Riyadh — a city many travellers instinctively fear — scores 85/100 on the 2026 Kakapo Safety Index, higher than household-name Paris (80) and New York City (77). We paired each of 131 major cities' general reputation with its actual 2026 Kakapo Safety Index score — surfacing the "scary" cities that score genuinely safe and the household-name "safe" cities that rank lower than their image.
Riyadh scores 85/100 — higher than Paris (80) and New York City (77) — yet it carries a reputation many travellers fear. Of the 32 cities in our set with a "dangerous" public reputation, 41% actually score in the Caution band or safer on Kakapo's 0–100 index — the fear outpaces the data.
These cities carry a "dangerous" reputation in popular perception, yet their 2026 composite scores tell a different story. None of this means switch off your common sense — every city has neighbourhoods and scams to mind — but the blanket fear isn't supported by the data.
| City | Score | Band | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 85/100 | Very Safe | #42/131 |
| Jerusalem, Israel | 84/100 | Very Safe | #46/131 |
| Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | 84/100 | Very Safe | #47/131 |
| Bucharest, Romania | 80/100 | Good | #68/131 |
| Sofia, Bulgaria | 79/100 | Good | #81/131 |
| Bangkok, Thailand | 76/100 | Caution | #87/131 |
| Belgrade, Serbia | 76/100 | Caution | #90/131 |
| Quito, Ecuador | 76/100 | Caution | #92/131 |
| Marseille, France | 73/100 | Caution | #96/131 |
| Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 73/100 | Caution | #97/131 |
| Casablanca, Morocco | 73/100 | Caution | #98/131 |
| Istanbul, Turkey | 72/100 | Caution | #99/131 |
The flip side is gentler: these cities have reassuring reputations and are still safe — but they score a little lower than their pristine image implies, usually on night-safety or petty crime. Worth knowing, not worth worrying about.
| City | Score | Band | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver, Canada | 81/100 | Good | #61/131 |
| Rotterdam, Netherlands | 82/100 | Good | #54/131 |
| Vilnius, Lithuania | 82/100 | Good | #59/131 |
| Bratislava, Slovakia | 83/100 | Very Safe | #49/131 |
| Amsterdam, Netherlands | 85/100 | Very Safe | #39/131 |
| Tallinn, Estonia | 85/100 | Very Safe | #41/131 |
| Stockholm, Sweden | 86/100 | Very Safe | #31/131 |
| Antwerp, Belgium | 86/100 | Very Safe | #34/131 |
| Hamburg, Germany | 86/100 | Very Safe | #35/131 |
| Cologne, Germany | 86/100 | Very Safe | #36/131 |
Each city is tagged with a general reputation — "safe", "popular", or "scary" — reflecting how it tends to be perceived by travellers, independent of its score. The score is the 2026 Kakapo Safety Index: a 0–100 composite of national travel advisories from seven governments, crime data, healthcare access, and a dedicated night-safety measure. The "gap" is simply where the two disagree. Full weighting at https://kakapo.travel/about/methodology; every data feed is listed at https://kakapo.travel/data-sources.
This analysis is free to cite in journalism, research, or content — all we ask is a link back. Copy the attribution below:
Kakapo Editorial Team (2026). The Safety Reputation Gap: Cities Travellers Fear (But Shouldn't). Kakapo. https://kakapo.travel/blog/safety-reputation-gap-2026
Writing a travel-safety story? We give journalists and researchers custom data pulls at no cost — the full reputation-vs-score table, a specific city or region, or solo-female and night-safety cuts. Email [email protected] and we usually reply the same day.
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Kakapo publishes real safety scores for every destination, drawing on national travel advisories, local crime data, healthcare infrastructure, and night-safety measures. Kakapo Studies is our research imprint — independent editorial, no advertiser influence on scores. Contact: [email protected].