Safest feeling place you’ve been to/lived in?

[Howcoldjesus]

I found the thread on here about the places people have found unsafe very interesting.
Where are the places you’ve visited/lived that have felt the safest?
I live in Portugal at the moment and feel v safe in most areas. I also felt safe staying in New South Wales in Australia and Cornwall and Abersoch

I live in London. I feel least safe as a woman in Tower Hamlets and most safe on my turf in Lewisham.

India. Travelled there for extended periods of time (2 years in all). The only time something happened was when a man pinched me in a crowd (festival was on). When I shouted at him all the women around me took off their flip flops and beat him over the head with them!

Corfu! That whole island (apart from Kavos) is lovely and I feel safe and happy there.

Zwolle in the Netherlands. Visited there solo a couple of years ago and never felt unsafe. It was clean bar a little graffiti and I was never hassled or suffered any unwanted approaches the entire time, including when I ventured away from the main tourist areas.

I've been all over and had to think a lot about this.

The only places where I've felt completely safe enough to wander about alone or in the dark are Prague, Newcastle and New York.

The places where I didn't feel safe at all even in daylight with DH are northern France and Ulaanbaatar.

Most other places seem safe but I still felt like I had to be on slight alert when alone.

I tend to avoid the tourist attractions and hotels, and I use public transport. So perhaps that's the reason.

Another vote for Japan! I'm so used to walking round London expecting pick pocketing that it took me a while to trust that it was OK!

I was also standing on the train and realised I was taller than 99% of the other people. As a woman of average height, it just gave me a feeling I've never had. Perhaps that's just the comfort and reassurance of size advantage that most men have 100% of the time!

Croatia (Split, Brac, Hvar and other islands) felt really safe to me - clean, healthy, well-looked after, no sense of much crime, exclusion or deprivation - just people having a good time. Possibly my perception though.

I work in Singapore a lot, and super duper safe.
I have felt safer in big cities, kind of weirdly. Sydney, Auckland, Athens, Tokyo. I've spent a considerable time in each of them, and never a problem. Someone did once 'steal' an item of my clothing at a swimming pool - and I got it back about 4 weeks later, as my contact details were in the bag!
Also, more rurally in Scandinavia, France, Croatia, Greece, Switzerland.

The only places I've ever felt 'threatened' were Phnom Penh, Mumbai, Cairo, and parts of South Africa. Mainly because I didn't speak the local languages, and also was obviously lost at times.

I actually don't think 'safety' is much of a value to be honest. I often feel unsafe in my hometown (small picturesque rural town) but that's because of my memories of growing up there in the 80s (creepy men, unemployment, alcohol & drug abuse, frequent car crashes).

London is measurably and objectively much less safer than my home town and a lot of UK places but I don't feel unsafe living in London at all. I would rather walk through London at night than e.g. Peterborough or Cheltenham.

You say this, but last year, I managed to leave my car in a car park in central Liverpool for a whole day, with all of the windows down. I locked it, walked away, and didn't notice that the 'all windows up' button hadn't worked! (It was during the heatwave, and my passengers distracted me whilst we were parking up😐)
Came back after about 10 hours, and it was all exactly where I'd left it. I did feel a fool.

perception varies hugely. I read on local fb pages about the druggies and crime in my town but I feel very safe here … I grew up in the south east where we had gangs with knives. Don’t get me wrong, there’s crime here in south Somerset but the local paper is a very different read to Folkestone in Kent was when I was there.

LOL my mum once forgot to lock her car overnight in Moss Side. Still there the next day.

I have lived in Portugal and certainly did not feel safe at times. But this was in Porto, I guess the experience varies depending on where you are exactly - but there was a lot of antisocial behaviour, and the country has a problem with racism and prejudice. I was glad to leave and will never, ever go back.

Uruguay felt very safe to me. Especially if you compare to other areas in South America. I do find this all very subjective though! It is going to vary a lot depending on lots of different factors.

I called it sterile😁but honestly after being brought up in area that was loud and ‘chavvy’ I was happy to just enjoy the breathtaking beauty and civility. It was a deal I was very willing to make. If I won the lottery I’d buy a place there tomorrow (but still have a place in the UK for a bit of buzz).

Hong Kong felt incredibly safe all of the time

I feel very safe in London (been here 10ish years), much more so than Dublin where I grew up.

We're central algarve!

Inverness and Stirling always feel very safe to me

Uzbekistan

Yes. I didn't feel very safe in Lisbon. It's the European city I felt most uneasy in.

One thing that really resonates with me off this thread is how unsafe I feel in rural and empty areas

I just have to think of the words 'Straw Dogs' and I get the massive heebie jeebies

Apart from my own part of incredibly empty Scotland where I know every cranny I feel safest in MY London

The rest of the empty country can GETTIFER

@Totallymessed Oh wow, really? In what way didn’t you feel safe? I adore Lisbon

@LivGo Racism against who?

@SuddenlyOld Why Northern France

@willWillSmithsmith yep- I totally understand- after the UK being a shit show - we went to Copenhagen during covid and it felt incredibly safe and controlled- we were 5 minutes from a great hospital- stuff seemed just more 'in control' - we are back in uk now fir various reasons but there is lots I miss-