pick pockets in Rome

Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 01:46 PM
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pick pockets in Rome

I am now a little nervous about the many mentions of pick pockets in Rome. I will be traveling alone(single female) and will walk from the main train station to my hotel about 15 minutes away with a rolling suitcase. Hotel Centro- Should I expect a bump and run or will anyone try to seriously grab my suitcase out of my hand?
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 01:52 PM
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Pick pockets are everywhere. Be sure you have your valuables in a safe place on your person so thieves cannot grab them. Walk with confidence and don't look like a tourist!
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 02:03 PM
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***don't look like a tourist!***
Pry tell us exactly how do you do that?
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 02:07 PM
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Yes -- definitely avoid looking like a tourist . . . dragging a suitcase??? Just how does one manage that?

blaneturner: Pickpockets don't want your suitcase -- they want your €€/$$/credit cards. If you are nervous use a money belt -- at least for the walk to from the station to your hotel.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 02:33 PM
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I've spent many hours lurking around Termini train station - as a rail nut watching trains and inside the station may be the biggest problem - folks coming up and asking questions or showing you some piece of paper whilst their cohorts are pickpocketing you - but if you know there is a problem then the problem is largely avoidable - do as janis says carry all valuables in a secure money belt that goes under your clothes in front - not a thing around you neck that could be wrenched off in the worst scenario.

Outside the station there is at times a seedy crowd but that does not mean they are all out to get you. Just keep walking at a steady pace and just ignore anyone coming up to you for anything.

Though pickpockets are a bane of the station and area it is unlikely to happen - especially if you know there is a problem.

Put angst to rest - in hours of lurking around the station I've never had a problem but I did avoid talking to once a group of several immigrant types who came to me when I was reading the posted timetable and asked me to help them - they may have been sincere or they could have been thieves working in a group with the old distraction and pickpocket routine.

There was a recent Fodor's thread talking about real problems inside Termini station - try to track it down.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 04:53 PM
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Frankly as a woman alone there is no way I would haul my luggage through the streets like that - but just hop a cab. They are cheap in Rome and you aren;t going that far. (Also don;t know exactly where the hotel is - but have you dealt the Roman traffic before - most intersections dont have traffic lights.)

For other days just be sure everything in your purse or daypack (worn cross body) is secure. And NEVER put it down anywhere - not even in public rooms of your hotel.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 05:06 PM
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Yes to getting a cab instead. Between following directions, traffic, and cobblestones, I just wouldn't want to bother with dragging even a small rolling suitcase when a cab is easy to find and not that expensive.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 05:43 PM
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Your hotel is only 700 meters (maybe 10 blocks) from Termini, and it probably wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to walk there. But I also wouldn't want to pull a suitcase for several blocks, and I admit I don't pinch euros when I travel.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 02:02 AM
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Rome's not super dangerous or anything and a 15 minute walk should be doable but I don't think that's the best idea after dark. Not every guy lurking out there is a nice dude who wants to help you with your bag at night and that would be a bad time to have your hands full. If you do it wear a moneybelt anyway. Taxis are cheap and that would be a way better option than having to drag your bag down possibly narrow crowded streets or through Rome traffic. I don't know where your hotel is exactly but I'm sure there's a bus tram or train that runs to it from Termini if it's only a 15 min walk? That's cheap and safe.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 03:03 AM
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I wish people would stop equating "immigrant types" as suspect thieves on Fodor's. Rome has a large and active population of native Italian thieves, including pickpockets and bag snatchers and "helpers", plus Italian overlords and corrupt police who control the streets of Rome and the train station areas and tourist sites.

Furthermore, most "Fodorites" have no real idea who looks "Italian" and who doesn't. They are ready to identify anyone who behaves like a potential pickpockets as a non-Italian. It's circular prejudice.

People on Fodor's talk and post as if this kind of language had no real negative consequences to real live innocent human beings. Maybe they should blather less on the internet and read a few more books of 20th c. European history, and what followed from accusations of most gypsy and Jews being thieves and running pickpocketing gangs.

Anybody traveling in a situation new to them anywhere in the world, where they don't speak the language or know their way around is well advised to resist the urge to respond to strangers, no matter what they look like to you, and to keep all valuables very secure. And try to keep an open mind as well as open eyes about all the immigrants you'll be seeing in European train stations these days. Many of them -- probably most of them -- are finer people then you'll encounter in the most "respectable" meeting places of Europe.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 06:07 AM
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The Hotel Centro looks to be no more than a 5 minute walk from Termini, assuming no mobility problems. I'd be embarrassed to take a cab that short a distance. And although there may be some unsavory types hanging around the train station, I've always felt perfectly safe in that area. Just use common sense, and keep walking.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 08:56 AM
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Huh? One poster used the term "immigrants" and that equates to "most Fodorites". That a jump.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 09:10 AM
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zeppole/sl: Since most Fodorites are beneath contempt, it must be hard for you to hang around.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 09:15 AM
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I've been to Rome at least 20 times. The first time, I got lost and a 'helpful native' kept wanting to carry my suitcase for me. I declined and he left me alone.

If you're arriving during daylight, you really have nothing to worry about as long as you use common sense. If it's dark, I still feel you'll be okay. The Termini area gets bad comments here because, for the most part, it's not as elegant as many other areas; but, it's really no worse than that around the Gare du Nord in Paris or Victoria Station in London.

It's really a short walk and if you stay on the very well lit streets, I don't think you have anything to be concerned about.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 09:22 AM
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As mentioned way earlier on this tread, thieves don't want to steal your clothing/suitcase.

It's cash, iPhones, etc. that would be the target. Just have your purse/valuables secured someone on your person (cross-body bag, money belt, whatever) while you're in transit in public.

Or take the suggestion of grabbing a taxi even though it's only a short distance, if you are nervous about this.
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Old Sep 24th, 2015, 05:16 AM
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Thank you all for the great tips. I leave next month and will let you all know how I managed. I appreciate the time you took to respond. Thanks again, Blaneturner
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Old Sep 24th, 2015, 06:31 AM
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"One poster used the term "immigrants" "

Interesting that the one poster who HAS come close to equating "immigrants" with thieves rarely loses an opportunity to attack those he thinks support Britain's Conservative party in general or Margaret Thatcher in particular.

Doesn't, of course, prove that all pseudo-liberals are bigots. But it does indicate just what repulsive foundations much opposition to realistic politics is built on.
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Old Sep 24th, 2015, 07:09 AM
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Having traveled in Italy since 1980 and every year since 2005, I've witnessed many tourists being accosted by individuals and groups of thieves. Now, since we are in our late 60's we seem to be more of a target, so we try to extra aware of our surroundings. Incidentally, we've stopped using Bus #64 to go to the Vatican because it's nickname is the "Pickpocket Express."

In May, 2014 three well dressed young men, about 10-12 years old, tried to do the "stall, bump, and dip" routine on me at the Ottaviano Metro station. Fortunately, they were unsuccessful and they would have only gotten one day's spending money.

In July, 2009 a woman tried to pick my pocket on the metro going to the Colosseum and I caught her and beat her with a water bottle. She was unsuccessful.

As a rule of thumb, I wear a money belt in the big cities and only carry one day's cash in a pocket. If a thief is successful, that person will only have some money and our vacation will not be ruined.

For the last two years we've used limo services to meet and/or take us to the airport, and they are worth every euro. We do not need to drag the luggage very far using this strategy; door to door service.

The thieves present the bank robber Willie Sutton's philosophy toward thievery. When asked why he robbed banks, Willie is alleged to have responded, "That's where they keep the money." Well, the pickpockets know tourists have valuable items such as cash, credit cards, cameras, cell phones, etc. Plus, if they are caught it's unlikely the tourist will return to press charges.

Enjoy your travels, but remain alert.

Buon viaggio,
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Old Sep 25th, 2015, 12:22 PM
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I used immigrant types because much of the problem is with illegal and legal immigrants who have no money, may be drug addicts or whatever - yes it is not PC to say to say watch out for immigrant types coming up to you but I guess non-ethnic Italians seem to IME be the bulk of street theft - the 'immigrant types' who came up to me looked like Albanians just off the boat - sorry for offending righteous flanner or others.

same with using Gypsy or Romani girls who are a plague of Paris right now - working in pairs - if they come up to me with a petition to sign I sign off right away.

Reality is reality and best to warn folks to the real situation. Ain't the immigrants' fault that they are allowed into a country where they have no jobs or much income and have to resort to such activities.

Fortress Britannia has not had to grapple with many illegal aliens like much of Europe.
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Old Sep 25th, 2015, 01:56 PM
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"Ain't the immigrants fault that they are allowed into a country where they have no jobs..." ??? Lots of them haven't been "allowed" in, they just turn up. And of course it's their "fault", they chose to go there, nobody forced them to.
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