Pickpockets in Europe

Peleus

I'm going to europe this summer (Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague) and i heard that pickpockets are a bit of a problem, especially in prague. Since i'm going to be taking a lot of night trains and might end up sleeping in some train stations/airports (not alone of course), i was wondering: How do you stop yourself getting robbed in europe?

Is there anything you can do to stop people robbing things like your passport, train tickets, interraill tickets etc...? Is it safe to leave your bags in hostels and where can you leave your valuables when you are going out on the town???

Are there any precautions you can take to ward off thieves? (fake wallets etc...)??

Dave!

1. Get a seperate bag for keeping your important things with you. It's handy anyway because you'll need to produce your ticket all the time, and if you have a lonely planet book, etc. Keep this safe at all times... I'd usually have my backpack on my back and my other bag on my front/over one shoulder.

2. Get locks for your bags... Boots do little coloured ones which look a bit gay, but do the job. Keep 1 key in your fanny pack/money bag* and another in a discreet place in one of the bags (there's bound to be a load of tiny pockets).

3. *Buy a money bag! Just something like a change purse to clip around your waist. Boots again do a good one of these. I had my credit card, ~90% of my cash at a given time, and some other stuff in there. It's a flat one, so it doesn't stick out. I'd usually put this under my pillow when sleeping.

4. Don't leave your bags alone... kinda goes without saying. If travelling with a friend, watch each others stuff.

5. If you're gonna be sleeping in airports and train stations (often the most satisfying naps!) or parks, a good thing to do is -- firstly make sure you have the locks on your bags, but then use one bag as a pillow, and tie the other one (with the locks facing you/up against you) to your leg or your arm. I found that quite effective! If they're bad pillows then just tie them both to a limb.

6. Try to only stay in hostels that have lockers. Most of them do anyways.

7. Don't leave your wallet in your back pocket.


Sounds like alot but really it's just common sense... Keep your wits about you and you'll be grand!

Have fun!

kerry4sam

I agree with all of the above and also:
- buy a shoulder bag to keep you important documents on you at all times...
- some hotels want to hold on to your passport for registration etc, i'd advise asking them to photocopy what they need and keep it on you at all times
- was asked in Naples once for ID and didnt have passport for above reason and was lucky to have drivers licence with me as they weren't inclined to accept anything else
- Through all my travels through Europe the only place where we were warned by public announcements on speaker-phones and postering was at stations in Southern Italy esp Naples, strange atmosphere down there even before the annoucements were heard
- Keep your money in separate pockets...shoulder-bag / pant-pockets / shoes / if you are taking cash with you do spread it out
- always found all stations to be safe and secure...police patrolling 24hours and were always courteous. Eventhough we travelled at different times of the year, in different years, but in every town in every country we visited their were army patrolling and moving around
- don't take anything or even anyone for granted! some can be quite deceiving...once their are a few of you together you'll be fine

just dont stand out from the crowds...enjoy enjoy enjoy...some of my best times to date were had through travelling Europe

scruff321

use your head,have a bit of cop on,dont fret about it

Peleus

DaveMcG wrote: »

5. If you're gonna be sleeping in airports and train stations (often the most satisfying naps!) or parks, a good thing to do is -- firstly make sure you have the locks on your bags, but then use one bag as a pillow, and tie the other one (with the locks facing you/up against you) to your leg or your arm. I found that quite effective! If they're bad pillows then just tie them both to a limb.

That is genius.

great advice in here. I'm going to lodge money into my irish account and use one of those cirrus ATM cards to take out cash when i get to each city. I'll buy a money belt or something to keep my cash/passports/interrail tickets and then just use my normal wallet to keep my crappy notes/coins.

I was thinking of getting an old wallet from my house and filling it up with some library cards and some coins to give to anyone who tries to mug me. I know i sound like such a pussy, but i just don't want some massive eastern-european stealing all my stuff.

I dont think i'd be comfortable giving my pssport to any hostel. i'd prefer to keep it myself. cheers guys!

Dave!

Yeah the fake-wallet aint a bad idea... just don't panic and give them the real one