Anyone travelling to these destinations could invalidate their holiday insurance
There are certain spots around the globe that are considered quite risky, and travellers heading there receive guidance on safety precautions they should adopt to avoid mishaps.
However, only 55 locations feature on the ‘do not travel’ list, which has been flagged with a warning by the Foreign Office.
Anyone journeying to these places will be voiding their holiday insurance, meaning if things go pear-shaped, they’ll be left without support. Officials also caution that they could be jeopardising their safety. If you require consular assistance locally, it will likely be difficult to obtain.
For specific countries, the Foreign Office also advises against all but essential travel, implying you should reconsider any holiday plans The Foreign Office cautions: “Get advice and warnings about travel abroad, including entry requirements, safety and security, health risks and legal differences.”
It explained: “No foreign travel can be guaranteed safe. FCDO publishes travel advice to help you decide if it’s safe enough for you to travel to a particular destination. In some instances we also give information about how to reduce the risks you may face there. All environments contain some level of risk and you should consider what precautions you should take.
“You must take personal responsibility for your own travel. Only you can decide whether you should travel to a country or stay there, and what activities to take part in.”
People may face different risks due to their:
- gender
- ethnic background
- sexuality
- health
The Foreign Office has general guidance for specific types of traveller to help you understand some of these risks.
The FCDO sometimes formally advises British people against ‘all but essential travel’ or ‘all travel’ to a particular country. It said:
“Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from FCDO. We only advise against travel if we think the risk to British nationals is unacceptably high. For example, this could be due to:
- armed conflict
- military coups
- civil unrest
- disease outbreaks
- natural disasters
“For terrorist threats, we only advise against travel:
- in situations of extreme and imminent danger
- where the threat is sufficiently specific, large-scale or widespread to affect British nationals severely
“We may advise against travel to:
- a whole country
- parts of a country
“The ‘Warnings and insurance’ section of each travel advice page lists all the areas where we advise against travel. If you want to know about changes to travel advice for a specific country, you can sign up to receive email alerts about updates.”
FCDO advises against all travel
- Afghanistan – “The security situation is volatile”
- Belarus – “You face a significant risk of arrest”
- Burkina Faso – “Due to the threat of terrorist attacks and terrorist kidnap”
- Haiti – “Due to the volatile security situation”
- Iran – “British nationals are at significant risk of arrest”
- Mali – “Due to unpredictable security conditions”
- Niger – “Due to the rise of reported terrorist and criminal kidnappings”
- Russia – “Due to the risks and threats from its continuing invasion of Ukraine”
- South Sudan – “Due to the risk of armed violence and criminality”
- Syria – “Ongoing conflict and unpredictable security conditions”
- Yemen – “Unpredictable security conditions”
FCDO advises against all travel to parts
- Algeria – all travel to within 30km of Algeria’s borders with Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Tunisia
- Armenia – within 5km of the full eastern border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the M16/H26 road between the towns of Ijevan and Noyemberyan
- Azerbaijan – within 5km of the Azerbaijan-Armenia border
- Benin – northern border regions
- Burundi – Cibitoke and Bubanza provinces, former Kayanza province, former Bujumbura Rural province and the RN5 road north of Melchior Ndadaye airport
- Cambodia – within 50km from the border with Thailand
- Cameroon – Bakassi Peninsula, parts of the Far-North Region, North-West Region and South-West Region and within 40km of the Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria borders
- Central African Republic – against all travel except to the capital, Bangui
- Chad – Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, Ennedi Est and Tibesti provinces, Kanem Province, including Nokou, Lake Chad region and within 30km of all Chad’s other borders
- Congo – within 50km of the Republic of Congo-Central African Republic border in Likouala Region
- Côte d’Ivoire – within 40km of borders with Burkina Faso and Mali
- Democratic Republic of the Congo – within 50km of the border with the Central African Republic, the province of Kasaï Oriental, the Kwamouth territory of Mai-Ndombe Province and provinces in Eastern DRC
- Djibouti – Djibouti-Eritrea border
- Egypt – within 20km of the Egypt-Libya border and the North Sinai Governorate
- Eritrea – within 25km of Eritrea’s land borders
- Ethiopia – international border areas, parts of the Tigray region, Amhara region, Afar region, Gambela region, Oromia region, Somali region, Central, Southern, Sidama and South West regions and Benishangul-Gumuz region
- Georgia – South Ossetia and Abkhazia
- India – within 10km of the India-Pakistan border and Jammu and Kashmir
- Indonesia – Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, Mount Sinabung, Mount Marapi, Mount Semeru, Mount Ruang, Mount Ibu
- Iraq – advises against all travel to parts of Anbar province, Basra province, Diyala province, Kirkuk province, Ninawa province, Salah al-Din province, Sadr City and within 30km of federal Iraq’s borders with Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
- Israel – against all travel to Gaza, parts of the West Bank and Northern Israel
- Jordan – within 3km of the border with Syria
- Kenya – Kenya-Somalia border and northern parts of the east coast
- Lebanon – areas in Beirut and Mount Lebanon Governorate, the South and Nabatiyeh Governorates, the Beqaa Governorate, the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, the Akkar Governorate, the city of Tripoli and Palestinian refugee camps
- Libya – advises against all travel to Libya except for the cities of Benghazi and Misrata
- Mauritania – Eastern Mauritania and within 25km of the Malian border
- Moldova –Transnistria
- Mozambique – Cabo Delgado Province
- Myanmar (Burma) – Chin State, Kachin State, Kayah State, Kayin State, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing and Magway regions, Tanintharyi Region, Shan State North, North Mandalay Region
- Nigeria – Borno State, Yobe State, Adamawa State, Gombe State, Kaduna State, Katsina State, Zamfara State and the riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states
- Pakistan – within 10 miles of the border with Afghanistan, areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and the Balochistan Province
- Philippines – western and central Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago
- Saudi Arabia – within 10km of the border with Yemen
- Somalia – advises against all travel except the western regions Awdal, Maroodijeh and Sahil
- Sudan – against all travel except to the Hala’ib Triangle and the Bir Tawil Trapezoid
- Palestine – against all travel to Gaza, parts of The West Bank and Northern Israel
- Thailand –parts of the south, near the Thailand-Malaysia border, the Hat Yai to Padang Besar train line and within 50km of the whole border with Cambodia
- Togo – within 30km of the border with Burkina Faso
- Tunisia – parts of Western Tunisia, including the Tunisia-Algeria border and Southern Tunisia, including the Tunisia-Libya border
- Turkey – within 10km of the Turkey-Syria border
- Ukraine – all regions of Ukraine with the exception of some western regions
- Venezuela – within 80km of the Venezuela-Colombia border, within 40km of the Venezuela-Brazil border, Zulia State
- Western Sahara – within 30km of ‘the Berm’ boundary line and areas south and east of the Berm boundary line
FCDO advises against all but essential travel
With regard to the definition of ‘essential travel’, the FCDO says: “Whether travel is essential or not is your own decision. You may have urgent family or business commitments which you need to attend to. Only you can make an informed decision based on your own individual circumstances and the risks.”
- North Korea – “The security situation can change quickly with no advance warning”