UK tourists told to 'avoid' Amsterdam in Netherlands travel warning

James Rodger

19 May 2024 at 8:26 am·2-min read

UK tourists have been told to ditch Amsterdam if they're heading to the Netherlands - because the country actually boasts the world's safest place. The Hague in the Netherlands was voted the safest city in Europe, with a safety index of 79.9.

The Hague is a city on the North Sea coast of the western Netherlands. Its Gothic-style Binnenhof (or Inner Court) complex is the seat of the Dutch parliament, and 16th-century Noordeinde Palace is the king’s workplace. The city is also home to the U.N.’s International Court of Justice, headquartered in the Peace Palace, and the International Criminal Court.

It was closely followed by Munich in Germany and Norway’s Trondheim, both with an index of 79.2, in the Numbeo Current Crime Index, which ranked three UK cities - Bradford, Coventry and Birmingham - as three of the most dangerous.

Amsterdam ranked with a 28 crime index rating - way above the Hague's rating of 20. The safety index in Amsterdam was also just 70, compared to the Hague's 80. Other cities considered safer than Amsterdam in the Netherlands were Rotterdam and Groningen alongside Eindhoven and the Hague too.

Naples in Italy and Marseille in France also made up the top five. Writing on Reddit, one Redditor said: "Why is The Hague so underrated as a tourist destination? It's rarely named in tourists lists and the city itself never seems to have a lot of tourists. Any reasons why this is"

"As someone that lives in The Hague, I absolutely don't mind that its underrated and doesn't attract too many tourists. That actually might be a big selling point, sshhhhh," a second replied. "Because it's not very interesting? I worked there for 5 years and besides the binnenhof and the beach I found it thoroughly uninteresting," another typed.

"Well, Scheveningen is nice, but having lived in both Amsterdam and the Hague it's really just a lot less interesting. Just a city full of offices and administrative buildings surrounded by residential areas," another said.

Another said: "The Hague has Madurodam and Scheveningen. Scheveningen has the Circustheater, but it's not like Utrecht, Rotterdam or Amsterdam where it's fun to be there around a theatre visit. Especially in bad/meh weather. Madurodam is fun once. A history tour through den Haag would be fun too, but it's not a place where I'd want to spend more than a day."

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