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Property crime in Rethymno

Ρέθυμνο · Municipality

Modelled estimate — how it is made
79/100

By type of crime

Rethymno scores 79 out of 100 (modelled estimate, Eurostat 2021–2024) for property crime — below-average crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. It is home to about 55,525 people (2021 census), 141 per km².

The score is absolute, not a ranking: 50 is the offence rate of Greece as a whole and every doubling of the rate costs the same points, so any two places compare directly. How the scores are made

Updated · police figures: Eurostat 2021–2024 · What's new

What Rethymno is actually like

Fine by day, care after darkThe note names what changes after dark and where; by day the usual precautions apply.

Rethymno is a Cretan town of about 36,000 people (2021 census) and the capital of its regional unit; the municipality also takes in the rural units of Arkadi, Lappa and Nikiforos Fokas. Its draw is one of the best-preserved old towns on Crete: a largely pedestrianised Venetian core with overhanging Ottoman houses, a small harbour ringed by tavernas and an 1830s lighthouse, all beneath the late-16th-century Fortezza. A long town beach starts a few minutes east of the old town and runs about 13 km to Skaleta, past Platanes and Adelianos Kampos on the bus 20 route. The University of Crete's Galos campus adds around 8,000 students. The weekly laiki runs on Koumoundourou Street by the Municipal Garden on Wednesdays and at Sochora, beside the courthouses, on Saturdays.

After dark

The old town stays busy until around midnight, with dinner on the Venetian harbour and bars around Plateia Petichaki and along Arkadiou Street, where the small clubs only get going after 00:30. Trouble comes late: the fights documented in 2025 broke out before dawn as young people left bars and clubs, and residents by the old harbour say it happens nightly. The Fortezza shuts at sunset. Out at Adelianos Kampos, treat the road crossings with care in the early hours.

What to watch for

  • Late-night fights on the bar street at the old Venetian harbour: around 5am on Saturday 20 September 2025 a brawl between young people ended with one thrown head-first into a shop window and taken to hospital; a resident told reporters drunk crowds leaving the bars cause the same scenes every night
  • Assault outside a nightclub: in the early hours of a weekend in April 2025 three men attacked a 17-year-old with a knuckleduster outside a Rethymno nightclub; he needed stitches, and police arrested all three and seized a little cocaine
  • Under-age drinking in bars: in September 2026 a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old were taken to Rethymno hospital after drinking at a beach bar, and police went after the two people running it - relevant if travelling with teenagers
  • The road through Adelianos Kampos: in September 2024 a departing tourist was killed by a motorcyclist on a pedestrian crossing at about 6.30am as he and his wife crossed with their luggage; the rider was arrested
  • The town beach is exposed to the northerly meltemi, which can make the sea unfit for swimming; Koumbes beach, about 1 km west of the old town near the bus station, sits behind stone breakwaters and is calmer

Staying here

Rethymno is a sensible base. The old town suits anyone who wants to walk to the harbour, the Fortezza and dinner, with boutique rooms in Venetian townhouses, though anything over the harbour bar street will hear the late crowd. For a beach hotel, look along the town beach a short walk east, near Koumbes to the west, or at Adelianos Kampos about 10 km east on bus 20.

Reputation against reality. Guides sell Rethymno as the calmer, more atmospheric alternative to Malia's big club scene, and for dinner and an evening stroll that holds. The local press shows a rougher hour just before dawn: after the September 2025 brawl at the old harbour, residents and shopkeepers described drunken scuffles and under-age drinking as a nightly, long-running problem and asked the state for tighter control of alcohol and more policing.

Streets and squares: Venetian harbour (old harbour) · Fortezza · Plateia Petichaki · Arkadiou Street · Koumbes beach · Koumoundourou Street · Platanes · Adelianos Kampos

Sources

Districts in Rethymno

47 places, by property crime

Safest

Most crime

All districts, largest first

The number on the right is how many people live there. The one on the left is its safety score out of 100.

Nearby municipalities

  • 80ChaniaΧανιά
  • 70HeraklionΗράκλειο

Questions people ask

Is Rethymno safe?

SafetyMap estimates Rethymno (Ρέθυμνο) at 79 out of 100 for property crime — below-average crime, on a scale where 50 is the Greek average. It is a modelled estimate, not a count of crimes recorded there: it comes from the police-recorded offence rate of its regional unit (Eurostat, 2021–2024), apportioned by how built-up Rethymno is and by documented local reporting. As a rate, the estimate comes to roughly 210 property and 59 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year. The written notes on this page class it as “Fine by day, care after dark”.

Is Rethymno safe at night?

The old town stays busy until around midnight, with dinner on the Venetian harbour and bars around Plateia Petichaki and along Arkadiou Street, where the small clubs only get going after 00:30. Trouble comes late: the fights documented in 2025 broke out before dawn as young people left bars and clubs, and residents by the old harbour say it happens nightly. The Fortezza shuts at sunset. Out at Adelianos Kampos, treat the road crossings with care in the early hours.

How does Rethymno compare with the rest of the Rethymno regional unit?

Rethymno is estimated at 79 out of 100 for property crime, against 78 for the Rethymno regional unit as a whole — about the same as its surroundings.

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