U.S. State Department updates travel advisories list

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - If you’re planning on going abroad this year for a summer vacation, the U.S. State Department wants you to be aware of the potential dangers of your destination.

The department released an updated list of travel alerts where they rank countries on their risk levels from a scale of one to four. One meaning the country has normal precautions, four meaning “do not travel.”

There are currently 57 countries on the State Department’s travel advisory list with a score of at least two, and some of those might surprise you. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, and The Bahamas all earning a score of two warning travelers to exercise increased caution.

To check your destination go to travel.state.gov and click on the “travel advisories” tab at the top.

Here, you’ll find the list of countries along with their risk levels. You can even click on each country to see why they were flagged for extra precaution.

Another helpful tip is to sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive alerts about specific countries. For a link to that, click HERE.

The State Department recommends checking the crime and safety reports for the countries you are traveling to for helpful information on what to look out for while abroad.