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Table for one

Solo dining is having a moment, 73% of Canadian consumers plan to dine solo in the next year —and travel isn’t far behind*. Make the most of your adventures with KAYAK and OpenTable’s guide to travelling and dining by yourself.

Get started

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Table for one

Solo dining is having a moment, 73% of Canadian consumers plan to dine solo this year—and travel isn’t far behind*. Make the most of your adventures with KAYAK and OpenTable’s guide to travelling and dining by yourself.

Get started

gettyimages-1790814816-1-1

The trends

Table for one, please: The solo dining trend

On OpenTable, solo dining in Canada in the past 12 months increased by 16%** compared to the previous year. Solo diners per person spend 43% more than any other diner, averaging $82***. Additionally, new consumer research from OpenTable and KAYAK found that**:

89% la-taco  

have dined solo at a sit-down restaurant in the past 12 months.

34% bos-clam-chowder  

state “me time” as the number one reason to dine solo followed by dining on their own schedule (24%).

47% must-book-restaurants 

One of the biggest barriers to solo dining is finding inspiration on where to dine.

Expert tips

Expert advice for dining and travelling alone

From the ideal seats to book to using local knowledge to fuel your trip, here are international veteran traveller Nicola Easterby’s tips for getting the most out of your solo adventures.

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  1. Eat at the bar or chef’s counter: If you want to feel a little less awkward when dining solo, ask to be seated at the bar or chef’s counter. This provides a more interactive and social dining experience, especially if there are friendly bartenders or chefs to chat with!
  2. Make reservations in advance: When you’re travelling as a party of one, the last thing you want to do is wait in line by yourself for restaurants or attractions. If you want to save yourself the stress, make sure you plan ahead by pre-booking activities and making your restaurant reservations in advance on OpenTable.
  3. Get outside of your comfort zone: Solo travel is a perfect time to stretch yourself by trying new activities and experiences. Whether this is jumping out of a plane, dining solo at a fancy restaurant or going on a bar crawl with a group of strangers, try do at least one thing that scares you on every solo trip you take.
  4. Find local events to attend: When planning a solo trip, take time to research local festivals, holidays, and events happening during your travel dates. Attending these events is not only a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture, it’s also a great opportunity to meet locals and other travellers.
  5. Ask locals for recommendations: If you want to uncover the best-kept secrets and hidden gems of a destination, a web search isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to ask locals instead. Get in the habit of asking taxi drivers, tour guides or shopkeepers their favourite spots to shop, visit, eat, drink and hang out.
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@polkadotpassport - Nicola Easterby, Travel & Food Content Creator in London

  1. Eat at the bar or chef’s counter: If you want to feel a little less awkward when dining solo, ask to be seated at the bar or chef’s counter. This provides a more interactive and social dining experience, especially if there are friendly bartenders or chefs to chat with!
  2. Make reservations in advance: When you’re travelling as a party of one, the last thing you want to do is wait in line by yourself for restaurants or attractions. If you want to save yourself the stress, make sure you plan ahead by pre-booking activities and making your restaurant reservations in advance on OpenTable.
  3. Get outside of your comfort zone: Solo travel is a perfect time to stretch yourself by trying new activities and experiences. Whether this is jumping out of a plane, dining solo at a fancy restaurant or going on a bar crawl with a group of strangers, try do at least one thing that scares you on every solo trip you take.
  4. Find local events to attend: When planning a solo trip, take time to research local festivals, holidays, and events happening during your travel dates. Attending these events is not only a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture, it’s also a great opportunity to meet locals and other travellers.
  5. Ask locals for recommendations: If you want to uncover the best-kept secrets and hidden gems of a destination, a web search isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to ask locals instead. Get in the habit of asking taxi drivers, tour guides or shopkeepers their favourite spots to shop, visit, eat, drink and hang out.
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Top Canadian destinations

OpenTable and KAYAK teamed up to present:

The top 10 Canadian cities to visit + dine solo

Looking at average hotel prices, flight costs, meal expenses, safety rankings, the share of solo dining and local attractions, OpenTable and KAYAK uncovered the Top 10 destinations for solo dining and travel. Whether searching for big city culture, a homebase to explore the outdoors, or just some R&R, here are Canada’s best cities to visit on your own.

In each destination, we’re highlighting restaurants favoured by solo diners on OpenTable—culled from verified diner reviews and dining metrics including diner ratings, percentage of reservations made in advance, five-star reviews and percentage of solo diners.

We got in on the action too by highlighting five favourite spots by OpenTable’s team of on-the-ground experts. Start planning your trip on KAYAK now.

victoria-1

1. Victoria

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

ottawa-1

2. Ottawa

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

calgary-1

3. Calgary

Diner picks

 
 

OpenTable picks

edmonton-1

4.  Edmonton

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

vancouver

5. Vancouver

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

montreal

6. Montreal

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

saskatoon-1

7. Saskatoon

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

kelowna-1

8. Kelowna

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

winnipeg-1

9. Winnipeg

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

toronto-v2

10. Toronto

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

Top international destinations

OpenTable and KAYAK teamed up to present:

The top 10 international cities to visit + dine solo

Grab your passport and book your next trip to one of these cities that are perfect for solo travellers to explore.

In each destination, we’re also highlighting restaurants favoured by solo diners on OpenTable—culled from verified diner reviews and dining metrics including diner ratings, percentage of reservations made in advance, five-star reviews and percentage of solo diners.

We got in on the action too by highlighting five favourite spots by OpenTable’s team of on-the-ground experts. Start planning your trip on KAYAK now.

edinburgh-1

1.  Edinburgh

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

paris-v2

2. Paris

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

dublin

3.  Dublin

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

 

seattle-2

4.  Seattle

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

 

boston-2

5. Boston

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

 

dubai

6.  Dubai

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

sf-2

7.  San Fransisco

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

orlando-1

8. Orlando

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

lasvegas-1

9.  Las Vegas

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

 

chicago-2

10.  Chicago

Diner picks

 

OpenTable picks

Your solo adventure is waiting.

Plan your next trip on KAYAK and discover new places to eat on OpenTable now.

OpenTable x KAYAK Consumer Research

  • *An online survey was conducted by PureSpectrum among 1000 Canadian consumers with an interest in solo travel. Within this sample, major cities have been weighed for direct comparison. The research fieldwork took place between 2 – 6 August, 2024.

OpenTable Data

  • **OpenTable looked at online seated diners for parties of 1 from August 1 2023 to July 31 2024, and compared it to the corresponding period in 2023.
  • ***OpenTable looked at the average spend per guest for parties of one and overall party sizes from 1 August, 2023 to 31 July, 2024.

City Ranking Methodology

  • A total of 10 cities have been selected based on the largest share of solo travel searches made on KAYAK and the share of solo dining at OpenTable restaurants.
  • The solo travel share has been identified based on the hotel searches for one person conducted from the 1 January, 2024 to 30 June, 2024 for the travel period between the January 17, 2024 and November 30, 2024.
  • To identify solo dining share, OpenTable looked at solo seated diners from phone, online and walk-in reservations from 1 January, 2023 to 31 December, 2023 in cities with over 50 restaurants on the platform as of 1 January, 2024.

For more information on how the top international cities were selected, visit www.ca.kayak.com/c/solo/.

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