Downtown & Church Street

Downtown and Church Street are where most of Burlington's dining and nightlife is. Days and evenings are easy for anyone on their own, though the side streets and parks feel less pleasant late at night once the crowds thin out.

Downtown is built around the Church Street Marketplace, a four-block pedestrian street with restaurants, shops, buskers and outdoor tables. It's the easiest place in the city to be on your own. Days and early evenings are busy and well-lit, with families, students and visitors mixed together, and eating alone at a bar or patio table is normal. After the bars close the mood shifts: groups gather around City Hall Park and the side streets, there is some visible homelessness and drug use, and it can feel less comfortable alone. Stick to Church Street and Main Street, book a ride from the door of the bar, and skip the shortcuts through parks and parking lots. Bike theft and car break-ins are the usual property crimes, so keep valuables out of sight.