SAFEST CITIES TO TRAVEL TO IN 2024

For each of the last four years we’ve created a list of the World’s Safest Cities for travel. A lot has changed in travel since then, but thankfully, many of the world’s safest cities haven’t.

Many cities that American travelers considered safe at the height of the pandemic are still considered safe today.

It’s time already for the 2024 list of the World’s Safest Cities. We’re going to unveil the list in little more than a paragraph, so if you’d like a slower reveal, click here to jump down the page. Otherwise, here we go.

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From top to bottom the 15 safest cities for American travelers in 2024 are:

1. Honolulu
2. Montreal
3. Reykjavik
4. Sydney
5. Amsterdam
6. Dubai
7. Copenhagen
8. London
9. Seoul
10. Venice
11. Tokyo
12. Berlin
13. Paris
14. Barcelona
15. Orlando

Just for comparison, last year’s list looked quite similar, like this:

1. Reykjavik
2. Copenhagen
3. Montreal
4. Amsterdam
5. Seoul
6. Singapore
7. Tokyo
8. Berlin
9. London
10. Sydney
11. Barcelona
12. Honolulu
13. Rome
14. Dubai
15. Paris

Now, let’s talk a little about how we got there.

Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD’S SAFEST CITIES RESEARCH

Methodology

We started by compiling a list of the most popular international and domestic cities for U.S. travelers, culled from Expedia, USA Today, Forbes, and other sources. That gave us 31 cities for survey respondents to rank.

As part of the survey process we ask respondents if they’ve actually visited any of these cities, and only travelers who have actually been to the cities are allowed to rank them on a variety of safety measures, using their first-hand knowledge as a yardstick. 

To the survey ratings we added the most recent safe-cities index from The Economist, city ratings from GeoSure Global, and the Current Crime Index from Numbeo, and weighted everything to get a final result.

Caveat

These ratings give a picture of what was happening when the survey was conducted, in August 2023. They don’t take into account the Hawaii fires, for instance, so you always have to consider current conditions and take precautions like reading the State Department’s travel advisories before going overseas. 

We’ve taken data from multiple sources so we feel good about the results, but consider this a primer, and feel free to augment this list with your own research.

Okay, let’s learn a little more about the safest cities for travelers.

THE TOP 15 SAFEST CITIES IN THE WORLD

Photo by Aussie Active on Unsplash

1. Honolulu

Last Year's Ranking: 12

Survey Score: 83.2

Why it's ranked highly 

Even its lowest marks, for safety for women, LGBTQ+ travelers, and travelers of color, are the highest of any destination in that category. Surveyed travelers think this is a really safe destination, in other words.

What you need to watch out for

Wildfires are a big concern in Hawaii, obviously, but the combination of the Hawaiian Islands’ geographic location and volcanic origins make them a target for all sorts of natural disasters, from typhoons and tsunamis to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

2. Montreal

Last Year's Ranking: 3

Survey Score: 80.7

Why it's ranked highly 

Montreal gets the highest marks of any destination for transportation safety - which, if you've ever ridden mass transit in Montreal, is absolutely accurate. (Driving can be a little more problematic, however.)

What you need to watch out for

Wildfires. Smoke from fires in northern Quebec can drift down to Montreal, making air quality marginal, especially for people with repiratory conditions.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

3. Reykjavik

Last Year's Ranking: 1

Survey Score: 80.3

Why it's ranked highly 

Excellent scores for female/people-of-color/LGBTQ+ safety, as well as safety from terrorism. Honestly, there isn’t a category where Reykjavik isn’t near the top.

What you need to watch out for

Earthquakes and volcanoes. Iceland is a volcanic island, and where there are volcanoes there are usually earthquakes. Reykjavik experienced a series of tremors in Summer 2023 because of volcanic activity south of the city, and that activity is back with a vengeance as the year ends. More severe tremors can affect planned activities and daily life.

Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash

4. Sydney

Last Year's Ranking: 10

Survey Score: 80.2

Why it's ranked highly 

Sydney receives extremely consistent safety marks from American travelers who have visited the city, without any notable lows or highs.

What you need to watch out for

Outside of the occasional typhoon or peaceful demonstration, not much. 

Photo by Gaurav Jain on Unsplash

5. Amsterdam

Last Year's Ranking: 4

Survey Score: 80.2

Why it's ranked highly 

Amsterdam held onto its top-five spot by being highly ranked for safety for women, LGBTQ+ travelers, and people of color.

What you need to watch out for

Tractors. For real: The Farmers Defense Force occasionally mobilizes farm machinery as part of its demonstrations in Amsterdam calling for changes in the food-production process.

Photo by David Rodrigo on Unsplash

6. Dubai

Last Year's Ranking: 14

Survey Score: 80.0

Why it's ranked highly 

Dubai’s otherwise high survey numbers are offset by low marks for safety for women and LGBTQ+ travelers.

What you need to watch out for

Alcohol consumption outside of designated areas. Dubai follows Sharia law and there is little tolerance for public drunkenness and other acts outlined in our post on safe travel to Dubai.

Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash

7. Copenhagen

Last Year's Ranking: 2

Survey Score: 79.4

Why it's ranked highly 

Lower-than-expected marks for safety from disease epidemics and terrorism are all that kept Copenhagen from a top-three finish.

What you need to watch out for

Terrorism. According to the State Department, terrorists may be “targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.”

Photo by Lucas Davies on Unsplash 

8. London

Last Year's Ranking: 9

Survey Score: 79.2

Why it's ranked highly 

American travelers think highly of London, giving it one of the top scores for transportation safety. Even its lowest scores, for safety from terrorism, aren’t that low.

What you need to watch out for

Fake taxis. A London taxi is a special thing, and rideshare services are big in the city as well. Beware of London taxis that don’t look like the traditional London taxi, or unlicensed car services.

Photo by Ping Onganankun on Unsplash

9.     Seoul

Last Year’s Ranking: 5

Survey Score: 79.0

Why It’s Ranked Highly

Survey respondents like Seoul for its overall safety, safety from violent crime and terrorism, and transportation safety. They don’t think as highly of its safety for women and LGBTQ+ travelers.

What You Need To Watch Out For

Like Japan, South Korea is prone to the occasional typhoon, with floods and mudslides following. Subscribing to the STEP program can help you be informed of weather events, so you can make alternate plans.

10. Venice

Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked

Survey Score: 78.9

Why it's ranked highly 

Nice, solid marks across the board with no particular lows or highs. 

What you need to watch out for

An entry fee. According to CNN, “Starting in spring 2024, visitors to the floating city will have to pay €5 ($5.40) to enter on peak days if they're not staying the night.”

Photo by Jezael Mengoza on Unsplash

11. Tokyo

Last Year's Ranking: 7

Survey Score: 78.7

Why it's ranked highly 

Tokyo received some of its highest survey scores ever from American travelers for overall safety, safety from violent crime, and transportation safety, but low marks for LGBTQ+ safety kept it out of the top 10.

What you need to watch out for

Typhoons. Typhoon season runs from June through November. Multiple typhoons typically strike Japan each year and can be extremely serious, causing flooding and mudslides. The Japan Tourism Organization’s safety-tips app pushes disaster alerts to users in multiple languages, including English.

Photo by Tiago Aleixo on Unsplash

12. Berlin

Last Year's Ranking: 8

Survey Score: 78.3

Why it's ranked highly 

Extremely strong numbers for transportation safety and health measures. German efficiency dictates that people get their shots and the trains run on time, and for the most part, that’s what happens.

What you need to watch out for

Lions on the loose. In July 2023, the State Department issued a travelers’ advisory for a lioness running free in Berlin. This may not be a daily occurrence, but it happened once; what’s to stop it from happening again?

Photo by Rodrigo Kugnharski on Unsplash

13. Paris

Last Year's Ranking: 15

Survey Score: 77.4

Why it's ranked highly 

Paris gets excellent marks for transportation safety (have these people never driven in Paris?) and safety for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color.

What you need to watch out for

Paris has a relatively low survey score for terrorism safety. The State Department dings France for the same thing. There’s no imminent danger of a terrorist attack in Paris, but it’s the worst thing that’s the most likely to happen.

Photo by Dmitri Anikin on Unsplash

14. Barcelona

Last Year's Ranking: 11

Survey Score: 77.29

Why it's ranked highly 

Like a lot of other European cities, Barcelona gets dinged for theft by Geosure. Everything else is positive, including a particularly high safety rating for LGBTQ+ travelers.

What you need to watch out for

The separatist movement. Barcelona is the presumptive capital of Catalonia, which is currently an autonomous region within Spain that many Catalonians desire to be fully independent. Violence is rare, but political demonstrations are not uncommon. If you see one, walk the other way.

15. Orlando

Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked

Survey Score: 77.28

Why it's ranked highly 

Orlando gets good marks for transportation safety and safety from terrorism, which tracks. Not a lot of bad things happen on the Walt Disney World Railroad.

What you need to watch out for

Alligators. Lake Jesup is home to about 10,000 of the reptiles. Top safety tip: Don’t chase your golf ball if you hit it into Lake Jesup.

TRAVEL SAFETY HAS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS

Because people who had actually visited specific cities did our ratings, we felt comfortable asking them about multiple aspects of travel safety, including safety from crime, terrorism, and disease, and safety for vulnerable groups such as travelers of color and LGBTQ+ travelers.

We used an average of the six sub-category scores for the Safest Cities calculation employed above. Here are the top-10 lists for the sub-categories.

Violent Crime Safety

1. Honolulu
2. Dubai
3. Seoul
4. Montreal
5. Tokyo
6. Amsterdam
7. London
8. Copenhagen
9. Sydney
10. Reykjavik

Dubai and Honolulu are thousands of miles apart on a map, but they’re kin when it comes to safety from violent crime.

Terrorism Safety

1. Seoul
2. Honolulu
3. Reykjavik
4. Montreal
5. San Juan
6. Dubai
7. Sydney
8. Venice, Italy
9. Tokyo
10. Amsterdam

San Juan may seem like an unusual city to make this top 10, but when was the last time it had terrorist activity?

Transportation Safety

1. Montreal
2. Copenhagen
3. Honolulu
4. Venice, Italy
5. Seoul
6. Reykjavik
7. Dubai
8. Sydney
9. Amsterdam
10. London

American tourists like the safety of Venice’s gondolas, Copenhagen’s trams, Montreal’s metro, and Honolulu’s roads.

 

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

Health Measures

1. Honolulu
2. Sydney
3. Dubai
4. Montreal
5. Berlin
6. Amsterdam
7. Reykjavik
8. London
9. Singapore
10. Copenhagen

Relatively few European cities made this top 10 – but they’re still very safe when it comes to freedom from disease.

Women/LGBTQ+/BIPOC Safety

1. Honolulu
2. Amsterdam
3. Copenhagen
4. Reykjavik
5. Montreal
6. London
7. Las Vegas
8. Sydney
9. Paris
10. Miami

No surprises here, just a bunch of European destinations plus some LGBTQ-friendly North American destinations. And Sydney.

 

Photo by Alex Wolo on Unsplash

RANKINGS BY AGE, GENDER, AND INCOME

Unlike past years, survey respondents had wildly different perceptions of the world’s safest countries depending on their age, gender, and income. After we broke apart the responses, here are some of the categories with the biggest deviation from the overall scores:

Millennial Survey Respondents (ages 25-44)

1. Seoul
2. Copenhagen
3. London
4. Singapore
5. Barcelona
6. Dubai
7. Amsterdam
8. Honolulu
9. Tokyo
10. Orlando

Millennials as an age group tend to travel farther afield; hence, the high ratings for Singapore, Dubai, and Seoul.

Respondents With A Household Income Of More Than $200,000

1. Honolulu
2. Montreal
3. Copenhagen
4. Reykjavik
5. Venice
6. Dubai
7. Tokyo
8. Seoul
9. Sydney
10. Orlando

While any destination can be safe if you have enough money, higher-income respondents tend to favor cities already in our top 15.

 

Photo by Eugene Alkimov on Unsplash

 

Mature Respondents

1. Copenhagen
2. Reykjavik
3. Sydney
4. Montreal
5. Tokyo
6. Honolulu
7. Beijing
8. Berlin
9. Amsterdam
10. Singapore

Beijing’s presence here is a little surprising – but everything else is as expected.

Parents

1. Seoul
2. Honolulu
3. Dubai
4. Venice
5. London
6. Tokyo
7. Paris
8. Singapore
9. Hong Kong
10. Miami

Parents find Asian destinations safe – hence, four of them made their top 10.

LGBTQ+ Travelers

1. San Juan
2. Barcelona
3. Dubai
4. London
5. Hong Kong
6. Montreal
7. Venice
8. Sydney
9. Honolulu
10. Amsterdam

Puerto Rico’s top city doesn’t show up anywhere else but here. Also note that despite discriminatory laws towards LGBTQ+ travelers, they still consider Dubai to be an extremely safe destination.

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