Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers in South America (With Reviews)
South America has become one of the most popular continents for solo female travel, and for good reason. Buenos Aires has the elegance of a European capital, Medellín has reinvented itself into one of the most welcoming cities for digital nomads and backpackers, and Cusco offers history, altitude, and Andean culture that rewards every traveller who makes the journey. The hostel scenes in all three are mature, social, and increasingly built with solo female travellers specifically in mind.
That said, South America rewards a bit more research than some other continents. Neighbourhood choice matters enormously, security ratings deserve genuine attention, and the right hostel community can make the difference between feeling supported and feeling adrift in an unfamiliar city. This guide covers the best hostels for solo female travellers across South America’s most popular destinations, sourced and verified directly from Hostelworld.
🔒 What Matters Most for Solo Female Travellers in South America
A few things deserve extra attention when booking hostels across this continent specifically.
- Security and access control: 24-hour reception, secure lockers, and keycard entry matter more in some South American cities than in much of Europe. Read reviews specifically for safety comments.
- Neighbourhood: El Poblado in Medellín, Palermo and San Telmo in Buenos Aires, and the historic centre around Plaza de Armas in Cusco are the established, well-travelled hostel neighbourhoods. Staying within these areas significantly simplifies solo navigation.
- Female-only dorm availability: increasingly common across South American hostels and worth filtering for specifically.
- Altitude awareness in Cusco: this isn’t a hostel feature, but it affects which hostel makes sense. Some travellers want a quieter property for acclimatisation; others want the social energy from day one.
- Review recency and volume: South America’s hostel scene moves fast. A hostel that was exceptional two years ago may have changed ownership or quality since. Read the most recent reviews specifically.
The Hostelworld Hostel Chat and City Chat are particularly valuable across South America’s backpacker circuit, where many travellers are moving through the same handful of cities in roughly the same order. Connecting with people heading the same direction, whether for the Ha Giang-style scenic routes of Patagonia or the Inca Trail logistics around Cusco, makes the whole trip more social and more efficient.
🇦🇷 Buenos Aires: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America, and its hostel scene reflects that grandeur: restored mansions, glass-roofed atriums, and a genuinely sophisticated backpacker culture concentrated in Palermo, San Telmo, and Recoleta.
America del Sur Hostel Buenos Aires
Book America del Sur Hostel Buenos Aires Now
Rated 9.4 from over 6,400 reviews, one of the most consistently praised hostels in Buenos Aires and a strong first choice for solo female travellers. Located in San Telmo, the historic tango neighbourhood, the property combines genuine architecture with reliable security and a social atmosphere that reviews repeatedly highlight as both safe and easy to meet people in.
Milhouse Hostel Hipo
Rated 9.1 from over 3,700 reviews. Set in a stunning 19th-century colonial-style property just off Avenida 9 de Julio, near Casa Rosada, with a charming atrium and a relaxed terrace. Staff are repeatedly described in reviews as making it “super easy to meet people”, with daily excursions, tours, and activities. A reliable, well-located, highly social choice for solo travellers in the city centre.
Milhouse Hostel Avenue
Book Milhouse Hostel Avenue Now
Rated 9.0 from over 4,000 reviews. Located in the same family of hostels as Milhouse Hipo, with a strong reputation for organised activities: walking tours, tango lessons, cooking classes, and football outings. One guest described it as “a great place to be if you don’t know what to see in Buenos Aires” because staff take such an active role in helping travellers plan their time. Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms in both dorms and privates.
“The staff are so friendly and helpful and make it feel like a home away from home even though there is a crazy party vibe most nights.” — Hostelworld guest, Milhouse Avenue
🇨🇴 Medellín: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Medellín has transformed itself over the last decade into one of South America’s most popular hubs for backpackers and digital nomads alike. The hostel concentration in El Poblado is the highest in the city, with at least 25 properties to choose from, and the overall safety and infrastructure of the neighbourhood has made it a genuine favourite for solo female travellers.
Black Sheep Hostel Medellin
Book Black Sheep Hostel Medellin Now
A traveller’s favourite in Medellín since 2005, run by a New Zealand and Colombian team in Patio Bonito, El Poblado, less than ten minutes’ walk from the metro station and Zona Rosa’s bars and restaurants. The hostel runs a dedicated fibre internet line, a large terrace with hammocks, and can arrange walking tours, Comuna 13 graffiti tours, and trips to Guatapé directly. One of the most consistently recommended hostels in Colombia for solo travellers, repeatedly praised in reviews for how easy it is to meet people here.
“It was the best hostel I stayed in in the whole of Colombia! The staff were great and it was a very good value for money! Very easy to meet fellow travellers and just a great vibe!” — Hostelworld guest
Los Patios Hostel
Winner of Hostelworld’s Best Large Hostel Worldwide award in 2020, and consistently one of the highest-rated large hostels on the entire continent. Run by Colombians and built around an authentic cultural experience, with activities ranging from pub crawls to yoga sessions almost every day. Beds come with individual lockers, sockets, and curtains. For solo travellers wanting comfort, security, and an enormous range of built-in social activity, this is one of the standout choices in South America.
The Wandering Paisa Backpackers Hostel
Book The Wandering Paisa Backpackers Hostel Now
Located in the upscale Laureles neighbourhood, a block from local nightlife and five minutes from the metro. Weekly free salsa classes, language exchange evenings, karaoke nights, and stand-up comedy create consistent, structured ways to meet both fellow travellers and locals. Reviews specifically highlight the female en-suite dorm as a strong option, and the language exchange and karaoke nights as genuine standout ways to build connections beyond the usual backpacker bubble.
🇵🇪 Cusco: Best Hostels for Solo Female Travellers
Cusco sits at 3,400 metres and serves as the gateway to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, which means most solo travellers pass through here at some point. Hostels near Plaza de Armas put you in the heart of the historic centre, with easy access to acclimatisation walks, trek operators, and the city’s vibrant nightlife.
Pariwana Hostel Cusco
Book Pariwana Hostel Cusco Now
Rated 9.5 from over 7,600 reviews, the most reviewed hostel in Cusco and a multiple Hoscars winner. Located just steps from Plaza de Armas, with daily social activities, salsa lessons, walking tours, and a restaurant serving Peruvian and international cuisine. 24/7 reception and security, individual lockers with power outlets at every bed, and a work area with private phone booths. Reviews consistently praise the staff by name for going out of their way to help solo travellers plan treks and excursions.
“One the best hostels I’ve stayed at. The staff were especially great.” — Hostelworld guest
Viajero Cusco Hostel
Rated 9.8, one of the highest-rated large hostels in the city, and a multiple Hoscars award winner including Best Large Hostels, Best Hostel in Peru, and Most Popular Hostel. Set in a unique 200-year-old house just a two-minute walk from Cusco’s main square. Mixed and women-only dorms available, each bed with reading lights, lockers, and privacy curtains. Free coca tea is served around the clock to help guests acclimatise to the altitude, and the on-site restaurant, Sonqo, serves Peruvian dishes alongside daily activities like pisco lessons and free walking tours.
Wild Rover Cusco
Rated 9.3 from over 4,000 reviews, located 800 metres from Plaza de Armas with the best panoramic restaurant and bar view of the city. A genuinely social hostel with daily activities including survival Spanish, cocktail-making, cooking, and salsa classes, plus a co-working room for travellers who need to balance work with exploring. A huge garden with sun loungers and a foot tennis court rounds out one of the most consistently social properties in Cusco.
🛡️ How Hostelworld Supports Solo Female Travellers in South America
Beyond the individual properties, a few platform features genuinely help women navigating these cities and the wider backpacker circuit.
Hostel Chat, joinable 48 hours before check-in, connects you with other guests at your specific hostel. This is particularly useful before high-altitude stops like Cusco, where coordinating an acclimatisation plan or finding trekking companions before arrival makes a real difference.
City Chat connects you with travellers across every hostel in the same city. On the well-established South American backpacker route, where many travellers are moving through Buenos Aires, Medellín, and Cusco in a similar window, this is one of the most effective ways to find people heading the same direction for shared transport, tours, or treks.
13 million+ verified reviews give the most reliable picture of safety and atmosphere available. Searching specifically for reviews from solo female travellers, with phrases like “felt safe” or “great staff,” is the single most useful five minutes you can spend before booking.
💡 Tips for Booking the Right Hostel in South America
Stick to established backpacker neighbourhoods. El Poblado in Medellín, Palermo or San Telmo in Buenos Aires, and the area immediately around Plaza de Armas in Cusco are the zones with the strongest infrastructure, safety record, and traveller density.
Read reviews for altitude-specific comments in Cusco. Some hostels are better suited to slow acclimatisation days; others assume guests arrive ready to go straight out. Knowing which applies before you book saves a difficult first 48 hours.
Filter for female-only dorms where it matters to you. Many of the hostels in this guide, including Milhouse Hipo in Buenos Aires, Malala Hostel, and both Kokopelli and Milhouse Cusco, offer this option directly.
Book with Free Cancellation for flexible South American routing. Plans on this continent often shift around weather, trek availability, and bus schedules. A Free Cancellation booking on Hostelworld protects you from losing money when the route changes.
Ask staff directly about local safety specifics. The hostels in this guide are consistently praised for staff who give genuinely useful, current local advice, more reliable than anything written months in advance.
✅ Final Thoughts: South America Rewards the Well-Prepared Solo Traveller
The hostels in this guide were selected because they combine strong ratings, genuine social infrastructure, and a consistent track record with solo female travellers specifically.
Buenos Aires offers elegance and an established, walkable hostel culture. Medellín offers warmth, community, and some of the best-equipped hostels on the continent. Cusco offers history, altitude, and the kind of traveller community that forms naturally around a shared goal: Machu Picchu. Across all three, and the wider continent beyond them, the right hostel turns a potentially daunting solo trip into one of the most rewarding travel experiences available anywhere in the world.
Book well, read the reviews, use the chats, and go.
Download the Hostelworld app to start booking now
❓FAQs: Solo Female Travel in South American Hostels
Get the App.