How to Travel Solo in Scotland

 

Scotland is known for being rugged and beautiful. It is also widely known for tartan, whisky, and shortbread.  But it is worth visiting and is it safe to do so as a solo traveller?

Scotland is a small country with most of the population living in the central belt, in or near the largest cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow. As soon as you travel to the Borders, Highlands or Islands it becomes much quieter and sparsely populated.

Many travellers, especially young people, will be travelling around Europe and will often only spend a couple of days in Edinburgh. This is a great thing to do and it will give you a flavour of Scotland. You will see Edinburgh Castle and the beautiful old buildings, and the hills beyond.  Edinburgh is the capital city but it is also quite a small city on a global scale. Travellers will feel safe here.  It is not perfect but it is safe to walk around by yourself, even at night. Unlike other European cities, it is not known for pickpockets, and tourists can wander the city enjoying the sites without any hassle. If you are a woman travelling alone, you should still feel safe as long as you take normal travel precautions.  We would suggest sticking to busy tourist areas and maybe joining a walking tour. When you are out and about you will see local women walking around by themselves quite comfortably.

The other great benefit of travelling to Scotland in the spring and summer months is that it will be daylight until late evening.  The locals make the most of this too as winter days are short, so you will see them out in local parks, taking part in sports, and meeting up until late at night. Having all the locals out makes it safer for tourists as you aren’t walking around desolated streets.

Scotland’s scenery changes quite dramatically very quickly from the green-field lowlands in the south of Scotland to the craggy, impressive mountains in the north.  

The coast is a mixture of cliff faces and stunning sandy beaches. If travelling to Scotland, and you don’t have time to tour the whole country then we suggest at least taking a day trip from Edinburgh. There are many great tours to choose from that travel as far as Loch Ness and back in just one day.

From a safety aspect, you will find touring the remote parts of Scotland to be very safe, even for a solo traveller. However, there are many great companies that offer multi-day coach tours of Scotland that will mean not only will you be safe in a crowd but you will also get to meet other tourists. The Hairy Coo Scotland tours are for small groups of like-minded people who want their tour to be fun, entertaining and exciting but they also teach you a little about Scotland’s history and tell you tales about Scotland’s folklore.

They have found that their tours, especially the 3-day Tour of Scotland, is very popular with solo travellers. Women have travelled from around the world to take this tour and the feedback they have provided is that they feel safe, they love the people they meet, and the groups aren’t too big so that the tour still feels personal.

 

Ultimately, like anywhere in the world, if you are travelling solo, then you do need to take care.  Scotland is most definitely one of the safest countries in Europe to travel.  You will find the people are friendly and want to help you and show you their beautiful country.  So, what’s stopping you? Book your Scotland tour today!