Providence is a relatively safe city for its size, though proper caution and common sense should not be abandoned. The downtown area can be dodgy at night, especially around Kennedy Plaza and Washington Street. The club areas on the outskirts of downtown have also been known to draw some issues, though most are gang related. Also, late nights on Federal Hill are a great place to watch to drunken idiots beat each other up under the guise of Italian pride (though this is more in the vein of "Jersey Shore" Italian and not of that that first inhabited the city decades ago), so exercise caution whilst in the bar and club area of this historic neighborhood.
As far as violent crime goes, it is best to avoid South Providence and the Olneyville neighborhoods of the city. There is little reason for most tourists to go to these locations, though the city's three main hospitals are relegated to the South Side. Olneyville's New York System was featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" series, and while there are two other locations within driving distance of Providence (Rhode Island is the smallest state, after all), a quick visit here to get a few hot dogs will not result in a problem unless you decide to walk around the neighborhood a bit and it's 1:00 in the morning.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Providence
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Providence - updated May 2024
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Providence Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
