How To Choose The Best Hostel For Solo Travelers
It was close to my 24th birthday — which also falls around Valentine's Day — and I was newly dating someone. I mentioned I wanted to go to Fort William for the weekend. A tiny town in the Scottish Highlands, mostly known for hiking and being beautiful and a little wild. He was welcome to come if he wanted.
He didn't want to.
So I went anyway.
I booked a bed at a hostel, threw some layers in a bag, and took the train north by myself on my birthday weekend. And what happened over the next few days — the fire in the common room, the strangers who became hiking companions, the girl I met who drove me back to Glasgow and is now married with a kid living in Portugal, the late nights and the early mornings on the trail — is one of my fondest travel memories. Full stop.
I'm 33 now. And I am so glad I went.
Hostels get a reputation. The snoring. The chaos. The person in the bunk above you who somehow manages to make every single movement audible. All fair. But for every rough night, there are a hundred moments that wouldn't have happened any other way. The people you meet, the conversations that go deeper than you expect, the version of yourself that emerges when you stop waiting for the right company and just go.
If you've been thinking about solo travel — or solo travel in a hostel specifically — this is me sitting across from you, big sister energy fully activated, telling you: you can do this. And here's what to actually look for.
The common room at the Fort William Backpackers! One of my favorite hostels
A Common Room That Feels Like Somewhere You Want to Be
This is the one I care most about. A common room isn't just a nice-to-have — it's the whole social ecosystem of the hostel. It's where you land after a long day, where you figure out what to do next, where you end up talking to someone for three hours when you only meant to sit down for ten minutes.
Fort William Backpackers had a common room with couches, books, games, and a fireplace. It wasn't big. But because it existed — and because it was warm and cozy and clearly designed for people to actually use — everyone gathered there. We drank wine, played games, and compared hiking plans. The hostel only had a handful of guests at a time, which meant we actually got to know each other.
If a hostel doesn’t have a common room or it’s open to the public, keep searching, it isn’t worth it.
A Kitchen (or At Least a Real Breakfast)
A kitchen is one of the easiest ways to stretch your budget without feeling like you're depriving yourself. Cook dinner, eat out for lunch when prices are lower, and use whatever's in the free food bin — there's almost always one, and it's usually full of things left behind by travelers who couldn't take it with them.
The kitchen is also another version of the common room. Food is a conversation starter everywhere in the world. Some of the best exchanges I've had on the road started over a shared stove.
No kitchen? Look for a free or cheap breakfast included — ideally under $15. I once had free breakfast at a hostel in Amsterdam and would pack a little sandwich to carry with me into the day. Small thing, big difference.
My favorite hostel set up from St Christophers in Amsterdam. Each bunk had a locker, curtain, reading light, shelf, and outlets.
A Bed Setup That Lets You Actually Rest
"You can sleep when you're dead" is a fun thing to say. It is less fun at 6am when someone is packing their entire life into a rolling suitcase six inches from your face.
None of these are dealbreakers, but they make a real difference — especially if you're an introvert who needs genuine rest to actually enjoy the next day.
Privacy curtains. The bunk bed equivalent of a door. They won't block out everything, so bring an eye mask too, but they create enough of a boundary that you can decompress without feeling exposed.
Personal outlets. Still not standard everywhere, but when you find them, you appreciate them deeply.
Standalone lockers, not under-bed storage. Trust me on this one. You do not want to be woken up at 5am because someone needs their backpack from underneath you.
Always read the reviews for bed bugs and check whether you need to bring your own sheets. These are not fun surprises.
The hostel in Bath, UK offered buy 1 get 1 free cocktails at a local bar.
(FREE) Activities That Create a Reason to Gather
The best hostels build in some kind of structured way for people to find each other. A free walking tour of the city. Pub trivia. A communal dinner. A pub crawl with discounted drinks. Even just a movie night.
I know — as a fellow introvert — that "organized socializing" sounds like a mild form of torture. But there's a difference between being forced to network and being handed a natural excuse to fall into conversation. Hostel activities are the latter. Nobody is expecting anything from you. You just show up, and the rest tends to happen on its own.
A walking tour to orient yourself in a new city, and a casual evening activity after — that's usually my sweet spot.
Location Close Enough to Actually Explore
I walked two miles with all my luggage to a hostel once. We don't talk about that.
Location matters especially when you're solo, you're the one navigating everything. Look for somewhere central, close to public transportation, and within a reasonable distance of the things you actually came to see. The more remote the destination, the harder this gets. But at minimum, aim for a bus line.
Castle Rock Hostel in Edinburgh Scotland! One of my favorites. Click the image to go to their website.
A Few More Things Worth Knowing
Free luggage storage is worth checking for, and don't be afraid to ask about flexibility beyond standard check-in and check-out times. I once asked Castle Rock in Edinburgh if they could hold my bag for two days while I took a quick overnight to York. They said yes without hesitation. I just packed the essentials and a change of clothes and left everything else with them. When I came back to Edinburgh, my bag was waiting. It saved me from dragging a full pack through two cities and honestly made the whole thing feel more freeing. Most hostels are more accommodating than you'd think. Just ask.
Skip the en-suite rooms if you can. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but one or two private showers shared between a full dorm is usually a worse experience than a proper communal bathroom setup. The reviews will tell you fast.
Read the reviews. Not just the star rating — the actual text. People will tell you exactly what it's like.
And know the vibe you're looking for before you book. Some hostels are explicitly party hostels — they'll say so. Some are quiet and social in a slower way. I'm an introvert, so I've always leaned toward the latter. Know yourself.
The Real Reason I'll Always Recommend Hostels
Group of friends I met while solo traveling in Amsterdam
I've stayed in Prague and drank Jaeger bombs with my brother. I've rented bikes in Amsterdam with a group of women I met that morning. I've worked in exchange for a room on the Isle of Skye, sweeping floors and chatting with guests from all over the world. I've gone deep in conversation with complete strangers the way you only can when you're both in transit, temporarily untethered from your regular life.
Every single one of those memories happened in a hostel. And most of them happened because I didn't wait for someone to come with me.
If you've been putting off a solo trip — waiting until you feel brave enough, or until someone agrees to come, or until the timing is just right — I want you to hear this: the timing will not get more right than now. The person who needed to be there is you.
Book the bed. Take the train. Sit by the fire.
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