Is Italy Safe for Solo Female Travel?

If I am right, only two situations are lingering on your mind as a solo female traveller before starting your trip. And that would be “I am scared that somebody could harm me” or the other way round, “I am scared to feel the fear of somebody harming me.”

Am I right? You may fall into any of the two thinking. You could be a naive person who is really scared for safety as a solo female traveller, or you could be that bossy person who is ashamed to feel fear. Whatever the reason could be, you must be aware of the safety policies of the country you are planning to visit in general.

Since you are here, I know you are planning to visit Italy soon. So, let me get to the point straight! Is Italy safe for solo female travellers? And the answer is Yes, Italy is safe for solo female travellers.

I have some helpful advice for solo female travellers based on my experience in Italy. So, yeah! If you follow this advice, Italy is neat safe for solo female travellers. You can travel without feeling threatened.

Is Italy Safe for Solo Female Travellers?

Yes, Italy is safe for solo female travellers. However, I mean it in a very general way. If you have googled already, you would have come across a few risks solo travellers face in Italy. So, friends, you still have a lot of compromises to make as a solo female traveller in Italy.

I ain’t trying to scare you! Italy is safe but in a most mundane way. And, of course, when comparing to big countries like America and England, you can even call Italy the safest. But, what I am trying to hint you here is if you stick with some tips, your travel to Italy as a solo female traveller can be made safe and secure. Remember, solo travel is all about staying positive and confident, here is why.

How to have a safe and hassle-free trip to Italy?

On my travel to Italy as a solo female traveller staying safe was the top priority to me. I have some advice for solo travellers to follow in Italy that will make your trip safe and hassle-free. Well, you can even call these six mantras.

Don’t show your camera

Rule number one, Don’t expose your camera in public areas. I understand you want to photograph whatever your eyes see, but showing off your camera is a huge threat to your camera. So, my advice for you is to avoid unnecessary attention to your camera. If you fail to do it, prepare a farewell speech for your camera before it gets stolen away!

Know your route

The second rule is to know the routes for your day. What you can do is check google maps or any other navigating apps while you are in your hotel itself. Memorize the path and clarify all the doubts you have regarding the routes.

When you are using mobile phones in public for location guidance, people will know that you are in an uncertain position. It is a sure sign that you are new to this place. Again, it’s a big hit for the thieves/scammers to trick you.

Don’t use the headphone

I am crying guys, please don’t use headphones. I had a bad incident that took place in Piazza Garibaldi on my way to the church of Saint Mary Major. It happened when I was walking with headphones and music on. Like you see in movies, a bicycler came towards me to snatch my—I don’t know what the thief was after. It could have been my mobile or my bag. My point is now I am narrating the story as if I knew he was coming to me, but in truth, I was clueless because of my headphone. So, friends say no to headphones while walking in public areas.

Come to your place before dark

Rule number four is returning to your room at the earliest. Avoid travelling in Italy late evening and night. Though it is a simple tip, it can save you from a bunch of risky encounters.

Share your location

The next essential thing that saves you from any misconduct in Italy is sharing your location with your friends or family members. In that way, even if you get kidnapped, the police will know where to start the investigation—just kidding!  

Don’t tell others you are alone

As a solo female traveller in Italy, I won’t suggest you telling about your solo trip to anyone. Be it a native person or a foreign traveller. “Prevention is better than cure,” isn’t it? Let us not give them an opportunity to target us.

Bad Zones in Italy

Now it’s time to deal with the bad and good zones in Italy. To be more specific, major risks like pickpocketing, mugging, and scams take place in tourist areas only. Tourist spots are the bad neighbourhood in Italy. More particularly, shopping streets, leather markets, and the Vatican City. Yep! Vatican City too. The Vatican City is crowded with beggars and gipsies. These beggars don’t easily leave you. Sometimes they work as a team to mug you.

Good Zones in Italy

Therefore, the more you distance yourself from these popular hotspots less the crime is. For example, if you happen to visit the rural side of Italy, it is completely different from how we perceive Italy. Like, rural areas are calm with less or no crime at all. So, reserve a day to explore the rural attractions of Italy. I visited the beach towns Brindisi and Lecce that are located in the southern part of Italy. These towns were alluring with a handful of tourists.

Nevertheless, I can say that there are few tourist spots that are actually safe. They are

You might be wondering how come these many tourists places are safe zones of Italy when tourists spots are the major crime areas. Let me tell you guys—it is not completely safe or unsafe.

Of course, tourists’ localities are exposed to crimes, but at the same time, it is the place where you meet like-minded people. And, if at all anything happens, you will have the help of the police to sort things out.

On the contrary, in the rural areas of Italy, the crimes are dead less, but the policemen won’t be easily approachable to listen to your problem. Not only for complaints regarding any crime, even for any other guidance, as a foreign traveller you can seek the help of policemen, from the metropolitan cities of Italy only. 

So, again, Italy is safe for solo female travellers, provided they stay wary of their environment.

What should you be cautious as solo female travellers in Italy?

So, what are these wary environments where you need to stay alert as solo female travellers? According to the global safety rankings, Italy is placed in the 40th position. The world tourist safety association has also measured the severity of the threats in Italy for travellers. 

Now let me present you the risks you will more likely face as solo female travellers in Italy in the descending order of their hierarchy. So, the dangers are

• Pickpockets
• Mugging
• Tourists scams
• Sexual assault
• Natural disaster
• Transport risk
• Terrorism

Pickpockets Risk

Unfortunately, in Italy, there is a high risk of pickpocketing. 95% of pickpocket crime happens in public and tourist areas. Public areas like markets, alleys, train stations, and museums have high pickpocketing incidents. Also, these pickpocketers work in a group. The person immediately coming to your rescue may look like a nice person, but they could be working together with the pickpocketer. Stay alarmed all the time.

Mugging and Bag Snatching

Mugging and Bag snatching secures the second place in the risk factor. Same as pickpocketing, bag snatching is common in public areas. Although, you need not worry about the kidnapping of travellers. Kidnapping happens very rarely only. However, travellers get mugged in the places they stay in Italy.

Scam Risk

Well, you would know by now that tourist spots are never without tourist scams. Italy is a glorious place with a dozen of attractive tourist spots. Hence, tourist scams are spread everywhere. So watch out! 

Natural Disasters 

The natural disaster Italy has suffered in all these years is Avalanches. Avalanche are snow slides. Don’t you know? Italy has hit the world news for snow slides. Anyway, it happens during the winter season alone. So, if you are planning to visit Italy during the winter season, stay away from sloppy areas.

Terrorism

There is no risk of terrorism in Italy. Given the history, the neighbouring countries of Italy like France and Austria have survived quite a few terrorist attacks, but Italy has always been a safe country. And, of course, there are no mafias in Italy. Hence, the risk of a terrorist attack is drastically low.

Transport risk

Transport risk is even lower than terrorism in Italy. The Italian public transport is punctual and safe. Try to use public transports as they cost you less. If you are moving in a private taxi or renting a car, note the number plate. For your assurance, you may share it with your friends or family. But, the transport risk is 1% only.

Sexual assault risks

Let’s get to the real deal. In general, Italy is safe for women travellers, but there have been few reports of sexual assaults in some cases. So, as a solo traveller, you need to be mindful of your surroundings. 

Learn to say ‘o grazia’

I know your heartbeat must have intensified when you were still reading the sentence ‘sexual assault risks’. Please, don’t panic. It is not like Italian men brutally assault every woman, but their weird attention, gazing eyes, and teasing is something solo female travellers cannot avoid.

You are lucky. I have learned beautiful ways to handle those situations, and my first advice to solo female traveller safety in Italy is learning to say “No Grazie.” No Grazie means “No, Thank you.” Saying Grazie is the simplest and perfect way to show denial. Travellers in Italy pronounce the word “Grazie” as “Grah-see,” but the right way of pronunciation is “Grah-see-eh.”

Coming to the next tip, use this one when someone is showing interest in you. In those situations, tell them you are either married or have a boyfriend. “Ho un marito” or “Ho un fidanzato.” Marito is “husband,” and fidanzato is “boyfriend” in Italian.

If the situation does not help, walk away from the place. Even after that, if you feel being chased or abused, scream “Lasciami solo.” Lasciami solo means “leave me alone.” When you scream out in public, you are dragging everyone’s attention towards you, and you are safe!

Plan your trip—stay safe in Italy

Everybody wishes for only one thing in their travel. That is to take all the happy moments with them throughout their life. So, if you don’t want to bring bad memories from Italy, you have to stay cautious of the risks I have suggested. Adding to it, you need to pre-plan your trip effectively. Like, make a note of all the vital tips for your solo trip to Italy. Get to know about Italy in all ways you can. Here you are, doing it right now. Cheerio! So, you are perfectly on track.

To put everything in a box, as long as you show some presence of mind and remain a little cautious, you should be fine in Italy, even if you are a solo female traveller. Never to forget, there will be shady areas in every place. Unless you are planning to invite evil attention, I don’t think you have any compelling need to venture out in those dark areas as a tourist. 

So, with the support of the details I have given above, I can firmly say that Italy is safe for solo female travellers. At the same time, pickpocketing and mugging are some real problems you will have to face in your time in Italy. At least, compared to all other risks, these sound less scary. If you stay careful, you can easily avoid this petty crime.

Rest assured, you will have an extremely memorable experience in Italy. Have a happy and safe trip!

Click here to know the national emergency numbers for Italy.