The Safety Reputation Gap: Cities Travellers Fear (But Shouldn't)

Reputation and reality often disagree. We paired each of 131 major cities' general reputation with its actual 2026 Kakapo Safety Index score. The result: a lot of "scary" places are objectively safe for the typical traveller — and a few household-name "safe" cities rank lower than their reputation implies.

By the Kakapo Editorial Team · Updated 2026-07-03 · Methodology · Companion to the 2026 Travel Safety Index

Key findings — free to cite

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.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is the most underrated city for safety: a fearsome reputation, yet it scores 85/100 (Very Safe), ranking #42 of 131.
Several Gulf and Eastern-European cities travellers hesitate over — Riyadh, Jeddah, Bucharest, Sofia — land in the "Good"-or-safer range.
On the other side, a handful of cities with spotless reputations (Amsterdam, Vancouver, Stockholm) score lower than their image suggests — still safe, just not the safest.
Takeaway for travellers: reputation is a poor safety signal. The data disagrees with the headlines in both directions.
Computed from the 2026 Kakapo Safety Index of 131 major cities, drawing on seven government travel advisories plus crime, healthcare, and night-safety data.

Underrated: fearsome reputation, genuinely safe score

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

Reputation lags reality. A city's safety reputation is often years out of date or driven by a single news cycle. The composite score reflects current advisories, crime data, and healthcare access — not yesterday's headline.

Where reputation outpaces the data

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

How we classify reputation

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.

Cite this study

This analysis is free to cite in journalism, research, or content — all we ask is a link back. Copy the attribution below:

Ready-to-use citation

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.

Kakapo publishes real safety scores for every destination, drawing on national travel advisories, local crime data, healthcare infrastructure, and night-safety measures. Independent editorial — no advertiser influence on scores. Contact: [email protected].