A list of the world’s 15 safest cities for travellers has been published with London ranked twelfth.
The UK capital slipped from eighth place in last year’s list compiled by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP).
Reykjavik, Iceland, tops the list of the safest cities for travellers to visit in 2025, followed by the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
Amsterdam is in third place, followed by Tokyo, Sydney, Montreal, Seoul, Singapore, Berlin, Hong Kong, and Venice. Honolulu, Dubai, and Barcelona complete the top 15.
Number crunchers pulled together a list of the most popular cities in the United States and worldwide from sources including Expedia and USA Today.
According to BHTP, 1,500 US respondents who visited those cities then ranked them against several safety measures.
Those results were then combined with the findings of The Economist’s most recent safe cities index, ratings from GeoSure Global, and crime index figures from Numbeo.
BHTP cautions, however, that its rating only provides a glimpse of how safe a place is when the survey was carried out in August of this year. Brits who want travel advice about a country’s level of safety should check the Foreign Office’s website.
Those behind the list say London’s popularity with Americans means it will continue to enjoy a top spot in the rankings.
However, travellers are warned to watch out for knife crime, although BHTP describes the “recent” number of 143 incidents per 100,000 Londoners as a “drop in the bucket” compared to many US cities.
Iceland’s capital “remains unsullied”, according to BHTP, and is still an “easygoing” destination, though visitors are warned to watch out for volcanic activity causing travel problems.
A second list of the world’s safest cities, published by the World Population Review, ranks London 14th out of 60 urban destinations, ahead of New York in 15th.
Researchers for this list used the Global Peace Index to measure a country’s safety and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index to gauge how safe a city is.
That list names Tokyo as the safest city in the world, followed by Singapore, Osaka, Toronto, Washington DC, Copenhagen, Seoul, Melbourne, Chicago, Stockholm and San Francisco.
The World Population Review’s list considered a range of factors, including personal safety and digital security, to reach its conclusion.
