Ano Poli (Άνω Πόλη) scores 52 out of 100 for crime and safety on SafetyMap — average crime, on a scale where 50 is the Greek average. That is based on the police-recorded offence rate of its regional unit, apportioned by how built-up Ano Poli is. That works out to about 661 property offences and 112.4 violent offences per 100,000 residents a year.

Is Ano Poli safe at night?

Ano Poli is average for Greece: fine for most people after dark, with the ordinary care you would take in any Patras neighbourhood late at night.

How does Ano Poli compare with the rest of Patras?

Ano Poli scores 52 out of 100 for crime and safety, against 51 for Patras as a whole — about the same as its surroundings.

Ano Poli crime and safety

Άνω Πόλη · district

52/100

Ano Poli scores 52 out of 100 for overall safety — average crime, on a scale where 50 is the average for Greece. It is home to about 833 people at 618 people per km².

The score is absolute, not a ranking: 50 is the offence rate for Greece as a whole, 100 the safest end of the scale and 0 the least safe, and every doubling of the rate costs the same number of points wherever you are. Regional units are scored from Eurostat's police-recorded offence rates per 100,000 inhabitants. Greece publishes nothing finer, so municipalities and districts share out their region's measured rate by how built-up they are and by documented local reporting — treat those two levels as an estimate, not a count of reported crime.

What Ano Poli is actually like

Fine by day, care after darkNormal by day and worth visiting. What changes after dark is specific and avoidable rather than general.

The historic upper town, spread over the slopes below the Byzantine castle and the Roman Odeon, reached from the lower city by the famous flights of steps. It is the one genuinely atmospheric quarter of Patras: low stone houses, small squares, tavernas and a handful of boutique guesthouses, mixed with an elderly resident population and a steady trickle of students and short-let visitors. Travel guides routinely call it the best base in the city, and it is the only part of Patras people visit for its own sake rather than to catch a boat. Compared with the flat commercial grid below, it is quieter, greener and better looking, but also patchier: restored terraces sit next to derelict plots and empty buildings.

After dark

Evenings are calm and sociable around the tavernas and the lit Agiou Nikolaou steps, which were rebuilt and given colour lighting and are busy in spring and summer. Away from those few lit spines the lanes empty early and street lighting is thin. Residents have publicly complained about neglected empty plots and abandoned buildings in the urban fabric.

What to watch for

Unlit side lanes and stepped alleys once you leave the taverna streets
Derelict buildings and overgrown vacant plots between restored houses
The long stair climbs back up from the lower town late at night — poorly lit in stretches
Uneven steps and no street lighting make the descent to the centre slow after drinking

Staying here

Yes — the best-regarded area to stay in Patras for anyone spending a night or two in the city. For an early Italy ferry it is the wrong end of the walk: the Italy boats leave from the South (New) Port about 4 km from the centre, so budget a taxi. For the Ionian boats from the North (Old) Port it is a 15-20 minute downhill walk.

Reputation against reality. Reputation lags reality upward here: guides sell Ano Poli as uniformly picturesque, but it is a half-restored quarter with real dereliction between the pretty streets. Nothing in the 2024-2026 police or press record singles it out for crime.

Streets and squares: Agiou Nikolaou steps (Σκάλες Αγίου Νικολάου) · Germanou · Ileias