Two Hungarian towns ranked among world’s safest places: you can walk freely at night here

Our quality of life is fundamentally influenced by how safe the place we live in feels. Can kids play outside unattended? Can they walk to school alone? Can we go out for dinner or a night on the town without fear?

According to Numbeo, a crowdsourced global statistical database, two Hungarian towns have made the list of the world’s safest places, and both are located along Lake Balaton, which is great news for tourists.

This is Hungary’s safest town

Hévíz, ranked as the safest, has been a cornerstone of Hungarian tourism for decades. Despite having only around 5,000 residents, the small town in Zala County welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, including many from Austria, Germany, Ukraine, the UK, and formerly Russia. A number of them have even purchased property in town.

Mayor Péter Naszádos says the town’s legendary safety can be attributed to several factors. It has long been a safe place, with residents known for their strong sense of community, attentiveness to one another, and ability to communicate in multiple languages, helping them warmly welcome visitors and defuse potential conflicts. “We grew up in an environment where everyone spoke German and Russian. Then in the ’90s, English entered the picture. It became standard for the entire town to speak several languages,” he told Inforádió.