Bad time to visit Europe these days?

[Hotteok]

I might visit England.. and surrounding countries but I’m scared cause I can’t speak the languages. But right now England is my primary target.  
 

Is it safe to visit these days? Never been to Europe before so maybe I’m being too careful. 

[New World Explorer]

Just watch “Survivor” tv series and you should be set and ready to go! LOL 😂 

 

[carlos]

I would say Europe and the UK are quite safe to visit. Right now there's the threat of terrorist attacks due to the Gaza conflict, but that risk exists everywhere. Just try to avoid crowded places.

 

In general you can manage quite well with English in Europe. In Germany, Austria, the Netherlands or Scandinavia practically everyone will understand English. In France, Spain, Italy, Greece and such most people won't speak English, but you will always find someone who does at a hotel or a restaurant.

 

Europe is huge and has lots and lots of interesting places. It's not possible to visit even a small fraction of them in just one or two weeks. So if you are staying for a short time it may be better to stick to the UK this time.

 

 

[Mido]

Europe can be very safe and most countries speak English.

If you ever come to the Portuguese islands let me know 😀

[Hotteok]

26 minutes ago, Mido said:

Europe can be very safe and most countries speak English.

If you ever come to the Portuguese islands let me know 😀

 

I will. Thank you! 🙂

[Hotteok]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

I would say Europe and the UK are quite safe to visit. Right now there's the threat of terrorist attacks due to the Gaza conflict, but that risk exists everywhere. Just try to avoid crowded places.

 

In general you can manage quite well with English in Europe. In Germany, Austria, the Netherlands or Scandinavia practically everyone will understand English. In France, Spain, Italy, Greece and such most people won't speak English, but you will always find someone who does at a hotel or a restaurant.

 

Europe is huge and has lots and lots of interesting places. It's not possible to visit even a small fraction of them in just one or two weeks. So if you are staying for a short time it may be better to stick to the UK this time.

 

 

 

Yes, the terrorist attacks is one of the things I'm worried about.. Avoiding crowded places! That's quite easy until it isn't! 😅

[Hotteok]

I also heard some rumors about stabbing in England and racism in parts of Europe. 
Racism is everywhere including Korea but the problem is that in other countries, it tends to gravitate towards physical violence.

[carlos]

1 minute ago, Hotteok said:

I also heard some rumors about stabbing in England and racism in parts of Europe. 
Racism is everywhere including Korea but the problem is that in other countries, it tends to gravitate towards physical violence.

 

Recently the news reported some murders in Korea by individuals who had no reason at all, just stabbed people for fun. So obviously no place in the world is completely safe.

But European countries in general are among the safest in the world, especially if you have some common sense and avoid dangerous areas.

For sure there are racism and violent crimes as everywhere, but it is not typically directed against Asian people, who are mostly tourists.

[Michał]

It’s safe in Europe unless you’re walking alone at 2am from a nightclub to a nightclub 😂

 

Come, you’ll love it. 😃

[Pabo]

22 hours ago, Hotteok said:

I also heard some rumors about stabbing in England

 

That is only happening within the English Cricket fraternity for failing in the 2023 World Cup. Everyone involved are watching their own backs.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Pabo

[cdk.h5c]

Europe is one of the “saver” places in the world, I would say. If you can speak English you will usually find someone to talk to (except if you visit France, maybe ).

[coony77]

2 hours ago, cdk.h5c said:

Europe is one of the “saver” places in the world, I would say. If you can speak English you will usually find someone to talk to (except if you visit France, maybe ).

 

That´s true - be prepared to speak French in France almost anywhere else you´ll get along with English.

[carlos]

I just read this article that seems relevant. The text is in Spanish but the interesting part is the world map in which countries are colored depending on their degree of riskiness. The source of the info is the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

https://www.abc.es/internacional/mapa-peligrosidad-mundo-2023-20231031135139-nt.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-es-es

 

You can see most of Europe is as safe as it gets.

[Witness1970]

I have heard that in some countries they recommend not coming to the United States because of all the mass shootings taking place.

[Hotteok]

1 hour ago, Witness1970 said:

I have heard that in some countries they recommend not coming to the United States because of all the mass shootings taking place.

 

I think it’s because we hear of it without really knowing about life there. But then again, there are no guns in Korea so it’s a new, unknown threat for us..

[Witness1970]

23 hours ago, Hotteok said:

 

I think it’s because we hear of it without really knowing about life there. But then again, there are no guns in Korea so it’s a new, unknown threat for us..

As of November 14, there have been 602 mass shootings in the United States.  As of November 9, there have been 71 school shootings.  In other words, 71 of the mass shootings were school shootings.  we really need God's Kingdom!!!

[Qapla]

And yet, the US is not even in the top 10 places in the world with the highest murder rate:

[carlos]

23 hours ago, Qapla said:

And yet, the US is not even in the top 10 places in the world with the highest murder rate:

 

I have traveled quite a lot in the US and in general I would say it's quite safe, of course avoiding the especially dangerous areas.

 

In fact something that surprised me when I visited the US first was that many house walls are made of thin plywood sheets. You can easily break in with only a kick. Where I live houses are made of bricks. Even though it's not a dangerous area, a glass door or a plywood wall would not last long unbroken.

 

When we traveled to Florida last year we stayed at a hotel in a town named Homestead, south of Miami. The immigration agent asked: "Do you know Homestead is the second most dangerous city in the US?" There was a lot of misery and weird people walking around at night, but it didn't really feel that dangerous compared to some neighborhoods in Madrid.

[coolbrz731]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

 

I have traveled quite a lot in the US and in general I would say it's quite safe, of course avoiding the especially dangerous areas.

 

In fact something that surprised me when I visited the US first was that many house walls are made of thin plywood sheets. You can easily break in with only a kick. Where I live houses are made of bricks. Even though it's not a dangerous area, a glass door or a plywood wall would not last long unbroken.

 

When we traveled to Florida last year we stayed at a hotel in a town named Homestead, south of Miami. The immigration agent asked: "Do you know Homestead is the second most dangerous city in the US?" There was a lot of misery and weird people walking around at night, but it didn't really feel that dangerous compared to some neighborhoods in Madrid.

There are a lot of murders and mass shootings in the US, but you have to remember, the US is HUGE!  My state is the size of Spain, and to go from where I live, which is close to the Canadian border to my mom's house in California, which is just 2 states away, is the equivalent of traveling from the UK to the Romanian border.  And that's just travelling on the west coast states.  So these mass shootings will occur in a school, or a mall, and they're usually somewhere where tourists aren't, sometimes in bad areas, where you should never go unless you live there. 

 

A tiny percent of the population, and an almost negligible percent of tourists are affected by these mass shootings.  I don't know anyone who has been affected by any of the mass shootings.  Carlos is right.  If you go somewhere and stay on the main streets, you'll be fine.  Even where I grew up, losing classmates to murders regularly, there were hardly ever shootings on the main streets, and tourists that were lost were quickly escorted out of the neighborhood by good samaritans.  

[Hotteok]

On 11/17/2023 at 12:52 AM, coolbrz731 said:

There are a lot of murders and mass shootings in the US, but you have to remember, the US is HUGE!  My state is the size of Spain, and to go from where I live, which is close to the Canadian border to my mom's house in California, which is just 2 states away, is the equivalent of traveling from the UK to the Romanian border.  And that's just travelling on the west coast states.  So these mass shootings will occur in a school, or a mall, and they're usually somewhere where tourists aren't, sometimes in bad areas, where you should never go unless you live there. 

 

A tiny percent of the population, and an almost negligible percent of tourists are affected by these mass shootings.  I don't know anyone who has been affected by any of the mass shootings.  Carlos is right.  If you go somewhere and stay on the main streets, you'll be fine.  Even where I grew up, losing classmates to murders regularly, there were hardly ever shootings on the main streets, and tourists that were lost were quickly escorted out of the neighborhood by good samaritans.  

 

 can't believe there is an area where classmates are gone by murders regularly! 

 

But I agree, if guns were allowed in South Korea, I'd worry each time I go where people are crowded.