Is Your Next Vacation Destination Safe? Here's How to Tell.

Deciding on a vacation destination is hard enough – you have to take into account things like cost, weather, and whether or not your best friend can get the time off from work to come with you. But now, in the age of social media, you also have to worry about safety. Is it worth it to go see that waterfall if there’s a chance you might get robbed?

Never fear! With a little bit of research, you can figure out whether or not your dream destination is as safe as you want it to be. Here are a few things to look for when you’re trying to determine whether or not a place is safe for solo female travelers:

Is Your Next Vacation Destination Safe? Here’s How to Tell.

1. Check the U.S. Department of State website

The first step is to check out the U.S. Department of State’s travel advisories page. The advisory system goes like this:

• Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions – This is pretty much anywhere in Western Europe, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. If a country is at Level 1, that means the risk of terrorist attacks and crime is low and you should feel free to go about your business as usual.

• Level 2: Exercise Increased Precautions – Places at Level 2 have increased risks of terrorism or crime, but nothing too major that should stop you from visiting. This includes countries like Argentina, China, Egypt, Mexico, and Russia. Basically anywhere that’s not Level 1 or 3.

• Level 3: Reconsider Travel – At Level 3, there are serious risks involved in traveling to a particular country due to terrorism or crime (or both). Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, and Somalia are all currently at Level 3. If a country is at Level 3, that means it’s probably not the best idea to visit right now unless it’s absolutely necessary – in which case, be sure to register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) so the government knows you’re there and can help if anything happens.

• Level 4: Do Not Travel – Yep, that’s right – don’t even bother trying to visit a country at Level 4 because it’s just too dangerous. There are only two countries at Level 4 right now: Iran and South Sudan. If you absolutely must go (for work or family reasons), then again – register with STEP so someone knows where you are in case something goes wrong.

2) Look up the murder rate

Once you’ve looked up the travel advisory for your desired destination and made sure it’s not on either extreme end of the spectrum (Level 3 or 4), your next step should be to look up the murder rate for that country using this handy tool from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Just type in the name of the country you want to visit and voila! You’ll get a whole bunch of helpful statistics including robbery rates and the total number of murders per year. For example, if we type in “Italy,” we can see that in 2016 there were 523 murders total, which comes out to 0.86 murders per 100,000 people.

That means that out of 100,000 people living in Italy, 0.86 of them were murdered last year, which is actually pretty low! In comparison, Mexico has a murder rate of 16 per 100 000 people, so while Italy is relatively safe, Mexico is definitely on the more dangerous end of the spectrum.

3) Check out what other travelers have to say

Finally, once you’ve looked up both the travel advisory and murder rate for your desired destination, it’s always a good idea to read traveler reviews online before making any final decisions. A quick Google search will reveal tons of personal accounts from people who have been there recently.

For example, if we search for “safety in Italy” we can see tons of reviews from real travelers talking about their experiences. Based on what we’re seeing here, Italy seems like a pretty safe place overall!

However, as with anywhere else in the world, it’s always important to use common sense when traveling and keep an eye on your belongings.