Tips for traveling solo as a female in Italy

Hello, I'm a 20-something year old traveling to Italy (Rome, Milan, Venice) for the first time in April and am looking for some advice and possibly personal anecdotes from other female solo travelers. I'm mostly concerned with personal safety. This isn't the first time I've traveled alone, but I've only ever been to other english speaking countries (like the UK) or countries that have been known to be very safe for travelers (like Japan).

Having gone to school and worked in San Francisco for 5 years now, I'm pretty accustomed to big cities and how to keep my wits about me as a young woman. I've even lived and gone to school in Oakland which is considered one of the most dangerous cities in America known for shootings and people breaking into homes fairly often. I hope that having done my fair share of walking by myself down seedy areas of town at night and being constantly aware of my surroundings that I would be mentally prepared to travel to Italy by myself and not get into too much trouble.

However, despite the dangers of these cities, it's still familiar enough a territory that I know where to find help or how to get to general landmarks like train stations. In a foreign country, it might be a little harder. No matter how well practiced I am in using my common sense, there's always going to be things that I can't control that might make me a tourist target like the fact that I'm so small (barely 5 ft) and look like a teenager despite being an adult. Or the fact that I'm Asian (which I've heard has sometimes made people a target because Asians tourists are seen as being well off). Or the fact that it's still a foreign country which means I might not pick up on some subtle danger signs that locals can pick up.

I've read a lot of other blogs written by female travelers about the dangers of petty crimes and harassment by men in Italy, but any additional reassurance or tips would be supremely helpful. Thanks!

Hi koella,

I'm also a female in my twenties traveling alone through Italy. I'll be there end of may to the beginning of June, will you still be in country then?

Having been to Oakland, Rome and Venice, I don't think you should be overly
concerned about personal safety in Italy. You already sound like you have the street
smarts to be fine. The main concern is being alert for pickpockets on busy buses, the metro, and short-change artists at cash registers.

@SonyaNZ - No, I'll only be in Italy for a few weeks in April

@kenko - Thanks for the reassurance. I, too, hope that the usual precautions I take-like always wearing my cross-body bag in front of me and having my hand on it at all times-will help me abroad. I just hope those amazing sights won't suddenly make me lose my common sense. Or that I'll be one of the unlucky few who face violent crime despite violent crime being relatively low compared to the U.S.

Tips for solo travel

I'm a male, and I realize that females face some extra difficulties to deal with. Nonetheless, here are a couple of tips for any solo traveller.

1. Violent crimes are rare; most are opportunistic. You can do a lot to minimize the risks -- the obvious things such as keeping valuables out of reach of pickpockets. Sounds so logical when I write it down: if there's nothing in your pockets, there's nothing to steal. Same rationale holds for handbags, purses, etc. Swinging half-open over your shoulder is only an open invitation to the opportunists. You're already aware of this, so you're already on the way to not being a victim.

2. Be proactive in dictating any interactions with strangers. You may well be the target of scam-artists who try to insinuate themselves into your routine, and try to direct you. Their guise is typically over-friendliness, and then accuse the target of being unfriendly when they do not acquiesce - trying to make the target feel guilty .. etc.
   When I'm in a novel location I try to act exactly as I do when I'm at home. Strangers do not come up to me, offering to "help". If they do, I get suspicious. I do not let people tell me how I ought to feel. I set my own agenda, I dictate the terms. Someone tells me I'm being rude by not being friendly enough, I tell them that strangers walking up to me and making personal remarks are being rude. More often than not I say nothing at all. Very simple, and reduces the scams practically to zero in my experience.

Overall, it's the sensible thing to do is anticipate difficulties. But the 'solution' is not to worry, but to take practical steps to eliminate the likelihood of most of the potential problems. Have more than one source of funds, have backups/copies of important documents, don't keep everything in one place etc, and then relax and enjoy the trip.

The most sensible thing to do is to treat it like home. If you wouldn't do it at home (E.g. leave your drink unattended in a bar), don't do it in Italy. You'll find it agreeably safe.

Hi Koella,
I can speak about my city: Rome. During the day you can go everywhere in the centre of the city excepted the banks of the Tiber river: they are always to avoid. In the night you can go to Trastevere, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna, Fontana di Trevi, which are always full of people so avoid lonely places. Don't accept a lift from unknown people. If you are in trouble, call the number 112. Italy in general is quite peaceful but safety first!
Have a good time.

I think what Ale means is that the streets along the Tiber in central Rome, a good 20 feet above its banks, are safe. As are the bridges across the river. Trastevere, after all, abuts the river.

But there's no good reason to climb down the steps to the level of actual river bank itself, which would isolate you from the hustle and bustle of the streets 20 feet above you.

And yes, it's a good rule of thumb that anyone being overly friendly probably has ulterior motives.
Just like at home!

If you feel you're being targeted because of your ethnicity, open your mouth and speak some English. The experiences of my female friends of colour in Italy suggest that nationality trumps ethnicity ("oh, she's not black, she's American!"). The same may well well hold true in your case.

Hi Clementis_fur_cap,
yes You are right.

A little advice from my own experience, from those times when I did language classes in Italy as a young woman: Wear sunglasses. All Italians wear sunglasses as soon as a single ray of sunlight is out. The advantage is that no one can see what exactly you are looking at, and no one can make unwanted eye contact. This helps against overenthusiastic street merchants as well as the notorious "Ciao bella" guys.

If a firm "No!" is necessary, it should not be accompanied by that typical American smile or it will not be taken as no.

Thank you! Good advice

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