Is Europe safe?

No, its full of overseas tourists blocking the footpaths and standing where they shouldn't on public transport. ☺
Sorry, but I have a thing against "is it safe?" questions. Is New York safe?

BUT - "would prefer to hire a car in these cities" - no way you want to be driving in London, Paris or Berlin. Driving is slower than public transport, and nowhere to park either at your hotel or your destination.
Beware that cities shut down over Christmas, make sure you have somewhere to eat on the 24th, 25th and 26th December that you have checked is open and has space for you.

Even with terrorism the big European cities are statistically much safer than big U.S. cities. Pickpocketing or a scam are about the worst things that are likely to happen to you over there. If you're still aprehensive or anxious despite this information, then consider staying home.

Would you people advise to go to the US with 59 dead last month in Las Vegas en 8 this week in New York?

Hey John......
As you can see, this is a lightning rod topic. And, as this is your first Travel Forum post, I want to offer a little calm in this storm.
I understand your concern - we are living in crazy times, and personal safety is a very big deal.
Having just returned from Paris, I can assure you that, from my experiences there, the City of Light is a safe place. It is highly unlikely you will suffer from the hand of anyone meaning to harm you.
It is not safe from a pedestrian point of view....in that, you must use extra care when crossing streets. Scooters, buses, cars, trucks, bicycles and vans contest the roadways in a state of frenzy, and caution is required at all times when pedestrians and traffic interact.
I would caution you against hiring a car for the purpose of driving in Paris.
The Metro is safe and reliable, although sometimes crowded.
Paris is everything you can imagine and more.......be prepared for a wonderful time.

European cities are like many big cities. You need to understand risks whether its terrorism, pick pockets, or crossing busy intersections. We have been the past 2 years and are headed to London in a couple weeks with our teen kids. We noticed some security, but not much different than anywhere. Obviously bad things are possible, but the chances are miniscule. As we know things can also happen in New York or Vegas or Orlando.

If the risk makes you unable to enjoy your time don't go. Definitely don't rent a car to get around big European cities. That is probably the most expensive most inconvenient way to travel in the cities and you probably are not reducing the risk that much. If you feel unsafe in public transport consider walking, taxis, and Uber.

I can't speak for Berlin but there's no way I'd consider renting a car for London or Paris. Both have very good public transit, and dealing with a car would come with a host of nasty headaches. Considering the millions who take the Tube in London and Metro in Paris DAILY (and that's not taking buses into consideration) without incident, aside from maybe the random pickpocket but those can be easily foiled, the safety risks of using either are fractional.

No one can promise 100% safety anywhere at all but the benefits of using public transit in European cities vastly outweighs the negatives of managing a car. Rental cars make more sense when traveling the countryside but not for densely populated urban areas where just parking can be a challenge.

For one good example, read up on daily congestion fees for driving within charging zones in London.
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge

I'm guessing the OP is likely not from the U.S. but "public transport" isn't really all that unfamiliar a phrase in the States.

Editing to add, this is an excellent point from Jean below:
"I'll put on my engineering hat and say that statistically your chances of getting hurt are higher in the car you would hire than from a terrorist."

John, by "hire a car" I assume you mean renting a car to drive yourself versus a paid driver to chauffeur you around?

I have only been to London for a short visit & I have never been to the other two cities, but I can say that having a car in a big city is a bad idea. I don't know where you live but I am guessing it is a much smaller town.

In any large city, there are going to be many more people and more dangers but you don't have to be paranoid about it. You just need to be aware. As the previous posts mentioned, you are more likely to be pickpocketed than run into a terrorist. Just because people are different does not mean they are bad.

By being aware, I mean take a look at people around you, how are they acting, your body knows when something is off. If it doesn't feel normal, get yourself out (this goes for more than just terrorism). If you do see something, say something. There are wackos everywhere, Europe doesn't have exclusivity on it.

"All the terror attacks going on over there...". You make it sound like masses of people are being killed in the streets daily. As opposed to the major crime statistics in your own country, I think your worries are misguided. Or perhaps simply ignorant of the actual facts. You're likely safer in those 3 European cities than any comparable American ones.

As for hiring a car to get around- unless you like being stuck in traffic and not being able to find a place to park, I'd recommend against it. Exactly what has you worried about public transportation? These cities are known for their good public transit. Your biggest worry is putting your hand in your pocket and finding someone else's hand already in there (happened to my husband one evening on a Paris metro. No, he didn't getting anything more than a soggy kleenex). Aside from getting to and from the airport by taxi, we've (safely and efficiently) used public transportation in many European cities for decades, up to and including our month long trip that concluded last week.

I'll put on my engineering hat and say that statistically your chances of getting hurt are higher in the car you would hire than from a terrorist.

We traveled to Italy & France last year and Spain this year. We did see a lot more security in France at the train stations, etc. and my husband's passport was scanned during one of our train rides (but not mine) by some armed, bullet-proof vest security. But, overall we enjoyed both trips immensely.

It's as safe as anywhere else in this crazy old world. I travel solo and felt safer walking at night in the European cities I've visited than here at home in the SF bay area. Go. Take public transit. Keep your wits about you. Enjoy.

In my culture "hire a car" means car and driver. So to answer that question; yup, the only way we move any great distances when in London or Paris. Not out of fear, but because we can and as long as i dont have to drive or park it is fast and efficient.

As for the topic in general, its a hotly debated topic in Europe, so why shouldnt it be a topic for those considering going to Europe.

I can speak to London and Paris with regards to car transportation. Limit it to a taxi now and again if you must, otherwise use public transportation. I have spent much wasted time sitting in traffic in both cities, particularly London. Once we learned how to use the tube/metro we saved much time and money.

In my culture "hire a car" means car and driver.

In the UK a hire car or to "hire a car" refers to a car rental. Whether this has any bearing on the OP's location or whether he is simply using the wording common to his intended destination is anyone's guess.

I was in Berlin and London this past summer, spent two full weeks in Berlin, last summer too spent ten nights in Berlin. Last month I flew back to London for another 11 nights, since the flights from OAK to London were so cheap, too good to pass up. Renting a car in Berlin and London is not an option, so I use public transport all the time. What about the locals, they use public transport too as do the tons of tourists in the summer. You have to know what you are doing in these big cities, more in Berlin than in London.

I absolutely would not recommend renting a car in Berlin and London with all its possible negative effects, not worth bothering with.

Paris was entirely safe on all public transportation this summer. We saw so many armed and unarmed patrols.... I think the likelihood of any tragic event happening where ever you go is about the same. Let your instinct guide you. I felt more unsafe in Marseille than any time in Paris.

Oh, Mr Locke. Ausgezeichnet.

It is as safe or safer than most US cities. There are places in Chicago, Baltimore, NYC, Miami, that I would not send a foreign tourist. There are places in Brazil where foreign tourists have gotten into bad trouble, even been killed. There are places in Turkey and Armenia that are very dodgy. But Paris? There are migrant areas that I would not go to. Italy? Same thing - some migrant areas. There are migrant camps in Salzburg I would not go into. But most of Europe is pretty safe. Ask at the TI if there are bad areas to be avoided. They will tell you. We stayed in Moselstrasse in Frankfurt in May. At 11 PM, there were a bunch of junkies shooting up. We walked around them, but I am not sure that young women alone would be wise to go there.

There is one thing that you should do - watch the locals. In Germany, the locals do not cross against the light. You should not cross against the light - you might get a big ticket. In other cities, people ignore signals. That's a problem of a different sort. Also looking and acting like an asshold American tourist can be a big red flag. Be nice, be polite, I am sure you will have a great time.

I wasn't really going to pile on here, but oh well.

First of all I have to say I am ashamed to see some of the responses on here. I wasn't aware that one had to speak (and write) fluent American in order to post on this forum. Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

In response to the OP: what exactly do you mean by safe? If you're referring to terrorism, then nowhere is completely safe. Just ask the residents of and visitors to Las Vegas, New York, Orlando here in the US. It is precisely because these attacks are random and unexpected that they cause terror - if you let them.

If you're referring to personal attacks like muggings and pick-pockets, then I would still say that the large cities of Europe are as safe as those of the US, particularly places like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles among others. In Europe the centers of the cities are quite safe. There may be some sketchy outlying areas but tourists normally are not wandering around in these areas.

As far as transportation is concerned I have always felt much safer on the public transport systems of the European cities that I have visited, than I have as a pedestrian and than I would as a driver in these cities. I would not rent a car in any of the cities you mention. Their public transport systems are inexpensive, efficient, and SAFE.

I didn't know that "American" was a language, as in "...to speak and write American".

As for the question at hand, as a well known poster on the Hungary forum occasionally writes, Europe is completely safe, except when it isn't.

Statistically you are safer using public transportation than a hired car.

British English is a dialect of American English.

I visited London, England, in July 2016, alone. By mistake, I left my printed confirmation of my airplane tickets on my couch. The boarder control and security people held me in a cell for imigrants and suspicious people, for almost 4 hours, before interviewing me and finally deciding to let me enter the country. Answer their questions right away; give then your confirmation page for your airplane tickets ( they call this your “itinerary”), along with your passport.

But I did not intuitively want to feel like London was dangerous; I took the subway without a problem. I did not take a taxi. There were certain streets and entrances to subways, where people were pressing and bumping into me because it was that crowded; l imagine there is a danger of getting your pockets picked. Nobody on this site including myself, will tell you that you should not visit London. As you can see from my other recent post, I have a similar problem (feeling guilty for traveling anywhere (alone), because my mother and my one aunt feel like it is dangerous for me to travel far from home, alone), but I took three solo trips so far; I did not get robbed, assaulted, or mugged.

Is Europe safe (yes, I will bite); the question indicates that the Britt (I'm guessing here) that posted it, if serious (he isnt) hasn't been out of his house long enough to understand that Europe isn't a culture and for all practical purposes of scale, its not even a place.

What? Martha's Vineyard is more dangerous than Donbass? Really? How about Paris' Boulevard Voltaire vs Voltaire Ave in Henderson, NV? Of course I would rather be anyplace in Albania than lots of places in Detroit after dark.... (sorry Albania, you don't deserve the reputation).

Naaaaa, just kidding. It's all safe.

My first time in London, I was alone. My second time in Paris I was alone. Blvd Voltaire is one place I've been on, not recently, but in 2005.

I agree with Tom_MN--- the posting would have been at just past 5PM in GB and as he could not kick his cat because it had run away, he set out to amuse himself by posting this bit of drivel.

I notice that this is John's first post. He's visiting London, but he uses the term "hire car". ??

There is one thing that you should do - watch the locals.

My rule of thumb on being a pedestrian in an unfamiliar place is that if a person pushing a baby carriage or wheelchair is crossing the street, it's typically going to be safe for me to follow them.

Excellent troll.

Succinctly hits 5 hot topics in a first post by John Locke.

Enjoy the weekend.

With all the terror attacks going on over there, is this a safe time
to visit London, Paris and Berlin? We'd be staying for one week over
Christmas, and coming back home in the new year.

If you think it's safe to visit NYC, Boston, or Orlando, then it's safe to visit the 3 cities you mentioned above.

We are worried about taking public transport, and would prefer to hire
a car in these cities, but we're not sure how much or how long it
would take to get around London in three days with a hire car. Thanks.

You would really consider renting a car, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and garaging the rental car wherever you go? Wow.

Being panicked about public transport in those 3 cities is akin to being panicked about food poisoning in those 3 cities.

There is one thing that you should do - watch the locals.

Yes, they're the one's wearing arm-bands with the word 'locals' written on.

How on Earth do you establish who a local is without confirming with them? If I'm standing at a set of lights I have no idea who the people around me are, whether they'e local or tourists.

Oh, come on. When you travel, it's pretty obvious who the locals are. Several tells: Tourists have maps. Tourists stop and look at stuff. Tourists go to cafes during working hours. Locals wear business attire, tourists do not. Tourists travel (for the most part) in groups of 2 or more. Tourists take pictures. Tourists look at guidebooks. And tourists almost always don't speak the language. If you think that locals cannot spot you as a tourist within a very quick glance, you are sadly mistaken. You simply need to be observant, and think "If I lived here, would I be looking at that building that way?"

So it's easy to spot the locals waiting at a set of lights is it? They're all in business attire! What about those who don't wear 'business attire' to work? What about those who aren't at work?

I don't look at maps, I've never taken a map with me, I use my phone and to all intents and purposes I could be looking at anything on my phone, messages, Facebook, e-mails.

Locals only travel around on their own? So what about couples or groups of friends?

They must be locals because they speak the language of the country you're in? So if I visit Liverpool or London or Edinburgh I must be a local because I'm speaking English?

When I'm standing at the lights in the centre of Warsaw I have no idea if the people standing next to me are locals or not. They may be speaking Polish but they might be tourists from Krakow. They might be a lone traveller like several of the contributors to this site. They might be dressed in a suit but they could be on a business trip from another country. There's no guaranteed way of establishing whether someone is a local without asking them.

Oh, come on. When you travel, it's pretty obvious who the locals are.
Several tells: Tourists have maps. Tourists stop and look at stuff.
Tourists go to cafes during working hours. Locals wear business
attire, tourists do not. Tourists travel (for the most part) in groups
of 2 or more. Tourists take pictures. Tourists look at guidebooks. And
tourists almost always don't speak the language. If you think that
locals cannot spot you as a tourist within a very quick glance, you
are sadly mistaken. You simply need to be observant, and think "If I
lived here, would I be looking at that building that way?"

What a crock of..... Did you discover a website devoted to stereotypes? I'd love it if you'd cite your source.

However, I will agree to a certain degree on one point - it is likely that locals can spot tourists more easily (or with a greater degree of accuracy) than the reverse. I don't think I look like your stereotypical tourist when I'm just walking down the street or waiting to cross at an intersection. I'm a senior who tends to dress conservatively, don't have a camera hanging around my neck/permanently in my hand, or walk around with a guidebook/map in my hand. And yet I can't tell you how many times last month, in multiple cities, I had tourists (yes they were- they spoke with clearly North American accents) approach me with questions.

-Possibly amusing anecdote that may (just barely) apply:

Years ago I read about the crazy drivers in Rome, and how it felt like you were taking your life in your hands when trying to cross a busy street. The advice (it may even have been Rick's) was to look for a local, and follow them across the street. The theory being that they would know best when it was safest to do so. So on our first visit, that's exactly what we did. And survived intact. Fast forward 10 years or so. Feeling much more confident, we are crossing those same streets all by ourselves now. DH gives me a nudge and reminds me of our previous strategy. And asks if I'd noticed the bunch of people behind us who had waited until I had started to cross before following behind. LOL. Was it because I looked like a local? Or was it because they thought if a white haired lady with a cane thought it was safe to cross, then it was OK for them to cross, too?

I rarely look at maps but I never look at the phone since I don't carry one. In the summer it is quite easy to spot out tourists, Americans, Asians, Europeans. I eavesdrop on their language if it's audible enough. Of course, what they are wearing is also a dead give-away.

On the other hand, I know the locals can easily spot me out as a tourist. Blending in or trying to is irrelevant I have tourist written all over me. I've also been told so that I look obviously like a tourist and the locals know it, at least in Germany.

But Fred, we're talking about working out who the locals are. Eavesdropping on a conversation in Italy won't determine whether someone in Rome is a local or whether they're a tourist from Milan. The earlier post referred specifically to being guided by locals when it came to crossing the road, that was the whole point I was making, how do you determine simply by standing amongst a group of people at a set of lights whether they are local or not.

According to Paul you should be able to tell because they'll be wearing business attire, refraining from drinking at coffee shops during working hours (where the local workers take the breaks I don't know, along with those who work shifts or have a day off or don't even have a job), they also won't be holding maps, have cameras draped around their necks and every other cliché that comes straight out of something like National Lampoons European Vacation.

I'm sure I'll have no difficulty in spotting groups of Japanese tourists, an American tour group or a bunch of British blokes on a stag weekend but there are a hell of a lot of less obvious tourists out there and one's who cannot be distinguished by sight alone particularly whilst standing at a set of lights wondering whether to cross or not.

When I'm standing at the lights in the centre of Warsaw I have no idea
if the people standing next to me are locals or not. They may be
speaking Polish but they might be tourists from Krakow. They might be
a lone traveller like several of the contributors to this site. They
might be dressed in a suit but they could be on a business trip from
another country. There's no guaranteed way of establishing whether
someone is a local without asking them.

JC: You might not be watching carefully. I can spot tourists very easily. And locals can too.

Spotting locals is not that hard. They look like they know where they are going. Tourists, until they are there some time, do not. Tourists look tentative. Ones from Krakow visiting Warsaw look as tentative as tourists from Lviv visiting Warsaw, or from New York. That's one reason I always walk quickly and confidently.

Some don't spend time watching the crowd. I always do. I always know who is behind me. It's a habit.

And as to

There's no guaranteed way of establishing whether someone is a local
without asking them.

of course not. But this is all about prediction, and guessing. It's about probabilities, not certainties. I certainly don't go around in my non-existent polish or croatian or romanian asking if people are tourists.

This is what pickpockets do. They predict and guess who is a rich foreign tourist with bunches of zlotys in their rear pocket.

@ JC...Those in business attire don't get my attention generally, only if I am interested in the style of their dress shirt. That's about all. I define locals, be they tourists or those living in that city, as one speaking the same language. If I see, say German tourists at a particular site I am happen to be visiting in Germany, I see them as locals.

What is harder is Asian tourists, especially millennials, visiting a place, from those who live in the country as students. In Potsdam I saw at Neues Palais the Mandarin Chinese, recognised them immediately as such, but they could be students studying in Berlin or Potsdam, same as in Cambridge, instead of tourists.

Europe CAN be safe if you follow these simple rules!!!! Otherwise, don't go!

%) Thanks

We were in Frankfurt, and had just come out of the Frankfurt Cathedral. We saw a large group of Chinese tourists surrounding a woman with her small child. They were taking pictures of the child. I watched in amazement as they took many pictures of this extremely normal looking baby and mommy. I asked her after they left - anything unusual about her or the baby? She was totally confused and amazed by the whole thing. They were clearly not locals.

I have lived ,worked and travelled in Europe for nearly 62 years and i am still alive

Ray, I wonder if the priest noticed me sneaking off with that chalice after mass this morning...

;) Hilarious. Thanks for sharing!

Ray, excellent. That is always a great source of sound advice.

Life isn't safe. Yes as a woman I avoid destinations like Egypt and India where a significant number of males mistreat women, although the recent news in the U.S. certainly shows it's a problem here too. But honestly, I'm more scared of an attack by a crazy person when I'm at church or at the high school where I teach than I am of public transportation in European cities.

Paul,

When I traveled Asia they got very bizarre when they saw blonde hair, including wanting to pose for photos. Maybe that's what was going on?

I sat next to a Chinese teacher on one domestic US flight. When I told her I had four kids, she literally stood up and yelled to all her colleagues on the plane (in Chinese) that I had four kids. They all seemed really excited about it.

On the topic of safety. In general, you are much safer from a physical assault anywhere in Europe than here.

In London, avoid groups wearing football colors. Their team may have lost and you wouldn't like hooligans when they are in a foul mood. Outside that, the British are wonderful.

In Paris, your biggest problem will be with potential scammers/pickpockets. They're attracted to tourist crowds, take care of your belongings and valuables. Outside of that, the French are big on being polite. If you're polite, they'll love you.

I've been around most of Germany but not yet to Berlin. Other cities in Germany are generally safe.

As far as terrorism is concerned, you aren't likely to notice anything. I've been at or close to places that had attacks or attempted attacks and wouldn't have known if I hadn't seen it on the news. I do make more of an effort to avoid large crowds, when possible, since 9/11 but not enough to let it spoil my travel plans. It's really the same as here. There are attacks but you're very unlikely to witness them.

51 responses and counting....pretty good troll.

bottom line here: put away the doubts and hesitations and go to Europe. Or, go anyway with the hesitations. Do I have hesitations in light of events in 2015, etc.? Yes, but I'm still going. I know what I'm doing in Paris, Germany and France.

2-1/2 weeks with no return from the OP, why are people still responding to this post?

I never posted because frankly I think Tom was correct .

OPs never return after posting topics like this because they aren't really interested in the answers but they love to read the reactions .

Mock me if you want but I've been on forums ( this and several others ) for many many years and I know one when I see one .

John Locke: 17th century English philosopher and political economist. Many of his ideas were incorporated into the US Declaration of Independence.

Now waiting to hear from Adam Smith. Maybe regarding things to do in Edinburgh.

Yes, Sam, the OP's name had me wondering, too. Hope he enjoyed the replies.

Locke's radical contention given the 18th century was that revolution against one's monarch under certain circumstances was justified, regardless if it was labeled sedition.