Safety questions for a solo femal traveler

I see you are from New York. Your safety concerns should be no different as a single traveler than traveling through Manhattan. In fact, probably less but if you can handle travel in the Big Apple you will have no problems with England and Scotland.

I have lived in NYC and traveled solo around London and other parts of the UK on trains/subways/buses, etc., and by far I was more concerned for my personal safety in the NYC subway system.

Thank you all for your encouragement. When I was planning another trip to Italy people were telling me about how luggage would be snatched and run off with or snatched off a luggage rack at a train stop on crowded trains. I reserved First Class tickets for my Italy trip and liked having my luggage above my head in a rack and enjoyed the reserved seats. I know a lot of people are against First Class but as a solo traveler it was so much better for me.

The trains I am taking do not have reserved seats or classes that I know of. So...was wondering if I had to have any concerns.

I am concerned about having to bring out my credit card in public to insert into a ticket machine in Havant to print all my train tickets. Scotrail advised me that I need my reservation number AND the credit card. That is a bit scary to me. I hope to have one of my friends from Southampton with me to watch my back while I am doing my tickets for the Scotland leg of my trip.

By the way...I live in Upstate NY not New York City. I love New York City but have to take major precautions there when I am traveling solo.

I have never ever had any fears of traveling in the UK by myself. I even go to the theatre at night and go back to the hotel alone. The U.K. is so much safer then the US.

I spent 14 days traveling in England by my self in Sept. of 2012 and had no safety problems. Just use common sense and remember you do not need to say you are alone and if need be get off at next stop while saying friends or relatives are meeting you.

Thank you all for your help. My UK friends have told me not to worry also but my unpredictable lack of mobility is what makes me worried about being a "target" as in "Can we help you?" if I am limping or moving slowly.

Janis....great tip about meeting friends or relatives.

Honestly, a "Can we help you?" if you're limping or moving slowly, is absolutely likely to be a totally genuine offer of help.

Thank you again for all the great advice and taking time to type out details. Emma, thanks for the re-assurance if I do decide to take a walking stick. I normally do use a cross body boarding bag but on my most recent trip, when I had just gotten over a Baker's Cyst and had trouble walking fast, I found it to be very difficult to carry. It has been wonderful on trips where I was able to walk fast and longer distances. Anyway, hoping I will lose some more weight and that I will be walking better/longer/faster in August.

Just wanted to add my two cents (or two pence!): When I was in London earlier this month, I had pre-purchased tickets to Moreton-in-Marsh. I picked them up at Paddington and had to use the reservation number and my credit card. I had seconds, literally, to get to the train, and I left several of my tickets/stubs in the machine after grabbing what I thought was the complete set. A very kind man called after me. He had been next to use the machine and found mine, and saw me dashing away. I was both touched and relieved.

You will be fine! Enjoy your trip!

Thank you all for your encouragement. On my last major trip, I found that the advice from people on this forum to be absolutely essential to my enjoying my trip and being well-prepared.

Also, speaking of using a "rucksack" (I love that particular bit of British English!)...

I lived in Germany for five years and did lots of traveling around Europe. At first I always used a practical, battle-ready backpack that could carry whatever I needed. After a while, though, I just started using whatever bag I would use while running errands in my hometown: a regular crossbody purse. If you really need to carry lots of supplies (especially a picnic lunch...that takes up lots of room), sure, go for the backpack. But if you're worried about pickpockets, I'd recommend looking like a local--which probably means a regular old handbag. In the end, though, it probably won't matter at all either way. :) You're going to have a great time!

I just got back from London on a solo trip. As a young, female traveler my first concern is safety. I have to say that I felt completely safe the entire time, probably more safe than I have felt in Chicago and New York. There are always people out and about along with police officers everywhere. It was a great trip and I'm so happy that I did it solo!

Thank you for the encouragement! I am looking forward to it. Due to some short flights I am taking I am forced to keep my luggage less than 44 pounds (weight) or pay horrendous fees so having lighter luggage will help me feel less vulnerable.

lisaew, if you're talking about having to keep your luggage under 44 lbs, it may be time to take another look at what you're packing, and why. Are you having to take medical equipment? Otherwise, I would think you could do just fine with 20 lbs or less. What are you taking? You can get some great packing light advice here, especially in the "Packing" section of this forum ( in the middle column of the Trip Forum page.)

On our last trip, my backpack with all my clothes came in at 13.5 lbs. I also had a shoulder bag with non-clothing items that was somewhere around 4 lbs.

If you have more than one credit card, make a note of which one you used. We have 3 (MC, Amex and Visa) and of course I didn't write down which one I used to buy the train tix online. So I get to the machine and OF COURSE the last card I put in the machine was the one I used...sigh...so I learned the lesson to make a note of which cc used on the print out I got at home.