9 Solo Weekend Getaways That Are Perfect for Your First Trip Alone

I used to believe a trip only counted if someone was in the passenger seat to split the bill and swap the memories with. Then one October I booked a weekend entirely alone, and I have been a happy convert ever since.

There is a quiet freedom to it. You eat where you want, linger where you want, and answer to nobody’s schedule but your own. The best solo weekends happen in places that are walkable, welcoming, and full enough to keep you company without a companion.

Below, discover nine American towns and cities that were practically built for a weekend of your own. Each one is safe to wander, easy to reach, and generous to a traveler of one.

I chose them for good walking, easy solo dining, and enough to fill two days without a plan. They span the coasts, the mountains, and the desert, so pick the landscape you have been craving and go.

1. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Few American cities reward a wandering solo traveler like Santa Fe. Canyon Road alone packs roughly 100 galleries into a single adobe-lined mile, and you can drift in and out of every one at your own pace.

The Plaza sits at the heart of it all, ringed by the Palace of the Governors and the Cathedral Basilica. A short walk away, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum honors the artist who called this high desert home for over 40 years.

Fuel up on green chile, then lose an hour inside Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return, an art installation you explore like a puzzle. Santa Fe earned a UNESCO Creative City title in 2005, the first in the country, and the food, light, and pace all live up to it.

Evenings are easy on your own here. Sip a margarita on a rooftop, catch live music in the Railyard District, and turn in at a cozy adobe inn. Come in fall and the aspens gild the nearby mountains, one more reason to linger a day longer.

Where: Santa Fe Plaza, Santa Fe, NM. It sits about an hour north of Albuquerque on I-25.

2. Portland, Maine

Portland is a coastal city that runs on seafood and salt air, and it treats a solo diner like a regular. The cobblestoned Old Port wraps around a genuine working waterfront where boats still unload the day’s catch.

Order the brown-butter lobster roll at Eventide, then walk it off along the Eastern Promenade, a two-mile harbor trail with sweeping views of Casco Bay and its scatter of islands.

Hop the mailboat ferry out to the bay islands for a slow afternoon, or work your way through Portland’s outsized craft beer scene. For a small city, it punches far above its weight at dinner, and a solo seat at the counter is the best seat in the house.

Save a morning for Portland Head Light, the photogenic lighthouse just south in Cape Elizabeth. Back downtown, the coffee is serious and the bookstores are made for a slow browse. Portland is compact enough that you never need a car, only a decent pair of walking shoes.

Where: Old Port, Portland, ME. The Portland Jetport (PWM) sits about ten minutes from downtown.

3. Sedona, Arizona

Some weekends you want people, and some you want red rock and silence. Sedona delivers the second in glorious quantity, its sandstone spires glowing at sunrise like something lit from within.

Cathedral Rock is the signature hike, just 1.2 miles round trip but steep enough to earn the view. Locals call it one of the area’s energy vortexes, and even a skeptic feels the calm up there.

Book a guided jeep tour if you would rather ride than climb, or browse the galleries at Tlaquepaque. After dark the sky fills with stars, since the whole region guards hard against light pollution.

When your legs are done, Sedona leans into wellness. Book a massage, sit in on a sound bath, or simply watch the rocks turn crimson at sunset. Few places make doing nothing feel this restorative, and a solo traveler here never feels out of place.

Where: Cathedral Rock Trailhead, Back O’ Beyond Road, Sedona, AZ. It is roughly two hours north of Phoenix.

4. Savannah, Georgia

Savannah was designed for walking long before anyone thought about solo travel. Founder James Oglethorpe laid out the city in the 1730s around a grid of leafy public squares, 22 of which still survive.

Follow the live oaks south to Forsyth Park and its 1858 fountain, then set aside a morning for Bonaventure Cemetery, where moss-draped oaks arch over quiet, marked walking paths east of downtown.

Cap the evening along River Street, or join one of the ghost tours the city is famous for. A solo traveler is never short of a friendly bench, a shaded square, or a good story here.

The food alone is worth the trip, from shrimp and grits to a praline still warm from the counter. Art students from SCAD keep the galleries fresh, so there is always a new show to wander into. Warm evenings and gas lamps make a late stroll feel safe and easy.

Where: Forsyth Park, Savannah, GA. The Savannah airport (SAV) is about 20 minutes from the historic district.

5. Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is small enough to leave the car parked and big enough to keep you busy. The four-block Church Street Marketplace, named the country’s top public square by USA Today in 2022, holds more than 100 shops and cafes.

Three blocks downhill, Lake Champlain opens up with the Adirondacks rising behind it. The waterfront bike path is one of the prettiest urban trails anywhere, ideal for an unhurried sunset spin.

Vermont’s largest city still feels like a town, so evenings are easy: a lake-view dinner, a local IPA, and a short walk home. The original Ben and Jerry’s scoop shop sits nearby if you need a detour.

A ferry crosses Lake Champlain toward New York if you want a small adventure, and the farm-to-table scene punches above the city’s size. Here, local and seasonal is simply the default. In autumn the surrounding hills turn gold and red, and the whole valley smells like woodsmoke.

Where: Church Street Marketplace, Burlington, VT. The city sits on Lake Champlain, about 40 minutes from Montpelier.

6. Newport, Rhode Island

Newport hands a solo traveler two very different weekends in one small city. The 3.5-mile Cliff Walk traces the Atlantic on one side and Gilded Age mansions on the other, a National Recreation Trail you can take at any pace.

When you want company, Thames Street delivers it: boutiques, harbor views, and easygoing restaurants where a seat at the bar comes with conversation.

This is a sailing capital, so book a schooner cruise if the water calls. Drive the ten-mile Ocean Drive loop at sunset, then settle in for fresh oysters near the wharf. History, ocean, and a good meal are all within an easy walk of one another.

The past runs deep here too, from Colonial-era taverns to the oldest synagogue in the country. When you need sand, Easton’s Beach sits right at the north end of the Cliff Walk.

Where: Cliff Walk and Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI. It is about 40 minutes south of Providence.

7. New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans never lets you feel alone even when you are. Music spills from doorways, strangers say hello, and the French Quarter is compact enough to explore entirely on foot.

Duck into a jazz club on Frenchmen Street, ride the St. Charles streetcar past the oak-lined avenue, and start a morning with hot beignets and chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde.

Take the streetcar out to the Garden District for its grand old homes, or spend a quiet hour under the oaks of City Park. Then eat a po-boy the size of your forearm and call it lunch.

Live music is a nightly given here, not a special event, so wander until a doorway pulls you in. The iron-lace balconies of the Quarter are all the sightseeing you really need. A table for one always comes with a warm welcome.

Where: French Quarter, New Orleans, LA. Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY) is about 30 minutes from downtown.

8. Boulder, Colorado

Boulder blends a college-town buzz with a wall of mountains right at the edge of downtown. A solo weekend here bounces between trailhead and table without much effort.

Start early at Chautauqua Park, where trails climb straight into the Flatirons and the lot fills by mid-morning. Come down to the pedestrian Pearl Street Mall for street performers, bookstores, and a well-earned dinner.

Time your visit for the Saturday farmers market along the creek, one of the best anywhere. Rent a bike, follow the Boulder Creek Path, and you will see why locals never seem to leave. It rewards moving at your own pace, whatever that is.

Refuel with a farm-driven dinner or a pint from one of the many local breweries. Then watch the Flatirons glow orange at sunset, a nightly show the whole town seems to pause for. Fresh air, good food, and a wall of rock: that is the Boulder weekend in a sentence.

Where: Pearl Street Mall, Boulder, CO. It is about 45 minutes northwest of Denver.

9. Ojai, California

Tucked in a mountain valley 90 minutes from Los Angeles, Ojai is a whole town built around slowing down. It is made for a solo traveler who wants to trade noise for a couple of restorative days.

Lose an afternoon at Bart’s Books, the world’s largest outdoor bookstore, open since 1964 with more than 130,000 titles on open-air shelves. Then find a west-facing spot for the “pink moment,” when sunset turns the Topa Topa Mountains a soft scarlet.

Sunday’s farmers market is a highlight, all local citrus and olive oil, and the surrounding trails climb quickly into the chaparral. Book a spa treatment, add a yoga class, and you have the makings of a proper reset.

The little downtown is all Spanish-style arcades, galleries, and tea shops, easy to wander with nowhere to be. Ojai does not do rushing, and after a day here, neither will you. It is the closest thing California has to a built-in exhale.

Where: Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA. It is about 90 minutes northwest of Los Angeles.

Book the Table for One

The first solo trip is the hard one. After that, you learn that a weekend answering only to yourself is one of the most generous gifts you can hand your own restless heart.

So pick a town from this list, book the room, and just go. Order the lobster roll, take the long way on the trail, and let the whole weekend belong entirely to you. Honestly, the only company you really need is your own good taste.

Featured image: Landon Wisser via Cathedral Rock