6 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
One of the safest large cities in Europe, and comfortable to walk alone at night. During Oktoberfest the Theresienwiese and the trains to it are the exception: pickpocketing, and a great deal of drunkenness. Cycle lanes are on the pavement and cyclists have right of way on them, which catches out every visitor once.
Very safe and very quiet. The hazards are the terrain and the weather: fog closes in on the ridges fast, the higher trails hold snow into April, and mobile coverage in the deeper valleys is patchy enough to matter if you are walking alone. Winter tyres are a legal requirement, not a suggestion, and the passes close.
Very comfortable. The Partnachklamm is a narrow wet gorge with galleries and the footing is the hazard rather than anything else. The Zugspitze is high enough that people in trainers arrive at freezing conditions on a warm valley day, which the cable car does not warn them about.
Comfortable: Garmisch · Partenkirchen · the Eibsee
the Partnachklamm galleries — narrow, wet and stepped, with the water beside you the whole way
the Zugspitze in valley clothing — it is freezing at the top on a warm day down here and the cable car takes ten minutes
Comfortable and easy, with a well-lit centre. St Pauli around the Reeperbahn is a working entertainment district: busy, loud and with the usual mix of drunk crowds, aggressive touts and pickpockets after midnight. The station area, Hauptbahnhof, is the one place that feels rough in daylight. The Elbe has strong currents and is not for swimming, whatever the beach at Övelgönne suggests.
Comfortable: the Speicherstadt · Altona · Ottensen · the Alster shores · Eppendorf · Sternschanze in the evening
the Reeperbahn after midnight — the drinking is heavy and the touts around Grosse Freiheit are persistent
Hansaplatz and the streets east of the Hauptbahnhof — an open drug scene the city has been managing for years; it is unpleasant rather than aimed at you
the Elbe beaches at high water — the container ships throw a wash that arrives without warning
Safe by big-city standards. Kottbusser Tor and parts of Görlitzer Park have an open drug scene — unpleasant rather than dangerous. Book the Reichstag dome online well ahead.
Comfortable: Prenzlauer Berg · Mitte · Charlottenburg · Friedrichshain
Görlitzer Park — and Kottbusser Tor, which have an open drug scene
Warschauer Straße station — at four in the morning on a Sunday
Relaxed and walkable by day. Pickpocketing concentrates on the cathedral square, the Hauptbahnhof and the trains to the airport, and the station forecourt, Neumarkt and Ebertplatz have an open drug scene that makes them unpleasant rather than threatening after dark. Carnival is enormous, drunk and generally good-natured, but it is also when most of the year's reported incidents happen — go, and keep a hand on your things. The old town and the Belgian Quarter are fine into the evening.
Comfortable: the Altstadt · Belgisches Viertel · Ehrenfeld · Südstadt · the Rhine promenade
the Hauptbahnhof forecourt, Neumarkt and Ebertplatz after dark — an open drug scene, unpleasant rather than aimed at you, and the pickpockets who work it
the Ringe late on weekend nights — the concentration of drinking; pickpocketing rises sharply during Karneval
the cathedral steps in a crowd — the standing place for bag-snatching in the city
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
