Thinking about traveling to another country and would like to find the official travel advice from one's government? Most governments offer travel advice to most countries in the world. While official advice is very useful, it is often also very general. There are various ways to get accurate and informed information when traveling to unusual destinations or in uncertain times.

There are some places in the world where most travelers are just outright banned. When traveling one should see one's government's advice and take the suggested steps (like getting health insurance and registering with the government where one is planning to go).

The Official Travel Advisories Of English-Speaking Countries

As of the time of writing the global pandemic is still raging and so current official travel advice has been greatly impacted based on that. In this article, we will not consider the pandemic or any other current advice. We will discuss more about how travel advice works, and where to find official advice.

The official American travel advice is provided by the U.S. Department of State, the official Australian advice is provided by Smart Traveller, the Canadians post their travel advice on their official travel website, for New Zealand on Safetravel, while the official British advice is given by the Foreign Travel Advice section of their website. If one is not from these countries, it is likely there will be a similar official site for one's own country.

  • Official Advice: Most Countries Have Their Own Travel Advice For Their Citizens
  • Countries: Advice Is Normally Given For Each Individual Country As Well As Some Local Cities and Regions

The Australian Smart Traveller seems to be particularly loaded with all manner of travel advice that one could think of. It also includes a wealth of information covering a full range of topics ranging from being assaulted or finding oneself in a natural disaster.

Governments consider a range of factors when considering their travel advice. Factors can include crime levels in a country, reports of issues the government has received or read about, the political stability of a country, political tensions, whether the recognized legitimate government controls that territory (like in the secessionist region of Abkhazia in Georiga), and other factors.

Related: You’d Never Know These Countries Are Dangerous From These Stunning Photos

The Four Advisory Levels

Typically the advisory levels are broken up into four different levels, the U.S. State Department categorizes as:

  1. Exercise Normal Precautions
  2. Exercise Increased Caution
  3. Reconsider Travel
  4. Do Not Travel

Note, these four categories are also used verbatim by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and their respective advice is likely to be much the same. One gets the feeling there's either a lot of co-operation or copy-pasting going on. The Australian Smartraveller defines these levels as:

  • Exercise Normal Precautions: Use common sense and look out for suspicious behavior, as you would in Australia.
  • Exercise Increased Caution: Pay close attention to your personal security and the current health situation. Monitor the media for new and existing risks.
  • Reconsider Travel: Avoid non-essential travel. Do your research and check that your insurer will cover you...
  • Do Not Travel: ...consider leaving if it’s safe to do so. If you do travel, get professional security advice. Your travel insurance policy might be void. The Australian Government may not be able to help you.

New Zealand's definitions are a little more abridged "no significant security risk," "some risk," "high risk," and "extreme risk," in respective order.

A country may be one or more of these advisory categories - so there may be different advice for different regions. In the case of the United Kingdom and Iran, they can even give different advice depending if one is a dual national and if one is visiting Iran on their British or Iranian passport.

Related: These Tips Will Help You Stay Safe While Traveling To Dangerous Cities

More Tips about Government Advice

In the special case of North Korea, the U.S. State Department states for American passport holders "U.S. passports are not valid for travel to, in, or through North Korea, unless they are specially validated by the Department of State."

  • North Korea: An Example of Special Travel Advice for US Citizens

Some of these websites (like the Australian Smart Traveller) provide a range of useful information about the country in question - like the local emergency phone number (it's probably not 911).

  • Other Information: There Is Much More Information On These Websites Than Just Travel Categories
  • Tools: There Are a Number of Tools On these Websites (e.g. The Australian Site As a Tool For Emergency Consular Help)

These advisories can be very general in nature and one should always have reasonable precautions - unjust like one should do at home. Anything can happen anywhere at any time - just that it's much more likely in some places than others. Life offers no guarantees!

Next: 20 Least Traveled Places Around The World Because No One Knows They Exist