The questions come in like this: 'is Belgrade dangerous?', 'is Sarajevo safe?', 'visiting Sarajevo dangers'. The short answer, for anyone travelling as a tourist, is that none of the twelve cities in our dossiers between the Adriatic and the Black Sea has a problem of violent crime against visitors. The real risks are of another kind, and they differ from city to city: pockets on public transport, the taxi at the airport, the bill in the wrong bar, the road to cross in Tirana. The table lines them up, one per city, and every row says where its claims come from: the British consular advice for that country and, where the row says something the advice does not, the primary source (airport, operator, city council, public body).
We chose the British advice because it is the only one covering all seven countries in the same format with frequent updates; the pages were reread on 9 October 2026, in the versions updated between 11 August and 18 September 2026. The opening verdict in the second column ('safe', 'quiet') is ours and comes from the dossier, which opens from the city's name; everything else in the row is in the sources in the last column.
City by city
The cities are in geographical order, from Bosnia to Romania. The third column lists only the scams and traps that the advice or an official source documents: where there are none, we say so.
| City | What the advice and the sources say | Known scams and traps | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarajevo | Quiet for tourists: the advice flags pickpockets and bag-snatchers on public transport and in the pedestrian and tourist areas, and a rise in thefts from cars, especially on Trebević. Mines and unexploded weapons remain in rural and less populated areas: do not leave roads and paths without an experienced guide. Trebević was declared mine-impact free in November 2020. Registration with the police within 72 hours, usually done by the hotel. | Drivers at the airport taxi rank asking a fixed price instead of using the meter, or charging for luggage: agree the price before setting off or pre-book with an established company, never an unlicensed taxi. In the city official taxis are regulated and metered. | UK advice, safety · UK advice, entry · ITF, Trebević |
| Mostar | Safe. Mines and unexploded weapons remain in the countryside, along the former lines of conflict and near destroyed or abandoned buildings, in towns too: stay on marked roads and paths. Diving off the Stari Most is dangerous and has already caused serious injuries and deaths. | No scams documented by the advice or by an official source. | UK advice, safety |
| Belgrade | Quiet. Pickpockets in tourist areas, at the airport and on public transport; criminals assume foreigners carry a lot of cash. Around stadiums on match days, derbies between Red Star and Partizan above all, there have been violent incidents. Carry ID at all times, register with the police within 24 hours (hotels do it). | Taxis offering a price with the meter off, especially at the airport: you only pay what the meter shows under the price list. Registered taxis only, with the municipal number next to the cab number, or called by phone. | UK advice, safety · UK advice, entry · Belgrade Tourist Organisation, taxis |
| Sofia | A quiet capital; the advice asks for more care in large cities late at night and at transport hubs. Stray dogs are common and can be dangerous, especially in packs. Roads and pavements often in poor repair. Carry ID at all times: a printed copy of the photo page is enough. | Unlicensed airport taxis overcharging: take a taxi from the official booking office in arrivals and check the meter works, or take the M4 metro (€0.80 a single ride); bills of hundreds of pounds in so-called gentlemen's clubs, with threats for those who refuse to pay; pickpockets and distraction attempts in tourist areas and on transport; lev prices, though the lev stopped being the currency on 1 January 2026. | UK advice, safety · UK advice, health · Metropoliten, tickets · European Commission, euro in Bulgaria |
| Plovdiv | Quiet, no areas to avoid. Pickpockets in tourist areas, on buses and trains and at transport hubs; carry ID at all times. | Taxis parked outside hotels and in tourist areas: the advice says to have the hotel call one or flag down one with a green light, reading the licence and fares on the window first, as costs vary considerably. No other documented scams. | UK advice, safety |
| Tirana | Crime against foreigners is rare, no off-limits districts. The main risk is the road: aggressive and erratic driving, one of Europe's highest road death rates, unmarked potholes and roadworks at night, street lights out during power cuts. Earthquake zone. | The advice reports no taxi scams; it reports pickpockets in tourist areas, on buses and trains and at the airport. From the airport the official bus costs 400 lek and leaves every hour, around the clock, from behind the Palace of Opera and Ballet. | UK advice, safety · Tirana Airport, bus |
| Ksamil | Safe: crime against foreigners is rare. Boats and jet skis rented along the coast may lack safety equipment: the advice recommends licensed centres. A few Albanian beaches are polluted by sewage: follow the flags and the lifeguards. | No scams documented by an official source: the advice says nothing about parasol and sunbed prices. Paying in euros means accepting the venue's own rate; the official rate is published by the Bank of Albania. | UK advice, safety · Bank of Albania, official rate |
| Kotor | Safe. Carry ID at all times, register within 24 hours with the tourist office or the police (hotels do it), never photograph police or military. On climbs on foot, the fortress included, the advice says not to underestimate weather, distance and elevation and to bring supplies. | Taxis: licensed only, with a roof sign and the company name and number on the side; check the per-kilometre rate or agree the full fare before setting off, as some drivers overcharge tourists. At Podgorica airport take the licensed taxis in front of the terminal. Pickpockets at tourist spots, beaches and airports. | UK advice, safety · UK advice, entry |
| Dubrovnik | Safe; pickpockets in tourist areas. In the old town on-the-spot fines for swimwear or bare chests, alcohol in public spaces, climbing on monuments. In the regulated traffic zone around the centre, from 1 March to 30 November, entering without authorisation costs €260 for private drivers. | The advice reports no taxi scams, but sexual assaults in taxis in Croatia: photograph the inside showing the taxi number and send it to someone, share the ride in the app, make a call during the trip. No other scams documented by an official source. | UK advice, safety · European Consumer Centre Germany, traffic zone |
| Split | Safe; pickpockets in tourist areas. On-the-spot fines for swimwear or bare chests in the centre, alcohol in public spaces, climbing on monuments; up to €4,000 for fighting, abuse and drunken behaviour. | No official reports of taxi or bill scams. In taxis the advice's precautions for all of Croatia apply: a photo of the number, the ride shared in the app, a call during the trip. | UK advice, safety |
| Bucharest | Safe on the whole. Thefts using distraction techniques, by groups too, especially in Bucharest: near money exchanges and hotels, on transport to the airport, at the main railway stations and in terminals. Earthquake zone: the list of buildings in seismic risk class I is published by the city. | Taxis overcharging foreigners: most display fares and the company name on the side, and apps such as Uber and Bolt are generally reliable; spiked drinks in bars and clubs; cards copied in some bars and restaurants. | UK advice, safety · AMCCRS, Bucharest City Hall |
| Brașov | Quiet; for the whole of Romania the advice flags thefts using distraction techniques in crowded places, stations and on transport, and spiked drinks in bars. Bears are a real issue in the area: since November 2025 feeding them carries a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 lei. | Bran castle tickets: the castle sells them on its own website, buy there. Tours selling Bran as Vlad the Impaler's home: the castle itself says no document attests it, at most he was held prisoner there for two months in 1462. | UK advice, safety · Bran Castle, tickets · Bran Castle, Dracula · Agerpres, fines for feeding bears |
The four things that apply everywhere
The taxi is the most recurrent entry. In six cities out of twelve the sources flag drivers who offer a price with the meter off, overcharge or work without a licence, often at the airport; for Croatia it flags sexual assaults in taxis instead, and asks you to photograph the number and share the ride. The defences the sources point to: apps such as Uber and Bolt in Romania and Montenegro, a taxi called by the hotel or taken from the official arrivals office in Bulgaria, the metro or bus from the airport where there is one (Sofia with the M4 at €0.80, Tirana with the 400-lek bus).
Cash is the second theme, because it is what thieves count on: the advice says so for Serbia and Bosnia. In Montenegro it asks you to use ATMs inside banks and to check street ones for tampering. Where the currency is not the euro (Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Romania) whoever pays in euros accepts the venue's own rate; in Montenegro the euro is the currency, and in Bulgaria it has been since 1 January 2026, so lev price lists are out of date.
The third theme is bureaucratic and carries a fine: in Bosnia every foreigner must be registered with the police within 72 hours, in Serbia and Montenegro within 24. Hotels do it at check-in; anyone renting from a private host has to do it themselves. You must always carry ID in Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro, and in Bulgaria the British authorities say a printed copy of the photo page is enough. The fourth is the emergency number: 112 covers everything in Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia and Romania; in Bosnia the advice gives 122 for police, 123 for fire and 124 for ambulance, in Albania 112 for police, 127 for ambulance and 128 for fire.
The things that differ from country to country
Mines remain only in Bosnia, in rural and less populated areas, along the former lines of conflict and near abandoned buildings: the rule is not to leave roads and paths without an experienced guide. In Sarajevo, Trebević was declared mine-impact free in November 2020. Bears are an issue in Brașov, where since November 2025 feeding them carries a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 lei. Stray dogs are a warning for Bulgaria, where the British authorities describe them as common and sometimes dangerous. Traffic is the main risk in Albania, with one of Europe's highest road death rates. Spiked drinks are reported in Romania; violence around stadiums in Serbia, at the Red Star and Partizan derbies, and in Croatia; on-the-spot fines for swimwear and drinking in the street in Split and Dubrovnik.
On two things the region is uniform and severe: drugs, with long prison sentences even for small amounts in Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and Romania, and photographs of police, military and installations, banned in Serbia and Montenegro and banned by signs at airports and military bases in Romania. And on one thing it is uniform and reassuring: none of the seven advisories names a district in these cities that you must not enter.
How we counted
The twelve cities are those of the VoyAVer dossiers across Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Romania. For each one we reread the country's British consular advice and kept in the table only what the advice says or a primary source confirms. On 9 October 2026, in that rereading, the claims no source supported came out of the table and the dossiers: among others, parasol prices in Ksamil, the taxi kiosks in Belgrade and Bucharest, the fixed airport taxi fare in Dubrovnik, the swimwear fines in Dubrovnik and Split, and 112 being 'valid everywhere', which in Bosnia and Albania it is not. We used no aggregated safety indices and no ranking sites: they are the first thing the site's audit excludes. If something doesn't add up, the sources column leads to the right page.