I'm a female solo traveller - the country where I felt the most unsafe is a European bucket-list destination

A solo travel content creator has shared her honest views on where she feels unsafe as a woman – and one of her picks is a hugely popular European destination.
Savanna Crowell, who runs the @solowithsav Tiktok account, describes herself as 'your go-to solo travel girlie'.
In a recent video that has been viewed almost 500,000 times, the New York-based traveller revealed three places where she didn't feel safe.
Her first red-flagged destination is France – the world's most visited country, with 102 million international tourists arriving in 2024.
She told her 54,000 followers she'd 'had a few uncomfortable situations in the country', facing problems in a number of locations.
'On my first solo trip to Paris, I almost got scammed by the 'petition scammers' at the Louvre,' she said.
Petition scammers often pose as charity workers or petitioners who might speak to tourists about worthy causes – before putting pressure on them to hand over money.
'When I tried to get out of it they became very aggressive… thankfully I was able to get out of it because there were a lot of other people around me.
Savanna felt unsafe in France, the country that saw the most visitors in 2024
Savanna also had issues in Nice, a beautiful city on the French Riviera.
While she was walking along a street by herself, a man 'popped out of the bush with a pointy stick in his hand'.
Savanna goes on to say he 'started chasing me down the road, ended up throwing the stick at me and laughing'.
Despite the popularity of France, a number of other holidaymakers in the comments section voiced their unhappy experiences in the country.
'Facts! A man followed me into the girls' restroom in Paris and there is a section of Nice super unsafe for women,' wrote Alexandra Priscilla.
Another user shared a story of a trip to Nice with her husband that saw a simple stop in a pharmacy turn scary.
'He bought sunscreen and sunglasses and we walked out and on the way out were stopped by a guard and we were taken to a back room where they had accused us of stealing,' said @katieter01.
'They went through our bags and pockets and were threatening us with the police but wouldn't even tell us what they thought we stole.
'We did not steal anything and eventually another manager came by and said we can leave but it was super scary we were held in this room with guards for a while.'
One person said she 'had a dude harass me in France', though another wrote they 'felt super safe in France traveling solo'.
The second country that left Savanna feeling unsafe was Mexico, a place she admits she loves travelling around.
'I did have an uncomfortable situation with a man once at a beach,' she said.
I was sitting, minding my own business, when he came up, approached me, but his towel directly next to mine and started asking me very uncomfortable questions – like where I'm staying, how long I'm going to be staying.
'Just very intrusive questions where my gut was telling me 'I need to get out of this situation'.'
Savanna waited until the man went into the ocean before grabbing all of her belongings and ran from the shore.
Her third and final country to warn about is Nicaragua, the Central American nation between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Nicaragua gets the unfortunate title of country where Savanna received the most catcalls
It was unfortunately the place where the content creator experienced the most catcalling.
'It seemed everywhere I went on the street, if a man went by he had to say something or make a noise – something that made me feel uncomfortable.'
It was so bad, Savanna said she only wanted to walk on very busy streets.
Despite her experiences, the travel enthusiasts admitted she would return to all of those countries.

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Wonderfully, the old school has been restored exactly as it was in his time. Moving north, headliners include Noirlac Abbey (near St Amand-Montrond) whose pure white Cistercian stones soar, decorated only by light and shade. The cultural season here, in pretty much the exact centre of France, justifies a trip. Nearby county capital Bourges is a skip back to well-rooted bustle, its remarkable cathedral and half-timbered streets just a villein or two short of perfection. Linger a while, before moving further north, edging into the Sologne district which Alain-Fournier characterised as 'useless, taciturn and profound'. One must, he said, 'pull aside the branches to discover this countryside'. As fields and forest close in, one makes for La Chapelle-d'Angillon, where the writer was born, and then Nançay, where he spent youthful summer holidays. Round here, it's easy to believe that the fantastic and the rational are opposite sides of the same coin. Later, we leave the universe of Le Grand Meaulnes for half-timbered Aubigny-sur-Nère. Here, la France profonde bumps into l'Ecosse profonde – deepest Scotland – in a gush of abundant jockery: saltires, kilts, whisky and a 10ft monument to the Auld (Franco-Scots) Alliance outside the library. Why? The town was given to the Stuarts by French king Charles VII in payment for their help against the English in the Hundred Years War. Scottishness got a grip and, though the Stuarts were around for only 250 years, the links remain. Aubigny revels in them, not least in the annual Franco-Scottish festival, this year from July 11-13. Should you be looking for irrationality, this is a splendid spot to start. Where to stay In Aubigny, the Hotel La Chaumière colonises a 19th-century post-house: bare stone, beams, the works, plus a good restaurant (doubles from £95). Nearby, the Logis Relais du Cor d'Argent at Argent-sur-Sauldre has practical rooms and an equally good restaurant (doubles from £64). Creuse, Nouvelle-Aquitaine If anyone says to me: 'I'll drive you to the Creuse', I say: 'Lead on, Captain. Take me there, that I might never return.' It's that sort of place. The county is found where the Massif Central cedes to the Limousin. Hardly anyone lives there and no-one visits. Well, a few. It is the least visited of all French counties, which indicates how daft tourists can be. But it means you have it to yourself, and that's good. The Creuse is wild enough with moorland and heath, forest and pasture heavy with Limousin cattle. The landscape undulates with elemental interest sufficient to hold the attention entirely, yet bearing no risk of frenzy. After a few hours there, I sigh so happily that my nerves slacken. They barely stiffen for the duration. Roads wind through countryside ruffled like yeoman England, but hotter. Aromas of flowers, hay and cows come in through the window and then you're in Crozant. The village – at the rocky junction of three rivers – had its own school of 19th-century painters, led in by Claude Monet. It's a good story, told at the Hotel Lépinat, once the artists' boozer, now an information centre. Close by, La Souterraine is a grand little spot, its old stones warmed by sun, small-town commerce and a sense of self-sufficiency. Beyond, the granite Monts de Guéret rise forested and harbouring. Set the car south, along lanes of little consequence, to Aubusson. Crouching below the rock-faces along the Creuse river, Aubusson has been weaving the world's most celebrated tapestries for 500 years. In the past, this wouldn't have detained me very long. Now, though, I've been to the Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie, seen works by Picasso, Braque, Le Corbusier and Jean Lurçat and realised there's more to tapestries than faded fabric on château walls. Thus to the Plateau de Millevaches, where moors and woodland tumble into remote villages and then down to Lake Vassivière. The possibilities for activity – hiking, biking, riding, sailing – are enticing for those with energy. The rest of us may stroll and look and reflect that this could be Canada, if only there were moose and maple syrup. Where to stay In Aubusson, the Hotel des Maisons du Pont has rooms scattered through venerable riverside houses ( from £77). In Roches, south-east of Crozant, head for the Domaine de la Vergnolle for chambres d'hôtes rooms and over-water cabins ( B&B doubles from £59). Loire valley, Centre-Val de Loire The Loire valley is where I dream of going when exasperated by the 21st century. It runs to rhythms redolent of gentler times, but with decent plumbing. North of, and parallel to, the mightier Loire (the one with the big châteaux), this tributary flows into a past of forests, vines and wild flowers, of cliffs, meadows and white-stone villages bright with proper shops and deep-rooted confidence. From light, green and watery Vendôme – where, as a schoolboy, Balzac read so voraciously that he would fall into 'a coma of ideas' – the valley meanders in and out of white-stone villages bright with proper shops and busy ladies bustling with baskets. At Thoré-la-Rochette, you might tackle Côteaux-du-Vendomois wines, peppery from the local pineau d'aunis grape. Downstream, Lavardin – crammed between hillside and river – would be standing-room-only, were it in Provence or Tuscany. Nip into the church for medieval frescoes (a Loire speciality) and move on to Montoire-sur-le-Loir. You may have heard of this town. On October 24 1940, Hitler and Pétain met to set the seal on their collaboration at the railway station right here. Presently, the station hosts a museum telling the tale. At Trôo, as chalk cliffs edge the valley so, over a couple of millennia, locals dug homes into the rock-face, creating a vertical troglodyte village on four levels. Farm workers moved out by the middle of the 20th century. Artier types moved in, for cave-dwelling is in vogue these days. But Yuccas Cave has been kept as it was when farm workers Zéphrim and Désirée Didé and their six kids lived there until 1965. And so to St Jacques-des-Guérets, with the valley's best church frescoes, Couture-sur-Loir, where 16th-century poet Pierre de Ronsard was born, and Ruillé-sur-Loir, for Jasnières wines. In La Chartre-sur-Loir, the Hotel de France epitomises all that's best in provincial French hotels. On my last visit, it smelled splendidly of flowers and furniture polish. But don't take my word. The hotel is quite near Le Mans, so has hosted key teams from the 24-hour race (Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari) plus associated luminaries: Steve McQueen, Jackie Onassis and Bobby Kennedy ( doubles from £91). The fascination persists, not least at the Château du Lude – as imposing as most châteaux in the grander Loire valley to the south. So please don't hesitate. Or, as Pierre de Ronsard wrote: 'Live now, believe me, wait not until tomorrow. Gather the roses of life today.' Where to stay Apart from the Hotel de France (above), we favour the Auberge du Port des Roches – pleasing hotel, good restaurant – at Luché-Pringé (doubles from £80).