Is Ireland Safe for Solo Female Travelers?

Ireland is generally very safe for solo female travelers. The locals are hospitable and welcoming. Low crime rates and high police visibility reinforce the sense of security. However, normal precautions, like avoiding solitary walks late at night in secluded areas and making sure you stay in endorsed accommodation, should be applied as in any travel situations.

Safety rating

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How safe is Ireland?

Safety at night:

Safety at night:Safe

Overall, Ireland is considered a safe destination, including during night hours. As a solo female traveller, you may feel safe and secure walking alone at night in most parts of Ireland. However, it's worth being cautious, especially in less populated areas or unfamiliar parts of towns and cities. Instances of crime are generally low, but being aware of your surroundings and avoiding dark, secluded areas is advised as it is for any location worldwide.
Public transportation:

Public transportation:Safe

Public transportation in Ireland is generally safe, including buses, trams, and trains. Daytime travel is absolutely safe, and even night services are quite reliable. However, like anywhere, maintain a level of vigilance, especially during late-night hours. Overall, reliability, safety measures, and the respect locals have for public transit make it a convenient means of travel.
Street harassment:

Street harassment:Low

Ireland, in general, is a friendly and welcoming country to solo female travelers. While certain instances of harassment are not unheard of, they are relatively quite rare and are not majorly a part of the Irish culture. Yet, always be mindful of your surroundings, and if uncomfortable situations arise, do not hesitate to ask for help from local residents or authorities.
Petty crimes:

Petty crimes:Low

In Ireland, petty crimes such as pickpocketing or bag snatching are not widespread but do occur, particularly in crowded tourist areas and on public transport. However, with basic precautions and vigilance about your surroundings, these risks can be minimized. Always keep your belongings secure and avoid displaying valuable items openly. Despite this, the overall criminal activity level is relatively low compared to other European destinations.

Is Ireland worth visiting?

Overall rating

4.7 /5

based on 99 experiences from female travelers

Things to do

4.6/5

Safety

4.7/5

Food

4.2/5

Budget-friendly

3.7/5

Ireland, Solo travel

I travelled through Ireland for almost 2 months and I loved my time there! Irish people are so warm and welcoming and I got to speak to so many travellers as well as natives. I went to Galway and Cork (concerning the bigger towns) and it was lovely. If you’re in Galway or travelling around there, I’d definitely recommend the cliffs of Moher. It was so so pretty

Posted: April 13, 2025
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Anna

Anna

Russia

Cork, Group travel

I can recommend going out of the city to the countryside-Fota Island, great place to feel united with nature, hike in the woods, and see the giant wildlife zoo, where you can see kangaroos jumping around the woods! I was fascinated with the giant trees and garden with rare trees, which are all very old, and looking like from fairytale! Also you will be very safe in the countryside even hiking alone in the woods. Cork itself is pretty safe too in the centre, but not so much in the periphery, we went 10 minutes walking from city centre towards the periphery and there were no shops, no people, only one very wreaky pub and an a drunkard who followed us for several minutes telling us something incoherent.

Posted: April 11, 2025
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Anna

Anna

Russia

Cobh, Group travel

The Cobh is worth visiting for the Titanic museum, that is small but very interesting place, that I totally recommend. Pubs are maybe 10% cheaper there than the rest of Cork area. The Titanic museum works in seances (each 30 or 60 min new group), so if you have to wait to your seance, there’s a cozy pub near across the road.

Posted: April 11, 2025
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Laura

Laura

Italy

Ireland, Group travel

I visited Ireland with 10 female friends. We felt extraordinarily safe. Irish people are so heart-warming and welcoming. We asked some Irish families the permission to put our tents in their gardens, they always hosted us with great pleasure.

Posted: April 8, 2025Experienced: July, 2024
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Romane

Romane

France

Dublin, Solo travel

I felt safe but there are a lot of homeless people. Exept that its a Nice city, not really beautiful but there are a lot to do and people are welcoming. The best thing in Ireland was the landscape, for réal its beautiful !

Posted: April 7, 2025
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Klara

Klara

Germany

Ireland, Solo travel

I felt mostly safe going out because I met a nice and fun group of people. I wouldn’t prefer going out alone. It‘s not too bad but I’ve had many drunk people try approaching me If you can handle that well you should be fine but in general traveling solo as a woman doesn’t feel that safe I can recommend doing a guided tour to see the cliffs of moher and galway (by Wild Rover Tours) - our tourguide Ivonne was hilarious and did such an amazing job The Howth Cliff walk is a classic as well !! The Guiness Storehouse, local pubs with live music and the phoenix park are great places to see; if you like thrifting you can check out the oxfam stores, the big smoke and nine crows vintage but there are also some flea markets or small markets in some quarters as well For cheap drinks i can recommend any JD witherspoon pub - great atmosphere, nice drinks and food and very cheap !! Dublin and Ireland in general is very expensive, so don’t expect to live with a 20€ budget by day - it‘s not realistic If it‘s your holiday trip - treat yourself and go out, it‘s so much fun and you‘ll regret not doing it There are great gay bars and girls only bars as well - i have a google maps list of pinned places that I went to or still have to see, text me and I‘ll forward it to you :) For accommodation I can totally recommend Jacobs Inn Hostel, it‘s super nice and cheap compared to most offers in Dublin You can meet many people and even enjoy live music in their lobby I would always go there again !! For traveling around the city you could get a leap card; they have visitor cards you can buy at the airport or online but you can also buy a regular leap card which is a bit cheaper in my experience and just add as much money on top as you like Visitor cards are for one, three or seven days; they regular leap card also can be refunded at the end of your trip - check out leap cards official website ;) Besides that Dublin in itself or Galway is very walkable, you can get anywhere easily and very fast !! You might wanna take trains or busses etc for seeing howth or for a day trip to wicklow or other places but besides that it‘s not really necessary to take public transport (and for day trips I highly recommend a guided tour cuz it‘s so much fun and more informative) If you‘d like more infos about my trip and recs I‘m happy to tell you all about it :) Overall I stayed in Dublin most of the time and did some sightseeing, then Howth and at last a guided tour to Cliffs of Moher and Galway

Posted: April 6, 2025
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Dublin, Solo travel

Amazing experience ! One of my first Couchsurfing and it was incredible ! We had the chance to be here for the gay parade and it was really wonderful experience ! We had chance to discover different part of the city and enjoy the real Ireland vibe ! From Dublin you can take train 20 min to small village in the cost it’s really amazing I recommend ! We had feeling safe all the trip but was little surprise how it’s work here with nightlife, lot of people drunked , bar and club close early and all the bus and taxi was reserved so if I can suggest to don’t wait for the last minute to go home ;)

Posted: March 8, 2025Experienced: May, 2022
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Manon

Manon

France

Dublin, Solo travel

I loved this experience ! It was the first time for me to go really solo somewhere. I travelled before with school but I always knew someone (teacher ou students). Here I was solo. I took my time, slept in hostel. Everything was perfect. I did everything that I wanted. Very nice

Posted: February 24, 2025
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Lola

Lola

France

Galway, Group travel

I fully recommend to go to Galway, and Ireland in général it's really amazing. The people there are really nice, and you feel really safe and welcoming with all the locals. I also recommend to go to the cliffs of moher, it's really worth it.

Posted: February 20, 2025Experienced: March, 2022
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Naomi

Naomi

Ireland

Galway, Group travel

Galway city was one of the most loveliest places I've ever visited. Very easy to travel to most places by foot and lots of delicious food Everyone is super friendly and it felt very safe Most places weren't expensive

Posted: February 16, 2025Experienced: December, 2024
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Is Ireland safe for women?

Safety index

4 /5

Based on 67 local experiences

Crime index

2.1 /5

Based on 67 local experiences

Limerick

I have only lived here for a few months now, but I have felt relatively safe. I’ve had a couple of encounters with weird/creepy men at bus stops, but generally I feel pretty safe here! Walking around at night isn’t too bad. One thing to note is that the bus service stops around midnight.

Posted: April 12, 2025
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Dublin

Depends of the areas but the centre specifically it’s a bit dangerous and it does not really matter the hour. There’re a lot of people from different backgrounds and it can be tricky sometimes. Walking in the centre can be dangerous and there’s risks of being attacked or robbed. Dublin is a very touristic city so there’re pickpockets as well.

Posted: April 10, 2025
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Meet locals in Ireland

Natalia

Natalia

About Me

Im Chilean, living in Ireland for almost 5 years, used to travel a lot!! I’m a bit more quiet now… Love all kinds of outdoor adventures, but climbing and cycling are my favorites.

Speaking

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Sarah

Sarah

About Me

Hi, I'm an arts student currently taking a gap year. I love arts, crafts and thrifting. I really like my city so I'm happy to spend a little time showing people around. I'm pretty broke most of the time lol. I'm often described by others as creative, nice, kind, funny and smart. I'm a Christian and very allergic to peanuts

Speaking

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Stay with locals in Ireland

Zilan

Zilan

Dublin

Can host for:

3 days

About me

My name is Zilan, Im from Turkey and Ive been living in Dublin for the last 2,5 years. I love meeting new people.

Speaking

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Bríd

Bríd

Dublin

Can host for:

3 days

About me

Hi. I'm Bríd. I'm 37 and a singer. I'm obsessed with music and travelling and am hoping to travel and to meet new people over the next year.

Speaking

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Upcoming visitors to Ireland

Magdaléna

Magdaléna

About Me

hii, i am Magdalena and i am planning my interrail trip for summer 2025 travelling is a big passion of mine, so far i have been to places like mexico, canada and many european countries and cities my dream is to travel through asia for few moths someday in the future and also to learn hungarian properly and live in budapest for some time and also to learn how to surf i am also very interested in meeting new people and places, i love doing sports and reading

Speaking

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Kathryn

Kathryn

About Me

Hello! Greetings! I'm Kathryn! I just finished my degree in history and creative writing and am currently planning a long-winded trip (or pilgrimage, of sorts) across Europe with a goal see that even in our anxious world, there are still pockets of beauty everywhere. In the meantime, I live in a suburb just outside of Vancouver, BC. I once met up at a local coffee shop with a sister from the Host a Sister Facebook group, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I really like getting to hear about another person's culture as I am super curious about what it's like to live in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, I don't really think I can host you as I am living with my parents at the moment because of this crazy Vancouver housing crisis, but one day soon when I move into my own place I would really like to host women and show them around Vancouver to give back to this community. In the mean time, I would love to meet up with you! If you're visiting Vancouver and the greater Vancouver area, I would be happy to meet up with you or take you for coffee somewhere. I can give you all kinds of information, like what it's like living in "The Loneliest City in the World," or give advice on places to eat, or day trips to take from Vancouver without a car (as I have experience exploring BC car free as I don't drive) or maybe we could go hiking together?

Speaking

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Safety in Ireland