In London some years ago, I was watching – along with a crowd of other tourists – a detachment of Royal Horse Guards leaving Buckingham Palace.
All eyes were on the soldiers and their horses as they cantered back to barracks. All eyes, that is, except those of a thief looking for an easy target.
A bag snatcher relieved a young Spanish girl of her backpack. Her screams and call for help quickly brought a policeman to her side, but the thief had already disappeared into the crowd of onlookers.
A recent report into the hotspots for pickpockets in London found that Westminster – home to landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and the Houses of Parliament – is the destination in the UK capital where you are most likely to be a victim of theft.
Security company Get Licensed reported that from March 2023 to March 2024, there were 28,155 reported incidents of theft from the person in Westminster.
London, however, is not alone in attracting pickpockets. Italy is No. 1 in Quotezone UK’s 2024 European Pickpocketing Index, which examined the percentage of mentions of the crime in online tourist reviews of top sites.
Within Italy, Milan, Florence and Rome – particularly around the Trevi Fountain – are pickpocket hotspots.
In France, the Eiffel Tower is, not surprisingly, a place to hang on to your valuables or risk getting them stolen by thieves.
In third place in the pickpocket index, Spain’s popular cities of Barcelona and Madrid are places where tourists need be extra cautious, with Barcelona’s Las Ramblas a hang-out for light-fingered thieves.
Both Germany (notably, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate) and the Netherlands (Amsterdam’s Red Light District) are countries in Europe that have problems with pickpockets.
The pickpocket index also warns tourists to take care in Portugal (Lisbon’s Alfama district), Turkey (Sultanahmet District), Greece (Acropolis Museum), Poland (Krakow’s Rynek Glowny Central Square) and Ireland (Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse).
Australia’s Smart Traveller website has advice aimed at keeping travellers safe while overseas:
Leave valuables at home, but if you do take them on holiday, leave them in the hotel safe, rather than taking them out and about.
Keep your belongings and baggage close when exploring, or in transit.
Carry an authenticated copy of travel documents instead of originals, where possible.
Keep money and valuables out of sight and avoid displays of wealth.
Stay alert in public places. Especially where there's lots of people, including other tourists. This includes airports, public transport, restaurants, beaches and tourist attractions.