"The only time I really worry is when we are moving from one place to the next with all of our stuff."

I have the same concerns. It's the reason why I think a taxi is a sensible investment in some cities with a lot of pickpockets when you go from the airport to the hotel.

One more thing we do:

We take two different credit cards. The hub carries both of one kind (each of our names) and I carry both of the other. If one of us gets picked, loses it, whatever, the other has the other cards to continue on uninterrupted.

You dont leave anything of value inyourhotel room unless you have a safe that you know works.

If you us a moneybelt (I never have and don;t get it) youkeep all of your valuables in it. You carry in your purse or pocket just 1 credit card and your cash for the day.

You do not keep going into your moneybelt during the day to pull put more moey or ards or whatevery. It is supposd to be hidden and never used in public - or you have defeated the entire purpose.

I personally - after more than 70 trips to europe - just carry a purse - with my passport, cards and cash in my wallet - and have never had a problem. (Caveat: I'm a native New Yorker and seem to automatically take all sorts of precautions that may not be second nature to people from other places - based on reports here.)

Everyone has their own feelings as to what is "uncomfortable", or "too much trouble", etc. Some people don't think it's that big a deal to loose a day or two of vacation to getting a new passport, new credit cards, etc. But what I object to is giving others, especially those who have not yet traveled extensively out side of their own country, the impression that if they "are careful" and take "precautions" then they wont be pick-pocketed, or loose things. No one is so perfect that they never get careless and loose things. Pickpockets are way smarter and faster than almost every tourist (at least about pick-pocketing). So to imply that people who are the victims of loss or theft it's because they were careless, or not street smart or whatever, that's just wrong.

For a smart traveler, the best "precaution" is a money belt.

To the OP - as others have mentioned, you should weigh the pros and cons of a money belt. I bought one for my 1st trip overseas this summer, but wound up never using it. In retrospect, I should have saved the $14 I spent on it, too. so, I'm firmly in the "money belt is a waste of time and effort" camp. For a smart traveler, the best "precaution" is not to put your eggs all in one basket. Have backup cards, for example. Theft is only one (highly unlikely) threat. On my trip, my Capital One ATM card suddenly decided I could no longer withdraw money from my account in UK cash machines. Luckily, I had another ATM card (along with 2 different credit cards). Also, I kept my backup cards at the hotel, in a safe place. As far as passports are concerned, I only need it when entering a country. I can't understand why you would want to bring it with at all times. I spent 3 weeks in Ireland, UK, France and Belgium and only needed it when entering a new country.

Ultimately, you need to weigh not only the severity of the problem (risk a day or two of vacation to getting a new passport, new credit cards, etc.) vs. the likelihood of that actually happening. You tagged the post for France, which is a very safe country. Yeah, there's stories of pick-pockets and other petty theft, but even those are quite rare.

Instead of a money belt, with all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, make sure you have backups, and make sure you have access to phone numbers, account numbers, etc... Put technology to work for you. For example, create a Google account, then upload to google docs a list of your accounts and contact numbers for each. you don't have to include the actual credit card number, but enough info to deal with the problem should you lose your cards. Same for the passport information. If your hotel has room safes, use those (a lot more secure and convenient that a money belt!). Finally, don't forget the power of velcro; make it tough for those pick-pockets!

Never used a moneybelt and never will. I don't feel the need to do anything different in Europe from what I do at home, and have made probably 150+ trips there. Never lost a dime. I prefer to travel without paranoia, but rather assume that I am as aware on the streets of Europe as I am anywhere else in the world.

I have practically bent over laughing several times in stores in Europe watching American tourists do contortions to unpin things from inside their clothing and get into their moneybelts to make a simple purchase of a bottle of water or something. I mean, what could be more obvious to a prospective thief?

But to each his own. I'm comfortable with my level of security. DO what you think is necessary to keep your own self safe.

My wife’s purse was stolen in a bar in Rome – back was turned for only a minute. Camera, credit card or two and a bit of money, fortunately not passports. It can happen, and leaves a sour taste – and could just as easily happen in Sydney. Next trip, she’ll use a pouch under her clothing for passport and all but one credit card.

It’s easier for men – I mostly wear shirts with a zipper or buttoned pocket, and that’s harder to pick-pocket. And we travel in winter, so it’s easier to carry stuff under a layer of clothes.


More than anything, be careful with your passport. You can sort out stolen credit cards over the phone, but replacing a passport does take time. Can mean missed flights, cost big dollars, big delays. The advice to email copies of documents to your Gmail account is very good – I’ve done that with emailed copies of hotel bookings and with airline e-tickets.

The advice “be careful and you will be OK” is well meant, and nobody wants to be on holiday and freaked out by the possibility of theft. However, that one in a thousand possibility of theft can happen. The other thing that makes it tricky is that you have more stuff with you – maps, guide book, camera, water bottle, all sorts of bits and pieces that you would not normally take with you when shopping. Add to that struggling with language, and it can get confusing, easy to get distracted.

Someone advised somewhere – might have been in the Italy forum – that one should wear no jewellery and a cheap watch. I follow this advice when I am trout fishing – but feel pretty comfortable when travelling with my normal watch. I’ve never seen such lovely jewellery than in Rome. Women with gold ropes that would serve to anchor a super-tanker. Don’t seem to worry them none.

I think it also depends the type of trip. My Europe trips have been 3 weeks at most and in major cities. I use the same purse I do at home (no money belt). Maybe if I were backpacking, staying in hostels or doing a 6-month around-the world, I might feel the need for a money belt.

Practically every response refers to hotels with safes...but many of us stay in B&Bs or hostels. So there goes that option.

Sometimes I carry my passport on me and other times I don't. Sometimes I only carry the copy. It depends on the situation. But, when I carry it on me, it's in a money belt.

If I want to shop and get my detaxe papers done, then some stores/boutiques will accept a copy of the passport and others want to see the actual passport. That's the way it's been in my experience over the last three and a half decades of traveling in France and the world in general. Happy Travels!

Oh, I forgot to add that never having one's passport on one is ridiculous. I have seen people stopped, more than a few times, by the authorities and have to show some I.D. Twice while walking in the 7th, in Paris, I was eyed by police. On one occasion, the authorities had stopped a man on the street and was looking at I.D., and then as I got to the corner, they stared at me. But, I guess since they were so busy with him, they left me alone.

A really good friend, who has worked as an engineer, for international companies, for over a decades, was constantly stopped in Belgium, for example, and questioned. He's from Ghana. So, he wouldn't go out without a passport and papers. He got really tired of it. Happy Travels!

I agree with Paris Amsterdam's statement. If one gets pickpocketed at home, or in one's own country, it's a whole lot easier to take care of it than it is if it were to happen overseas.

One of my best friends, who's lived overseas for years and who also lived in Paris for a few years got pick pocketed in the metro. He had his passport, one or two credit cards, and some money in a pouch tucked in his shirt, but the guys were able to get it. He needed his passport for something that day which is why it was on him.

He was to meet me that day and never showed up. He and his friend were both at the police station making a report and the U.S. Consulate, I think it was, to get his passport replaced. Plus, there was the credit card situation. It took the whole day and he said it was a mess of a situation and he speaks fluent French. Plus, he and his friend were leaving Paris the next day. So, I'm for money belts. And I prefer the Eagle Creek ones. Happy Travels!

En route, I use a security pouch of some sort. Or, the inside zipper pocket of a small shoulder bag which I never set down, without the strap over my shoulder, anywhere. And, I take great care to restore my passport, card, change for purchases, to the security pouch as soon as possible.

You read/hear of folks planning to secure these items later, only to find that they have been relieved of same.

Once at our hotel or apartment, I store the passport, extra cash, surplus cash, etc., in the safe. If there's no safe, I have other secure (so far) storage places. I am reluctant to use front desk hotel safes, as there are too many reports of people not being able to retrieve their things when heading to the airport because the only person with access in not available.

Out and about, I carry a bit of cash in one very deep front pocket and a card or two in the other

St Cirq said (and I’m not taking a shot at her) < Never used a moneybelt and never will. I don't feel the need to do anything different in Europe from what I do at home, and have made probably 150+ trips there. Never lost a dime. I prefer to travel without paranoia, but rather assume that I am as aware on the streets of Europe as I am anywhere else in the world.>


The thing is that once you’ve been to a place over and over, it feels like home. Going somewhere 150 times means that it IS home, or well almost home. You can stroll the streets without looking at a map, you know where you are going, the camera is not in evidence. You walk with a sense of purpose, just like the locals. You’ll ignore the baby thrust into your arms, the people giving you the gold rings, all the scams and tricks. You’ll think “That girls is about to present me with her baby” before she even thinks of trying it. You’ll know that the ketchup scam is, well, a scam. You’ll decline the beggars in their own vernacular.


It’s just like being in your home town. You don’t need a GPS in your home town


Spare a thought for the first time visitor, being a bit lost, a bit not fluent in the local patois, thinking “Wow, look at that” when they first sight the Eiffel tower or a gondola. They stand out like sore thumbs – I know we did when we got scammed in Rome. The map was a dead giveaway.


I guess what I’m saying is that a little paranoia on the part of first time travellers might not be such a bad thing. Use a pouch under your clothing for that first trip – on your second trip, you’ll be a bit more relaxed. By your fifth, you’ll be laid back about it.

I do wear a money belt when traveling in a foreign country. I carry a copy of my passport in there, and an extra credit card and cash. I have most often left my passport in the hotel safe, so far no problems with that. I also leave a copy of my passport at home. I have one credit card and cash in an accessible place, a pocket, small purse, etc. that would be very difficult for a thief to get into.
In all my travels I've only encountered ONE incident, my friend was victim to an attempted purse snatching in Rome. A motorcycle rider reached out and grabbed her little pack, nothing of value at all in it. The strap broke and the rider nearly fell over, but it did drag my friend to the ground.
I think the biggest security plan is to have copies of cards and passports available, to be very aware of your surroundings, and to not go off alone or in unlighted places.

While OP is asking about France, I am curious how an all you need is being aware camp person rides buses in Napoli as a man (no purse) without being pickpocketed.

Here, I am aware that I will get pickpocketed. I can see the faces of people who congregate around the entrance to make people squeeze between them. I need to use one of more hands to hold onto a support pole, so neither hand is available to cover pockets. So in this case, I don't think I lack the mental awareness of the situation. I need to take this bus and rub my body tightly against these folks to walk past them in order to find a seat.

It depends on where you are. Some places are "safer" than others. What give YOU peace of mind.

It varies, but generally we keep passports etc. in a pouch attached to our belts under our clothes.

It is better to be safe than sorry.

On a school trip we had the opposite the students were far too trusting. One even left her passport in the seat pocket on the aeroplane! Luckily a teacher picked it up.

I'm one of the combo travelers. I do take a money belt, but it's a different kind and more comfortable to me. It's made with a loop to slip over your belt and hang inside your pants/skirt. No belt - no problem. I pin mine on to the waistband with a large safety pin. Much more comfortable than wearing one of the waist or neck styles!

I use it on travel days, plane, trains, etc. The rest of the time I leave my passport and extra card in the hotel safe. I carry some cash and a card in my travel purse, which I keep my hands on during sightseeing/in crowds. I never set it down and turn my back, even for a moment.

No problems so far.

But Peter, I don't do anything different in India or Morocco or Tunisia or anywhere else. It's not just that I "feel at home" in Europe.

I've been traveling around the world, 1-3 times a year, for vacation, for nearly 40 years and there are plenty of places that I feel comfortable in, but still use a money belt...except in Copenhagen where I lived for months out of a year and for a couple of decades. There, if I lose money, my debit/ATM card, etc... for whatever reason, it's connected to my bank account there and I can replace things like I can here at home in the States. Plus, I have friends there that could help me out if I needed anything.

And although I've been vacationing in Paris, 1-2 times a year and almost annually, since the mid 70s, I still use a money belt as I do in other places in the world. However, when I'm in Bangkok, I can leave a lot of stuff in the safe of my serviced apartment. I don't tend to use a money belt as much there as I just stuff money and a credit card into the zippered security pockets of one of my travel shirts or skirts and a little money in my wallet in a cross body shoulder bag. I've never had problems in Bangkok in over 12 years of going there. Plus, I don't need to go out with a lot of money there as I have an account there and just make sure that my debit/ATM card is secure, so that is I need money, while out, I can go to the ATM or if I need to charge something, I can just use the same card.

I have a lot of shirts and skirts with built-in security pockets and that are made for tropical, hot climates. So, if it's a hot climate, I pack the travel clothes with the security pockets. If it's cooler climate, like in Paris and other places, then I can't pack that kind of clothing and my regular clothes don't have those types of pockets, so it's time to shift to a money belt. Happy Travels!