Amsterdam

Is Amsterdam safe?

Yes, and getting safer. Ten people died by violence in Amsterdam in 2025, half as many as a year earlier, according to the city's police, prosecutors and mayor. CBS counts 62 homicide victims in the city over five years, roughly 12 a year in a city of about 930,000 people. Most of that violence is tied to the drug trade, which also produces dozens of shootings and bomb attacks on homes and businesses each year. Visitors are rarely involved.

What visitors meet is petty crime, chaos in the old centre at night, and bikes. We score Amsterdam 82, level with Berlin, just above London and ahead of Paris. Our Netherlands page covers the rest of the country.

Where pickpockets work

Police registered 2,906 pickpocketings in Amsterdam in 2025, down from 4,772 in 2023. That figure undercounts, since many tourists never file a report. About a third were in the two Burgwallen districts, the medieval core between Centraal Station, Dam Square and the Red Light District.

The places to be careful:

• Centraal Station and the trains and trams between Centraal and Schiphol airport. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says thieves often work there in gangs.
• Damrak, Dam Square, Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat, the shopping street from Dam towards Muntplein.
• De Wallen, the Red Light District, especially on crowded weekend evenings.
• Trams to the museums, which fill with visitors heading to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.
• Hotel lobbies and café terraces, where bags hung on chairs and luggage at check-in disappear.

The FCDO also reports fake police officers asking tourists to hand over cash and cards to "check" them. Real Dutch police will not do this; ask to go to a police station.

Bike theft is Amsterdam's signature crime, with 13,284 bikes and mopeds stolen in 2025. If you rent a bike, use both locks, including the chain around a fixed rack.

The old centre after dark

Most of Amsterdam is quiet at night: the Jordaan, the canal belt, De Pijp and Oud-Zuid feel safe late. The problems cluster in a small area. In the CBS 2025 safety monitor, almost half of the residents of the Burgwallen said they sometimes feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood, against a quarter citywide. In the European Commission's 2023 survey of city residents, 79% in greater Amsterdam said they feel safe walking alone at night in the city, about the same as in Vienna and well above London or Paris.

The reasons are visible on any Saturday night in De Wallen and around Leidseplein: stag groups, heavy drinking, street dealers whispering offers, and fights. Of the 124 stabbings recorded in 2025, 48 happened in the Wallen area. Street drugs are illegal, often fake and sometimes dangerous; cannabis is tolerated only inside coffeeshops, and smoking it in public is not allowed. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary also warns of drink spiking, particularly for young women and solo travellers.

The canals are a quieter danger. People drown in them every year, the FCDO notes, mostly after drinking or smoking cannabis, often while urinating at the edge at night. Stay back from the unfenced quays when you are drunk.

For late nights, walk along lit main streets rather than through Vondelpark, and use the night buses, a licensed taxi from a rank or an app ride. Uber and Bolt both operate in the city.

Bikes, trams and traffic

CBS counts 23 road deaths in the Amsterdam area in 2025 and 101 over five years, about 2.4 per 100,000 people a year. That is higher than Berlin or London, and it reflects how many people cycle.

For visitors the danger is concrete. Red asphalt lanes are for bikes and mopeds, and riders move fast and expect pedestrians to stay out. Look for bikes, then cars, then trams before every crossing. Trams are quiet and cannot swerve; you must stop when a tram or bus stops in the middle of the road to let passengers off. If you cycle, do not ride two abreast on busy routes, use lights at night, and cross tram rails at a sharp angle so your wheel does not catch.

Health, water and flooding

Tap water is among the best in Europe. Air quality is good for a capital, though fine particlesPM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary stay above the WHO guideline near busy roads. Emergency care at Amsterdam UMC and the other city hospitals is excellent. Much of the city lies below sea level, but Dutch flood defences are among the strongest in the world. Winter storms that topple trees and close tram lines are the most likely natural disruption.

How we scored it

Violent crime (85) and health (87) are strong, and natural hazards (90) reflect excellent flood protection. Theft and scams (70) is the weakest factor because of pickpocketing around Centraal, Dam Square and the Schiphol trains, and traffic (82) loses points for the bike and tram risk to pedestrians. Walking at night (82) follows the EU's 2023 survey of residents, which we use for every European city, less 2 points for the stabbings and drunken crowds in the Red Light District.