If I wore a backpack that has only a small zipper at the top where the flap comes down, would that be safe for Rome?
Or am I just asking for trouble?

We wear backpacks to school and they are on your back so you can't watch them. People used to stick things into our backpacks without us knowing it, I don't think it is a good idea.

I suggest swinging your backpack onto one shoulder and tucking it under your arm or against your chest, with your hand over the flap, when you are in crowded situations. Crowded street, train station, public transportation, street market, etc.

Others will tell you that you are asking for trouble, but I always use a small daypack and the above method. So far, 40 countries later, so good.

If you are really concerned, carry your passport, credit cards, and most of your cash in a money pouch, belt, whatever, that is worn under your clothes.

Question 1: No
Question 2: Only if you have something in the backpack you wish to keep.

Concur with above. The safe answers are, "No" and "Yes". Fanny packs look kind of dorky but get the job done.

Stefanaccio
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Abruzzo Rental Property

We just returned from Florence. A woman was carring a small purse like backpack on her shoulder (not even hanging on her back) and her wallet was taken out. She had NO idea. a local woman saw the act and grabbed her wallet back from the theives, yelled at them in Italian and handed the wallet back to this totally oblivious person. She had no idea it had been taken. That is how good they are. After that we did not even carry our wallets. My husband put a credit card and some cash in a waist belt and I carried a small purse with a very short starp that fit right in my armpit. I put a credit card and cash in a inside zipped pocket. That way if something happend to us we would not lose everything. We realized how quickly you can lose all your ID etc by having it all in one place. Thank you to that good Italian woman. She saved one tourist a lot of grief.

Number 1 - there should not be anything valuable (passport, money, credit cards) in your bag whatever style it is - backpack, shoulder bag, etc. Sure someone just told you a story about someone's backpack being picked, do a search on here and you'll find literally hundreds of stories of other kinds of bags being picked as well. NO bag is completely safe, and neither is your pocket. That's why you need an under the clothes style money belt!!!!!

Having said that, I always carry a backpack style bag on trips. Much easier on the back than a shoulder bag. And no one has ever even tried to pick it. But if they did they'd only get guidebooks, water bottle, umbrella, and general purse junk.

In a big CITY, no! I think you need to be careful in Rome. But for walks in the countryside, especially climbing or descending steep hill when you might want to hold a walking stick, backpacks are fine and very practical.

NO!

I am planning on taking my daughter on a trip to Europe in the (somewhat) near future - and I'll probably have her carry a lightweight backpack for all of her stuff - umbrella, jacket, etc.

If you have the type of backpack that zips with 2 zippers meeting together, I just saw this little gadget in the latest Magellan's catalog - essentially you clip together the 2 zippers with this thing. To release, you turn the dial to a 1 digit "combination" you have set, then pull it apart.

Maybe not so quick as just unzipping your backpack, but the feature of the "combination" makes it a little more secure than just pinning the two zippers together.

A backpack is OK for carrying your daily stuff (water, map, guidebook, lunch). But I would never carry valuables in it (passport, money). Those belong somehow, somewhere better secured on your body.

I really prefer (for myself and others!) a shoulder bag... people who wearing backpacks always seem to be knocking into others on planes, trains, etc. I think because it IS in fact behind-your-back.

My daughter had that type of backback and did not feel it being unzipped when she carelessly left a wallet in the zipper part. I suggest you carry valuables on your body in front. I bought her a small bag you wear around the neck that holds passpoprt and money and can be worn inside a shirt.

Depends on the backpack. It takes me about a month to get into it if I tie it shut, so there's no way a pickpocket is going to get into it.

We just got back from Rome yesterday, and we used a backpack while we were there, to carry water bottles, maps etc-but we didn't keep anything valuable in it. You'll see a lot of people wearing their backpacks on the front-especially on the metro and buses. A couple of times we used a small lock to lock the zippers together if we bought something and kept it in there.

While we were waiting in line at Termini to go on the Bus 110 tour, a woman who was on the top level of the bus warned us about our backpack because there was a group of boys who had been taking stuff out of people's bags in line.

We're very glad that we brought it since we didn't usually go back to our hotel during the day.

Just because a backpack is hard to access doesn't mean a thief could not slice it. I've read of that happening.

I always use a backpack and have never had a problem. No, I do not carry all my money in it or my passport. Don't be led into thinking that Italy(even in big cities like Rome or Florence) is any different to here in the US...just use common sense.

My daughter, age 25, was walking about 15 feet in front of us near the Pantheon. She had nothing in her backpack except a jacket and water. A group of boys were behind us. I keep my purse across and under my arm. They walked around my husband and me and started to go toward my daughter. She went from left to right looking in store windows. He followed. Just as he got within 3 feet of her I called her name. She turned around and they were face to face. He and his friends took off. He was going to take the whole pack. I know of many people that have had purses, backpacks and pockets picked.I should say picked and stolen. Yes, even fanny packs. So as so many of the posters above have said, yes a back pack is fine as long as there isn't anything in it you don't mind losing. In all of the years we have been going to Europe (sometimes for extended periods of time) I have never lost anything to Gypsies, but we are careful.

Nothing of value should go in your backback. Put an extra change of clothes should your luggage be lost. I learned that from a poster here.

Maybe I've been lucky, but I haven't had any problems with people attacking my back pack. In transit between destinations, I carry my laptop in my backpack. The laptop only weighs 5 1/2 lbs, so it's no problem for me to carry it in my back pack. Hard for me to imagine someone could lift it without my knowledge, but more important, I only use the back pack when changing hotels/cities. I'd rather have my valuables on my person, in my backpack, than in my 22" suitcase that I may need to throw on a luggage rack away from my seat on the train.

I also sometimes carry my digital camera in my back pack. The chances of a pickpocket getting both my laptop and my camera from my backpack seem slim to me, and those items seem even less safe in the suitcase I'm lugging than in my backpack.