There are few things more frustrating than having your phone or wallet stolen, especially when you’re on vacation. But considering that Europe is full of overcrowded cities – and it’s easy to forget to watch your pockets while admiring architecture or marveling at ancient monuments – it’s no big surprise that pickpocketing is common in most tourist attractions on the continent.
But what are the places where we should be most attentive? Travel insurance company Quotezone.co.uk investigated to find out, using the European Pickpocketing Index (which assesses the proportion of mentions of pickpocketing in reviews of each country’s top five tourist attractions).
In first place in the ranking was Italy, namely Trevi Fountain in Rome. For every million UK visitors to Italy, 478 incidents of pickpocketing were recorded. France, with emphasis on the area around Eiffel Tower in Paris, came in second place, with 251 thefts per million British visitors; and Spain, especially in Ramblas in Barcelonacame in third place.
Portugal was not left out of the list, with the Alfama neighborhood, in Lisbon, among the most dangerous for distracted tourists.
The countries and attractions with the most robberies in Europe
- Italy, Trevi Fountain (Rome)
- France, Eiffel Tower (Paris)
- Spain, Ramblas (Barcelona)
- Germany, Brandenburg Gate (Berlin)
- Netherlands, Red Light District (Amsterdam)
- Portugal, Alfama (Lisbon)
- Türkiye, Sultanahmet District – where the Blue Mosque is located (Istanbul)
- Greece, Acropolis Museum (Athens)
- Poland, Central Rynek Glowny Square (Krakow)
- Ireland, Guinness Storehouse (Dublin)
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