Three Countries in the World That Tourists Wrongly Consider Unsafe

The travel portal Travel Off Path has named three countries in the world that tourists wrongly consider unsafe – and are quite unjustly overlooked when planning vacations.

El Salvador

For those who remember the 1990s or 2000s, this country in Central America was synonymous with the murder capital of the world. However, from 2019 to 2026, the country experienced the most radical turnaround in security in modern history.

President Nayib Bukele declared a controversial "state of emergency," detaining over 100,000 members of criminal gangs. As a result, the murder rate in the country has dropped by 98%, leading the U.S. State Department to now assign El Salvador a Level 1 security rating with a recommendation to "Exercise normal precautions" – the same security rating as Switzerland and Japan.

"When I visited the country for the first time, it was still in transition, but all the locals I spoke with emphasized how much safer everyday life had become, and tourists have started arriving in droves. And rightly so – it’s stunningly beautiful! I highly recommend visiting Mizata; it has an amazing coastline and even a resort with treehouses that offer fantastic views of the ocean and nearby cliffs," noted the article's author, seasoned traveler Tyler Fox.

Vietnam

For the older generation, the word "Vietnam" still evokes memories of the jungle war of the 1970s and ideological hostility towards the West. The reality, however, is quite the opposite. Vietnam has enjoyed decades of continuous peace within the country – and rightly holds a Level 1 security rating. Meanwhile, its population is incredibly young, deeply integrated into the global digital economy, and very welcoming.

Rwanda

For many, the word "Rwanda" brings back memories of the horrific genocide of 1994. However, modern Rwanda is in fact one of the safest and cleanest countries on the entire African continent.

Its capital, Kigali, is impeccably clean and operates with such a level of strict centralized order that it is constantly compared to Singapore. The U.S. State Department has assigned it a Level 2 danger rating; however, this caution is only due to the unstable border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the interior regions of Rwanda are carefully guarded.