Sarah Lim shared a list of the five cities in which she felt unsafe whilst travelling through Europe, and it’s caused quite a stir among her followers on TikTok
A seasoned globetrotter has taken to TikTok to share her recent adventures, which saw her visit 24 European countries.
However, instead of the usual travel review, Sarah Lim decided to warn her followers about five cities where she felt unsafe. “Five cities where i didn’t feel safe in Europe (as an Asian female),” she wrote in a caption.
“I went to several countries in Eastern Europe as well, through both the Baltics and the Balkans and I found Western Europe to be more unsafe unfortunately!” She then proceeded to list the places she suggests avoiding.
“I was stalked at night alone on my first trip and then chased by a bunch of men when I was with five friends on my last trip,” Sarah recalled, adding that there were “a lot of snatch thieves and pickpockets”. In Brussels, Sarah confessed that while nothing alarming happened specifically, she still “didn’t feel safe” walking around at night.
“There were many groups of men lingering around the city centre at night, very unsettling,” she said. She also claimed that a Singaporean exchange student had been stabbed to death in the city, which only “reconfirmed” her fears.
Sarah’s Italian adventure began on a sour note as she recalled “almost being scammed” at her apartment, with several “accomplices” of the fraudster making their scheme seem “very convincing”. She added: “Walking around at night near the residential areas felt quite unsafe – had to call male friends to escort me and my friend back.”
Barcelona was fourth on Sarah’s list, reports the Express. Although she didn’t experience anything “particularly bad”, she remained “very vigilant” due to the prevalence of pickpockets. She added: “I heard about stabbing and mugging cases from fellow Erasmus students.”
Rome, another Italian city, was next. “It felt the most touristic – hence the number of scammers in the open,” she criticised. “Pickpockets and snatch thieves were common here.”
The post struck a chord with hundreds of TikTok users, many of whom shared similar experiences from their visits to these cities. “Finally someone mentions Brussels,” one user commented. “I lived there for eight months and everyone asked me why I left if the job was so good. I literally always felt so unsafe.”
Another user criticised: “When people call Paris the city of love its hilarious because all I know is stabbings, getting stalked and pickpockets.”
A third shared their experience of the French capital: “I was stalked in Paris too when I was out alone in the middle of the day. Belgium was definitely shady at night and we managed to stop a pickpocket.”
Whilst one tourist agreed with Sarah’s sentiments about the safety concerns in some continental cities: “Milan and Paris are so real. One of my Paris friend got her bag snatched on the train. And Milan, the pickpockets are everywhere, we literally identified some of them from afar.”
Yet there were those who shared more uplifting tales: “I used to live in Paris, and actually felt very safe as long as I wasn’t near the Gare du Nord area! ” a traveller chimed in. “And actually felt so safe in Rome as well. But of course people have different experiences.”
Meanwhile, another gleefully reminisced: “Lucky to have stayed in Paris for a month and never felt unsafe or threatened! “.
