February 14, 2025

There are many places you can choose to travel to that are safe. When traveling solo your safety is one of your top concerns. As it should be. Here are the top 10 safest destinations according to Background Checks.

1. Hong Kong

Hong Kong is another destination where a person can walk on any street at any time of day or night without fear. With low crime rates comparable to those of Japan and Singapore, yet without the authoritarian government or the risk of natural disaster, Hong Kong is the safest place for tourists on Earth.

With a substantial and well-developed tourist sector, English spoken, and an efficient and modern subway system, travelers feel at ease.

The one concern is its vulnerability to disease epidemics, as in the case of the 2003 SARS. This stems from its humid, subtropical climate, high population density, and proximity to the Guangdong Province of China, where people eat anything that has four legs and everything that flies. These culinary tendencies increase the likelihood of a virus transferring from animal to human. These outbreaks are few and far between, and not enough to remove Hong Kong off from its perch as the safest place to travel.

2. Singapore

World famous for its spotless sidewalks, broad-spectrum orderliness, Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world. Travelers would be hard pressed to find a more secure travel destination on the planet.

Crime rates are basically the lowest in the world. The one area of concern is the recent increase in online scams.

3. Japan

There are few countries on Earth where one can leave a bike unlocked in public for a week and come back to find it untouched, but Japan is one of them. The Land of the Rising Sun is one of the safest travel destinations on the planet. Theft is nearly unheard of; drug use is extremely scarce and the homicide rate of about 0.3 people per 100,000 is among the lowest in the developed world. Crime and murder are so rare that a wealth of academic studies has been published in hopes of determining the reason.

With a friendly populace and virtually no chance of becoming the victim of a crime, Japan is nearly unparalleled in terms of safety. The only thing to call out is the vulnerability towards earthquakes and tsunamis.

4. Spain

Spain is a very safe country. The birthplace of flamenco music and cold, refreshing gazpacho reported a 2016 homicide rate of just 0.66 people out of 100,000, good enough for second lowest in the EU and besting those of the eminently safe East Asian nations of Taiwan and South Korea. Also, Spain has somehow steered clear of large-scale terrorist attacks like those occurring in France and the U.K recently.

Spain has a remarkable safety record. Travelers have very little to worry about, other than a heightened risk of pickpocketing and other petty crime in some touristy areas.

5. United Kingdom

As with France, several high-profile incidents of terror have rocked the U.K. in the past half-decade, yet also like France, the country is overwhelmingly safe, statistically speaking, drawing millions of visitors a year that tour the country without incident.

By any approximation, the U.K. is a safe place: the homicide rate is super low, gun ownership is practically non-existent, temperatures are mild, and dangerous and/or poisonous animals are nowhere to be found unlike its former prison colony across the globe.

6. France

In recent years, France has suffered several devastating terrorist attacks, the most severe of which being the heartbreaking 2015 mass shooting at the Bataclan theatre that coincided with several other bombings in Paris on the same day.

With these incidents in mind, it may be hard to believe that France is in a list of the top ten safest destinations. France is the most visited country in the world, attracting over 80 million tourists from all over the world each year. The overwhelming majority of these travelers enjoy their trips in complete safety, thanks to a well-developed tourist infrastructure and a very low crime rate.

Of course, terrorist attacks command public attention and stoke fear; that is what they are designed to do. Nobody should be criticized for factoring these incidents into their travel plans, but it’s important to consider the extreme statistical of you becoming a victim in such an attack. By most statistical measures, American visitors to France are safer during the duration of their trip than they are in their daily lives back home.

7. Germany

The recent influx of Syrian refugees into Germany has perpetuated something of a panic, but the actual threat posed by the recent migrants is drastically lower than news media would lead you to believe. Germany is a very safe country, and its people are honest to a fault, and most would not think of scamming or misleading a visitor to the country.

Its geographical location protects Germany from any sort of natural disaster. The country is so short on threats that the U.S. State Department warns about roving bands of “hooligans”. That one made me laugh. Perhaps it’s best to steer clear of the area around Volksparkstadion stadium in Hamburg after the beloved Hamburger SV football club suffers a loss against traditional rivals, Werder Bremen.

8. Canada

It has been claimed that Canadians have a rate of gun ownership comparable to that of the United States, but with a drastically lower homicide rate. Fact: the U.S.’s 89 guns per 100 residents is far higher than Canada’s 31 per 100k. Truth: The discrepancy in murder rates is significant. At around 2 per 100k, Canada’s homicide rate is less than half of the United States.

There are some pockets of Toronto that can be considered less than safe, tourists would have to go out of their way to find themselves in a dangerous situation. Canada is an overwhelmingly safe travel destination.

Avalanches: They mostly occur in remote northern areas where no reasonable person would set foot and pose no significant threat to travelers. Again, the one concern is the temperature. It can get cold.

9. Norway

Along with the rest of its Scandinavian neighbors–is extremely safe and violent crime is nearly unheard of. Police don’t even carry guns. Travelers can count on safety and the opportunity to interact with some of the most friendly and helpful people on earth.

You will have to deal with Norway’s frosty climate. According to the U.S. State Department, road conditions outside of Oslo can be treacherous in inclement conditions. And I highly recommend that you don’t drink too much and pass out in the cold. You will perish.

10. Australia

Australia is one of the safest destinations in the world. Compared to the United States, crime rates are very low, particularly for violent crime, as the U.S.’s rate of 4.7 incidents per 100k is four times higher than Australia’s. Their homicide rate has decreased in recent years, hitting a record low of 1 per 100,000. You can rest easy knowing that the chances of being assaulted or killed in the country are next to none.

Australia is also generally safe from natural disasters, although there is the occasional heat wave and bush fire.  The country is infamous for being home to some of the most poisonous animals in the world, like the box jellyfish, with venom that can shut down a person’s nervous system in minutes, as well as 21 of the 25 most poisonous snakes in existence, very few people die each year from animal bites or stings. Exercising the proper caution should keep you safe. Perishing in a car crash is far more likely.

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