10 Countries Where Going Out Means Meeting People, Solo or Not

Going away alone, or going out alone, is no longer unusual. The practical question remains: where do you meet people when you don’t know anyone there? Here is a selection of 10 countries where going out works well, with a concrete way to meet people in each one, followed by a way to see who will be at the same place as you before you leave.

Why so many people are going solo

The trend is showing up in the press too. Business Insider tells the story of a mother of three, almost 38, who took her first solo trip for a work conference in Dover, Delaware, then stayed two extra days to explore the area. What surprised her most was that she ended up making friends along the way.

“I made friends as I went.” (Business Insider)

A LinkedIn post from BeMor Travel makes a useful distinction between three ways to travel solo. One of them, Independent with Company, means travelling alone while staying or socialising in places where it is easy to meet fellow travellers. That is the idea behind this selection.

Loneliness is a wider social issue

The need for connection goes well beyond travel. According to the Detroit News, former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy described loneliness and isolation as an epidemic in 2023. The same article cites a University of Michigan study: in 2024, 33% of people aged 50 to 80 said they often or sometimes felt a lack of companionship over the past year, and 29% felt isolated.

The Washington Post reports that one church is responding to the epidemic by turning a chapel into a taphouse. The instinct is much the same as the one behind solo travel: find places where people actually talk to each other.

“It gives you a reason to keep going.” (Charles Krause, 87, on his regular calls with a volunteer)

Our criteria for choosing these 10 countries

Let’s be clear: none of the sources in this article ranks countries for going out. The list below is an editorial selection by Premeets, based on three criteria:

• Nightlife: cities where you can go out late and find a proper evening’s entertainment.
• Ease of meeting people: places that encourage conversation, such as bar counters, pubs, hostels or organised social nights.
• Comfort going out solo: you can walk into a bar or a party on your own without feeling out of place.

The 10 countries and a way to meet people there

Each country comes with one concrete idea. These are suggestions to try, not measured findings: they vary by city, season and venue.

• Spain: terraces at the end of the day, where the next table quickly turns into a conversation.
• United Kingdom: the pub quiz, where you team up with strangers.
• Ireland: pubs with live music sessions, where you follow the gig alongside the people at the next table.
• Portugal: lively neighbourhoods in the evening, where one drink at the counter is enough to start a conversation.
• Italy: the aperitivo taken standing at the bar, where it’s easy to find your place.
• Germany: beer gardens, where sharing a table is the norm.
• Mexico: open-air nights and night markets, where you can join a group that settles in nearby.
• Argentina: dance nights, where you get invited to dance and soon find yourself in a group.
• Japan: izakayas and small counter bars, where you chat with the bartender and your neighbours.
• Thailand: hostels and social nights organised for travellers, where you often leave in a group.

See who’ll be there before you go

The trouble with many nights out while travelling is always the same: you arrive, you don’t know anyone, and you search at random. Premeets flips the question around. You share where you’re going and when (a bar tonight, a festival this weekend, a hotel, a campsite, your next destination). The app shows you people who have planned to be at the same place at the same time, with the venue, the neighbourhood and the distance displayed.

Premeets already lets you join events in cities. On Friday 9 October, for example, the Barathon in Angers can serve as a starting point:

• you let people know you’re going;
• you see who has planned the same night, with mutual filters (age, gender, dates, activities);
• you chat beforehand in a messaging inbox organised by plan (friends, nights out, trips);
• you meet up on the night, in person.

Premeets is not an app where you scroll through strangers 50 km away. Context comes first, the profile second. The app is as useful for going solo as for widening a group, or for finding out who else is staying at your hotel or campsite. Reporting and blocking are available, and data is not reused elsewhere. Premeets is free, for users aged 18 and over, and available on iOS and Android.

Approaches to dating are changing at government level too. The BBC reports that Singapore has launched FirstDate, a matchmaking service for government workers aged 21 to 35. It uses a Nobel-winning algorithm to match participants one date at a time, under the line “Swipe fatigue ends here.” It’s a different model, centred on matching people rather than on shared context.

In short

Going out solo doesn’t mean staying alone. Pick a city where the nightlife works, find the places where conversation comes easily, then check who will be in the same place at the same time. Arriving somewhere already knowing people is what Premeets is for.

Mathis Mauprivez, founder of Premeets