This Coastal City Is Europe’s Safest Destination This Year

Unfortunately, not all of Europe is not the peaceable, affluent continent we as soon as knew.

As vacationers have discovered lately, typically the laborious manner, stepping out at night time in poorly-lit areas, or carrying helpful items of jewellery can typically value you dearly, if not your bodily integrity, and an increasing number of, sure European cities are carefully resembling the underdeveloped Global South.

Fortunately for the risk-adverse vacationers, there are at all times exceptions to the rule.

Yes, most Western hubs have ‘fallen’, as some wish to say, however there’s one unspoiled gem in Europe’s usually-overlooked Southeast that sees virtually no violent crime, and the place even petty theft is rare:

A Medieval City Lining The Adriatic

In case you are unfamiliar with Dubrovnik, it is a small city residence to round 41,000 residents, encircled by well-preserved medieval partitions, lining the turquoise Adriatic Sea.

It’s primarily identified for its postcard Old Town, a maze of cobbled lanes lined with ocher-colored buildings, residence to a Gothic Rector’s Palace and a Baroque St. Blaise Church, seashore bars perched on cliffsides, on the foot of centuries-old fortifications, and an historic attract.

Truly, it is no marvel HBO picked it out because the backdrop for exterior ‘King’s Landing’ sequences of their blockbuster Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon exhibits.

Despite its surging recognition lately and the insane ranges of overtourism, primarily on account of the GoT-led, jet-setting development, Dubrovnik has not seen the rising criminality noticed in different European hubs.

Dubrovnik Is The Least-Dangerous European City Today

According a brand new research performed by Riviera Travel, a U.Ok. based mostly tour operator, which ranked the top-rated cities in Europe based mostly on their security ranges, the least harmful main vacation spot, with the least quantity of crime, is Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Located on the southern coast of the Balkan nation, the sunny getaway scored an total security rating of 44.14 out of 100. The decrease the rating, the safer a metropolis is.

For comparability, Munich, a a lot bigger, more and more unsafe metropolis in Germany, has an total rating of 73.74. When you break it down into classes, Dubrovnik’s ‘Crime Level Score’ is a mere 8.76.

The second-best-performing metropolis on this class is Tallinn, the quaint capital of Estonia, and it nonetheless scores 18.96. You get the gist: this Croatian hotspot is as secure as will be, however what explains it?

Why Is Dubrovnik So Safe Despite Being So Touristy?

Dubrovnik is not precisely a giant metropolis, so the obvious factor to notice is that, effectively, crime will not exist right here in the identical diploma it does in sprawling conurbations like London or Paris.

There are three principal elements: the fairytale-like walled middle, the fashionable developments that flank it alongside the coast, encompassing a number of the largest inns and a majority of guesthouses, and additional afield, satellite tv for pc villages a part of the broader county.

All of that is wedged between rugged mountains and the ocean, making it loads simpler to police and far more durable for organized crime to agency roots there. In this regard, geography performs a key function:

Dubronvik is ‘remoted’ from the remainder of Croatia, and up till lately, you really needed to cross a tiny stretch of Bosnia and Herzegovina to get there. Thanks to the newly-opened Pelješac Bridge, that is not essential, however the ambiance of self-sufficiency stays.

Limited Levels Of Illegal Immigration

There’s no discussing Dubronvik’s spectacular ranges of security, even within the face of mass tourism, with out addressing Croatia’s zero-tolerance strategy to unlawful migration.

Unlike international locations just like the United Kingdom, France, Italy, or Greece, which were coping with uncontrolled ranges of undocumented arrivals lately, and in flip, have seen their sense of public safety deteriorate, Croatia is on the reverse finish of that.

Strolling round Dubrovnik, you are unlikely to see tents within the neighborhood of bus terminals or by the ferry port, tough sleepers roaming the streets at night time, and even beggars and avenue distributors are uncommon to come back throughout.

That’s as a result of, usually, Croatia will not be perceived as a rustic as prosperous as its Western European counterparts, and the welfare system is strictly reserved to contributors, discouraging unfettered immigration.

In 2024, throughout your entire nation, authorities intercepted just under 22,000 irregular entries, and that was already a 60% lower in comparison with the previous 12 months.

Croatia As A Whole Is A Level 1 Destination

Last however definitely not least, the U.S. Department of State agrees Croatia is one of many least-risky European international locations for American vacationers.

In their very own classification, it is a Level 1 vacation spot, that means Americans wouldn’t have to excessively fear about their well-being whereas in Dubrovnik, or some other in style Croatian seaside escape. As authorities have put it, you are free to ‘train regular precautions’.

Alongside international locations like Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Iceland, and Norway, this makes Croatia one of many most secure locations for vacationers throughout the pond.

Effectively, when you’re good about it, you would not precisely go away your telephones on desk tops whereas eating alfresco, nor your baggage unattended on the seashore as you go for a swim. Given the slim crime charges, likelihood is you are belongings will not be snatched, however you simply by no means know.

Vinicius Costa

Vini, our senior lead author at Travel Off Path, has over 60+ international locations below his belt (and at present weaving tales from Paris!), and a knack for turning off-the-beaten-path experiences into informative tales that may have you ever packing your baggage.