This is a working guide for travellers who aren't local, don't speak the language, and would rather not look up "how to handle this" when it's already happening.

Before you go out, set your night up

Three small choices before leaving the hotel handle most of what could go wrong.

Decide your transport home now, not later. Walking back, taxi, ride-share, last metro, hotel shuttle. The cheap version of every after-dark incident is "I couldn't get home easily so I made a bad call". A pre-booked Uber that you cancel for free if you don't need it is the simplest insurance.

Carry less. Hotel room safe gets the second card, the second passport copy, the £200 you don't need tonight, the watch. A wallet with one card and £40 cash limits the worst outcome by an order of magnitude. (More on this in Pickpocketing hotspots in Europe, which applies after dark too.)

Tell someone where you're going. This sounds excessive for a one-bar evening. It's a 20-second message to a friend or partner: "going to X, back by Y, here's the hotel address". You don't need to escalate it. But if you don't come back by Y, someone knows where to start.

The fourth thing, which only applies if you're abroad: register with your embassy if you're staying more than a few days in a country where things change. UK travellers use LOCATE; US travellers use STEP. It costs nothing and means there's a phone number connected to your trip in the consular system.

Choosing the route home

You can usually pick from two or three routes back from wherever you are. Take the one that:

If you're in doubt about a route, walk it once in daylight on day one. Five minutes of orientation gives you a usable mental map the rest of the trip.

The instinct to "just keep walking" past someone or something that feels off is a good one. If you've crossed the street to avoid a group and they cross too, that's information; turn into a shop, restaurant, or hotel lobby and wait. They won't follow.

Taxis and ride-shares

Three rules.

Use an app, not a flag-down, unless the country has a metered-taxi culture you trust. App-based services log the trip; flag-downs in unfamiliar cities are how the worst taxi stories happen. The list of cities where flag-downs are genuinely safe is shorter than it was a decade ago – London, Tokyo, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Singapore, parts of Switzerland. Almost everywhere else, an app is safer.

Check the registration. The app shows the licence plate, the driver's name, and the make of the car. Verify all three before getting in. The number of drivers who pull up and just say "Uber?" without showing the app is non-trivial, and the share of those who are actually the booked driver is lower than you'd think.

Sit behind the driver in the back seat. This is the standard solo-traveller rule and it's universally good advice. The seat behind the driver is hardest for the driver to reach, easiest to exit on the kerb side, and most countries make it the legally-required seat for the passenger anyway.

Three apps work well almost everywhere: Uber (Europe, US, parts of Asia, parts of Latin America), Bolt (Europe, Africa, parts of the Middle East), Grab (Southeast Asia). InDriver and DiDi work in others. In Japan you want GO or DiDi for taxis (Uber exists but is small). In Brazil and Mexico, 99 and Uber are both fine.

The local taxi-equivalent app is almost always better than calling a hotel cab. Hotel cabs have a strong incentive to overcharge tourists and a weaker incentive to be safe.

The "should I leave" test

The hardest moment in a foreign bar or club is deciding whether the room you're in is changing in a way that means it's time to leave. Four signals, any one of which is enough.

The atmosphere has hardened. People who were laughing twenty minutes ago aren't now. Conversation volume has dropped. The staff are looking at the door more than the customers.

You're alone in a way you weren't. The group you came with has dispersed and someone you don't know has positioned themselves close to you.

Someone has bought you a drink you didn't see poured. Drug-facilitated theft and worse is more common than statistics show because most victims don't report. If a drink arrives, leave it.

The exit is no longer easy. A bouncer who wasn't there is now there. Doors that were open are closed. The crowd around the exit has thickened.

If any of these things is true and you're abroad, leave. You don't owe the venue an explanation. Most bar staff in tourist cities are used to people changing their mind and leaving early.

When something goes wrong

Two scenarios cover most of what travellers actually experience.

You realise you're being followed. Don't go back to your hotel. Going to the hotel tells them where you're sleeping. Step into a busy shop, a 24-hour restaurant, a hotel lobby that isn't yours, the lobby of a police station. Sit. Wait. Call a taxi from inside. If the person is still visible when the taxi arrives, get into the taxi and call ahead to your hotel to let them know you're on your way and that someone may follow.

Someone has tried to assault or rob you. Get to the nearest open, public space. Then call the local emergency number – Europe is 112 universally, UK is 999, US is 911. We have a full list at Emergency Numbers by Country. Use the local language number if you have it; most operators will switch to English for foreign callers.

Don't try to give chase. The person who picked you also picked the geography. Don't go back to where it happened to look for the bag.

The local equivalent of the FCDO/State emergency line is the consular emergency number, which is on the gov.uk and state.gov pages for the country. UK consular emergency is +44 20 7008 5000, available 24/7. US is +1 888-407-4747. These numbers are slower than local emergency services but useful if you've lost a passport or need urgent consular help.

We have a longer piece on Active Incident Abroad: The First 15 Minutes for the worst-case scenarios.

Hotel safety after dark

Things that matter, in declining order of importance:

Floor choice. Avoid ground floor (street access) and top floor (fire access). Floors 2–4 are the sweet spot for most hotels – low enough to leave by stairs in an emergency, high enough that nobody is climbing in from outside.

Door discipline. Use the chain and the deadbolt, not just the regular lock. If a hotel door has neither, ask to move rooms.

Don't answer the door without verifying. Maintenance, room service, security – call reception to confirm before opening. The "I'm room service" knock is one of the older hotel scams and the one that catches travellers most.

Know your fire exit. Five seconds of orientation when you arrive: which way to the stairs from your room. Don't trust the floor map – walk it once. Hotels test their fire alarms during the day; the only time the corridor lighting matters is at 3am.

We have a more detailed checklist in Hotel & Airbnb Safety Checklist.

See also