Safety & crime on vacation

A traveler's guide to staying safe on the road in Europe

Police now keep a close eye on tourist hot spots, like the Duomo in Milan here, checking tourists' bags and keeping everyone safe. Heck, most sights in Paris now have metal detectors you have to go through—even at the church of Sainte-Chapelle.

Random, violent crime rates are much lower in Europe than in the United States. Murder is rare, and terrorism is more a scary bluff than harsh reality.

Be smart, be safe, and enjoy yourself. With your valuables in your money belt, the worst that might happen to you is that the day’s spending money in your wallet gets stolen.

European big cities are, on the whole, safer than U.S. ones. Your two biggest worries should be pickpockets and the crazy traffic—especially the kamikaze scooters that routinely go the wrong way up one-way streets and even drive on the sidewalks.

Take all this stuff with several grains of salt. Other than taking some sensible precautions against theft, you shouldn’t have to worry much about safety at all.

I gotta tell you, I have spent probably a total of eight years living or traveling in Europe, and I've had far more instances of feeling distinctly unsafe in the course of my everyday life in New York City than I ever have anywhere in Europe (and the only time I've ever been mugged was in my hometown of Philadelphia).