Rome, Italy
Stay safe in Rome
Rome is generally a safe place, even for women travelling alone. As in any big city, it is better if you don’t look like a tourist: don’t exhibit your camera or camcorder to all and sundry, and keep your money in a safe place.
Termini (the main railway station), Esquilino and bus line 64 (Termini to San
Pietro) are not so safe, so take extra care in these areas. Read up on the legends
concerning tourist scams. Most of them occur regularly in Rome and you will
want to see them coming. Watch out especially for bands of kids who will crowd
you and reach for your pockets under the cover of newspapers or cardboard sheets.
Rome is also home to two rival Serie A football clubs, A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio,
and there is a history of conflict, and even rioting, between the two. If you dare to wear anything that supports either of them, especially during the Rome Derby (when the two clubs play each other), make sure you don’t wander into supporters of the other club, or you may be subject to heckling or even confrontation.
Play it safe and refrain from openly supporting either club unless you are very
familiar with the rivalry.
A great deal of pickpocketing and bag- or purse-snatching takes place in crowded
locations, but there is very little violent crime. Members of the Italian public are likely to be sympathetic if you are a crime victim. Police are also generally friendly if not always helpful. Carabinieri (black uniform) are military police, and Polizia (blue and grey uniform) are civilians, but they both do essentially the same thing and are equally good, or bad. Guardia di Finanza (the grey uniformed ones) do customs work. If you are robbed, try to find a police station and report it. This is essential to establishing a secure travel insurance claim.
Be careful of con-men who may approach you at tourist sights such as the Colosseum or Circus Maximus. Eg. a car may pull up next to you, and the driver ask you for directions to the Vatican. He will strike up a conversation with you while
he sits in his car, and tell you he is a sales representative for a large French fashion house. He will then tell you he likes you and he would like to give you a gift of a coat worth several thousand euros. As you reach inside his car to take the bag the coat is in, he will ask you for €200 for gas, as his car is nearly empty. When you refuse, he could turn angry and now demand money from you, any money, of any currency. Don’t fall for such confidence-tricks – if something sounds too good to be true, it is.