"Do Not Travel" Countries for U.S. Citizens

Not even kalbahamut dares to travel to any of these countries! XD (According to his country map, anyway)

Loads to see in Iraq, Iran and Syria. If they manage to calm down over there I'm sure plenty will visit.

Iran is quite calm as far as tourism goes, it's just US government stirring up the pot especially lately.

I agree. Who is really interested in history, especially Roman or Persian or Mesopotamian, should absolutely go there when peace reigns again. If peace reigns again. And if the monuments are not destroyed by then.

I knew a couple of archaeologists who worked in Syria before the war; they loved it there and were saddened to see so much of its heritage lost. The way they talked about it, I would have liked to have gone there, too.

I tried to get to Iran. Didn't get he visa, but I would have loved to have gone.

I've also considered going to work in Iraq, as I have many friends who have made a lot of money there. And I had plans to travel to Syria before the civil war started I think in 2010... still wish I had gone. Not much left anymore. I wouldn't mind going to Libya. And North Korea I would probably pass on though I've heard trips there are pretty interesting. The rest... yeah I'll skip those.

Strange, North Korea is one place I would love to go to. Though the fact you would be paying to support a despotic dictatorship that routinely tortures its own people to death, does put me off actually going.

It would be as close as we can get to actually going back in time though and it is a pretty unique country.

I think I would be extremely annoyed by the fact that I wasn't allowed to interact with any locals that were not pre-approved, that all experiences were scripted and pre-planned with no deviations from the itinerary permitted, that I'd have government agents looking through my photos determining which I was allowed to keep. It's just a morbid very expensive puppet show they put on for tourists. I know it would be a unique experience but I also think it would be horrible. And that's to say nothing of the fact that your chances of ended up in a forced labor camp are pretty high.

Even though I would travel to some of these places I think the list is pretty reasonable with the exception of Iran. Though I know it is dangerous (mostly because the government is likely to incarcerate you for spying), compared to other countries on the list it doesn't really seem to fit. I know so many people who have visited Iran and had a lovely time doing so.

While North Korea definitely should be on the list, I don't think it fits with the rest of the list at all. The others are because of war, terrorism, lawlessnes/crime - and I think North Korea is probably one of the safest countries in the world considering terrorism/crime. While there is the risk of being locked up I doubt it's any problem if you stay very respectful and don't break the rules. Especially if you aren't American/South Korean/Japanese I would think.

Iran however I don't think fits the list at all. From what I know it's pretty stable and safe, at least if you stay in tourist areas. Probably only on the list because of US relations.

Kal, your reasons against going to N. Korea are the things which happened to my parents when they visited the Soviet Union in the 1970s. They weren't allowed to interact with locals and whenever their group went to a restaurant to eat, their guide went ahead of them and told everyone to leave their tables while the group ate. My mom said she could hardly eat, being watched by all those people standing along the walls waiting for the tourists to finish their meals so they could return to their own lunches. One of the men in the group was a smoker and once he forgot the rules and dropped a cigarette butt on the ground. Immediately a man materialized from nowhere and began tearing it apart as though he was looking for a secret message or something. It brought home to their group that they were always being watched. Still, my folks always said it was the best trip of their lives and there's always hope that N.Korea will someday be more tourist-friendly.

The best way to somehow see a different side of North Korea is to work with them, rather than just looking around. While it's not an option available to many people, there are some wonderful accounts that give also a glimpse behind the scenes: e.g. Guy Delisle's graphic novel Pyongyang (also translated to English) or Liberation Day, the documentary about Laibach's concert in North Korea.

That one American tourist got arrested and tortured for stealing a propaganda poster. Massive red flag there alone regarding their tourism.

Socotra is a lovely island off the coast of Yemen.

Any interest I have in visiting Yemen is mostly from the fact that all the Yemenis I met while I was living in Saudi Arabia were all such friendly people. But I still don't think I would feel safe going right now. Socotra might be okay as it's fairly isolated.

Surprised that Venezuela isn't here.

And Cameroon!

Well, it is now. Sadly.

I'd consider going there for work but I don't think I'd want to live there and I know I wouldn't make much money. I'd mostly be interested in going as a tourist.

Chuck Norris can go anywhere Chuck Norris wants.

post date: december 5th, 2018

Surprised Cameroon is not on the list tbh. Seeing as they’re in the middle of a genocidal civil war...

And Trump wonders why there aren't more immigrants from Norway...

Missed Libya and CAR :( .... : )

Yes and no. There are direct flights now. If you're creative enough, you can get a license, which is not granted for tourism. Without it, you still have to detour to another country.

missed Mali and South Sudan

Somalia's not so bad. As long as you're Somali, and you stay with your tribe, and avoid Al Shabaab, and drones, and hyenas, and malaria...

None of these countries are on the list randomly. I think you might be confusing the Central African Republic with Luxembourg. Common mistake.

You shouldn't be so harsh. Of course, CAR is not a safe place. But don't say things like that. It could hurt people that are on JetPunk and are from CAR. I'm not trying to be mean...

@quiantaene is this sarcasm?

I'm guessing people in the CAR have better things to do than quiz sites. Half their adult population is illiterate.

Pretty much the only part of CAR that is safe to visit is Dzanga National park in the extreme southwest of the country.

Surprisingly, this is actually the best park to see wild gorillas, forest elephants, and other wildlife in the Congo basin rainforest despite the chaos going on in that nation.

Why Haiti? Did I miss anything?

Was wondering the same thing. I just looked it up and apparently there have been massive dangerous protests going on and a lot of violent crime.

- someone from dominican republic

I got Iran, Iraq and North Korea. I'm British so I don't even know what this is!

I certainly wouldn't recommend going to the Sentinel Islands We've seen how that works out.

It's worth mentioning that the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Colima, Guerrero, and Michoacan are also listed as "Do Not Go" areas.

The countries on this list aren't necessarily forbidden to US tourists it's just that the State Department advises American citizens to not travel to them for any reason. That could be due to high levels of crime, social unrest, kidnapping, civil war, terrorism, breakdown in social services, or when the government of the country has a habit of detaining American tourists without good cause. So the countries are deemed not safe to travel to. There are other levels of travel advisories, which are:

Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution

Level 3: Reconsider Travel

and Level 4, the highest, Do Not Travel

I think they all fit in to one of the four unless the State Department hasn't bothered making a page about them. Maybe some places like the Vatican or Tuvalu?

Small countries like Monaco and The Vatican are just lumped into bigger countries, France and Italy respectively. Tuvalu might be lumped into Australia, but I'm not sure.

btw Sudan is at Level 4 now, not just South Sudan.

Congratulations on 1 million quizzes WolfCam.

I believe it’s quiz takes.

For my money Somali women are the most beautiful in Africa. Ethiopia might be a close second. And then those of the NW Mediterranean coast.

Didn't expect Mali - probably because of terrorist groups

Good quiz. Missed Venezuela only

Probably because of the corona

I bet if you updated it right now, the list would have about half the world's countries on it

The added ones are Indonesia, Mongolia, Haiti, China, South Sudan, and Burkina Faso. I’m surprised that Spain is only Level 2 but Italy is Level 3.

China? Because of coronavirus? Right now the United States is the most dangerous place in the world to be if you're worried about that.

... and I called it. The US isn't advising against or banning travel to other countries due to coronavirus... but other countries are banning Americans. This is what happens when you have a country without leadership.

Burkina Faso isn't there

This quiz is going to be very hard if its annual update is soon. The number of Level 4 countries has vastly increased thanks to COVID-19. Maybe exclude Level 4 countries whose only reason is COVID-19, or format the list into COVID and non-COVID columns, maybe?

1 year has passed since this quiz has last been updated - could you make an update?

I think I would sooner travel to Venezuela right now than Niger. Though I know there's a risk of kidnapping and a fairly severe breakdown in government services in the former. Niger doesn't seem much safer to me than Mali, Libya, or South Sudan. Though it's still not one of the 30 countries currently on the Do Not Travel list at the State Department website. Meanwhile, Georgia is. Thinking that this was crazy and maybe due to the outbreak of violence with Armenia I looked up why and it's actually due to COVID. Though that still seems odd to me considering the other 160 or so countries that are not on the do not travel list. Maybe it's a combination of the two.

oops Azerbaijan*... not Armenia.

And given all of the above I just commented, even though the complete list is only 30 countries and far from every country, it would still make for a very difficult quiz as many of those on the list seem somewhat random. Probably best to wait until next year to update.

the source you use (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/) added like 100 more countries

uzbekistan samoa sudan russia north korea nicaragua malaysia libya ireland iran fiji burkina faso belarus afghanistan ethiopia haiti sri lanka colombia trinidad nepal egypt png sao tome tajikistan turkmenistan syria somalia saudi arabia mali maldives kuwait iraq georgia drc czechia croatia chile belgium yemen vanuatu uruguay tuvalu tonga tanzania sweden suriname south sudan solomon islands slovenia seychelles roc paraguay pakistan netherlands nauru namibia mongolia madagascar lithuania lesotho latvia kiribati jamaica guinea guinea bissau estonia eritrea dominican republic cuba costa rica comoros car ivory coast myanmar brazil bolivia bangladesh bahrain argentina and algeria are all class 4 now (probably cause covid)

also only 10 are level one, 6 of which are in africa

Which includes South Korea as Level 1. Senegal too. And Comoros.

How about Burkina Faso?

I don't know if Iran should be on this list (I know you can't choose what the US does, I'm just saying). If you ever have been to Isfahan you'll know what I mean.

Ran out of time so didn't get CAF and Venezuela