US snubbed in global ranking of safest travel destinations

The American dream has turned into a nightmare — for travelers.

With the holiday travel season ahead, travel insurance provider Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has named the safest nations in the world for 2026, finding that the Netherlands topped the list when it came to tourist security.

Meanwhile, the US was left off the compendium entirely despite the fact the crime has been on the decline nationwide.

But this wasn’t some biased, America-hating list. To compile the list of most traveler-safe nations, Berkshire Hathaway went straight to the horse’s mouth and asked 1,800 American travelers to rank the countries they visited based on safety.

The firm then combined their answers with data from the Global Peace Index, Numbeo, and other sources spanning various factors, including terrorism, weather emergencies, health concerns, and the safety of underrepresented groups, Travel + Leisure magazine reported.

This data was blended with past results with the scores from “outside sources and calculate a weighted score that reflects each country’s overall safety,” per the site.

Interestingly, safety was not simply synonymous with lack of crime, per the survey. “We’re seeing a shift in how travelers define ‘safe,’” a spokesperson for Berkshire Hathaway told Travel + Leisure. “People are also considering healthcare access, climate stability and inclusivity.”

Coincidentally, a recent survey found that Americans feel “plagued” by nerves at the idea of international travel, with fear factors including getting hurt while traveling and having traveled to unsafe locations in the past (16%).

Coming in first was the Netherlands, which jumped up a whopping 13 spots from 2024. Surveyed travelers gave the “peace-loving” place “near-top marks for health measures, overall safety, and safety for female travelers, LGBTQIA+ travelers, and travelers of color.”

The main danger was fast-moving bikes, which have their own lanes in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities, forcing travelers to look both ways before crossing the street.

“Also, young bikers’ affinity for high-speed, mini-bike-like e-bikes adds another element of danger,” per the survey.

Coming in second was Australia, which received the “highest marks for health measures and is near the top for safety from terrorism.”

Austria came in 3rd place after not ranking previously while last year’s defending champ, Iceland, slipped to fourth place.

According to the Global Peace Index, the Scandinavian nation was the fourth most peaceful country in the world.

However, Berkshire Hathaway warned that travelers need to watch out for volcanic eruptions.

“Eruptions always carry the potential for disruption, but they’re particularly problematic in Iceland, since the lava flows very often affect the one main road that rings the country,” they wrote. “This has the potential to leave travelers stranded.”

Canada, meanwhile, rounded out the top five while no other North American nations made the list. The one saving grace is that the US was ranked the 7th safest nation by respondents whose household income exceeded $350,000 per year.

To help ensure one’s safety while traveling abroad, Berkshire Hathaway recommended, among other things, that travelers register the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which allows the department to issue alerts and find American travelers during an emergency.