I consider Calabria to be safe and have not had any bad experiences in more than 20 years of traveling here myself, either alone as a woman, with my daughters or as a family. I have also never had any guests who have had their cars broken into, been robbed or had anything similar happen to them that could affect their vacation.

It is certainly a good idea, as in all other European countries, not to leave any valuables in your car when you park it. I would also avoid parking my car in very isolated places where there is still a lot of tourism in the area. What does that mean? That the likelihood of a car being broken into in the beautiful, lonely landscape of Calabria is much lower than if I park somewhere very lonely in touristy places.

People keep asking me about the ‘Ndrangheta – the Calabrian mafia. This is an international problem – by that I mean that it doesn’t stop at Italy’s borders – but is of course also a problem in Germany and worldwide. It poses no danger to you during your vacation!

I cannot guarantee this, but in the many years that I have lived and traveled in Calabria, I have not experienced any unpleasant or dangerous situations.