Safety in France

Crime in France

Violent crime is relatively rare in France. However, the crime rate of incidents involving violence has increased a little, requiring travelers to take responsible action in ensuring their security. It is simple a matter of staying alert as to what situations are best avoided. For example:

• Thieves commonly target vehicles with non-local license plates.
• Thieves hang around places that tourists are likely to be found in such as airports, train stations and trains, beaches, hotels, subways, restaurants, museums, and monuments.
• Keep an eye on your bags, carry-on luggage, purses and wallets at all times. Pick pocketing is extremely common, especially with distracted tourists – they make ideal targets!
• It is a good idea to keep photocopies of travel documents and credit cards with you, but make sure they are kept separate from the originals.

Some advice
For a quiet, trouble free stay it may be a good idea to follow some basic rules:

. The best way of dealing with money is through the use of traveller's cheques. You can go changing these as you need money. In France there is a very extensive network of ATMs so this proves an easy way to get instant access to cash. However be sure to avoid ATMs located in out-of-the-way places or where strange characters seem to be loitering.

. If possible, leave all valuable items (jewellery, travellers cheques, credit cards, airplane tickets, etc) in a hotel safe or security box at the place you are staying. Another option is finding businesses that offer safety deposit boxes and security services.

. Don't leave luggage in an unwatched car.

. Take out a travellers insurance policy to cover any losses from robbery or misplacement.

. Beware of typical ruses, in which one thief distracts a tourist in some way, by asking for directions or accidentally ‘spilling’ something on the tourist’s jacket and offering to clean it off, while an accomplice steals a momentarily unguarded backpack, briefcase, or purse.

. When traveling in the car, it is best to keep the windows closed and the doors locked, as some thieves use motorcycles to steal, reaching in suddenly to grab a bag or other item from the moving vehicle or make the most of red lights, when the car is forced to stop.