A first solo hike is a strange mix of nerves and liberation. Writer Annabel Abbs describes setting out alone one September after a summer of ferrying four teenagers around, terrified of sprained ankles, dead phone batteries and worse — but desperate for silence. Seven years later she still walks solo every autumn, and the numbers suggest she's far from alone: UK women solo hiking jumped 27% between 2020 and 2022, 41% of American female hikers regularly walk alone, and yet Munich researchers found 30% of women would like to try it but hesitate.
Abbs's core argument is that the fear is manageable with route selection. Her checklist: avoid urban wasteland stretches, pick wide-open terrain like ridgeways, cliffs and hilltops, stick to excellently waymarked national trails, and favour navigation-lite routes that trace rivers, canals or coastlines. Regions with a strong hiking culture help too — you're rarely truly alone.
Autumn makes it easier. Falling leaves open up sightlines, temperatures are comfortable, days still allow you to finish before dark, and trails have walkers around without summer's crush. Her practical advice for beginners: start with a single day, use a luggage-transfer service or specialist operator for multi-day trips, pack light, carry a paper map and poles, tell someone your ETA, and research transport and weather before you go.
Her four picks span two countries. Switzerland's Bernese Oberland is a favourite — superb waymarking, phone signal, farm cafés with honesty boxes, and car-free bases in Wengen or Mürren, where solo female hikers raise no eyebrows. Autumn dodges the summer tourist crush in this Unesco-listed region.
In the UK, the South Downs Way's 19-mile, two-day Eastbourne to Kingston stretch pairs chalk-cliff views with culture stops just off-trail: Alfriston village, Charleston Farmhouse and Virginia Woolf's home at Rodmell. Longer option: the Cleveland Way, the UK's second national trail, where the recommended four-day, 52-mile coastal section from Saltburn to Filey mixes windswept moor-and-sea scenery with chatty Yorkshire towns.
Warmer option: Portugal's Fishermen's Trail, a three-day, 27-mile coastline hop from Praia da Luz to Sagres. November means comfortable walking temperatures, swim-worthy sea, cheap accommodation, fresh seafood and enough fellow solo women to feel companioned. Being sea-hugging, it's nearly impossible to get lost.
Who's this for? Any woman curious about walking alone but put off by the what-ifs. The takeaway is refreshingly simple: pick a well-marked route, tell someone where you're going, and start small. As Abbs puts it via 19th-century walker Mathilde Blind, the payoff is feeling truly free.