Before we begin, let me qualify this by stating my experiences were mainly in Palermo, Sicily. If you are to ask me “is Sicily safe?”; I give you firsthand knowledge from this area of Sicily. It is a big island; I can’t speak to the southern part from personal experience. I will add some stats to support what I saw in this region and for Italy as a whole. Admittedly, although beautiful, Palermo, Sicily has a certain amount of grit to it. This could lead one to believe it is unsafe. Every country has its dangers, whether it is Turkey or the United States. When I tell people about my last trip and that Sicily was my favorite place in the world I am often asked is Sicily Safe for tourists? So much of this fear has to do with its reputation as a mafia hub.
Reading some forums you may be given the impression that Sicily is a crime infested dump, where tourists are waking up with horse heads in their bed. In my experience during our time in Palermo, Sicily, this opinion could not have been further from the truth. Every place has its bad neighborhoods, but in terms of violent crimes, especially against tourist, Sicily is a wonderfully secure place to visit. The short answer to the question, Is Sicily safe for Tourists, is Yes! This is using my personal experience in the region as well as published crime stats.
As always, there are particular country and even regional risks to be aware of. As mentioned in the article I have written here regarding security, every area has its own unique scams or crimes. Criminals have truly little imagination, they usually just copy what everyone else is doing. If one were to just get their information from a certain mobster movie, Sicily looks like a haven for organized crime. While it is true there is a mobster presence to this day, it will be mostly unseen by tourists. There is more than just crime to worry about in the world, when someone asks me personally is Sicily safe for tourists, again yes…but read below to get a more complete answer.
Violent Crime in Palermo, Sicily
In the 70’s and 80;s Sicily had gotten a bad reputation for violent crime due to the Mafia presence. While it is still around today, the influence of the mafia is much smaller. The crime numbers for just Sicily were a bit hard to find…but when looking at Italy as a whole, we see the country has an extremely low homicide rate. According to the website Statista (link here) there were 307 homicides in ALL of Italy in 2019. This works out to a rate of about .6 per 100,000 people. Even if this rate were double for Sicily it would be far safer than places in the United States. To put this in perspective, New Orleans had a Homicide rate of over 40 per 100K.
| City/Location | Homicides per 100,000 People |
| Italy | .6 |
| NY, New York | 3.6 |
| New Orleans | 40 (I did a double take) |
| London | 1.54 |
From the data above we see Sicily is safe for tourists in terms of homicides compared to many tourist hubs. The vast majority of the few violent crimes Sicily does have hits locals, not visitors. As a tourist you most likely will not even see or know the mafia is in Palermo…let alone get a crowbar to the skull. There are restaurants that belong to a No Mafia group, that refuse to pay any retribution to the Mafia. That is about as much evidence of the Mafia I saw. We walked around a lot at night in Palermo, Sicily. Not just 9 PM, sometimes well past midnight. While there was a time or two that I felt slightly uneasy I did not witness any violent crime (or any crime).
Of course, it is always smart to take precautions. Walking around at night can be a bit dangerous even in the safest regions. Just have a general idea as to where you should go and not go, as well as take some basic precautions, and you should be OK. So to recap, despite its reputation, violent crime is low in Sicily…it is safer than cities like New York and New Orleans (review at link).
Is Sicily Safe for Tourist in Regards to Petty Crime?
Europe seems to be a hot spot for petty crimes and Sicily is no exception. I will preface this by again saying we did not experience any crime petty or violent. Mainly from hearsay and some stats I can tell you that the crimes tourist are most likely to face (if any) are pickpockets or purse snatchers. These crimes are prevalent all over Italy, and Sicily is no exception. Although, I believe these crimes are less prevalent in Sicily than Rome or Naples.
I know more than one person who has been pick pocketed in Europe, many times these criminals go out in gangs. They are even so brazen as to “work” in the airports. Purse or phone snatching is also common, although not so common that I saw it firsthand. You certainly can help lower your odds of being a victim with a few precautions.
Little things such as where you carry your wallet, front pocket is best, along with a button, can help you avoid being a victim. Other common-sense advice, leave any area that seems a bit off. In crowded places, especially markets, be vigilant. Certainly, don’t leave your phone or wallet on the table when dining, unless it is time for an upgrade anyway. Lastly, I like to split my cards and cash up, in case the worst happens I will have a backup. Sicily is safe for tourist in general. As in all of Europe (and everywhere else), take the necessary precautions to avoid being a victim. I speak about trip safety more in depth in this post HERE.
Safety in Sicily: Other Considerations
There are more things that can kill you than the crime. Below are a couple of things that stood out to me in terms of safety. As mentioned I believe Sicily is safe, there are just some things you need to look out for.
Cars/Motorcycles
Most People in the United States aren’t used to a 10-year old driving a motorcycle/scooter down a small alley. This is something that is eye opening in Sicily. I found Rome and Positano to both be hectic, but Sicily is in a league of its own. You need to keep your eyes out when walking or biking. If you stick to the most touristy areas you might avoid this totally, but if you walk a bit off the beaten path, keep your eyes peeled
Is Sicily safe four tourists on the streets? It is, but we must act in a safe way and pay attention. Remember you are in a foreign country, different morals, laws and norms. Just keep your head up and you should be fine.
Food safety
Maybe not as bad as Japan with some of the strange things we came across, (read more in my post here). Things always get a little dicey when it comes to countries with different food standards than ours. For the most part, most restaurant food seemed clean, although I wasn’t watching them make the food. We did have a couple of experiences that made us do a double take. Getting served raw pork (and again it is not Japan) and the manager just shrugging their shoulders was a bit scary. The attitude was like raw pork…so what! More than once I heard the pork begging for its life as I cut into it.
Then there are some of the street vendors, especially in the market. When you look over and see what looks like a fly block party on the food they are serving, health may be an issue. Is Sicily safe in terms of food, yes…but! You need to be a little more vigilant so as not to spend the majority of your trip in the hotel bathroom.
Covid-19 in Sicily
I hesitate to even put this area into this post. Most people are not going to Sicily any time soon. This is because most people aren’t traveling anywhere any time soon. Hopefully by the time you are reading this the only disease that you will be worried about is diabetes from all the pasta and cannoli’s you will eat. Still, it is worth touching on, especially in terms of safety in Sicily. Italy, at the time of writing this, has approximately 225K cases of Covid-19. That is one of the highest counts in the world. Luckily for Sicily, most of that is in Northern Italy. Currently there are about 3.3K case of Covid-19 in Sicily, less than 2% of the total in the country. Hopefully, if you are reading this in five years, this paragraph will not be an issue, but it is worth touching on.
Conclusion: Is Sicily Safe for Tourists
As stated yes, Sicily is safe for tourists. Do not let the movies or possibly grimy pictures deter you from traveling to this wonderful place. Palermo, Sicily was one of my favorite regions in the world. You can read more about my trip here, in this review. Always use common sense, whether it is New York or Italy, just do not let fear determine what you experience.
