First time solo-traveling to Europe - where should I go?
I got laid off on Friday and immediately booked a month long Europe trip. Irresponsible? Probably. Something I'll end up regretting? Definitely not. TLDR - I'm a 28 year old woman who's traveled a pretty good amount - think Barcelona, Amsterdam, parts of Portugal, Italy, the UK, etc. But, I've never solo traveled. I'll be traveling with my sister to Vienna mid-September, followed by Budapest. From there, I have about ~18 days of solo time before meeting a friend in Copenhagen for a week. I'm looking for advice on how I should spend that time.
As I've never solo traveled, I want to be extra cautious on safety, ease of getting around, and of course things to do as a solo traveler who doesn't do well sitting still. I'd ideally love to do a combination of a warmer place (I live in NYC and am already dreading the winter), and a city environment. So, initial idea is to stay around central Europe and go to Prague for a few days post-Budapest...but then I'm stuck. Do I go to Italy or the south of Spain? Do I explore Germany or Belgium? What about all of the above?
I don't think I feel comfortable staying in a shared hostel room for the entirety of the trip, so that's also (price-wise) something I've been running into. Money, of course, is a key factor but clearly I'm taking a month long Europe trip so it's not like I have a track record of being responsible with it.
Would love any thoughts, opinions, advice. And thank you in advance!