Safe countries of the world for tourists in 2021 - where to go on vacation?

Where is it safe to vacation abroad in 2021? We bookmark the article for ourselves, throw it in messages to friends who postpone travel because of the eternal “what if something happens?”.

Updated: 07.01.2021

Once in Spain I was returning to the hotel late or late at night. It was dark. I walked alone. In a short skirt. Suddenly ... I returned to the hotel, changed my clothes and went to bed. And all why? Because Spain is ranked among the safest countries in the world.

The text on such a serious topic, of course, is based on no less serious sources. But we left room for our comments.

Our backpacks have visited 30 countries, of which they stole things and equipment (where they did not expect), and they also flew to the islands, despite the threat of a raging volcano.

A little philosophical reasoning and the main rule of any trip

Travel in the modern world has become relatively safe. We, unlike our ancestors, do not need to sail 30 days on a ship across the Atlantic to get to America. Hire an army to fight off the natives. Or starve for weeks, fearing that local food will not be absorbed by an unprepared body.

And yet our world is far from the humanistic ideal in which we are all brothers. Wikipedia reports at least 26 countries where hostilities are currently taking place. In addition, there are threats for tourists such as natural disasters, crime, and unsanitary conditions. The complexities and dangers of routes through distant countries will delight rebellious adventurers. But thousands and thousands of people from different parts of the world want to return from vacation safe and sound. Should you travel? The answer is definitely YES!

Subject to one simple rule.

Money, technology, jewelry are gains. And health is our everything. And in order not to worry (and once again not think) about the likelihood of a bad tooth / dislocation / overheating in the sun, ALWAYS take out travel insurance.

And in order to be accepted in any hospital, they quickly did an x-ray / injected an ukolchik / cured with high quality, choose a good insurance company and close to the maximum coverage. Now the best on the market are especially for children - this is a policy from ERV, or from Sberbank Insurance. Online is the best, so compare prices for:

• Sravni
• Cherehapa
• Strahovkaru.ru

Well, now we turn to the exciting question - where to go to rest, so that everything goes quietly, peacefully and safely?

Country security criteria

Walking around Singapore - one of the safest countries
where there is a fine even for chewing gum

The safest countries in the world are declared as such based on a number of criteria:

• Terrorist threat level
• Crime level
• Domestic and foreign policy of the state
• The level of political stability
• General sanitation and water quality
• The state of medicine
• Natural disaster risk

Compliance with each of them is calculated by reputable organizations. Our article is based on documents and reports from the following institutions:

✓ World Economic Forum - Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report

✓ Relief Web (web portal from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) - World Risk Report

✓ Institute of Economics and Peace - Global Peace Index

Where is it safe to rest? Country ranking - top 10

There is no universal list where all the designated criteria would be taken into account. Therefore, I took the liberty and independently put the countries in places according to each source and then deduced the average value. Here's what happened.

List of the safest countries for recreation (top 10):

1. Iceland

2. Switzerland

3. Finland

4. Austria

5. Sweden

≈6. Denmark

≈6. Qatar

7.Singapore

8. Germany

≈9. Norway

≈9. Canada

10. Portugal

Portugal is beautiful, clean and peaceful (Porto, Atlantic Ocean) 🙂

The Czech Republic, Lithuania, France, New Zealand, Japan, Spain are followed by a small margin. So yes, it turns out that in the summer you can safely relax with children on the Spanish or French coast (and in spring and autumn in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, they are also not far from ten).

The climate of most of the leaders is harsh enough, and you can't fly there on a weekend at sea. Therefore, below I will talk about safety in beach countries.

Where there are no wars and low crime?

In my opinion, this rating is the most important when planning a vacation. Safe rest is, first of all, the absence of a threat to life. And everything else depends primarily on the tourist himself - where he keeps money, how he walks down the street, etc.

Criteria:

• Public safety level (this includes terrorist threat, homicide / robbery rate, etc.),
• Involvement in internal and international conflicts,
• The growth rate of the state's military power.

The safest countries - rating, relevant in 2021:

The worst situation is in Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Iraq.

Turkey dropped to 152nd place (lost 3 positions compared to 2018). But whatever you are horrified, know that Russia is 154 🙂

In general, the devil is not so terrible as he is painted - after all, everyone travels to Turkey, both with a child and with elderly parents. I also have a reverse example of the correlation between statistics and practice: Spain is in the highest positions on the peace list, but it was there that they cleaned out my backpack (although the fault was on me, threw it in the hostel unattended) and my friend's pockets (and this was a divorce on La Rambla).

Our holidays in the UAE (Dubai) and Thailand (Pattaya)

This leads to another conclusion - even 100% safe countries of the world for recreation require your own vigilance.

Where is the risk of natural disasters less likely?

Remember how much noise the Agung volcano awakened in Indonesia made? Tourists who dared to go to Bali (we), despite reports from the official authorities about the danger, wrote reviews in social networks that the rest was calm and safe. However, the usually crowded tourist spots were deserted.

Which country to book tickets to so as not to return them at the last moment due to a natural disaster?

Behind the clouds, between the gates, the top of the same
volcano in Bali - Agunga. But not on this day 🙂

Criteria:

• Exposure to natural disasters,
• Vulnerability, which includes 1) the degree of susceptibility (what percentage of people live in normal conditions, have access to water and medicine + economic indicators of the country), 2) the ability to timely and competently cope with the consequences (warning system, number of doctors and hospital beds, etc.) etc.).

Where to go to rest without the risk of natural disasters:

The most dangerous are the countries located in the volcanic belt of the Pacific Ocean: Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda, Tonga, the Solomon Islands and African Guyana.

Where is Turkey? It is 15 positions away from Bulgaria (exposure to disasters is low, but the situation with the ability to respond and respond is poor). And vice versa: Japan, which is known to often suffer from earthquakes, is far from the top ten dangerous countries, because it effectively prevents, prepares and copes with the consequences.

You can fly to many places, but the travel planning tools are always the same. Flights are booked on Aviasales or Skyscanner Accommodation is searched for on RoomGuru (if hotel / hostel) or Airbnb (if apartment)

Water and sanitation

Another ranking compiled by the World Economic Forum relates to water quality and sanitation.

Criteria:

• The number of doctors for the entire population of the country,
• Sanitation level,
• Access to drinking water,
• Number of hospital beds
• The percentage of people with AIDS and the risk of malaria.

"Healthy" and safe countries for recreation:

But in Africa, you can and can go for a walk, but drink any water, except bottled - in no case. The worst rates are in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Benin.

The most popular countries for the rest of Russians

One of the most popular European destinations is Greece
(here we are in Rhodes) and Spain (view of Barcelona)

As for the directions in demand among our compatriots? Is it worth going where most people spend their vacations?

I took from the list of TourStat the most popular countries for the rest of Russians at sea and did the same with them as in the section "Where to safely rest abroad". Scattered in places from the first to the tenth for each of the three sources and summed up to the average value.

Where to go to rest on the sea?

* Bulgaria and Greece have the purest water and a high level of sanitation. The lowest rates are in India and Thailand.

** Natural disasters are more likely in the Philippines or the Dominican Republic. The least risk is in Cyprus, Spain and the UAE.

*** All of the above countries have low rates of militarization, except for one. The most peaceful are Bulgaria, Spain and Cyprus. The same one, the least peaceful, Turkey.

However, the 6 million tourists from Russia who visited Turkey that year are sure they have something to fend off. For example, the fact that the data from the sources is somewhere far away, and the favorite vacation spot with all inclusive and warm sea is close and inexpensive.

We ourselves are not averse to having a rest in Turkey in the summer. True, this time it happened in the spring, in May. We looked at the prices on aggregators:

• Travelata
• Level.Travel
• Onlinetours

… We saw the burning tour and decided - let's fly. All 10 days have passed ho-ro-sho.

How to avoid problems in another country?

Small idyllic corner in Kemer (Turkey)

Beach holidays with an all-inclusive hotel tour, African safari in tents or a tour of European museums - travel safety largely depends on the traveler himself. There are several rules, observing which abroad, you can preserve your nerves and health.

• Insurance is needed not "for a visa", but for health. 500 rubles saved in Russia can turn into thousands of dollars and euros spent in another country. Above, I have indicated the services where it is most profitable to choose insurance. I like Cherekhap's site the most; on average, a simple insurance will cost 300-500 rubles.
• In extreme situations, try to remember that life and health are more important than money or even documents.
• I advise you to split the money in different places - leave some at the hotel / apartment, some - in your wallet or in your bag with you. The same goes for bank cards. It is easy to block them, but I put one in my passport, so that in case of unforeseen situations, the money will always remain.

After trips, there are cases (this happened to us after the USA and France) when they try to withdraw money from the card. Advice - use cards with good online banking, where you can quickly block or set withdrawal limits. I can recommend Tinkoff Black Edition debit or Tinkoff Airlines debit.

• And finally. So far, we have not been to tourist "dangerous" countries, such as Brazil or South Africa, but if we gather in similar ones, then for sure with a company of 3-4 people.

For Russians in 2021, 131 countries and territories without a visa are open. Now, due to the pandemic, many countries are closed. Want to know which ones? >>

The most dangerous countries for tourists

Our trip to Israel, in the photo - the embankment of Tel Aviv. Been here 2 times
and want to come back again!

Unfortunately, many of the most interesting places on the planet are outside the "safe zone". Here are a few of them, which, despite the unfavorable environment, remain in demand.

Dangerous but attractive countries for tourists:

1. Yemen. Frequent armed conflicts between terrorist groups, food and water shortages and one of the highest execution rates in the world. This does not stop everyone on the way to the unique natural monuments - the Socotra archipelago and the city of Shibam.

2. Madagascar. An island with lemurs near Africa is not at all as serene as it might seem. Despite the low level of militarization and the relative peacefulness of politics, Madagascar has problems that hinder the active development of tourism: poorly developed infrastructure, poor water quality.

3. Kenya. A picturesque African country. But there is a risk of being robbed, contracting malaria and suffering from poor sanitation. We were very close - in Tanzania, and on the last point we really "hit".

4. Philippines... The highest risk of suffering from natural disasters. A plus (although rather a minus) is the fact that the Philippine province of Mindanao was put under martial law in connection with the activities of terrorist groups.

5. Mexico... Unfortunately, Mexican drug cartels are not the invention of Hollywood directors. From here everything also follows. Of course, everything will be fine in tourist places.

6. SOUTH AFRICA. The reputation of the suburbs in the country is the same as in the disadvantaged areas of Russian cities. The rules of behavior are also similar: do not go out at night, do not lean out, do not wave the latest iPhone model.

7. Brazil. The country of wide beaches and men in white pants has a very high level of robbery. Moreover, bank cards are not a panacea: thieves, threatening with weapons, offer to walk to the ATM and withdraw money. And in case of resistance, the weapon is used for its intended purpose.

8. Bali Island (Indonesia). Poorly developed infrastructure, high traffic, theft is common. Most often, bags are snatched from the hands or jewelry is ripped off. We were there for a whole month and during this time we ran into local gangs several times, who do not allow access to attractions until you pay them. You can also read about the "criminal" island of Lombok on the forums.

Bali again, not the safest country, like many Asian destinations

9. India. The scale of begging and divorce in India is mind-boggling. Scam taxi drivers can lead the wrong way. Quite low ratings for water quality and sanitation.

10. Israel. The Arab-Israeli conflict has been going on since the 20th century! On the street you can see many military men, there are territories (closer to the borders) where it is not always safe. At the same time, we personally visited Israel 2 times and consider the country one of the most peaceful and comfortable for recreation.

Bottom line.

What country is the safest in the world - we found out, the degree of confidence in others - reinforced, it's time to organize a trip 🙂 Below is a block with useful services for you - we use them in every trip.