Planning a Trip

Visitor Information

For advance information, contact the Norfolk Convention & Visitors Bureau, 232 E. Main St., Norfolk, VA 23510 (tel. 800/368-3097 or 757/441-1852; fax 757/622-3663; www.norfolkcvb.com). The bureau dispenses walking-tour brochures and other information at its offices (Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm), which are across Main Street from the Norfolk Marriott. The main downtown walk-in information center, however, is at NAUTICUS.

If you're arriving from the west via I-64, there's a Norfolk Visitor Center on Fourth View Street at Exit 273 in the Ocean View section (tel. 757/441-1852). It's open daily 9am to 5pm.

Getting There

By Plane -- Norfolk International Airport, on Norview Avenue 1 1/2 miles north of I-64 (tel. 757/857-3351; www.norfolkairport.com), is served by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, United, and US Airways. The major car-rental firms have desks here. Norfolk Airport Express (tel. 800/643-2197 or 757/857-3991; www.norfolkairportexpress.com) runs vans to points between Williamsburg and Virginia Beach.

By Car -- From the west, I-64 runs from Richmond to Norfolk, then swings around the eastern and southern suburbs, where it meets I-664 to form the Hampton Roads Beltway around the area. U.S. 460 also runs the length of Virginia to Norfolk and is a good way to avoid the backups that often plague the bridge-tunnels on I-64 and I-664, especially on summer weekends. U.S. 13 and U.S. 17 also pass through the area. From Virginia Beach, I-264 goes through downtown and Portsmouth.

By Train & Bus -- Amtrak (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) has bus connections to and from its station in Newport News. Greyhound (tel. 800/231-2222; www.greyhound.com) has bus service to downtown Norfolk.

City Layout -- Norfolk occupies two peninsulas formed by the Chesapeake Bay and the Elizabeth and Lafayette rivers. Downtown is on the southern side of the city, on the north bank of the Elizabeth River. Within an easy walk to the northwest, Freemason is Norfolk's oldest residential neighborhood, with most of its 18th- and 19th-century town houses restored as private homes, businesses, and restaurants. You'll still find a few cobblestone streets here.

Northwest of Freemason, across a semicircular inlet known as The Hague, Ghent was the city's first subdivision and is now its trendiest enclave. Most houses in "old" Ghent, near The Hague and the Chrysler Museum of Art, were built between 1892 and 1912. Now thoroughly gentrified, it's home to everyone from well-heeled professionals to writers, artists, and college students. The heart of Ghent's business district runs along Colley Avenue between Baldwin Avenue and 21st Street, and along 21st Street from Colley Avenue east to Granby Street. Here you'll find antiques shops, restaurants, and the artsy NARO Cinema.

Avoiding Gridlock -- Hampton Roads has some of Virginia's most congested traffic. Lengthy backups can occur anytime on I-64 at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, and especially during weekday rush hour and all day on summer weekends. I take U.S. 460 from Petersburg to Norfolk on summer weekends, thus avoiding both the Hampton Roads and Monitor-Merrimac bridge-tunnels. U.S. 13 is another alternate route if you're coming from the northeast. If you're approaching on I-64 from the west, an alternative is to take I-664 and the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel, then Va. 164 east to Portsmouth and the Midtown Tunnel (U.S. 58) into Norfolk. Tune your radio to 610AM or call tel. 800/792-2800 on your cellphone to check on current conditions.

Getting Around

A car is the easiest way to get around this spread-out area. Parking is available downtown at the MacArthur Center and in four municipal garages (the most convenient is on Atlantic Ave. between Waterside Dr. and Main St.).

Once you're downtown, the free Norfolk Electric Transit (NET; www.norfolk.gov/visitors/net.asp) trolleys are the easiest way to get around Monday through Friday 6:30am to 11pm, Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday noon to 8pm. The weekday route runs from Harbor Park across downtown on Main Street and north via Granby Street to Virginia Beach Boulevard and the Harrison Opera House. The weekend route makes a loop around the downtown shopping-and-dining area and then north along Granby Street to Virginia Beach Boulevard. The routes are shown on NET's website and on city maps distributed at the visitor centers.

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT; tel. 757/222-6100; www.hrtransit.org) provides public bus service throughout the region. Although it can take as long as 2 hours each way, the Route 20 bus goes from Monticello Avenue and Charlotte Street to the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Fares are $1.20 for adults, $1 for children younger than 19, free for kids shorter than 38 inches tall. Exact change is required.

For taxis, call Yellow Cab (tel. 757/622-3232), Black and White Cabs (tel. 757/855-4444), or Green & White Taxis (tel. 757/855-3333).

Safety in Norfolk -- Downtown Norfolk had a serious street-crime problem before 1998, when the MacArthur Center began bringing crowds of shoppers and diners to the area. You should be safe if you stick to the busy main streets between the mall and The Waterside, but don't take unnecessary risks like wandering off into deserted or ill-lit side streets. Volunteer Public Safety Ambassadors now patrol the streets and will escort you back to your car (tel. 757/478-7233).