While countries all over the world advise their citizens on the safety measures to take when travelling abroad, the advice from the U.S. Department of State is traditionally seen as one of the most important sources of information on the subject. On 13 January 2026, the U.S. updated its travel advisories list, and 22 countries have been qualified as Level 4, a.k.a. ‘Do Not Travel’, destinations.
“A Travel Advisory is a report from the U.S. Department of State that describes the risks and recommended precautions for U.S. citizens – not foreign nationals – in a foreign destination. The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. Information contained in these advisories reflects an assessment of threats only insofar as they may impact U.S. citizens, nationals, and legal residents,” the U.S. Department of State writes.
We issue Travel Advisories with Levels 1 – 4. Level 4 means Do Not Travel. We assign Level 4 based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help Americans there. These places are dangerous. Do not go for any reason.
— TravelGov (@TravelGov) January 8, 2026
The Travel Advisories for the following countries… pic.twitter.com/cDMJJKHcH2
The U.S. Department of State has four different levels of threat, going from Level 1 (Exercise normal precautions) and Level 2 (Exercise normal precautions) to Level 3 (Reconsider travel) and finally Level 4 (Do not travel). Level 4 “is the highest advisory level due to life-threatening risks. Specific risks are described in the Travel Advisory. The U.S. government may have very limited or no ability to help, including during an emergency. We advise that U.S. citizens do not travel to the country, or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so.”
While the list issued by the U.S. is considered as one that might influence the advisories of other nations, it is still worth seeking information from one’s own government website. Depending on international relations, a country ill-advised for Americans might entail little or no danger to citizens from other nations.
22 destinations classified as Level 4 or ‘Do Not Travel’ by the US
- Afghanistan
“Do not travel to Afghanistan due to civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping, and limited health facilities.” - Belarus
“The U.S. government has an extremely limited ability to help detained U.S. citizens. You may not receive consular access. You could also face arbitrary detention with no contact with the outside world.” - Burkina Faso
“Do not travel to Burkina Faso for any reason due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.” - Burma (Myanmar)
“Do not travel to Burma due to armed conflict, the potential for civil unrest, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, poor health infrastructure, land mines and unexploded ordnance, crime, and wrongful detentions.” - Central African Republic
“Do not travel to the Central African Republic due to risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, health, and terrorism.” - Gaza
“Do not travel to Gaza for any reason due to terrorism and armed conflict.” - Haiti
“Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.” - Iran
“Do not travel to Iran due to the risk of terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, arbitrary arrest of U.S. citizens, and wrongful detention.” - Iraq
“Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and the U.S. government’s limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Iraq.” - Lebanon
“Do not travel to Lebanon due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the risk of armed conflict. Some areas, especially near the borders, have increased risk.” - Libya
“Do not travel to Libya for any reason due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.” - Mali
“Do Not Travel to Mali for any reason due to crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, and health.” - Niger
“Do not travel to Niger for any reason due to crime, unrest, terrorism, health, or kidnapping.” - North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
“Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful detention of U.S. citizens.” - Russia
“Do not travel to Russia for any reason due to terrorism, unrest, wrongful detention, and other risks.” - Somalia
“Do not travel to Somalia due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health, kidnapping, piracy, and lack of availability of routine consular services.” - South Sudan
“Do not travel to South Sudan due to risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, and health threats.” - Sudan
“Do not travel to Sudan due to risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, landmines, and health threats.” - Syria
“Do not travel to Syria for any reason due to the risk of terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, hostage taking, crime, and armed conflict.” - Ukraine
“Do not travel to Ukraine due to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Department of State continues to advise U.S. citizens to not travel to frontline regions of Ukraine and areas along Ukraine’s border with Belarus due to presence of Russian and Belarusian military and security forces on the Belarusian side of the border, proximity to active ground combat, frequent shelling, missile and drone attacks on populated areas and civilian infrastructure, and limitations on the Embassy’s ability to provide assistance to U.S. citizens in those areas.” - Venezuela
“Do not travel to or remain in Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure. All U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents in Venezuela are strongly advised to depart immediately.” - Yemen
“Do not travel to Yemen due to risk of terrorism, unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, and landmines.”
