Brixton isn't bad, it's the stretch between Brixton & Camberwell that is kind of dodgy. Most tourists probably wouldn't find a whole lot there, compared to central London, but I kind of wonder why the guidebooks even bothered mentioning it.

As for me, especially in the evenings after the museums are closed but before nightfall, I'll often just wander around, wherever I wind up. After living in DC for 3 years, I'm pretty good at telling when I'm getting into an area I probably shouldn't stick around once it gets dark (or at all, though there aren't that many neighborhoods in the developed world that I've run into that are physically unsafe by day).

fishee: you're right about the neighborhoods that are recommened to be avoided are generally minority neighborhoods, but whether it's the race, or the poverty that commonly goes along with recent immigration (and thus minorities), or tension between different sets of immigrants, or something else, is what makes it dangerous is hard to say. All I mean to say is that, just because the bad neighborhoods are mostly populated by minorities doesn't mean that they aren't actually bad.

All the time at home (DC) but not so much when travelling - simply because most tourist attractions and the nicer parks are not there. Most of all because they don't get mentioned in guide books or travel discussion boards!

At home, I regularly go to every ward in the city - for jazz or blues or go-go clubs, soul food restaurants, record stores, and some of the most amazing thrift/flea/vintage shops you'll never hear about.

Boy, poor Rick Steves gets a bashing on this board, doesn't he. I happen to like his guides for an initial overview when going to a new city. But his is only one of the guides I use and I search out alot of information from other sources (including this board and others). I'm planning a first trip to Rome for the fall and am currently reading his Rome guide - I find it informative. Do I like to sleep and eat like he recommends - NO. I do like his short museum/monument overviews. Some of his commentary just cracks me up. I also found a couple of good walking tours in his Venice and Florence guides. But, to the question at hand, do I avoid places warned about in guidebooks? Well, I don't really travel to unsafe countries but any city will have it's more seedy areas. If there is something I really want to see in one of these unsavory districts, I'll go on and see it. I figure, I live and work in NYC so if I don't know how to watch my back I'm just plain stupid!

Margaret: I definitely agree with you on Rick Steves, he does get a little over bashed on this board, and can be useful. It's nice because he actuall is opinionated, unlike a lot of other guidebooks, but his is only one of many opinions, and shouldn't be treated as Gospel. And I can't afford to eat and sleep like he does (he's way too picky/has way too high standards for me).

I have three children, and I find Rick Steves' tours of various museums pretty perfect for us...a light overview of the high points, with a few humorous comments thrown in.

I don't really recall guidebooks saying NOT to go certain places. I think the writers of some that say to avoid certain areas have to assume that some of the readers will have no "feeling" for what areas to avoid. Of course, we all know from our own cities that neighborhoods can change dramatially within a few blocks. I feel very comfortable walking alone in most of downtown Dallas....but go two blocks south of the main streets and it starts to be very seedy and scary. What does a tour book writer do with that reality? Maybe just write "Avoid walking downtown?" Who knows...

I guess that's part of why Rick Steves is popular, different parts of his stuff appeal to different people; whenever I follow one of his museum tours, I always wind up asking, "where's the rest? there's a lot more museum, but the tour just stops?"

I lived in Brixton and as a white lad, I never felt threatened day or night, even staggering up Brixton Hill from the underground on a Friday night.

Some other places mentioned here, I've been to Invercargill in NZ, its certainly remote but I was there to play golf and I can thoroughly recommend it, although it was pretty cold even in the middle of summer.

In Sydney I've strolled down Eveleigh St in Redfern which was an interesting experience!

Geordie

I don't plan using guidebooks, so your exact question has never been an issue for me.

Along those lines though, I have found myself in parts of a city where all of a sudden things felt not kosher.

This happened in both San Francisco (of all places) and Amsterdam, where the atmosphere suddenly changed and I by instinct decided it would be wise to retrace my steps a bit and head in a different direction.

suze, that same thing has happened to me in several places...New Orleans and San Franciso come to mind...one block off the beaten path and things are so different.

Yep - SF definitely has some sketchy areas. I've never felt particularly unsafe anywhere in SF, but I have been through neighborhoods where I thought that I probably shouldn't linger too long. Found the same stuff in New Orleans.

Regarding SF..one certainly can experience a whole different culture from one block to the next. And there are areas in SF that I would strongly suggest people stay out of when it is dark. You will know immediately when it is good to leave as suze did.

The only place I went that a guidebook told me not to was in San Juan Puerto Rico. It said not to go to the Barrio area. I went alone and met the most gracious and kind locals :)

About 9 months ago I started planning a trip to Costa Rica. All of the "suggested tours" of CR here on fodors.com had you spending two or three days in San Jose. However, everyone over on the Latin America board said to skip San Jose, so I did. Funny, I just checked, and now Fodors has San Jose out of the recommended line up and instead, recommends a tour that is very similar to what the folks on the Latin America board recommend.

This thread is making me think of a story my assistant, who is of Hispanic origin, told me. She and her husband were visiting Los Angeles and made a point of going to one of the "ghetto" areas that have notoriously bad reputations, thinking "how bad can this be?" They were AMAZED at how bad it was, and got out of there as soon as possible.