Paris, London, New York and Bali may be at the top of many an avid traveller’s to-do list, but there are many other beautiful and exotic locations off the beaten path that are equally worth visiting. However, veering too far off the beaten path can mean you won’t be able to get travel insurance.
The Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a handy section on the Smart Traveller website that classifies countries with safety advice levels. For example, Greece and the United Kingdom have a rating of ‘Exercise Normal Safety Precautions’, while Egypt and Bangladesh have ‘Reconsider Your Need to Travel’ warnings. However, it’s the ‘Do Not Travel’ list you need to check if you happen to be planning a trip to a more controversial destination.

As a general rule, insurers will not cover your trip if you are planning to visit a destination where a travel warning has been issued – which is why it’s so important to check the ‘Do Not Travel’ list on the DFAT website. At the time of publishing, the list consisted of 13 destinations:
Destinations your travel insurer won’t cover
- Yemen
- Venezuela
- Syria
- South Sudan
- Somalia
- Niger
- Mali
- Libya
- Iraq
- Chad
- Central African Republic
- Burundi
- Afghanistan
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Want to know what the most-visited cities were in 2019? Watch the video below.