Romanianflyer

Exactly this.

it reminded me of Belgium (after the BRU airport & Maelbeek metro bombings) introducing checks at entering the main Brussels train stations.

hugely disruptive for people - but terrorists? Nah, if they wanted they could hop onto any regional train from a Brussels suburban station without checks and still be able to get into the main train stations.

I understand the fear people have - but you are absolutely right that no matter what we do besides the authorities preventing as many attacks as possible, there are always targets.

cayohueso

A random act of violence is exactly that, random. No amount of planning or really even caution can prevent that. The reality is that we live in a world of instantaneous delivery of information, and mostly delivered not to inform but to sell you something (advertising). A terrorist attack gets a lot of clicks. The perceived risk is so absurdly skewed because of this. You are at much greater risk from your own or some other person's stupidity.

WilcoRoger

Thank you for this insightful information on behalf of a whole continent

and also on behalf of the law enforcement community of the continent

worldiswide

You are exactly correct. We cant live in constant fear of everything. Enjoy and explore the world. A friend has a great saying, We wont get out of this life alive.. and to that I add, our choices are about how we live! There is a balance in everything we do.

CDTraveler

We're leaving for England soon. The recent and terrible terrorist attacks spooked me a bit - the one in Manchester is a very short walk from our hotel, and in the photos following the London attack you could see the building where we will be staying.

From following the BBC coverage and Met (police) news, I picked up a few things that we've incorporated into our plans.

1. when you're out and about, always wear shoes you can run in. Yes, that sounds a bit ridiculous until you read about how many escaped the knife wielding attackers by simply running away. I left the high highs and loose sandals out of my suitcase.

2. sign up for Twitter alerts from local authorities of the city you'll be visiting. We now have the Metropolitan Police and BBC Breaking News alerts on our phones.

3. study maps carefully before you go out, use Google street view to get a sense of places.

4. try to visit the most popular attractions at off peak hours, when the crowds are smaller (this I've done for years - shorter lines!)

One the Met website was also information on a silent way to communicate with the police in the UK if you are in a situation where you can't talk. It isn't exclusively related to terrorism, but might be useful in any situation where you feel threatened and are trying to stay hidden.

We're not staying home this year, but we are going to be a lot more careful than on previous trips.

JBord

This is something everyone should do, whether they have concerns of terrorism or not. Just a matter of general awareness, safety, and better understanding and enjoying your trip to a new city. It always helps me to be more efficient on those days I'm trying to fit in a lot of sightseeing as well.

Ldnn1

And remember that the best way of getting your bearings in a city is to walk around. You'll get much more familiar with your surroundings than you will if you just get driven everywhere on tour buses or other transport. Walking really is the best way to enjoy pretty much any European city.

GUWonder

I can't really fully appreciate most European tourist destination cities until and unless you get around a good deal on my feet. Being shuttled around in a car/taxi/bus from one tourist destination to another just to say "been there, done that" just doesn't cut it for anything more than saying "seen that" -- and that's not my way to travel if I can help it.

Sure, the risks are different when taking mass transit, when walking and when using taxis and aren't uniform across all locations, but I don't go around thinking that I am at greater risk of being injured or killed by violent criminals of any and all sorts in the EU than in the US. If anything heightened situational awareness and caution is more needed in the US than in the EU. Encountering people with road rage and weapons with a willingness to use them seems way more of a problem in the US than in the EU.

I'd say a visit to US cities requires way more heightened situational awareness/caution than a visit to England or Belgium, if you want to avoid being the victim of violence by non-state or state actors.