I just wanted to give a little warning to other tourists staying in Asheville after recently visiting the area myself, with my partner, in August 2013.
Whilst Asheville downtown is indeed a very entertaining and vibrant place, after striking up a conversation with various locals we were warned to definitely avoid certain areas (during the day and night) and that it was advisable not to wander too far from the centre of the town (and to drive to other nearby locations such as the Arts district and Biltmore estate).
As my partner and I discovered, some of these no-go zones are in very close proximity to the main centre of the town and therefore, for a tourist who hadn't been given this local advice, it would be very easy to accidently stumble into one of these "dodgy" areas.
One place that a local expressly stated that we should not go was the Hot point gas station - driving past this very place at a later point in our trip we did indeed see two police cars and some rather scary looking characters. Just to let other tourists know this gas station is very close to the town centre and it is not advisable to go here from what we were told.
Other than the points above, I would like to say that the town itself did seem quite safe with a nice mix of people so do not be put off going. I just wanted to pass on some of the tips we were given by the lovely well-meaning locals we met and make sure that other people visiting the area are kept safe!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
