Best countries for solo travelers

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Safety ranking: 47; happiness ranking: 39 The land of Shakespeare has long been a welcoming place for single American travelers, especially those with an Anglophile bent. You can typically enjoy theater — and everything else — sans lost-in-translation issues.

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Safety ranking: 1; happiness ranking: 80 The safest country on the list ranks 80th for happiness? Blame some of the highest taxes in the world and long winters. Even so, it's an easy country for single travelers to feel comfortable in.

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Safety ranking: 6 happiness ranking: 59 Plan your visit for the sunshine-filled long days of summer, and get oriented in Helsinki, which is walkable, easygoing and filled with design stores and museums. The Esplanade is full of outdoor cafes and a market. Sociability begins here and continues in saunas, which are found all over the city and the country.

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Safety ranking: 8; happiness ranking: 48 After a few days in the fascinating megalopolis of Tokyo, hop a bullet train ride past Mount Fuji to experience the contrasting tranquility of old Kyoto. Lodgings, from venerable ryokan inns to modern hotels, are designed with single travelers in mind. You can enjoy a communal hot spring bath, meditate in a Zen garden and dine at the counter of a sushi restaurant — a classic favorite of solo travelers.

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Safety ranking: 20; happiness ranking: 55 Take liberal social policies, the original bike culture, and cities and towns crisscrossed with canals, and you have the Netherlands, the solo traveler's Disneyland. The Dutch are among the most laid-back and accepting people in Europe.

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Safety ranking: 10; happiness ranking: 22 The best way for solo travelers to experience an expensive country that's 1,000 miles long: aboard one of the Hurtigruten coastal steamers that sail up the coast of Norway, into the city of Bergen, and through some of the country's most beautiful fjords, stopping at dozens of ports along the way.

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Safety ranking: 11; happiness ranking: 45 It's easy to be a solo traveler in Stockholm, a compact city surrounded by the waters of the archipelago. Sea kayaking? Check. A day exploring the city's parks by bike? Easy enough. There are outdoor cafes, the artistic treasures of the Moderna Museet and stellar shopping for design here in the country that gave us Ikea.

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Safety ranking: 13; happiness ranking: 67 Blame it on the collapse of the Celtic Tiger, but the famous Irish devil-may-care friendliness is a lot more subdued these days. Statistics aside, whether you're in a thatch-roofed pub in County Clare or walking down Grafton Street in Dublin on a literary walking tour in this UNESCO City of Literature, you will still feel welcome.

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Safety ranking: 45; happiness ranking: 2 Street life is colorful and safe in Vietnam's largest cities, whether you're exploring Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City or heading for Hanoi's massive Dong Xuan Market. Do tai chi with hundreds of others by Hoan Kiem lake before heading into the mountains of the Central Highlands, preferably on a trek with a local outfitter.

Chicago Tribune

Safety ranking: 43; happiness ranking: 18 Cafe culture and a European vibe are reasons that solo travelers flock to Buenos Aires, where tango salons stay open late.

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Safety ranking: 38; happiness ranking: 27 Laos has something of a cultlike status among single travelers. Like Vietnam, Laos was a war-ravaged place that has emerged as a peaceful haven. Unlike Vietnam, it has managed to retain much of its original culture and to preserve its environment, among the most pristine in Southeast Asia. Highlights include a classic riverboat trip down the Mekong, a visit to the royal city of Luang Prabang and hanging out with an international cadre of travelers in the capital of Vientiane.

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Safety ranking: 4; happiness ranking: 24 In New Zealand, the lush setting of the "Lord of the Rings" films, travelers can look forward to adventures on glaciers, in rainforests and on the peaks of the Southern Alps, not to mention bungee jumping, jet boating and hiking on the legendary Milford Track.

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Safety ranking: 5; happiness ranking: 30 Switzerland, a place known for people who mind their own business, is a natural choice for solo travelers. Equip yourself with good hiking boots and a Swiss Rail Pass — good for every train, tram and lake steamer.

Chicago Tribune

Safety ranking: 54; happiness ranking: 5 Let's see: temples, yoga on the beach, and cheap food, lodging and massages. Then add an international roster of backpackers, hedonists and spiritual seekers. It must be Bali, the single most popular destination for Western solo travelers in Indonesia.

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Safety ranking: 42; happiness ranking: 1 You could argue that the concept of adventure travel was born here in Costa Rica, aka the world's happiest country. This Central American destination has been drawing Americans for decades to surf on the Pacific coast or join a rafting company for a day on the white water of the Reventazon or Pacuare rivers.

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Safety ranking: 57; happiness ranking: 9 Adventure travel is a prime reason for solo travelers to visit this Central American country, from whitewater rafting on the Chiriqui and Chiriqui Viejo rivers to ziplining through the tropical treetops. Then there's the growing surfing culture, especially in Bocas del Toro, where the Caribbean vibe, intense nightlife and beach culture are tempting for young singles. Be sure to catch the obligatory view of ships transiting the Panama Canal and to explore Panama City's atmospheric Casco Antiguo (Old Town) before or after your time on the coast.