Britain's Best Cities For Solo Dating
Dinner for one used to come with a sympathetic look from the waiter. But not anymore. Solo restaurant reservations rose 14% year on year across the UK, with Manchester up 23% and London up 10%, as millennials and Gen Z turn the self-care date night into a regular fixture. This Singles' Day, it's time to join them.
How We Ranked Each City
So where should you take yourself? At Buyagift, we ranked British cities on how easy they make it to date yourself, combining Reddit chatter about solo activities with a count of restaurants and bars, culture, wellness, and adventure spots per head of population.
Here are the top eight cities for solo dating, with plenty of solo date ideas along the way.
The Winners at a Glance
Among our top eight:
Best for a foodie date: Bath, with a perfect 10 out of 10 and 772 restaurants and bars per 100,000 people
Best for a culture date: Bath, scoring 10 out of 10 with 62 culture spots per 100,000 people
Best for a wellness date: Bath again, 10 out of 10 with 58 wellness spots per 100,000 people
Best for an adventure date: Cheltenham, scoring 9.3 out of 10, with 10 adventure spots per 100,000 people
Best for an affordable date: Newcastle upon Tyne, which tops the affordable ranking of 56 places with 8.6 out of 10 and an average £15 meal at an inexpensive restaurant.
The 8 Best Cities For Solo Dating
1. Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove takes the top spot overall with 8.2 out of 10. This city is the only one in our top eight to score above 8 for restaurants and bars, culture, and adventure at the same time, with 441 restaurants and bars for every 100,000 people.
It's a city that suits its own company. Think long lunches with a view of the sea, lazy afternoons lost in independent shops and winding lanes, and a seafront stroll as the sun goes down. Everything is close enough to wander, so you can change your mind as often as you like.
Treat yourself to a proper dining experience courtesy of Buyagift, or find more things to do in Brighton and let your solo itinerary write itself.
2. Bath
Bath finishes second on 7.9 and posts the highest activity per capita score of the eight cities, at 9.36. It's the only city to score a perfect 10 across restaurants and bars, culture, and wellness, which makes it a brilliant all-rounder for a self-care date night. With 772 restaurants and bars per 100,000 people, a table for one is never hard to find.
Picture honey-coloured streets, a river made for slow strolls, and a spa tradition that goes back centuries. Bath is small enough to cover on foot and pretty enough that you'll keep stopping just to look. For the full treat, book a spa day for one and let the city's thermal heritage do the rest.
3. Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle ties Bath on 7.9, with the second-highest Reddit solo activity score of 9.15, so people are clearly talking about going it alone here. It also wins the affordable date crown with 8.6 out of 10, thanks to a typical £15 meal at an inexpensive restaurant.
Newcastle has a famously warm welcome, which makes dining and wandering alone feel easy. Stroll by the river as the lights come on, then use the money you saved on dinner for a night of comedy. This is one of the best solo date ideas going; nobody checks whether you came with a plus-one when the lights go down.
4. Cheltenham
Cheltenham lands fourth on 7.5 and wins our adventure date title with 9.27 out of 10, ahead of Brighton's 8.55. Its wellness score of 9.82 is second only to Bath, so you can mix a morning of thrills with an afternoon of calm.
Regency elegance meets open countryside here. Tree-lined streets and leafy parks are made for slow afternoons, while the rolling hills nearby are perfect for a morning of fresh air. Push yourself out of your comfort zone with an adventure day, then reward yourself with a slow dinner. Dating yourself in Cheltenham means you pick the pace.
5. Glasgow
Glasgow comes in fifth place on 7.5, level with Cheltenham, and has the highest Reddit solo activity score of the eight cities at 9.58. With over 632,000 residents, it's a city big enough that nobody blinks at a table for one, and its culture score of 7.45 reflects an abundance of galleries, music venues, and theatres close by.
Glasgow has a big heart and an even bigger personality. Grand Victorian streets give way to cosy bars and live music spilling out of venues most nights of the week. Plan a day of experiences in Glasgow, then follow it with a gig or show where the crowd does the chatting for you. Solo gig-goers fit right in.
6. London
London ranks sixth on 7.2, helped by a Reddit solo activity score of 8.73, the third-highest of the eight cities. The raw numbers are huge, with 311 restaurants and bars per 100,000 people across nearly 8.8 million residents.
The capital rewards the solo wanderer with more choice than anyone could finish. World-class galleries, many of them free to enter, mean you can dip in for an hour and leave whenever you like. Wander a riverside path, then pick up a single theatre seat for the evening. Start gently with an afternoon tea in London; it's a lovely way to spend an hour with a book and a scone.
7. Chester
Chester comes seventh on 7.2, level with London, and wins big on food. Its restaurants and bars score of 8.91 reflects 403 per 100,000 people, and it ranks second in our affordable dates list at 8.3 out of 10, with the same £15 inexpensive meal as Newcastle.
This is a storybook city on medieval streets, black-and-white timbered buildings and riverside paths, and it's ideal for a day with no agenda. A Reddit solo activity score of 7.57 shows plenty of people enjoy it on their own. Try a leisurely brunch and take your time over a second coffee, then drift through the old streets with nowhere to be.
8. Eastbourne
Eastbourne rounds out the list on 7.1 with a seaside twist. It scores 9.45 for restaurants and bars, matching Brighton's 441 per 100,000 people, and 9.09 for wellness, with 27 wellness spots per 100,000. That's a handy combination for a relaxed day by the coast.
Think wide skies, a sweeping seafront, and chalk cliffs on the horizon. Book a wellbeing experience, then stroll the promenade as the evening light fades, ice cream in hand, and no one you feel obliged to share it with. Perfect.
Ready to Date Yourself?
Whichever city you pick, the best solo dating advice is the simplest: book something you'd normally save for a special occasion, and make it a night that's all about you. Pick an idea from our experiences to get you started, and make Singles' Day one to remember.
Methodology
We compared major and large urban areas across Great Britain, using ONS built-up area data for England and Wales and equivalent data for Scotland.
For each area, we used machine learning to identify posts about solo activities in local Reddit communities. We then scored areas based on how frequently these posts appeared per 1,000 posts, alongside the average number of comments and votes they received. Each measure was scored relative to the other areas analysed.
To prevent areas with fewer posts from producing unusually high or low scores, we adjusted the averages by adding the equivalent of 20 posts with middle-of-the-range results.
We also used OpenStreetMap to count places to visit and things to do within each activity category. These counts were adjusted for population size, allowing us to compare areas of different sizes fairly.
The overall ranking combined two scores: 60% reflected local Reddit discussions about solo activities, and 40% reflected the availability of activities per person.
For the Affordable Dates ranking, we gave equal weight to the overall score and a separate affordability score based on the typical price of an inexpensive meal locally.
For the individual activity rankings, we used the same 60:40 weighting, combining the Reddit score with the availability of the specific activity per person.