Safest Countries in South America to Visit 2025

My thoughts on safe travel in South America

Latin America, can be a safe place when you know where and where not to go. It’s that simple, but you must take the right precautions.

However, you’ll need to be streetwise and have a good sense of direction to know when danger is on the horizon.

Of course, even then, you can’t always anticipate danger.

For example: look at the Ausangate Mountains in Peru. You’re likely not going to be robbed, but you need to know which routes to take.

If you happen to get lost, or take the wrong path (easily done without a guide), you might just find yourself in a sticky situation – real fast!

I’m saying this from experience, after traveling as far south as Argentina and to over 10 other countries in Latin America all by myself.

Danger is subjective!

Even though we’re exploring at our own risk when traveling foreign lands, we all know the type of danger we don’t want to be in.

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The safest country in South America

The statistics say Chile is the safest country in South America by the way! With its Spanish and indigenous elements and more than 6,000km of Pacific Ocean coastline it’s surrounded by the Andes mountains.

Chile, is said to be one of the safest places to travel in South America.

Although I’ve not traveled across all borders, I’ve gained a real sense of which are the safest countries in South America for new visitors.

When thinking of places to avoid in South America, I have not only walked with all my travel gear on my back, but I carried it through some of the most ugly and dangerous streets in Rio de Janeiro whilst in Brazil.

All without any incidents. But that could be just pure luck, right? For example, when walking in some of the safest places to travel in South America, people looked at me like I was about to rob them!

Things to Remember in South america

My point here is that there are some uncontrollable factors, many of which are somewhat inevitable.

How you look and how you carry yourself will decide your fate, not necessarily a specific country or city. You cannot hide being a gringo.

Popular tours seen in this guide:

• Medellín: Coffee Tour
• Pablo Neruda House & Wine Tasting
• Santa Teresa and Lapa tour
• Machu Picchu tickets

Did you know: Timing plays a big part in being subject to danger? Which is why you should avoid walking around late at night in most urban areas.

When you do, take precautions like getting a taxi instead of walking. In Bogota, I had to remind myself that even though the cost of living in Colombia is lower, it is still astronomically high for others on the streets.

I know this sounds obvious, but we underestimate how fast danger can walk into our day, especially as we get familiar with a new area.

It could be walking to the store to get some beers to take back to your Airbnb. Or, whilst in the middle of hiking in Patagonia without a guide.

You are always subject to Danger

What if I told you that you could still be subject to danger, even in the safest place in South America. Would you believe me?

I’ve walked through both dangerous and safe places with expensive camera equipment in my hand, and nothing has happened to me.

If you are a keen photographer like me, and you’re concerned about your camera equipment, I highly recommend that you have a cheap travel camera with you that you can afford to lose.

If you are really worried about petty theft and street crime, there are some great anti-theft accessories you can find on the market today.

🤔 Does that mean that South America is safe? Or, did I get lucky?

Let’s try to answer this question with a little more detail:

Look for trending places in South America

Despite being a little optimistic about the situation, I’d say safe to travel to, because I don’t want to put you off traveling to South America due to a single horror story or pretty crime that you may have heard on the news.

Let’s talk about some of the safest countries in South America and what to do to avoid danger while traveling.

For a heads up, here is an unordered list with four of the safest countries in South America that are trending right now.

• 🇪🇨 Ecuador
• 🇨🇱 Chile
• 🇺🇾 Uruguay
• 🇵🇾 Paraguay

Many factors account for the safest country, but these trending countries give you an idea on where to start you search for places to go that suit you.

Safe countries in South America

You can read about the best places to visit in South America but, let’s look at the safety scores by combining data from different sources.

These results are based on not only the Global Peace Index but the recorded homicide rates per country.

Also, data from a World Risk Report, which records a country’s possibility of natural disasters and their ability to deal with them.

1. 🇨🇱 Chile
2. 🇦🇷 Argentina
3. 🇺🇾 Uruguay
4. 🇧🇴 Bolivia
5. 🇪🇨 Ecuador
6. 🇵🇾 Paraguay
7. 🇵🇪 Peru
8. 🇸🇷 Suriname
9. 🇧🇷 Brazil
10. 🇬🇾 Guyana
11. 🇨🇴 Colombia
12. 🇻🇪 Venezuela

As you may know, South America is the home to 12 countries with a population of over 423 million and vastly increasing every year.

There are some extremely safe places to visit in Ecuador, but you won’t find ‘the best country to visit in South America’ that easy. Parts of Quito, Ecuador’s captial are some of the sketchiest on the whole continent.

But then when you consider the cultural traditions, landscapes, and biodiversity, it starts to become tricky to choose not to go, trust me!

Your turn to travel…

Whether packing for the packing for the Galapagos or bombing down the death road on a push bike, try to minimize risk by being vigilant.

Understand who you are in relation to the place you’re in. Use your brain, be smart and utilize some of these ideas.

This is a guide designed to help you to start to think about the dangers and pitfalls so you can start to decide which place to visit in South America.

All in all, I hope you have a pleasant experience no matter where you go on the continent. Feel free to share this guide with any friends and family that you know are thinking about visiting South America in the near future.