In March 2026, Uber opened its Women Preferences feature to riders across the United States. Women can now ask to be matched with a woman driver. Lyft had launched a comparable option nationwide in 2024.
These launches answer a clear request. Many women want the option to be matched with other women when a service leaves them alone with a stranger.
Travel raises the same question. In Gallup's 2025 Global Safety Report, 58% of American women said they feel safe walking alone at night where they live, against 84% of men. Far from home, knowing whom you can trust becomes even more concrete.
This guide ranks the safest countries for women traveling alone, using two independent indices. It then covers where to stay, a question rankings rarely answer.
No official ranking exists for solo female travelers, so we combined two respected indices.
The Global Peace Index 2026, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranks 163 countries on how peaceful they are. It covers crime, conflict and militarization. It gives a picture of overall stability, not of tourist safety as such.
The Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26 comes from Georgetown University and the Peace Research Institute Oslo. It scores 181 countries on the inclusion, justice and security of the women who live there. Its security dimension includes how safe women feel walking alone at night in their community.
Both rankings are national averages, and safety can vary from one area to another. Before booking, check the US State Department travel advisory for your destination, rated from Level 1 to Level 4.
The table starts from the 10 most peaceful countries in the 2026 Global Peace Index, then adds their rank on the WPS Index.
All three sit in the top 10 of both indices, which makes them the most reassuring options for a first solo trip.
Iceland tops the 2026 Global Peace Index and ranks second on the WPS Index. Most visitors come for its landscapes, and the island also offers unusual stays, such as a night in a glass igloo on a glacier.
New Zealand ranks second for peace and joint ninth on the WPS Index. Many travelers explore it by road, stopping at luxury lodges and hotels from Auckland to Queenstown.
Finland gets less attention, yet it ranks fifth on the WPS Index, higher than any other country in the table except Iceland.
Both countries are in the Global Peace Index top 10 but rank 26th (Portugal) and 22nd (Japan) on the WPS Index. The gap comes from what that index measures: employment, legal discrimination and political representation, as well as safety.
A lower WPS score describes the situation of local women. It does not mean a destination is unsafe for visitors. Both countries attract many women traveling alone, and NomadSister publishes detailed guides on traveling alone in Portugal and solo female travel in Japan.
Both also have a strong luxury scene, from luxury hotels across Portugal to Kyoto's luxury hotels.
According to the WPS Index, 97% of women in Singapore say they feel safe walking alone at night. The city-state is compact, which makes it easy to explore during a short solo stopover. It also has a wide choice of luxury hotels in Singapore.
Once the destination is chosen, the next decision is accommodation. It is also one of the moments when a woman traveling alone is most exposed: on her own, at night, with her belongings.
The US State Department's advice for women travelers addresses this directly. It recommends registering at a hotel with only your first initial and no title, and not telling strangers where you are staying.
Each type of accommodation involves a trade-off between privacy, cost and local contact.
Women-only hosting is the least common of these options. Unlike the others, it was built specifically for women traveling alone.
NomadSister connects women travelers with women who host them in their own homes, free of charge.
According to the company, its founder Christina Boixiere started traveling alone at 18. After several bad experiences with hosts, she launched the platform from Bordeaux, France, in 2019. NomadSister now reports more than 40,000 members in over 100 countries.
For its founder, the idea is simple:
"Traveling solo doesn't have to mean being alone. I created NomadSister so every woman can travel freely, knowing she can count on a supportive network of women."
Each member uploads a profile photo and an ID card whose name must match the profile. A safety team monitors the site, investigates reports and can exclude members. After each stay, guest and host leave references on each other's profiles for future guests to read.
Hosts are volunteers and cannot ask guests for money. Travelers pay for a Travel Pass, which the company says funds site security and ongoing profile checks.
Women can also travel with female friends or their children, as long as each friend has her own verified account.
NomadSister works best as one part of a trip. Stays are short and depend on each host's availability, and the platform asks travelers to keep a backup plan.
It suits women looking for local insight that a concierge cannot offer, simply by sharing a host's daily life for a few days. A trip could start with two nights at a host's home in Lisbon and end at The Yeatman in Porto.
Christina Boixiere describes it this way:
"Staying with a local woman shows you a destination differently. You are no longer just visiting a place: you meet the women who live there and discover another way to travel."
It is less suited to travelers who want full privacy, hotel services or a long stay in one place. Membership is reserved for women, but a host may live with a man, so read each profile carefully before sending a request.
Most of these habits come from the State Department's guidance for women travelers.
Based on the two indices used in this guide, Iceland comes out on top. It ranks first on the 2026 Global Peace Index and second on the WPS Index 2025/26.
Start with the State Department travel advisory, which rates each country from Level 1 to Level 4. Then compare the Global Peace Index and the WPS Index, which show how safe the country is overall and for the women who live there.
The risk depends on how the host is vetted. Platforms reserved for women, with ID checks and public references, reduce the uncertainty. Keep a backup option and share your plans with someone you trust.
It depends on your priorities. Hotels offer privacy and staff on site, while women-only hosting offers local contact with a verified host. Many travelers combine both on the same trip.
Rankings help narrow the choice. Iceland, New Zealand and Finland score well in both indices, while Portugal, Japan and Singapore remain popular choices with a few nuances.
Accommodation is the second decision. For many women, a verified woman host is a good compromise between safety and local contact. For more ideas, browse these luxury destinations for women traveling solo.
Safety is also a daily question for the women who live in these cities. UN Women's Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces program works with 50 cities to prevent sexual harassment in public spaces.
