Safety in Lisbon
Portugal is the third safest country in the world and has a very low crime rate over all, but as in any capital or bigger city when visiting Lisbon you do have to take care and think, use common sense. Pickpocketing The most common crime a tourist could experience is pickpocketing, especially on the busy tram lines, tram 28 in particular. Just take some extra caution while travelling, don’t put things in your back pocket and if traveling with backpack/handbag make sure to keep an extra eye on it. The pickpocketers is normally dressed smart or as someone you wouldn’t expect such as a young woman or another tourist holding maps or cameras to blend in, these are most likely not portuguese but eastern european Drugs Other crimes tourist most likely will experience in Lisbon is the huge amount of scamming “drug dealers” approaching you in most touristy areas, they will offer you hash, weed and cocaine but sell nothing more than fake drugs, the police is fully aware of these scammers but as they very rarely carry enough drugs to get over the personal allowance limit it is nothing they can do to stop them, the best thing to do is just simply to firmly decline any offers and walk away. Night life When someone have one to many drinks you automatically become an easy victim of robbery or violent bouncers, While recently updated laws have increased regulation of private security activities (to include bouncers at bars and nightclubs), you should be cautious in dealing with nightclub security. They can be aggressive and act more violent than needed to throw out or tell customers off for something that has happened in their club or bar, and police unfortunately often struggle to find evidence or witnesses to any events related to an escalation of force by the security. Traffic Take caution while in highly trafficked areas, Lisbon does have a high rate in traffic accidents due to the small roads, sharp corners and high speed considering the roads, even tho speed cameras is in the rise and police is carrying out on spot fines for speeding or drunk driving it is still a relatively common crime and as a pedestrian it is best to be on the safe side and always keep an extra eye out for cars approaching in high speed. Terrorism Unfortunately in this day of age the fear of terrorism when traveling is a fact but statistically Portugal is in very low risk for terrorism and most other major cities in europe is at higher risk, in most countries where terrorist attacks has happened the muslim population is high which is increasing the risk that one or two ISIS-radicalised Muslims willing to carry out a terrorist attack exists there, in Portugal the muslim population is one of the lowest in western europe. Police The police in Portugal is in general very helpful and professional and has a high attendance in tourist areas to lower the risk for crimes to happen, in the case a crime happens while on your holiday the police has a station close to the metro station rossio specialising in helping tourist as a lot of the officers on the streets and in other stations might not be fluent in english and communication could be a problem even if they will try their very best to assist you. So over all you are a lot more likely to be a victim of a crime in your home town or city than in Lisbon, just use common sense during your stay and you will be fine. Lisbon is the perfect location for your city break, book Lisbon activities with us!
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