I am booking a hotel for my first trip to Rome. Are there areas that are considered less safe than others? Thanks.

We stayed very close to the Piazza Navonna and it seemed very safe - even late at night. The area near the train station seemed not very safe to me...also an area in Trastevere where we went during the daytime was a bit seedy with lots of homeless, drunk people hanging around.

On our last visit we stayed close to the Campo de Fiori and it felt very safe. I have read that the area immediately surrounding Roma Termini (the main train station) is not that safe.
Kay

Hello bella17. My son in law, born and raised in Rome always tells me that the area around the train station (Termini) is not not the safest place to be,especially at night. He has said especially south of the train station is the worst.

I think most of Rome is quite safe.In the States,we're so accustomed to violent crime in our cities. I was in Italy for five weeks,and never really felt unsafe. The common kinds of crimes are petty theft,pickpocketing and the like,of course we'd all like to avoid that.
I stayed in Trastevere and there are a few vagrants there,but that doesn't necessarily translate to a safety issue. I think if you avoid the Termini area (and many people have stayed there and felt perfectly safe) you'll be fine.

I don't know Rome, but in many a city the area around the train station often is somewhat seedy (Geneva, Amsterdam, come to mind).

The other places I am wary is any area or site crowded with tourists (I think of this more for pickpocketing, than for true issues of personal safety).

I found most of Rome to be fairly safe, even late at night. I've beent there twice and never once did I feel unsafe or uncomfortable.

That being said, you would probably be better off staying around some of the more touristed areas, such as Piazza Navona or the area around the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps or Trevi Fountain.

We stayed at a small B&B a couple blocks from Termini - so I suppose it could be considered in the area of the train station. It was fine and didn't seem unsafe at all.

Of course, we were located right off of a major street (Via Nazionale), so that may have had something to do with it.

Many of the hotels in the Termini area are less expensive than other areas - if you're going to book in this area I would get a map to determine exactly where the hotel is located.

I walked among locals in severely degraded and poor areas of 3rd world countries, and I had no problems whatsoever (I guess I was lucky).
The only 2 situations where I was victim of robbery attemtps were in "safe" Rome. For the record, I must say that there were not violent attemps, in both situations it was enough to resist a litlle to see robbers walk away.
The first was a gipsy with a baby around Vatican walls, the second was a group of Roman teenagers in Forum Imperiale. The element of surprise is the key element, because you are not expecting any danger coming from a lady with a baby or a group of nice roman girls.

We stayed just off Piazza Navona. I wasn't ever out and about without my husband, but I would not have felt uncomfortable staying in that area without him. I would not feel comfortable alone near the Colosseum area, however. It seemed much sketchier, as did some of the areas of Trastevere. The area around the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain also seem quite safe. I did actually go out for a few hours to do some shopping while my husband napped. I had no problem being in the Vatican area or in the Spanish Steps area and then walking back to Piazza Navona by myself.

The only area in Rome I havn't felt totally safe was the area around the Termini at night. Though I never felt at danger even there, we saw some dirty things that would have been better left unseen to my teenage eyes. Besides that, I have walked all over Rome at all hours of the day both by myself and with others and never felt any threat.

Thank you so much for all your ideas and thoughts. It is very helpful.