This Coastal City Is Europe’s Safest Destination This Year

Unfortunately, not all of Europe is no longer the peaceful, prosperous continent we once knew.

As tourists have learned in recent years, sometimes the hard way, stepping out at night in poorly-lit areas, or carrying valuable pieces of jewelry can sometimes cost you dearly, if not your physical integrity, and more and more, certain European cities are closely resembling the underdeveloped Global South.

Fortunately for the risk-adverse travelers, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Yes, most Western hubs have ‘fallen’, as some would like to say, but there’s one unspoiled gem in Europe’s usually-overlooked Southeast that sees practically no violent crime, and where even petty theft is uncommon:

A Medieval City Lining The Adriatic

In case you’re unfamiliar with Dubrovnik, it’s a small city home to around 41,000 residents, encircled by well-preserved medieval walls, lining the turquoise Adriatic Sea.

It’s primarily known for its postcard Old Town, a maze of cobbled lanes lined with ocher-colored buildings, home to a Gothic Rector’s Palace and a Baroque St. Blaise Church, beach bars perched on cliffsides, at the foot of centuries-old fortifications, and an ancient allure.

Truly, it’s no wonder HBO picked it out as the backdrop for external ‘King’s Landing’ sequences in their blockbuster Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon shows.

Despite its surging popularity in recent years and the insane levels of overtourism, mainly as a result of the GoT-led, jet-setting trend, Dubrovnik has not seen the rising criminality observed in other European hubs.

Dubrovnik Is The Least-Dangerous European City Today

According a new study conducted by Riviera Travel, a U.K. based tour operator, which ranked the top-rated cities in Europe based on their safety levels, the least dangerous major destination, with the least amount of crime, is Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Located on the southern coast of the Balkan country, the sunny getaway scored an overall safety score of 44.14 out of 100. The lower the score, the safer a city is.

For comparison, Munich, a much larger, increasingly unsafe metropolis in Germany, has an overall score of 73.74. When you break it down into categories, Dubrovnik’s ‘Crime Level Score’ is a mere 8.76.

The second-best-performing city in this category is Tallinn, the quaint capital of Estonia, and it still scores 18.96. You get the gist: this Croatian hotspot is as safe as can be, but what explains it?

Why Is Dubrovnik So Safe Despite Being So Touristy?

Dubrovnik isn’t exactly a big city, so the most obvious thing to note is that, well, crime won’t exist here in the same degree it does in sprawling conurbations like London or Paris.

There are three main parts: the fairytale-like walled center, the modern developments that flank it along the coast, encompassing some of the largest hotels and a majority of guesthouses, and further afield, satellite villages part of the wider county.

All of this is wedged between rugged mountains and the ocean, making it a lot easier to police and much harder for organized crime to firm roots there. In this regard, geography plays a key role:

Dubronvik is ‘isolated’ from the rest of Croatia, and up until recently, you actually had to cross a tiny stretch of Bosnia and Herzegovina to get there. Thanks to the newly-opened Pelješac Bridge, that’s no longer necessary, but the atmosphere of self-sufficiency remains.

Limited Levels Of Illegal Immigration

There’s no discussing Dubronvik’s impressive levels of safety, even in the face of mass tourism, without addressing Croatia’s zero-tolerance approach to illegal migration.

Unlike countries like the United Kingdom, France, Italy, or Greece, that have been dealing with uncontrolled levels of undocumented arrivals in recent years, and in turn, have seen their sense of public security deteriorate, Croatia is on the opposite end of that.

Strolling around Dubrovnik, you’re unlikely to see tents in the vicinity of bus terminals or by the ferry port, rough sleepers roaming the streets at night, and even beggars and street vendors are rare to come across.

That’s because, in general, Croatia is not perceived as a country as affluent as its Western European counterparts, and the welfare system is strictly reserved to contributors, discouraging unfettered immigration.

In 2024, across the entire country, authorities intercepted just under 22,000 irregular entries, and that was already a 60% decrease compared to the preceding year.

Croatia As A Whole Is A Level 1 Destination

Last but certainly not least, the U.S. Department of State agrees Croatia is one of the least-risky European countries for American travelers.

In their own classification, it’s a Level 1 destination, meaning Americans do not have to excessively worry about their well-being while in Dubrovnik, or any other popular Croatian seaside escape. As authorities have put it, you’re free to ‘exercise normal precautions’.

Alongside countries like Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Iceland, and Norway, this makes Croatia one of the safest destinations for tourists across the pond.

Effectively, if you’re smart about it, you wouldn’t exactly leave your phones on table tops while dining alfresco, nor your bags unattended on the beach as you go for a swim. Given the slim crime rates, chances are you’re belongings won’t be snatched, but you just never know.