skye5

My husband and I will be vacationing in Provence and Nice in October. We will be renting a car to travel in Provence but taking public transportation in Nice to the surrounding areas. How much of an threat is theft from pick pocketing or scamming? Is crime at bus and train stations common or rare? Is there any particular type of trickery we should be aware of?

Lifeman

I've never had a problem in either area, so don't get too worried about. Take normal precautions when at an ATM, don't carry large amounts of money, be aware of your surroundings.

Most cities in the world have some sort of street crime, but in Europe you don't see much. Now in Barcelona.....

fmpden

We have traveled all over Europe over the past 18 years with absolutely no problems. But there are reports of petty thefts and you need to taken reasonable precautions. Just be smart. We prefer to use money belts and dress conservatively. And we have never had a problem in Barcelona either during our three trips there.

AtlTravelr

Just got back from a wonderful trip that included 4 nights in Provence and one in Nice. Our only problem was with a car break in so thought I'd mention this since you said you are renting a car. We were staying a little out of town near St. Remy and drove in one night for dinner. We parked (per our hotel's instructions) at the free TI parking, walked to our restaurant and had a lovely dinner. When we returned we saw that the small back window of our car had been smashed and so we can only assume they were looking to see if we had left anything in the car, which we had not. When we returned the car in Nice the check in person said "so you left something in view?" and was a little surprised that we had not actually left anything at all in the car - otherwise he sort of shrugged his shoulders as if this was not unusual. We did have a nice big "Happy Europcar Renter" sticker on the car and since it was parked at the TI I suppose they thought we had luggage, etc. in there.

But otherwise no problems, no one bothered us except the fake deaf/mutes in Paris with the petition. It was easy to just ignore them and walk away. Have a great trip!

november_moon

I wish rental companies would stop putting identifying marks on the cars.

Michael

<i>I wish rental companies would stop putting identifying marks on the cars.</i>

The Europcar vehicles often have the same registration <i>département</i> (76) which marks the car as belonging to a vacationer or a tourist once it is no longer in that area. The thieves do not need the sticker to know which cars to hit.

Christina

I've never had any problem in those areas, but I never have elsewhere, either. But from what I've read, such crimes can be more common in some highly touristed areas of Provence, and thefts from cars in particular.

So I'd be real careful about leaving your car anywhere with anything valuable in it. If you must, at least don't leave it visible.

I don't have anything to do with strangers much anyway who are doing or acting weird, so am not worried about scams. I don't talk to them. But if you do, be careful of anyone coming up to you in the train or bus station, for exapmle, who offers to "help" you with anything. Now mainly that would be anything involving money or a machine, of course. I have had some nice men help me with getting a bag on or off a train, but these were passengers. I would avoid offers of help by anyone who is just standing around in train stations.

skye5

Thank you for all of your comments. The story of the rental car window being smashed is a good reminder for us not to leave anything in the car. We always try to be alert to our surroundings but like to know of any particular dangers in advance of our trip.

kerouac

Take the same precautions everywhere -- Paris, Provence, Nice -- no difference in the risks (which are not huge in any case). Never leave anything visible in a car.

Recently I had the interesting experience of renting a car in eastern France and discovering only later (after making the usual inspection for dents, etc.) that the rear board that hides the trunk was missing. I just went to the local hypermarket, bought a cheap black blanket for 12€, and covered all of my stuff with that. Even knowing what I had done, I found it completely impossible to see anything in the back of the car (and even more so at night) -- and I had no problems.

Frankly, when parking a car, you will often see the sparkles of broken glass on the pavement, and you understand immediately that there is a certain risk.

macanimals

We've spent 8+ weeks in Provence and the surrounding areas. While we are always careful about pickpockets, we have never had our "radar" go off or felt threatened in spite of innumerable days in village markets and tourist zones.

That being said, while at I'sle Sur la Sorgue during the Sunday market a couple years back--I had occasion to visit an ATM. An "incident" occurred and the result was that my pin number and card eres captured by a thief which led to unauthorized withdrawals. I have reviewed the event and determined that "they" captured my info as I made a withdrawal and then used it until discovery. It was all done with some sort of insert in the ATM machine. The good news is my bank covered the losses. The bad news is I don't know how to prevent it from happening again. Subsequent withdrawals were made from banks in Marseille. The lesson is be very careful on Market days.
Good luck--it hasn't kept us from returning!

kerouac

I don't know if it is still an issue, but there was a problem of additional electronic skimmers being placed on ATM and automatic gas pumps. Everybody living in France is now alert to "strange protrusions" on card slots, and since 95% of the victims were French, the problem pretty much disappeared as soon as people became aware of what to look for and to never use a suspicious slot device.

SheilaMary

When driving through large cities watch out for "vol a la portiere" (there's even a special name for it). While your car is stopped at traffic lights, the door is suddenly whisked open and your bag snatched before you know what's happeneing -- the thief then makes off down the sidetreet on a moped driven by an accomplice. This can happen even in broad daylight and crowded places. So keep the door locks on whne in town and take care if in a convertible.

chartley

Our two cars are both French designed - an old Renault Clio and a new Citroen Picasso. Both have systems where the doors automatically lock once the car starts moving, and can then only be opened from the inside. This means that thieves cannot open the door and steal your belongings unless you open the door for them, or have switched off the feature.

Is this true of all modern European cars? You can hear the door lock automatically operating as you drive off.

skye5

Interesting to hear about the snatch and run scam. That's a great warning since I usually have purse, camera, map and guide book all in the front seat. I'll inquire about the doors that automatically lock when I'm renting a car. Good tip!

november_moon

chartley - I had a 2001 WV Golf had the automatic locking feature. My 2004 Mazda does not and neither does our 2010 Chevy. But the newer Hondas I have ridden in do.

ScamInfo_Comments

There are no Nice or Provence specific scams, but you should be aware of other popular scams in France (http://www.scaminfo.org/france)

november_moon

Correction - the 2010 Chevy does have automatic door locks.

sheila

I was targeted with the ring scam in Nice; and I outsmarted them. However, they nicked my wallet from my bag whilst I was being a smart ass.

CYESQ

Sheila: So sorry for you, but please tell us what happened. How did they get the wallet?

Tulips

Avoid rest areas along the motorway where there is not also a petrol station. It may be OK during the day when it's busy, but not at night; if you need a bathroom, stop at a petrol station.

I've never had a problem in France, and spend a lot of time there, but have heard otherwise from friends. Keep your passenger door locked, and watch out for scooters at traffic lights; often with one kid on the back of the scooter, who will grab your bag out of your car.

Don't worry too much about it, luckily most travellers don't have a problem with crime. Just be aware. Theft from cars is quite common, and there are are always pickpockets where there are tourists.