How safe is Prague?

Prague can easily claim a spot on the top 10 list for the most beautiful European cities. The city has a great layout and unlike many other places in Europe has not been destroyed in one of the many European wars. The historical part is still intact to this date and gives us the unique ability to glimpse into the past and imagine what live might have been like when these old buildings were brand new a couple hundred hears ago.

But how safe is the city? What do we need to keep in mind when vising?

Prague is a safe city with low levels of crime, especially compared to other European cities. Pickpocketing can occur in tourist areas, but the city has no unsafe neighborhoods. Women traveling alone can feel safe in Prague.

Prague is unconventional that way. Bohemian would describe it well, if the word applied to cities. Have a look at Old Town Hall during dusk to get a feeling for what it is like visiting here.

Moreover, Prague is very walk-able and easy to discover and explore. It is the ideal place to see what European cities can be like. And when it is time to wind down after a day of exploration, then Prague has some of the best beers on offer anywhere. Czech brewing is world class and does not need to hide from close-by German beer or American draft beers.

Overall safety: How safe is Prague as a city overall?

Prague is a reasonably safe city for both locals and visitors alike. After the iron curtain fell a little over 30 years ago, local authorities were quick to establish tourism as a major income source for Praguers by targeting both major and minor crime. The effort was undertaken well and today, Prague ranks among the safest cities of Europe. In the worldwide city crime index, Prague comes in at a very good position 41 out of 431 entrants. It's ranked just within the safest decile, showing how incredibly safe Prague is. Prague outranks some major European cities such as Madrid (Position 87/413), Berlin (196/413), Rome (303/413), London (310/413) and Paris (312/413).

For our American readers, Irvine (CA) comes in as safest U.S. city in place 11 and Amarillo (TX) is ranked 30/413 followed by El Paso (TX) and Salt Lake City (UT) in places 112 and 113. If the Czech Republic was a state of the United States rather than an independent country, Prague would have placed in third position for a United States city in terms of overall safety according to this ranking only to be beaten by Irvine (CA) and Amarillo (TX). So yeah, Prague is quite save! We have compiled selected results from the city safety index in a little table for you:

What government says

It's always good to get a second opinion and to verify information. To that end, we've checked with the U.S. state department what they have to say about safety in Prague. And here too, Prague ranks as a safe city as well, which is reassuring to see. On their website, the state department writes:

Cool, then! Let's unpack that. Prague is safe according to the state department and risks to tourists are mostly theft via pick pockets or bag snatchers. As you can see, we are talking about petty crime which poses a minor risk to health and is quite small in scale. Crime against tourists is not a major problem in Prague as you would face it in a destitute place like Caracas, Venezuela for instance.

With that in mind, safety concerns should not keep anybody from going to Prague and visit, because Prague is pretty safe. I mean, you probably would go to Salt Lake City without a second thought, wouldn't you? Because as we've seen, Prague outranks Salt Lake on the safety index.

Where to exert caution in Prague

What areas do we need to be particularly careful in, when visiting Prague? We've looked at the police statistics (source) and discovered, that the more touristy the suburb, the more caution is warranted. That does not mean wee need to feel unsafe. We have established that Prague is safe. But as Shakespeare knew: Caution is preferable to rash bravery. So a bit of caution can help us.

See, crime affecting visitors is by a large margin mostly theft and most theft in the city happens to unsuspecting tourists. And that's why we want to exert special caution in the touristic areas. It's logical, that pick-pocketing happens to the unsuspecting foreigner and guard against it. If we're just a little bit vigilant, to problem goes away because pickpockets like to go for the easy targets. It's less risky for them to do so.

With that in mind, we should exert a little caution in Bartolomějská, Smíchov, Benediktská.

Bartolomějská: Old Town

Bartolomějská is the city district that covers the Old town area, which is why it is very popular with tourists. Of all the city districts, it as about 3200 registered crimes per year. More common offenses in the old town area include petty theft and carjackings. Drug dealers operate here too, so drug related offenses are also frequent. Not seeking out drug dealers and exerting caution regarding personal possessions is a good idea. Finally, assault cases and physical attacks happen here to the tune of about 80 per year. That's not much if you consider how many tourists come through this part of town.

Smíchov: Across from old town

Smíchov is just across the river from the old town to the south and the second most problematic part of town according to police data with about 2800 reported incidents per year. The biggest issues were carjackings, which are of little concern to tourists if they flew into Prague and use local transportation or Uber.

Disorderly conduct under the influence of alcohol comes in at position two. We can avoid having issues with that by simply not going out late. We can also stay in a group of people, and mitigate risks that way. There's safety in numbers after all. As a solo female traveler, it might be best to avoid more notorious areas here at night.

Benediktská: Bordering old town

Benediktská, which borders old town and contains some of it too is coming in in third place in our crime statistic with also about 2800 incidents per year. Its worthwhile to mention it here because the proximity to old town makes it a popular place for people to stay at.

Most problematic was theft of items from parked cars which again will not be concerning to most travelers who fly in or come by train and then use Uber, local Taxis or public transport.

Safe areas to stay

The best area to stay in Prague is walking distance to the central attractions. That way, you're never far from the safety of your own hotel. We've mentioned that most petty crime happens there, yet it is also best to stay right in the center for one major reason: If you're in it, you can be nimble and do not need to head out with a big bag pack. See, if you stay 45 minutes from town, you would take many more things with you and that's much more stuff to take care of while you're on the road.

But If you stay in Old Town Prague (or an up to 15 minute walk from it), there's no need to lug around so much stuff. Just take your phone and your wallet and go. Like tat, your a low risk profile for pickpockets and in the safest spot you can be. So the best part to stay is old town and anything close-by.

Neighborhoods to avoid

Prague does not have bad neighborhoods like most American cities do. There are no run down ghettos like Skid Row or South Los Angeles. We felt very comfortable when we visited in 2022 in any part of town and we have spoken to the local population about where not to go. The answer was always the same:

Locals told us again and again that there are no bad neighborhoods and that we can go anywhere in the city without having to feel unsafe. The local lens aligned with our views and impression of the city: Prague is safe and there is no need to avoid any particular neighborhood per se.

Is Prague safe at night?

Prague is relatively safe at night. We say relatively here, because as always solo female travelers have a different risk profile than a group of people. But that is not to say that Prague is unsafe for solo female travelers. We are covering this demographic in detail in the next section below.

At night, there are some things to consider while in Prague. Most incidents are disorderly conduct according to the police statistics. In other words: Drunk people misbehaving. Beer is remarkably excellent in the Czech Republic and Prague is quite well known around the world for their excellent brewskies. And with good beer you get the inevitable drunk who took it just a little too far and cannot handle it. Confrontations with drunks is thus the number one issue at night.

Drug related issues are also more likely after dark, because that is the time when party folks commonly need their fix. Again, drug problems are not a big issue in Prague and there is no real dangerous 'hood in Prague like there is in the South Side of Chicago for example. Just avoid sketchy looking places with poor illumination.

Is it safe for a woman traveling alone?

Female solo travelers wonder if they should visit Prague. Is it safe for them to come here, or are they at extra special risk? We think that Prague is reasonably safe for female solo travelers, especially if we exert the warranted caution.

That includes staying away from sketchy places at night and avoiding the party areas with clubs and bars. The risk of incidences is elevated in these party areas after dark when alcohol has been consumed and solo female travelers can run the risk of getting into unpleasant situations here. Smíchov is the part of town where disorderly conduct is happening the most in Prague.

It is best not to expose yourself to that risk and turn in earlier. You can book a reputable hotel directly in the touristic center of town. That way, you easily find shelter if you feel uncomfortable.

Solo female travelers might also be more of a target for pickpocket thieves. Make sure, to keep your personal possessions close and not to have open pockets. Old town is the most pernicious area for pickpocket theft.

Investing in a good quality backpack is a great idea for risk mitigation. There are special anti-theft safety backpacks with pockets that are only accessible when the backpack is removed from the back. Getting one of these is highly recommended for solo female travelers.

With these things in mind, visiting Prague can be a very enjoyable experience for solo female travelers.

Final thoughts

So we've learned in this article that Prague is safe to visit. It is one of the safer cities of the world according to the stats and that is a feeling that Amy and I also got during our visit in 2022. People were extremely friendly to us and we had no issues there at all during our two weeks in the city. So if Prague is on your travel bucket list and you're on the fence about because of safety concerns, there's really no need for that. The city is amazing. It is charming, beautiful with friendly locals and the local beer is just sensational.