Italy

Is Italy safe to visit?

Yes. Italy has one of the lowest murder rates in Europe, 0.57 homicides per 100,000Homicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary people in 2023, about half the rate in France. Neither the US nor the UK advises against travel to any part of it. What goes wrong for visitors is theft, traffic and, in some regions, the ground itself. We score Italy 84.

Pickpockets: where they actually work

Petty crime is the risk you are most likely to meet. Both 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 and the US State Department warn about pickpocketing and bag-snatching in city centres, at the big sights and on public transport, including trains. The hot spots are the same every year:

• Rome: Termini station, bus 64 to the Vatican, metro line A at Spagna and Ottaviano, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum queues. Our Rome page maps them in detail.
• Venice: the Rialto Bridge, St Mark's Square and the crowded vaporetto lines along the Grand Canal.
• Florence: Santa Maria Novella station, the Ponte Vecchio and the queues outside the Uffizi and the Duomo. See our Florence page.
• Naples: Napoli Centrale, Piazza Garibaldi and the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii and Sorrento, where phone snatching from scooters also happens.
• Milan: Milano Centrale, the Duomo square and the M1 metro line. See our Milan page.

The FCDO describes thieves who use distraction: a question, a spilled drink, a crowd at the train door. It also warns that theft from parked cars is common across the country, and that thieves sometimes point out a fake flat tyre to get drivers to stop. Never leave luggage in a car, even in the boot.

Terrorism and protests

The US keeps Italy at Level 2 because of terrorism, the same level as France and Spain. 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 language is milder than for France: attacks in Italy "cannot be ruled out", and security has been increased around Jewish community sites. Italy has not suffered a mass-casualty jihadist attack in recent decades. It ranks 35th of 163 countries on the 2026 Global Peace IndexGlobal Peace IndexAn annual ranking of 163 countries by how peaceful they are, based on conflict, crime, militarisation and political instability.More in the glossary, ahead of the UK and well ahead of France.

Demonstrations happen in most cities and are usually peaceful. Transport strikes are a bigger nuisance: rail, local transport and airport staff often strike on Fridays, at short notice. The Ministry of Transport publishes a list of planned strikes.

Traffic is the bigger danger

ISTAT counted 2,868 road deaths in Italy in 2025, down 5.3% on 2024. That is 48.7 per million people, above the EU average of 43 and similar to France. For visitors on foot, cities are the problem. 419 pedestrians died in 2025, and 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 warns that drivers do not always stop at crossings, and that a green pedestrian light still lets cars turn right across your path. Rome is the worst of the big cities.

If you drive, the risks are different. Mountain roads in the Dolomites and along the Amalfi Coast are narrow and busy with buses. Most historic centres are ZTL zones, and cameras fine cars that enter without a pass. Deaths among cyclists and e-scooter riders rose by a fifth in 2025.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, fire and heat

Italy carries more natural risk than most of western Europe. The Apennines that run down the peninsula produce damaging earthquakes every few years; the 2016 quake at Amatrice killed about 300 people. Around Naples, Campi Flegrei has been rising and shaking for several years. On 31 July 2026 a magnitude 4.7 quake there, the strongest since instruments began recording, damaged homes in Pozzuoli and left about 700 people displaced. Vesuvius is quiet and closely watched. Etna in Sicily erupts often and sometimes closes Catania airport.

Summers bring heat waves above 40°C in the south and wildfires in Sicily, Sardinia, Puglia and Calabria. Autumn storms cause flash floods, and Venice floods several times a year at high tide (acqua alta).

Mosquito-borne disease is a growing summer risk. The national health institute ISS recorded 771 confirmed West Nile cases and 70 deaths in 2025, most in Lazio, Campania and Lombardy. Most infections cause no symptoms, but older people are at higher risk, so use repellent at dusk from June to October.

How to stay safe in Italy

• Wear a zipped crossbody bag in front on buses, trams and the metro, and keep your phone off café tables near the big sights.
• Take only licensed taxis from an official rank or an app; at Rome and Naples airports, check the fixed fare to the centre first.
• Cross at lights where possible and wait until cars have actually stopped.
• Park outside ZTL zones and leave nothing in the car.
• In July and August, sightsee early and late, and check Civil Protection fire warnings before hiking in Sicily or Sardinia.
• Call 112 for any emergency, or 118 for an ambulance.

How we scored it

Violent crime (96) is Italy's strongest factor, and conflict (85) reflects a terrorism threat that is lower than in France or the UK. Natural hazards (72) and petty crime (62) are the weakest, driven by earthquakes and volcanoes in the centre and south and by organised pickpocketing in the main tourist cities. Compare Switzerland, which has similar crime levels with fewer hazards.