorm options using Hostelworld’s filter system.
💡 Tips for Booking the Right Hostel as a Solo Female Traveller
Read the atmosphere rating specifically. A high atmosphere score means the social infrastructure is working. Combined with reviews mentioning solo female guests by name, it’s a strong indicator.
Look for female-only dorm availability. It’s not essential but it’s worth knowing whether it’s an option. Filter for it on Hostelworld if it matters to you.
Check the security rating and read the reviews for specific mentions of lockers, CCTV, and reception hours. These are the details that don’t always make it into the main listing description but consistently appear in reviews.
Book with Free Cancellation. Plans change. A Free Cancellation booking on Hostelworld means you can adjust your itinerary without financial penalty, which is particularly valuable when travelling alone and making decisions as you go.
Use the Hostel Chat before you arrive. A message saying you’re arriving solo and looking to meet people in the first 24 hours is the most direct way to start a connection before you’ve even checked in.
✅ Final Thoughts: Solo Female Travel in Europe is Genuinely Wonderful
The hostels in this guide have been selected because they have the track record, the reviews, the security, and the social infrastructure to make solo female travel in Europe not just manageable but genuinely one of the best ways to experience these cities.
Every hostel on this list has been sourced directly from Hostelworld. Every rating and review count is verified. And every property has specific features, whether female-only dorms, outstanding staff, dedicated social events, or best-in-category security, that make them standouts for women travelling solo.
The community is out there. It’s in the City Chat, in the common room at dinner time, at the hostel pub crawl that starts at reception at 8pm. Book the right hostel, show up, and the rest follows.
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❓FAQs: Solo Female Travel in European Hostels
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