When planning an international trip with your family, safety is always on the mind. How secure a country is should be a consideration when choosing your destination. In this post, I’ll tell you the safest countries to visit and break down ways to understand a if a country or a destination within a country is low-risk to travel to with your family.
Safest Countries to Visit in the World
Let’s start with what countries are considered the safest in the world according to the Global Peace Index. This report is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and uses 23 qualitative and quantitative factors to measure the state of peace. The factors they use are the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.
According to the Global Peace Index, here are the 14 safest countries to visit in the world as of 2023:
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Singapore
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Japan
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Czechia
- Finland
- Croatia
All of these 14 countries scored “Very High” on the report. In addition, there are 50 other countries on the list that scored “High,” which means those are some of the safest countries to visit too. To learn more about the rankings and to see where a country ranks, check out the 2023 Global Peace Index snapshot.
You may be surprised to learn that the US ranks in the “low” category and is 131st out of 163 countries. You may also be interested to see that a few other locations that are very popular tourist destinations are scored “low” including Mexico, Turkiye, Brazil and South Africa. This means these aren’t the safest countries to visit, but should you avoid them?
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Should I Avoid “Unsafe” Countries?
Many travelers might see this list and think they need to avoid all the countries that didn’t score high on the safety scale. BUT I am not one of them and in my opinion you shouldn’t be either. Of course this has to do with your own personal preference and level of comfort. All I’m saying is that I don’t want you to automatically say no to a country because it isn’t labeled as one of the safest countries to visit.
Why?
For example, just because Colombia is scored low for safety doesn’t mean that you have to avoid the whole country. Yes, there are certain areas that you will want to skip, and I will go into how to know where those areas are later in the post. For the most part, the popular tourist destinations, such as Medellin and Cartagena, will be safe for you to visit.
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Understanding Travel Advisories
The U.S. and a few other countries such as Canada, the UK, and New Zealand, have websites that will advise their citizens about safety issues in other countries. The U.S. State Department’s website is where you can find information for Americans. In my opinion, the State Department’s website is extremely cautious.
The travel advisories are categorized into 4 different levels. Level 1 is the safest countries to visit and Level 4 is the most dangerous. Here is how I would read their information:
Travel Advisory – Level 1 – Exercise Normal Precautions
This level is pretty self explanatory. These are the safest countries in the world and very few are assigned Level 1 according to the U.S. government. You will want to use normal travel precautions when traveling to these countries. Just because a country is the safest in the world doesn’t mean you should throw your money around or leave your cell phone on a cafe table and walk away.
What are regular travel precautions? Here is a great article from Salt in our Hair with tips on how to travel safely.
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Travel Advisory – Level 2 – Exercise Increased Caution
In my opinion, the title of this advisory is scarier than the actual advisory. It just means there might be some additional information you might want to learn about the country to keep you safe.
Example 1: Oman
For example, Oman is currently at a Level 2 advisory. Here is what the advisory says.
As you can see above, you will want to avoid the Yemen border. That’s it.
Example 2: Chile
Another example that is a little different is Chile, which is also at a Level 2. This is what the advisory says.
When I read this, I pay special attention to the pick-pocketing and theft alerts. Be sure to keep your belongings close by, don’t put your cell phone or wallet in the back pocket of your pants, wear a purse that crosses over your chest and lock your doors. Also avoid protests.
I would say these are common precautions you should always take while traveling though. So for me, any country with level 1 and level 2 advisories are great options for traveling safely with a family.
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Travel Advisory – Level 3 – Reconsider Travel
This travel advisory is where you need to start paying closer attention to what is dangerous in the country if you do decide to visit there. I wouldn’t classify this travel advisory as do not travel, but you should be aware and cautious of certain areas of the country.
Example 1: Colombia
The example I will use is Colombia because I am most familiar with this country. When we traveled through Colombia we felt very safe and we didn’t have any problems. The people were very warm and friendly, but the country as a whole is currently Level 3 according the U.S. State Department. Here is what the advisory says.
So what I read from this is that there are certain areas that I need to avoid. Since most people that aren’t from Colombia are not familiar with the regions mentioned in the advisory, I created this map of Colombia to help you. All of the spots in red are the do not travel areas.
As you can see there are more sectors that you would want to avoid in Colombia than Oman, for example, but they aren’t anywhere near the locations you will be visiting.
Example 2: Mexico
If you are considering Mexico, there are certain areas you should avoid and others that are a level 1 advisory. Since it’s such a large country with a varying degree of safety, the U.S. doesn’t even have an overall country advisory level.
I have included a screenshot of a map from the State Department’s website so you can see which areas are okay to visit and others where you should avoid or be more cautious. Of course visit the State Department’s website for more specific information.
Travel Advisory – Level 4 – Do Not Travel
This advisory is self explanatory as well. The countries with this classification are considered too dangerous and should be avoided. The reasons are usually to do with war or civil unrest. Don’t go.
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The STEP Program
Lastly, I wanted to speak about the STEP program. STEP stands for Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. This U.S. program makes it easy for you to tell the U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad your travel itineraries and emergency contact information.
Registering with the program is beneficial for many reasons. You will receive email alerts for demonstrations to avoid, natural disaster concerns or other safety risks that could arise while you are traveling in each location. It also allows the embassy or consulate to be able to assist you during an emergency, either in your location abroad or with a family member back in the States.
Summary
Staying safe while traveling might not be an exciting topic to think about when planning your next trip, but it is an important one. I hope that these helpful tips on staying safe while traveling, like knowing about country warnings and using programs like STEP will keep you and your family safe and secure during your trip.
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