London - Bayswater Area Unsafe?
 

I read on another forurm where a traveller who just retrned from London said the Basywater area has become quite unsafe these days...anyone out there haave any experiences. I am leaving in 2 weeks for London

Stayed in the Bayswater area for a week in January and never felt unsafe. Walked all over the area after dark, rode the tube, and never had any problems. There were six in our group (4 gals 2 guys) and even when the gals went off in pairs they had no problem.

Hi Jo <BR>I am English and read your posting with interest. My family and I are visiting Florida in December - this will be our 4th visit to the USA. Each time I have never felt at particular ease, mainly because of all the shootings you have out there! Believe you me - Bayswater is probably safer than Orlando. In saying this, just use commonsense. As long as you stay 'streetwise' you will have no problems at all. <BR>Have fun!

you might die of boredom! there's not a lot going on there, very safe area

Could not agree more than with what Sarah said! There's nowhere you can go in London that will be less safe than almost anywhere you go in the States. Bayswater is safer than wherever you live now, even if you're from a small Kentucky town, from an affluent Colorado suburb, or an animal at the National Zoo. Count on it. Have fun and don't worry. <BR> <BR>Larry Lain <BR>

Fodors <BR> <BR>I wonder whether you're thinking of a correspondence here on Fodor's forum for Europe. At 10:29 on 26/04/00, under the title "Help! London safety for single women?" I wrote to a lady: "I think Notting Hill Gate a deal more lively, with more shops and pubs, than Marble Arch, which has richer <BR>people and less to do locally. Compared to Earls Court, Notting Hill, and Covent Garden, Victoria at night is not very lively. Not dead, but <BR>like Marble Arch not the tops." Those words do not suggest that Marble Arch is unsafe -- just that it's more boring than Earls Court, Notting Hill, and Covent Garden. Which is to say, as to safety in Marble Arch I agree with you. <BR> <BR>I'm not often in Bayswater, but you surprise me. The Arabs I see there are rich, and not given to hassling -- rather to being hassled. I wonder whether these hasslers are Somali or even Kossovan ? If they bother a traveller then he or she can just take the bus or the central line straight from Notting Hill Gate to Oxford Street -- or even to Marble Arch, if they can think of somewhere there to go to." <BR> <BR>With much courtesy she replied by e-mail: "Sorry Ben. Your advice has been very helpful to me with my planned trip next summer, please accept my sincerest apologies." <BR> <BR>And nobody else in that corrsspondence thought Bayswater anything but solidly safe. <BR> <BR>But if you can recall another forum that handled safety in Bayswater I'd be very glad if you'd tell me of it, so that I may see what misapprehensions are getting credence. It does trouble me that what may actually be under discussion is the fact that Arabs are visibly present in the area, so that racists and the inexperienced like to assume that it is unsafe. <BR> <BR>I did enjoy the reply from the citizen of the London Borough of Camden. I ought perhaps to mention that Bayswater lies in the London Borough of Westminster. Many citizens of each are pleased to be where they are, not in some alien borough. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR>Citizen of theLondon Borough of Lewisham <BR>

Just to add my bit. I totally agree with the other comments made. I used to live close to Bayswater and have also accommodated many tourists in this area without encountering problems. However, take sensible / normal precautions (don't carry large amounts of cash, or wear flashy jewellery). <BR> <BR>Mike <BR>Citizen of the London Borough of Merton