Current State of Affairs in Stockholm/Sweden

I visited Stockholm for a few days in August 2016. At that time, I didn't notice anything at all unusual or alarming security-wise, and I got the impression that all the areas that tourists would want to go, at least, were perfectly fine. But a lot has happened in the world since then, so don't base your decision solely on my experience.

I was last there January 2016.
Since you are going as tourist I don't see where you would run into so called no go zones.

Sweden, including Stockholm, is probably safer than anywhere in America.

I understand that people get concerned about terrorist attacks (that is the point afterall), but really, you stand a FAAAAAR greater chance of being a victim of a crime, including mass shootings by non-terrorists in the US than you do of being in some kind of European terror attack. Live your life, or the terrorists win.

Also, there NO SUCH THING as a "no-go" zone. Period. I thought that got thoroughly debunked when some asinine mentioned it on a certain news channel over a year ago. And while immigrant communities and neighborhoods do exist in major European cities, they won't be anywhere near the tourists sites you want to visit.

I will be visiting Stockholm for four days at the end of May and am not concerned about safety. After hearing about the attack, I was of course a little hesitant to keep my plans, but decided to continue with my trip. Although it's extremely unfortunate that these attacks have become a reality for citizens and travelers all around the world, we still need to go about our daily lives. The realization is that the attacks could happen anywhere, American included! As travelers, we just need to be cautious and aware of our surroundings.

We travel extensively and have been to 80% of the countries in Europe. We lived there in the late 80s and early 90s.

First, I will address my overall experience, research and view of safety in Europe. Generally, the places that tourist normally go are safe, more so in some countries than others. Many will comment on how much more unsafe it is in the US than Europe. This is a valid comment, but in my opinion, in the last 25 years, overall crime in the USA has dropped (although in some places for the last 2 years there seems to be an increase). When we lived in Germany, we worked mainly with the local German people and the consensus is was that Germany overall was very safe then, still we were warned about a few specific places at night. Many warned us about the Frankfurt train station area. We have a German-American friend that lives in our area that we see from time to time, she married an American and now lives in the USA, but frequently goes back to Germany to visit family. She said that things have changed significantly for the worse. She said that no longer did she or her family feel save going out at night to some places (25 years ago no problem).

Also, when we travel in Europe and take tours, we talk with the local guides, who are generally not trying to blacken the name of their country. What we hear now is that generally Europe is safe in the tourist areas, but in many places, there are no-go zones, particularly at night. We had a taxi driver in the 80s that would not take us to a restaurant we wanted to visit because he said it was a bad area. On our last visit to Paris, we talked with people the indicated large areas of Paris, mainly to the east and north of the city area to be avoided. Of course, this is a problem in the USA, since the vast majority of our crime is in area riddled with gangs, virtually no-go zones. British people have commented on this regarding places in London.

Another thing that I notices since we lived in Germany is the extent to which graffiti is plastered around many European cities, even places like Venice. In my opinion, there is far more graffiti in Europe than the USA. I worked for a law enforcement agency for a few years before Retired and we were told that graffiti in the USA is heavily tied to criminal gangs. Cities like NYC went to great extents to stop graffiti on subway cars, building, etc. since the theory was that it reinforced illegal behavior. In other words, accept petty crime, then harder crime follows.

Regarding Sweden, if I plan to visit that wonderful country, I would go there, avoid area that I was advised not to go. We visited Denmark in 2014 and we talking with a Swedish waitress that worked in the restaurant where we were dining, as well as a Danish woman. We were told that areas of Malmo are not safe.

This is my take on the subject.

Let me just be clear about something: "no-go zones" was a specific term used by a commentator or self-described expert about parts of cities in Europe (I think the specific references were to English cities) in which there was no local police presence and were completely out of governmental control. It was about as stupid a claim as there has been (and there have been a lot of late) and was quickly debunked. But not before generating a lot of publicity and ridicule.

Major European cities have neighborhoods with higher crime rates just like every major city in the world. There tends to be high rates of poverty, joblessness and street crime. These are areas most tourists avoid and there is little-to-nothing for a tourist to see there anyway. But even then, violent crime against strangers is pretty rare in Europe and mistakenly finding yourself in such a neighborhood is not likely to endanger you unless you are looking for trouble. Please do not call them "no-go zones" as that has a different meaning.

The same concept applies to Chicago. It has a high murder rate (still at historically low rates though) and yet the tourist areas are quite safe. This crime and murder is concentrated in specific neighborhoods. This applies to every major US city. But in the US we also have random mass shootings that have nothing to do with terrorism. People still go to movie theaters, malls and elementary schools and yet worry about rare acts of terror in Europe.

I concur with Douglas. The "no go" zones with regard to Sweden stemmed from a reporter from Svenska Dagbladet using the term in a headline in a sensational way and misrepresenting the contents of an official report.

This article from Swedens public radio gives some good background. I'd suggest that you actually listen to the audio broadcast as it does a good job of describing the official report vs. the newspaper's reporting.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=6630452

But regardless, as a tourist you won't be heading to Rinkeby or Husby or any of the areas with higher rates of crime.

My last visit to Sweden was in 2014 and I didn't notice much difference from when I lived there (1997 - 2000). I wouldn't hesitate to visit tomorrow.

Thanks Geovagriffith for your reply and detailed take on this matter. I realize that, strictly speaking, no-go zones don't exist but I have heard too many "anecdotal" accounts of zones which are, for all intents and purposes, areas where you should not venture. Living in Scandinavia in the 90's, I recall no such areas. Broad and glib responses such as "America has many more murders than Europe so stop being concerned about visiting" don't really help me much. I realize the murder rate in the US is much higher than Europe but I also know how to navigate life in the US to decrease my chances of being a victim of crime. The thought of being careful about where I venture, and at what times, really lessens the attractiveness of vacationing in a place like Sweden to me. One of the great joys of living in the Nordic region 25 years ago is that you didn't need to worry AT ALL. You could sleep on a park bench outside the train station in Copenhagen or walk through any neighborhood at 4am drunk and the worst that could happen is that you might stumble on a cobblestone. Compared to life in a US city, this gave a person a sense of a truly care free vacation. I have also found that personal accounts from people actually living in these areas, such as your examples, are markedly different than most of the media accounts on this matter. I will not be deterred from travel to Europe, but I am sad to know that the Europe I first learned to love is no longer.

Kaeleku, quite simply, I received one response that was detailed and which also contained the perspective of a person that had lived in Europe in the 80's and 90's. And it meshes with a lot of the people I have talked with who actually live in some of these places or have family in some of these places. I would welcome more responses from people who may have lived in Stockholm for an extended period of time - and I for one hope they have a brighter perspective and tell me everything is as utopian as it used to be. Maybe that's the case as my mind is open and I will hopefully see for myself this summer. No, I do NOT believe that Europe is a "hell hole" because of immigrants. But I do want honest and forthright information, not glib politically correct posts that only tell me that the murder rate in Europe is lower than it is in the US and that, statistically, I stand a low chance of being the victim of suicide bomber in the EU. I get that but it's not the point. Your responses were, frankly, not very helpful.

I guess you missed my response or felt it wasn't detailed enough.

I'm an American living in Switzerland but travel to Sweden a few times a year (mainly to Malmo and surrounding region to visit friends and family) and I know people throughout Sweden, including in Stockholm. The reality of the situation in the major cities, at least in my experience, is not the "doom and gloom" picture painted by some, especially for the average visitor who sticks to downtown/historic areas of the cities. That being said, I wouldn't describe Malmo, Gothenburg or Stockholm as utopian paradises either, but this shouldn't deter you from visiting or enjoying nightlife, etc more than it would in, say Boston or Seattle.

In Malmo, for example, I take the normal precautions that I would take when traveling to any city away from home, and have never felt unsafe, even walking home or riding the train late at night. Would I wander around alone in an unfamiliar area late at night? Probably not. Would I go out with friends and then take the train home afterwards? Of course. And when I've been out in nature or visiting smaller towns in Sweden, it's never been a problem to find the quaint, idyllic feeling you remember...

You may indeed notices changes (positive or negative) since your last visit; I'd also just say that I notice a lot of changes when I go to the US to visit too - doesn't stop me from enjoying my time there and gives me a good reality check to balance against what I read in the news or hear from friends. I totally understand that people are concerned or reconsidering travel plans due to recent events in Europe, but you might be surprised how many people here do the same with the US!!

http://ilovemyfreedom.org/open-borders-postal-workers-cease-delivery-swedish-no-go-area/

http://ilovemyfreedom.org/open-borders-postal-workers-cease-delivery-swedish-no-go-area/

Here's the actual article, according to ZeroHedge (which is a doomsday financial website that makes FOX news look like the New York Times):

"The reason is that it is not considered safe for postal staff to deliver the mail at some locations in the area.
It's been messy in the area and therefore a protective stop to ensure the safety of our staff, says Maria Ibsen, press officer at PostNord. She says that they currently do not know how long the protective stop will continue. But the dialogue with several parties and hope to be able to solve. Björn Schenholm, property manager at Einar Mattsson, who manage the properties in Hjulsta, estimates that about 120 households affected by the stoppage."

It's worth noting that the only cites for this story I can find are a single article in Swedish and a lot of extremist right-wing websites (see above) parroting ZeroHedge's translation.

But it's on the internet, so it must be true!

https://swedenreport.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/police-yes-there-are-no-go-zones-in-sweden/
https://medium.com/@intelfus/europes-no-go-zones-fact-or-fiction-f78337fe2b5d
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Wd2AQL7J8

This whole thread looks like a trolling device to me. geo... what point are you trying to make? jhouston it seems to me that in July you were giving crime avoiding advice to travelers to Europe "like an expert". Why are you asking these questions now? I don't believe your "question" was genuine.

Laura, I am sorry but I should have acknowledged your response as it was helpful and informative. And obviously, since you lived in Sweden in the late 90's, you have a longer term perspective than some. Vandrabrud, it's unfortunate that you must resort to accusations of "trolling" based on legitimate questions and concerns. But if that's how you would like to handle questions and information that you dislike, then so be it. It might a better choice to simply refrain from commenting on those threads. However, since you seem to be so curious, the reason I am asking about this now is that I have had several friends and acquaintances mention similar concerns in the past several months. One of these people was a Swede who goes home every year to visit her family and her observations on the issue surprised me. She herself stated concerns about her safety when she is in Sweden and said her family has similar feelings. The other 2 were recent residents on the continent. This is a material issue to me because when I travel to Scandinavia, I really don't want to think about avoiding areas. So perhaps as one of the posters mentioned, I can visit a smaller city or village for a more idyllic feel. I have to think about those things in the US and I can understand why Europeans would also be concerned with traveling here! I am certain Sweden is still a great country and Stockholm is still a great city, but it's not as attractive to me as a tourist destination with the increased crime and the problem areas (I won't use the term no-go zone).

"No-go zones" are a fictional creation of the right wing media. I wouldn't worry at all about going to Stockholm.

" it's not as attractive to me as a tourist destination with the increased crime and the problem areas (I won't use the term no-go zone)."

If you consider Stockholm to be too dangerous for you, then you have a pretty limited range of "safe" places to visit. There are no-go zones in Sweden and crime is not a major issue there.