US snubbed in international rating of most secure journey locations

The American dream has became a nightmare — for vacationers.

With the vacation journey season forward, journey insurance coverage supplier Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has named the most secure nations on this planet for 2026, discovering that the Netherlands topped the checklist when it got here to vacationer safety.

Meanwhile, the US was left off the compendium completely even though the crime has been on the decline nationwide.

But the research wasn’t designed to be some biased, anti-American marketing campaign. To compile the checklist of most traveler-safe nations, Berkshire Hathaway went straight to the horse’s mouth and asked 1,800 American travelers to rank the nations they visited primarily based on security.

The agency then mixed their solutions with information from the Global Peace Index, Numbeo, and different sources spanning varied elements, together with terrorism, climate emergencies, well being issues and the security of underrepresented teams, Travel + Leisure magazine reported.

This information was blended with previous outcomes with the scores from “outside sources and calculated a weighted score that reflects each country’s overall safety,” per the positioning.

Interestingly, security was not merely synonymous with lack of crime, per the survey. “We’re seeing a shift in how travelers define ‘safe,’” a spokesperson for Berkshire Hathaway informed Travel + Leisure. “People are also considering healthcare access, climate stability and inclusivity.”

Coincidentally, a current survey discovered that Americans really feel “plagued” by nerves on the thought of worldwide journey, with worry elements together with getting harm whereas touring and having traveled to unsafe places up to now (16%).

Coming in first was the Netherlands, which jumped up a whopping 13 spots from 2024. Surveyed vacationers gave the “peace-loving” place “near-top marks for health measures, overall safety, and safety for female travelers, LGBTQIA+ travelers, and travelers of color.” 

The essential hazard was fast-moving bikes, which have their very own lanes in Amsterdam and different Dutch cities, forcing vacationers to look each methods earlier than crossing the road.

“Also, young bikers’ affinity for high-speed, mini-bike-like e-bikes adds another element of danger,” per the survey.

Coming in second was Australia — regardless of its repute for having an virtually otherworldly animal inhabitants — which acquired the “highest marks for health measures and is near the top for safety from terrorism.”

Austria got here in third place after not rating beforehand, whereas final yr’s defending champ, Iceland, slipped to fourth place.

According to the Global Peace Index, the Scandinavian nation was the fourth most peaceable nation on this planet.

However, Berkshire Hathaway warned that vacationers have to be careful for volcanic eruptions.

“Eruptions always carry the potential for disruption, but they’re particularly problematic in Iceland, since the lava flows very often affect the one main road that rings the country,” they wrote. “This has the potential to leave travelers stranded.”

Canada, in the meantime, rounded out the highest 5 whereas no different North American nations made the checklist. The one saving grace is that the US was ranked the seventh most secure nation by respondents whose family revenue exceeded $350,000 per yr.

To assist guarantee one’s security whereas touring overseas, Berkshire Hathaway beneficial, amongst different issues, that vacationers register for the US State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which permits the division to problem alerts and discover American vacationers throughout an emergency.

Here are the highest 15 most secure nations on this planet

1. Netherlands
2. Australia
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. Canada
6. New Zealand
7. United Arab Emirates
8. Switzerland
9. Japan
10. Ireland
11. Belgium
12. Portugal
13. France
14. United Kingdom
15. Denmark