A Dutch solo traveller who says he has visited "basically every country in Europe multiple times" has published a personal ranking of the continent's safest destinations, placing Poland at the top and highlighting a predominance of Eastern European nations.
Luke Patrick Hoogmoed, a travel content creator who posts on Instagram under the handle @lukepatrickh, told followers earlier this year that his assessments are based on repeated visits rather than a single trip. He wrote that many large cities in Western and Northern Europe "aren't as safe as you might expect" and that, by contrast, "big Eastern European cities are typically incredibly safe, clean, and kind to travellers."
Hoogmoed listed his top 10 safest countries in Europe as, in order: Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Finland, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Portugal and Romania. He singled out Poland as his No. 1 choice, noting the country's culinary scene and architecture as ongoing attractions for the millions of tourists it receives each year.
Although his list is weighted toward Eastern Europe, Hoogmoed included a few Western and Northern European nations, saying Finland, Denmark and Portugal "did make the list". He also identified Portugal as his favourite country in Western Europe.
The creator framed his assessment as personal and experiential rather than scientific. He told followers he would continue exploring Eastern Europe "until I've been to every remote village there is to find," and said his views had not changed over two years of travel.
Independent measures of safety in Europe vary by indicator — including crime rates, transport safety and perceptions among visitors — and official rankings frequently differ from travellers' personal impressions. Hoogmoed's account adds to an ongoing conversation among travel communities about how safety is experienced on the ground, especially by solo travellers.
Travel writers and influencers often emphasise that perceptions of safety can depend on factors such as the time of day, neighbourhoods within cities, language barriers and personal behaviour, and that one traveller's experience may not reflect broader trends. Hoogmoed's post prompted engagement from followers who compared their own experiences across the continent.
Hoogmoed's commentary follows a growing interest among solo travellers in identifying destinations perceived as welcoming and low-risk, especially in the wake of fluctuating travel patterns since 2020. He did not provide quantitative data to accompany his ranking, and his list remains a subjective guide for those assessing travel choices.
His Instagram account documents a range of European cities and rural areas, and his posts reflect both commonplace tourist attractions and less-visited locales. Readers and prospective travellers are advised to consult official travel advisories and local sources in addition to peer accounts when making safety assessments.