Is London safe?

[Springyayspring]

My 10 year old who usually never wants to go anywhere has asked to go to London. I’m overjoyed that he wants to go as I love city breaks and it’s so nice to see him showing an interest, he wants to see all the touristy things.

I have been to London but it was years ago and although I loved it. I’ve got very bad anxiety since then.

I try not to watch the news because all you seem to see is knife crime, terrorism, violence.

I mentioned to a couple of friends that we were looking at going and they seemed a bit horrified and said that London has really changed in recent years, and that they wouldn’t go.

Consider the Horrible Histories boat tour. It’s excellent

A musical like Wicked

Tower of London

Natural History Museum

I live here with my DC and we all feel perfectly safe. I recently had the misfortune to visit Aldershot town centre for work and felt the least safe I have felt in years.

I don't understand your comment.

It's either
a) you genuinely think that Nigel Farage is posting on a MN thread which is clearly not the case or
b) you genuinely think that you are being witty or humorous which again is clearly not the case.

Which one is it?

Most of the open top buses offer a 24 hour ticket which includes the river boat to either Docklands or Greenwich. Depending on your DS interests you could do the bus one afternoon and get the boat the following morning to either the Observatory and Maritime Museum at Greenwich or to the Docklands Museum - the latter has a very good activity area called mudlarks but you do need to book a timed slot there on arrival.

To reiterate that London is safe - lots of London DC get themselves to and from school on public transport from late year 5 early year 6. At 11 mine were in and out of Victoria Station to get the train to school. THe only mishap they ever had was getting the wrong train.....

Why do people think it’s not safe? Do you believe all this AI shit too op?

Have you ever read Oliver twist? Pickpockets have been an issue in London (and any big city) for a very long time

Also have you looked at the actual crime statistics for London? Not the rhetoric?

There is not a ‘crime situation’ in London - or at least no more than there is a ‘crime situation’ in New York, Rome, Barcelona or Rio di Janeiro.

Phone snatchings are up everywhere because it’s a quick, easy form of crime with potentially high rewards. It’s not unique to London, or worse in London than in other major cities.

Interestingly home burglaries are down, as TVs etc can no longer be sold on for high prices.

In my experience, kids love the grown up bits of museums and galleries more than than the ones specially aimed at kids. The British Museum has fantastic guides for kids so they see all the best bits.

We brought our 5 and 7 year old last year for a few days and it felt perfectly fine/safe. We were conscious of our phones and not waving them about. We had our wallets in my zipped cross over bag. But no issues at all while we were there.

Your DS will love it. There is so much to see and do and the tube is so convenient for getting around.

Unless you’re involved with gang warfare or waving your phone around, it’s safe. One of the safest capitals in the world.

Depending on people's experiences there will be different views and given that in all cities there will be more people that have not experienced a serious crime than those that have will mean, as we can see on this thread, that the majority view is that it's safe.

Which is exactly why as you say, you need to look at the statistics for an objective view and to give you a risk probability of different cities.

For example it would be statistically correct to say that Bradford has a much higher crime rate than London, but I'm sure someone will come along and say that they've lived in Bradford all their life without suffering any crime or that it's a racist comment etc etc.

Born and bred Londoner here. I love it. I have never felt unsafe no matter what age I was. Am always baffled when I read these sorts of posts tbh.

I think the fear is probably about possible terrorist attacks given the current geopolitical multi shit show. I battle between my rational side and worry about this every time I consider going into London, mainly because it’s always towards the highly populated touristy bits. But I’d feel the same in any major
city in Europe atm

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there really.

I’m quite baffled really by all the posts about Nigel Farage and the London Mayor.

My anxieties are quite literally about going into such a huge, bustling tourist area. Rationally I know risks are minimal, but when you have anxiety your brain keeps going to worst case scenario.

It’s been a long time since I visit a busy city, I live near one myself and I rarely travel into the city.

This thread has mostly been VERY reassuring which is what I needed.

It's human nature to be anxious about something unfamiliar- honestly the best way to deal with this is cold hard statistics to give a rationale appraisal of the risk.

And in conclusion if you do that then you'll find that there is minimal risk about visiting London.

I say minimal because there is always "a risk" just as there is "a risk of being hit by a meteorite" or "being eaten by an escaped lion " but we tend not to worry about those!

Anyway enough waffle from me and I really hope your son and you have a fab time in London.

We stayed in London for one night the first time we took the kids there when my eldest was 10. We saw monument, tower bridge (including the museum inside), admired the Tower of London from outside, a trip on the uber river boat, a walk past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and down to the London Eye, saw the outside of Buckingham Palace, visited the flamingoes in St James Park, the Princess Diana playground and the Natural History Museum in that time. Lots of walking but also used the tube and the uber boat. If you're feeling nervous about it and it's not too far to travel you go for one night for your first trip.

My anxieties are quite literally about going into such a huge, bustling tourist area

So how many millions and millions and millions and millions of visits do you think must happen in such a huge, bustling tourist area every year? And how many serious crime incidents are there? Your chance of being the victim of even a minor incident are miniscule.

It is ridiculous to suggest the OP has even a 0.002% chance of being a victim of knife crime as a) that figure compares number of crimes to residents of London, not people who are only there for one day, and b) is highly concentrated among young men.

The greatest risk of a night out in Reading is being bored to death.

I lived in London for 46 years moved 15 years ago. Returned last year to visit friends who have decided to move away because they don’t feel safe in Tottenham North London.

My work involves crime in London and I would say it’s not just a social media campaign to make London seem dangerous. There’s definitely unsafe things that happen and I think it’s important to be aware of that when you’ve got children with you.
I wouldn’t say it’s unsafe though. The majority of people are absolutely fine on a daily basis. I would still bring my children to London but I would keep aware of my surroundings, be careful who I was talking to etc.
Definitely be careful of waving your phone around, phone snatching is very much a thing.
All the attractions you’ve listed sound great and you’ll have a lovely time.

• Leicester Square with the Lego Store, M & M shop and China Town nearby.
• Carnaby Street - picturesque and chic
• Regent Street (where Hamleys is) always feels particularly London-y to me!
• London Dungeons is particularly fun, depending on the ages of your kids (check for minimum age requirements). I much prefer it to Madame Tussaud’s.

I live on the outskirts of London and have never really felt unsafe - but perhaps because it’s ‘home’.

Just keep valuables (and kids!) close by and you’ll be fine x

Remember that “I don’t feel safe” is often code for “I saw some black people”

I live in London and travel around the centre all the time and love it. Only downside - too many tourists! My DC all travelled on the tube and busses from the age of 10. Ive taken all my DGC out and about in London for years no problem. Some good suggestions - uberboat to Greenwich. Book a slot for the Science and NH museum and its worth paying for the Wonderlab or Powerup at the Science museum - both fab for a 10 year old.

Really? I usually equate it to someone following me home at night, or having a bunch of face mask and hoodie wearing young men sit directly next to me on the train despite the whole carriage being virtually empty, or seeing a bunch of rowdy drunk men outside the pub abusing people passing by or being in a dimly lit multi storey carpark trying to get to my car....etc