Update, May 20: One new destination, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been added since our last update in January 2025.
You know that saying, “safety first”? When it comes to travel, it’s one of the best pieces of advice you can follow. Exploring an unfamiliar country is exciting, but can also be an overwhelming experience, so the last thing you want is to find yourself in a risky situation. To help keep your adventures stress-free this year, we’ve pulled together a handy guide on all the destinations Smarttraveller is warning Australian travellers to avoid in 2025.
The Australian government's Smartraveller website is known for providing up-to-date travel advice for 178 destinations worldwide. Each country is assigned an ‘advice level’ that reflects the risk for Aussie travellers, ranging from ‘Level one: exercise normal safety precautions’ to ‘Level four: do not travel’.
Currently, Smarttraveller is urging Australians to steer clear of 23 countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Nine updated warnings have been issued in 2025 alone, including Venezuela (due to political and economic instability), Central African Republic and Chad (due to risks of terrorism, kidnapping and violent crime), and Lebanon (due to the volatile security situation).
As of May 20, 2025, Aussies are also being advised to "Reconsider their need to travel to" ten destinations. Some of these inclusions are long-standing, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia and Pakistan, while others pop up momentarily due to unforeseen events, like political strikes. It’s worth checking the list frequently to stay up-to-date on any movers and shakers. You can see the current list of destinations to avoid below.
The destinations Australian travellers should avoid in 2025:
- Russia (as of May 19, 2025)
- Iran (as of May 14, 2025)
- South Sudan (as of May 6, 2025)
- Sudan (as of May 5, 2025)
- Niger (as of May 1, 2025)
- Myanmar (as of Apr 30, 2025)
- Iraq (as of Apr 29, 2025)
- Venezuela (as of Apr 24, 2025)
- Somalia (as of Apr 23, 2025)
- Libya (as of Apr 11, 2025)
- Ukraine (as of Mar 27, 2025)
- North Korea (as of Mar 25, 2025)
- Syria (as of Mar 12, 2025)
- Mali (as of Mar 5, 2025)
- Yemen (as of Mar 3, 2025)
- Belarus (as of Feb 13, 2025)
- Haiti (as of Feb 11, 2025)
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (as of Feb 3, 2025)
- Lebanon (as of Jan 21, 2025)
- Chad (as of Jan 8, 2025)
- Central African Republic (as of Jan 8, 2025)
- Burkina Faso (as of Dec 17, 2024)
- Afghanistan (as of Dec 4, 2024)