Not a trip report per se... but a resource for folks who think London is dangerous

Readily admit didn’t watch the video and only posting to say I’ve visited London for over 50 years. Not once have I ever felt unsafe.

Recall only one incident of theft but it happened to a friend I was traveling with. Her wallet was stolen out of her purse in a small cafe where we were having coffee.

In 2023 I chose to stay at the Richmond Premiere Inn. Been of a jaunt via the tube or by bus to the theatre district. Long story short, attended a play, tubed back to Richmond Station and then walked back to the PI. About a 1/2 mile.

Streets were well lit, minimal traffic. Passed no one on the side walk. Was midnight so didn’t expect to.

Did I worry about my safety. I did not. Never wear earbuds when walking so was very aware of sounds, had my regular glasses on so my sight was fine, shoes were comfy …. Born when Truman was in office.

My point is always stay aware of your surroundings, don’t look at your phone while walking or standing in a crowd or leave it on a table if dinning.

Know where you are going. Age 35,45,65,75
stay focused.

Great city. Appreciate it.

As a two-time visitor to London, I have found the British capital to be very safe. If safety is a concern, Americans should leave for London tomorrow. Gun ownership in the British capital is strictly regulated and treated as a privilege.

As a side note, one of the best accounts I have read from a frequent visitor to London came from the late film critic and author Roger Ebert in his memoir "Life Itself", which was published in 2011. It's a great read for avid travelers because of Ebert's boundless love for London. He also wrote an difficult-to-find book called "The Perfect London Walk" with more about it here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/books-movies/the-perfect-london-walk

Thanks for posting that Volva. And while the video was specifically addressing misinformation slop about London, it might just as well be addressing any other subject widely discussed on social media. When you combine the monetization of misinformation and deliberate disinformation with a woeful lack of critical thinking amongst recipients, it's no wonder that this has proliferated.

And for what it's worth, after a dozen trips to London over the years, the worst thing to happen to me was being bumped into on Euston Rd by a youth running to catch up with his mates. And he stopped long enough for a "sorry" before tearing off again. Yeah, London must be a real hell hole. Not.

30-odd years ago I had my cheque-book stolen out of my bag when I was waiting at the bus stop on Oxford Street. Partly my bad for not checking the zip was fastened. Nothing else since then.
These days, the most likely thing to happen is that your phone is snatched while you’re walking on the pavement, happened to a colleague the other day near Harrods. It is a problem, so be aware and don’t wander around holding or using your phone without being vigilant.

vvveeeerrrryyyy scary!

I walked in West Croydon and survived.

I used to live in South Croydon. Survived.

I went all the way into town on the Brighton Road. Survived. Slow as treacle but survived. With my then 85 year old in-law. He survived too. He took me to the Long Room at Lords and we watched Brian Lara hit 6 after 6. Survived the way home too.

Thanks for the post, Volva

And guns aren't really necessary. I keep seeing scarebait titles about England/London being "Knife capital of the World!". Does cut down on the mass shootings. Hard to do that with a knife.

Personally, I've never felt as threatened as in NYC on a short trip. Racing to find the last Bus available to go to my hotel in New Jersey and 3 different helpful groups of young men wanted to show me where it left in the Basement of the Transit Building. When it turned out it left on the 3rd floor. Not being an idiot I just ignored them and kept racing around til I found it.

GerryM you make some really good points and I would love to have a pint with you!

when I lived in Croydon it was most definitely Surrey and London was 2 or 3 bus rides, the 77A and 103 for parts) (or a fast train to Victoria or London Bridge) and "London" was just visible from the top of some of the hills. My mother, from Wallington, was in no way shape or form, a Londoner.

Yes, now things are diff.

I think CJean was on the money further up the thread in pointing out that this video isn't really about how dangerous London is.

In response to Volva's OP, I think visitors to London should be worried about phone snatching. At the risk of flogging a dead horse in terms of the forum, I think it's a fair to say that AmandaR's anecdote about the problem is representative of what the situation is. I'd say that almost everyone knows someone who has had their phone stolen, if they haven't been a victim themselves. There's a not insignificant number of people who have had phones stolen multiple times. It rarely involves any violence, but all the same, it's a massive elephant in the room that this video fails to address. Visitors to London are part of the most at risk group, as it's most prevalent in central London where they're most likely to be.

The tube system has traditionally been relatively crime free in London, at least at platform and train level. There are of course isolated incidents as you might expect in a huge western city such as London, but it's nowhere near as risky on public transport as I hear about in other cities in continental Europe.

I think saying London is VERY safe is a bit simplistic. It may be true for the demographic most of us here fall into (older, relatively affluent white people, if you'll excuse my broad assumptions about RSE contributors for the sake of argument) but step outside those bounds and it's less true.

I did watch the video … As CJean pointed out, the video purpose is not represented in the topic title.

But since most here don’t read or watch the links, I will just talk to the question:
Not sure why anyone would suspect London to be an unsafe tourist destination. I can’t imagine a tourist destination or zone within the city that isn’t safe. Of course, I guess you must define safety. You mean murder, mugging or pickpocket? Just a few of each or none? And I guess you must also consider the ethnicity and gender of the tourist. That does have some impact in some locations, but again, I haven’t read where tourist women or any ethnicity of tourist has been systematically targeted. Finally compare it against what you consider to be the norm for safety in your life. If you are from Chichago that’s going to be different than if you are from Vienna.

Great city. Go have fun.

My clumsily made point about demographics and ethnicity wasn't necessarily about a tourist visiting. The most at risk group from violent crime is young men from minority ethnic backgrounds and low income families who live in London being victims of crime at the hands of their peers. That cycle of victim becoming perpetrator and vice versa is something that is common globally, and breaking that cycle is key in reducing crime.

I don't think it really matters what your background is when it comes to visitors. Aside from the theft risk, which we shouldn't characterise as mugging in the American sense as it rarely involves violence or the threat of violence, you're going to be pretty (very?) safe overall as a tourist.

Just to reinforce a few points that I strongly agree with- while you are highly unlikely to be a victim of violent crime in London, phone theft is very much a real issue and it's still not fully under control. Being aware of your surroundings and not having your phone out in your hands while walking down the street, or leaving it out on a table at a restaurant/pub, will help reduce that risk.

One thing I also see people very worried about on here is using their card or phone to enter/exit the tube/bus. They seem to be afraid someone will snatch it out of their hands, or they will drop it and someone will snatch it. While no one can say with absolute certainty that this will never happen, it is highly unlikely to happen. Most phone snatching is done on bikes/ebikes/scooters so not practical at ticket barriers. In addition to this, there are usually staff and lots of CCTV around which further deters theft.

The main takeaway, really for any situation, is to just be aware of your surroundings generally.

Gerry, I went where I went with the post because, after all, this is a travel forum. There are some places where tourism is very safe ... Chicago might even fall in that category but living there or wandering into the wrong neighborhood to do something bad, well, it is what it is.

I would imagine that most of the worst of the crime in London is pretty much as it is hin the US; two criminals who know each other offing each other after a deal gone bad. That sort of excluded tourists.

Even the three or four really high-profile tourist killings over the last half dozen years are insignificant numbers vs the 20-something million tourists a year.

Now the whole cell phone nabbing thing I really don’t get. Why in London? To what end? I remember when this came up a few months ago. I was sitting in a bar in Budapest reading about it on my Hungarian phone, sitting on my table was my US phone. I got a tad nervous and looked around the room and realized that maybe not quiet half the tables had one or more phones laying on them. Why haven’t the locals here figured out the used cell phone business??

Why haven’t the locals here figured out the used cell phone business??

I don't know enough about Hungary to speculate on that. Maybe some other esteemed contributor to the forum could explain it to us within the confines of community guidelines.

I think this article from the New York Times which has a stab at deciphering a particularly London-centric phenomenon was posted the last time this came up.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/world/europe/london-police-phone-theft-china-gang.html

I think the truth lies somewhere between Evan Edinger's vewy vewy scawy baby talk, where London is all sunshine and rainbows, and the bot-farmed AI slop. I still like it here, going on 20 years as a Scottish immigrant. My perception is that the inner London boroughs aren't as lawless and wild as they were when I first visited as a teenager almost 35 years ago. It's not everyone who may want to call it home for various reasons, but as a destination for the visitor, there's certainly nowhere else quite like it in terms of things to stimulate all five senses.

If you make yourself a mark, anywhere can be dangerous.

The infrastructure for offloading a stolen phone is in London. The street thief can get a decent price for it straight away because London is at the centre of a huge international business in stolen phones.

If I steal a phone on Budapest what am I going to do with it? They’re all locked and traceable. You need to know the right people.

If you make yourself a mark, anywhere can be dangerous.

I think it's slightly unfair in the context of this problem in London to talk about "marks". You make yourself a mark in London at the moment just doing things that are perfectly reasonable. Whether it's checking your socials on your walk from the office to Pret at lunchtime, or looking at Citymapper to see when the next bus is coming. That's why the locals on here prattle on about it so much.

Still, it is worth remembering that millions of people per day visiting and working in London don't get their phone stolen.

Gerry to give him a little latitude let's assume he understands tge term has different definitions in different locations. In Chicago you are a mark if your shoe laces are tied. Okay, not really, but you get the point.

Yes, maybe that.