Downtown Asheville

Downtown is the easiest base for a first visit, with the widest choice of food, music and bars within walking distance. Some street activity at the edges of the core is normal, and the usual city precautions apply at night.

Downtown is Asheville's compact center, and where most visitors spend most of their time. The streets around Pack Square, Wall Street, Lexington Avenue and Biltmore Avenue are full of independent restaurants, bookstores, galleries, record shops and music venues, and they stay busy into the evening. Street musicians play in the afternoon, and bars and taprooms fill up at night. A downtown improvement district pays for street ambassadors and cleaning crews, and police patrol on foot and by bike. Eating alone is easy, since bar seating is common and staff are used to it. The main downside is some street drug use, panhandling and loitering around certain blocks, mostly late at night and near the edges of the core. It's rarely aggressive, but it can be uncomfortable. Stick to busy, lit streets after dark, and be careful in parking lots and garages.