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A person stands atop the Great Wall of China

solo travel

How to See the World Alone

By Mike MacEacheran

Solo travel needn’t be nerve-wracking. Here are our top destinations to memorably see the world on your own.
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Beijing

A meditative hike through the mists of time along the Great Wall of China makes for an ideal solo pilgrimage. Most people visit the restored sections at Badaling or Mutianyu, but venture farther north to best-kept-secret Huanghuacheng, skirted by chestnut gardens.
Explore The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing
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Bahrain

Manama is the city of the pearl — golf-ball-sized gemstones that made the kingdom rich long before the discovery of oil. From the salt-lashed harbor of creaky dhows at the northern tip of Ras Rayyah, cruise across the crystal-blue waters to dive for one yourself. After a how-to master class with a pearl fisherman-turned-dive instructor, you’ll float in a submarine world at shallow depths.
Explore The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain
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Osaka

There’s a perfect marriage, a yin-yang combo of etiquette and eccentric consumption, which makes Japan’s third largest city irresistible for solo travelers. Here, the mantra is “eat until you drop,” and downtown shifts up a gear with a bellyful of countertop ramen bars, standing-room-only sushi stalls and one-person dining booths where small talk is drowned out by slurping.
Explore The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka
View of a large domed building at the end of a street
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Budapest

A thrilling symbiosis of two halves — modern, momentous Buda; historic, higgedly-piggedly Pest — the Hungarian capital is nothing if not a crowd pleaser. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of place, so far better spent on your own, without having to share it with a partner.
Explore The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest
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Los Angeles

Everyone has a story to tell in the City of Angels, and some of the best start in Venice. Skip Hollywood and Beverly Hills and head west to the triumvirate of Pacific Ocean, Venice Beach and Marina del Rey for a people-watching sunset.
Explore The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey