Is Transylvania safe for tourists?
Yes it is, and you`ll be surprised to find out that Romania in general and Transylvania specifically are much safer than you expected. I know, it is a bit of paradox here and I will try to explain it as I did for hundreds of travelers in the previous seven years of guiding.
With over 4 million Romanian emigrants in the last 10 years, Romania ranks second place second place globally by emigration growth rate after Syria. Most of those people are hard working persons in search of a better life. Among them though are also the vast majority of Romanian criminals.
Since 1 January 2007, Romania is an European Union member country and from that moment on Romanians gain the right to travel free, without visas in all the other 26 member states of EU. Since that moment 13 years have passed, enough time for the very vast majority of pickpockets and criminals to trade the rather poor crowded places of Romania for the very busy (mostly tourist) places of Western Europe.
The effect of this massive criminal emigration from Romania through out last decade reflected in a dramatic drop in level of crime in the country.
According to numbeo.com in mid 2020 Romania ranks as 25th safest country in the world and 13th safest in Europe, surprisingly safer than countries such as: Germany, Sweden and UK.
Transylvania is the central region of Romania and until 1918 it was part of Austro-Hungarian empire. Today it is the most developed economical, cultural and social part of the country. It does not come as a surprise for any Romanian that all the top 3 safest towns in Romania are all three in Transylvania. They are: Cluj Napoca (13 safest in the world), Brasov and Timisoara.
Romania has also one of the most strict laws in the world regarding gun possession. Based on my personal experience in guiding thousands of foreign tourists in Transylvania in the last 7 years I can confirm that NONE of them got pickpocketed. Several of them complained though of being cheated by taxi drivers in Bucharest.
If you liked this article, consider taking a trip to Transylvania and feel you might use some assistance do not hesitate to drop me a line here.