Solo hiking tips for women

I’ve come to solo hiking relatively late in life when, like many women, my children have flown the nest and so now it’s my time to do the same. In an ideal world, I’d still hike with my grown up children, or other beloved ones, but getting everyone’s calendars to align at the same time can be tricky. And sometimes I just want to get up and go. And go solo. We have an array of solo walking holidays for everyone, but I’m keeping my fellow wanderers in mind with these solo hiking tips for women, some of which have been game changers for me.

Why hike solo?

Because it feels amazing. And empowering. There is no other time in my life where I switch off from everything for five or six hours a day, and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Unlike my daily walks at home of an hour or so, where I’m glued to podcasts and audiobooks, I don’t wear headphones on long-distance walks and trails. I started this partly for personal safety reasons. But now I realise that having total silence, tuning into the natural soundscape and letting my brain completely empty, is the best form of meditation. There is no other time in life when I do this, for that many hours, and trust me, it works.

How to prepare for solo walking

That’s quite easy really. Just start walking a bit more often, for longer distances, and allow yourself the time to do it. As well as a daily walk of around one hour, I do a monthly long-distance walk with a group of friends, and in between I do one long solo walk most weekends, weather permitting. That way I build up confidence using trail apps, and have practised with All Trails, OS Maps, Hiiker and Outdoor Active to ensure that I can follow a route from beginning to end. And to delight in the fact that I don’t need a man to map read. Controversial, I know. For more serious training, see our blog, How to prepare for a hiking trip.

The power of solo hiking for women

I think that gaining strength, empowerment and confidence are the biggies for me when it comes to solo hiking. Especially as I get older. I’ve spent years helping to guide my children in the right direction, and not had a lot of time to think about self-guiding. I had even more years with the privilege of having a partner as a confidence crutch, and of course we can’t always depend on that. Yes it’s scary at first, but feel the fear and then get your boots on. As for strength, many women have emotional strength in bucketloads, but we also need to keep up our physical strength. So all in all, when you try walking on your own for a short break or a week, you’ll soon feel that Strength, Empowerment and Confidence kick in. Think of it as SECs appeal.

The advantages of solo hiking

As well as the SECs appeal, there are many other advantages of solo hiking for women. Hiking with those dear to us is a whole other experience and a wonderful one too. But taking off to hike alone gives us a chance to shed our responsibilities for a while, find real headspace, have only ourselves to look after and, relatable for many I’m sure, get time to sleep deeply.

I have hiked alone while grieving and on remote empty trails, allowing myself to wail into the wind. I have hiked solo while emerging from grief, and danced along empty beaches (like no one was watching, because they were empty), swam at sunset, and reminded myself about life’s joys. I have gone on a walking holiday alone while trying to work out how to navigate an important transition in my life. We can talk these things through with our loved ones until the cows come home, and that’s a wonderful thing to do of course. But take a few days on a solo hiking holiday, and things are almost guaranteed to just fall into place. I believe this is because all other daily influences and voices disappear for a while, and the mind just settles.

Find you time. In your own time, on the Canary Islands, such as on the GR131 in Fuerteventura.

Solo hiking safety tips

One of the advantages of solo hiking on an organised self-guided holiday is that you have 24/7 support in the destination from one of our team members or partners on the ground. You are sometimes also met at the end of a walk for a transfer back to your hotel and, in many cases, you are welcomed at a new hotel every night. So there are people watching out for you. Personally, I share my itinerary with my loved ones back home, and message them, without fail, every evening around 19.00. They also have the contact information of our representative on the ground, in case they don’t hear from me. You can also have the additional security of a location-sharing app.

In addition, I take great care when walking, using a walking pole for stability, not just for speed. I don’t go off the trail, and keep a very close eye on the digital maps and instructions on the app. I read the notes at night for the next day, to be prepared for anything in particular that I need to look out for along the way. And I also check the weather forecast.

I use the same common sense around personal security that I do when walking back home and, very importantly, I always carry a battery charger and ensure it’s fully charged every night. And of course, I have a first aid kit, whistle and plenty of water, as well as electrolytes. For more information, see our hiking safety tips blog.

Our walking holidays in Andorra are perfect for soulful, solo travel. And we will always have your back.

Solo hiking destinations to get started

If you want solo inspiration from one of our adventurers, then I highly recommend listening to the Roam Alone podcast, where Paula Kreissler, one of our most loyal customers, talks about her many solo natural adventures. She talks about how she chooses well known routes that aren’t too remote and yet still revered. Such as Ireland’s Wicklow Way, Germany’s Moselle Trail and Rhine Valley, Scotland’s Great Glen Way and she’s soon to push herself a bit more in the Picos Mountains and Georgia. Paula was 73 when she was a guest on the podcast in 2026, and there’s no stopping her.

From my point of view, you may like to start off with a centre-based walking holiday, so that you don’t have the added pressure of packing up every day, which gives you a bit more time to get your head around the trail ahead. Such as walking at North Lake Garda, hiking in Málaga or on a Greek epic adventure in West Crete. Just go to our search page, then filter the tours by ticking Walking and trekking, Travel style is self-guided, Theme is Best for solo travellers (because not all of our more remote tours are open to solo travellers), and then go for easy or easy/moderate as a Difficulty level. You may also enjoy our blog, Top holidays for solo travel.

The author on the Great Glen Way in Scotland.

Tips for first time hikers

There are a few things that have been game changers for me when it comes to hiking solo. But you will learn more and more of your own with each trip.

Feel the fear and do it anyway. But put safety first of course. You may also enjoy my blog, Overcoming the fear of solo travel.
Ask someone to be your buddy back home, sharing your detailed itinerary in advance and telling them you’ll check in every evening at a given time to say you’re safe. And put an alarm to remind yourself to do so.
Don’t worry about the tech. If you can use your banking app, you can use a trails app. And as you download the maps, you don’t need to worry about data usage either, because you don’t need data to use them. One other free app that’s a joy is Merlin, which allows you to identify birds that you hear along the way. Which, when you’re travelling solo, you’re much more tuned into.
I wear varifocal glasses in life, but not usually for walking. However, when it comes to reading maps, I need them, so I decided to get contact lenses for travelling solo. This means I can also wear them with my sunglasses. I don’t like to wear them all the time in daily life, as they do create waste. But for hiking solo, they’re a game changer.
Bring cotton handkerchiefs. They have multi-purposes from wiping sweat to nose blowing, to wiping sand off your feet on a beach part of the trail or just wiping your hands after a picnic. Much more sustainable than napkins, and quick and easy to wash.
Bring a good book for nights and I also find it a lovely thing to have when eating out solo. You won’t feel self-conscious that way, and nor should you anyway. But it also stops you just scrolling through your phone, which you have managed not to do all day. I don’t bring my book on the trails, as I love getting into total switch off mode.
Moisture-wicking underwear is a must, as you really don’t want to be chafing. I also carry one set of clean underwear in my daypack, in case I go for an impromptu swim, or have a wild wee that goes awry. We’ve all been there. You can also buy bamboo pee pads now, or wee cloths, which I haven’t tried myself, but when you don’t get to drip dry it can get nasty, so these could be the answer. I also carry toilet paper and a scented poo bag, just in case. Because S**t happens. Or check out the innovative WAG bags as a method recommended by Leave No Trace.
Don’t think twice about walking poles. They’ll be your best friend on a hike. For more information, see our blog on walking poles.
Make sure you apply sunscreen fully. It’s tricky when travelling solo to apply it to your back, tops of shoulders etc, but I find that spray works better for this. I also pack a linen shirt for extra coverage. And of course I always have a sunhat.
If you love to combine swimming with hiking, take care, always get advice on beaches in advance if you can, or research the night before, and swim parallel to the shore. Ideally never swim alone or, if there’s noone around, just stay really close to the shore.
If you’re being met by a driver to take you to the trailhead in the morning, give yourself plenty of time after breakfast to get your bag and body ready to go. It may sound strange, but when we’re walking with a partner, we get used to saying things like ‘tell the driver I’ll be down in five, I just need to go to the loo’. You get my drift.
For hotel rooms, I always have ear plugs, herbal tea bags, flip flops and super comfy slouchy clothes. On that subject, give yourself a break on packing. Remember that pressure to wear something new every night on holiday? You can park that one big time when you’re hiking solo. And in most cases, you’re changing hotels every night anyway, so who cares if you’re wearing the same outfit? You do you, girl. You’ve got this.