Nice - dangerous?

[eyebeebe]

Going to Nice this weekend and saw this warning on Wikitravel. It wasn't something we'd really considered. Anyone been recently and have any thoughts?

Once regarded as an average French city with regards to crime, Nice has recently been plagued by a reputation as one of the country's most dangerous cities, with numerous statistics to prove it. While murder is usually uncommon, theft, burglary, and assault are now rife, and it is increasingly advised to not go out at night alone, even for men.

You can generally stay safe by following a few pieces of advice:

Take precautions against pickpockets, who are a constant, serious, and growing problem on the Cote d'Azur. They operate usually in teams in any crowded areas like buses, train stations, and tourist sites. Be vigilant at the tram station Gare Thiers where pickpockets prey on travel-weary tourists. They may well look like harmless fellow passengers but are extremely skilled and will lift your wallet from either your front or back pants pocket without your noticing. You are strongly advised not to carry anything valuable or annoying to replace in your pockets. Use pouches underneath your clothing for anything valuable, including cash. In restaurants and cafes opportunist theft of handbags is a constant risk - keep them close at hand.
Do not go to the sea front at night after 22:00 unless you are a group of at least 5. It's a dangerous area and you are likely to get in trouble.

[eyebeebe]

The Stiglet said:

x2

Interesting that there's no mention of terrorism in that. Again, applicable almost everywhere these days.

The thing with Wikitravel I guess is that it's crowd sourced and updated when people feel like it - if it's not been updated for a few months, then terrorism wouldn't be a specific threat.

[eyebeebe]

joshleb said:

If driving I'd keep the doors locked and just have general wits about you.

Don't go getting smashed then try to walk home on your own

Won't be driving, a friend on FB had said the same thing.

I guess I have misjudged the place. I'd thought Riviera, near Monaco, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels etc. I thought the biggest risk to my wallet was going to be paying €25 for a glass of champagne with a view!

The trip was planned as a general scope of the area to see if we fancy it for a holiday home/potential retirement place (a long long way off!). It may have slipped down the short list a little.

[eyebeebe]

Pick pocketed getting on the train to Monaco.Typical! Quite professionally done. Plans for the day screwed up.

[eyebeebe]

No Face said:

Really sorry to hear this OP.

Try to carry on and not to let it spoil your trip. Report it to the police, cancel your bank cards and get someone to wire you some money via Western Union if you've lost all your cash and you can collect it with your passport, assuming you still have that.

Bit late answering the original question now but Nice isn't dangerous at all in my opinion and is just like any touristy city; petty crime, pick pocketing and theft from unattended beach bags etc is all I've ever seen / heard about when I've been there, I've been going for years and aside from the memorials on the sea front and the park adjacent, you wouldn't even realise there had been any terrorist attacks, it's still as busy and beautiful as ever in my experience.

Hope you can enjoy the rest of your time there.

Thanks. Had everything cancelled within 5 minutes of it happening. They were trying to use the cards in an ATM as I was on the phone to the card company. Unfortunately they could only tell me the name of the bank and not the location. I keep a 'tile' in my wallet that connects to my phone and was actually able to find it when I'd worked out where the cash point was. Unfortunately they'd also found it and had left it on a ledge near the cash point. I was hoping they'd just thrown the wallet in the bin with my driving licence, travel pass etc. No such luck.

Fortunately my passport, and all my girlfriend's money/cards etc were back at the hotel, so at least we had access to more funds.

Ultimately it's all insured, so I should only be down the excess, but it did leave a sour taste in the mouth and messed up our plans when we only had limited time there.

I think you are right and it's no worse than any other tourist destination for that sort of thing. Very ironic that I was forewarned and on my guard and it still happened.

[eyebeebe]

johnwilliams77 said:

bad company said:

eyebeebe said:

Pick pocketed getting on the train to Monaco.Typical! Quite professionally done. Plans for the day screwed up.

Really sorry to hear that. How was it 'professionally done'?

Probably because they got it without him noticing and they were already gone?

OP - what do you mean 'tile' that they left at the cash machine?

This thread reminds me.... save all my numbers to cancel cards!

I tend to just take out a credit card and a small amount of cash each day on holiday. Minimizes the risk.

We were waiting on a busy platform to get on a busy train that was running late. A guy pushes through from behind/side and helps a woman with her luggage. I'd assumed at this point they were together. The guy then just stands there blocking me from following my gf who had got on first. Eventually I try to get past him and as I do I felt someone behind me take it out of my pocket. In the few seconds it takes to process it they've vanished and my immediate priority is to tell me gf to get off the train and then start cancelling the cards. Even as I was on the phone to my credit card company they could tell me that someone had tried a minute ago to get money out of a cash point. They could tell me the bank name but not location.

Tile: www.thetileapp.com

Considering we were heading to Monaco for the day, I didn't see having €200 on me as excessive.

[eyebeebe]

It gets worse. I think they must have shoulder surfed me when I was buying the train tickets. They got my pin and took out €600 from a cash point and managed to use it for another €250 in shops. Seems like the block isn't 100% instant. I'm gobsmacked and how efficient they've worked to be honest.

I assume that I will get this back, but my bank have just said someone will be in touch.

[eyebeebe]

bad company said:

Bugger! That does sound like the work of professionals.

Have you heard from the bank yet?

Another €400 has showed up today including more cash withdrawals. The bank are playing it cagey: I asked them to suspend the payments from my account i.e. I don't have to clear them off my account or pay interest on it while it is being fixed. Because they got my PIN number they won't do that The fraud department is now investigating, but they have to contact every retailer and bank. God knows what good that will do, but could take a month. It's been a bit of an eyeopener regarding how payments are authorised and processed - it's clearly not in real time. The transactions must have taken place after the block was put on, simply because of the physical distance between the retailers and ATMs and how quickly I had it blocked. They even helpfully let the thieves blast through my credit limit, because I'm a good customer, so they are flexible! I can only assume this is actually because the transactions weren't authorised in real time, because the pattern looks suspicious as hell and not in keeping with my spending history.