Downtown Atlanta Safety - Peachtree St / Andrew Young International Area (Marietta: restaurants, safe)

[hollow000]

Hi,

I'll be vacationing in downtown Atlanta. I'm planning on staying at the Hyatt Place and walking to many of the destinations and restaurants like the aquarium and Ray's in the City. Are these areas safe to walk, especially at night? I don't plan on staying out past 11pm.

Thanks

[lorilove]

In general - yes you should be safe but as always use good judgement.

[Ant131531]

I'd say that area is very safe...a lot of tourists and ambassadors around that area. I feel safe anywhere north of Marietta St. Never go south of Marietta past dark though...I wouldn't.

[hollow000]

Awesome. Thanks for the info

[bryantm3]

you might have a better time if you stayed in midtown and then rode the subway downtown during the day (or night) when you needed to. downtown is great and all, but there are two major problems. first is that it clears out at night, and the second is that there are a lot of panhandlers, especially at night.

i remember i decided to drive downtown at 3 AM and take a walk all over last fall, and i was stopped by about 6 or 7 panhandlers, sometimes one coming right after the other as if there was a sign for queuing up in front of me. that being said, i didn't feel unsafe or threatened, i just felt guilty that i was broke and couldn't help, and kind of annoyed that people kept asking me for money.

midtown has a lot more people around at night due to its density, and attractions like piedmont park, VaHi, the beltline and the ponce corridor are a lot closer.

i love downtown, but a lot of tourists visit here and see downtown and nothing else, and they don't get what the attraction is with atlanta. if you do decide to stay downtown, definitely get around town and see some of the other places in town.

in downtown, definitely check out fairlie-poplar. it's a beautiful place.