No, not really. There are some areas on the outskirts that are slightly iffy, but those are areas a tourist won’t really need to venture into anyway.
Rome has a bad reputation, that much is true. That reputation is mostly caused by the plague of pickpockets, though, and they are very hard to avoid since they are mostly present where tourists can be found: on the buses (especially the 64 and the 40 that travel between Rome Termini and the Vatican City), on the metro, near the museums and monuments of Rome, etc.
So, on the buses and the metro, be careful. And when somebody asks you a question or seems to lean into you without reason, be extra careful. Pickpockets work in packs: pickpocket number one attracts your attention, pickpocket number two picks your pocket and passes his bounty to pickpocket number three who runs off with it, while pickpocket number four (and maybe number one also) just happens to be in the way in case you are trying to run after number three. (The fact that the buses and metros tend to be packed with passengers doesn’t help either. It is very hard to tell whether somebody is pushing up against you with bad intentions or because they can’t help it since somebody else in turn is leaning into them. A tell-tale sign might be the jacket casually hanging over their underarms in midsummer when it is too warm for a jacket.)
On the buses and metros, do not have your daypack on your back. Carry it in front of you where you can see it. Numerous people have had their backpacks opened, emptied of valuables and closed again. And by the time you notice your wallet is missing, your bank account might be quite slimmer than it was before you started your day’s worth of sightseeing.
In Italy children younger than 14 cannot be prosecuted, so the gypsies often send their children out stealing. Be careful when you see a bunch of kids running up to you and put your hands on your money or your purse. Also here, a couple of them will start pushing and pulling you with the aim of getting your attention diverted so that the one with the quickest fingers can get to your valuables.
When somebody comes up to you in the street and they push a piece of cardboard or a newspaper against your body, step back or push the paper away. There is always a hand underneath it.
In the past the gypsies were easily recognizable, because of their long and colorful dresses. They have realized that and now they often look like the average person out for a stroll. The thieves on the buses tend to wear sneakers and jogging pants (presumably to make it easier for them to run away in case they get spotted), but this is not a rule.
Keep your money in a money belt and keep that underneath your clothes. It could be safer to have two wallets instead of just one. Use one of them to old your small change and leave it where it is visible while you keep your real money, you credit cards, your passports and whatever else of worth you may have with you in the – hidden – second wallet.
The good thing is that the pickpockets never resort to violence. There are no muggings, no knife threats or whatever else you might get in other big tourist capitals of the world.
I am often asked whether the Rome hostel Chaplin Bed and Breakfast and the B&B Little Italy are in safe areas. Across the road from the Chaplin B&B is one of Rome’s biggest police barracks and the Bed and Breakfast Little Italy also has one police station on the corner and another one 3 blocks away.
