An old hand many years ago who was actually a bit of a cowboy told me you either fly in it, or out of it but scratching around in the bit in between is where the accidents occur. I have seen his words come true many times over the last 30 years, bibles and fools perhaps, eh?
The "cowboy" was exactly right, in that a flight must be planned as
one of the following
1)
VFR - in this case you must keep VMC no matter what, and turn back if you can't, or - if you get snookered on all sides by weather - do what is euphemistically called in PPL training as a "precautionary landing"
2)
IFR - in this case the flight is planned and navigated as IFR, and if you get a view out of the window, that is a bonus
I have done 2) on every flight (except local sightseeing bimbles with passengers) since the day I got my PPL. It is the best and safest way to fly from A to B. But it needs an instrument qualification and a suitably equipped plane.
The dangerous bit is a flight planned as VFR and then you pop into cloud with no real plan. Climbing is not enough because terrain can rise much faster than you can climb, and a 180 isn't so clever either because the terrain could be anywhere.