I’m starting to look at maps to plan an early summer college visiting trip for my DS19 (current 10th grader). We will hit other “clusters” of colleges in other parts of the country in the fall and spring of his 11th grade year, but this summer is a good time for us to do the PA/NY group.
The colleges on our radar are Colgate and Hamilton in NY state and Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette and Villanova in Pennsylvania.
Our initial thought is to fly into Syracuse, rent a car to do Colgate and Hamilton, and then drive to PA to do Bucknell, Lehigh and Lafayette, ending with Villanova and flying out of Philly. We could also do the reverse, starting in Philly and leaving from Syracuse if that makes more sense.
Advice on the order in which to see them would be most welcome, in addition to recommendations on places to stay. We’re fine with Hampton Inn-type places but also happy to go higher-end for a few nights if there’s a “traditional” hotel connected in some way to the school that’s nearby (for example, when visiting schools with my DD16 we enjoyed the Lord Jeffrey in Amherst and the Hanover Inn next to Dartmouth).
Thanks in advance for any tips that our road-warrior CC predecessors would like to share with us!
From the north, it would make sense to visit Hamilton then Colgate then continue on to Bucknell. In the Utica / New Hartford area, several hotel chains are represented (with a Radisson in the small city’s center and Hampton Inns – two I think – more on the edge). The historic Hotel Utica would be worth a look as well. Choosing a bed and breakfast in Clinton would provide you with some immediately local ambience. As you travel a little south toward Colgate, the choices become more limited in general, but the village of Hamilton would be sure to offer options, and the Horned Dorset Inn in Leonardsville offers a destination French restaurant in addition to lodging.
You might want to check and see when each school is offering programs that you are interested in and try to schedule your trip to take advantage of those.
My sons visited a friend at Colgate several times. They said it’s a horrible drive even in the summer and worse in the winter. The son who said this is my best driver. They went as a road trip, staying with a friend who lived off campus at Binghamton and day tripping to Colgate to pick up their friend and bring him back to Bing to hang out with the group. They loved Bing.
@GnocchiB , you haven’t mentioned it as being on your list, but you might want to fly into Rochester and start your trip there. Your child must have good stats to be considering those schools and University of Rochester is really worth a look. Hamilton is only a couple of hours away. Rochester is a small university with a lovely campus along the river. It’s a fanatstic school and while not a safety, it might be a good match for your child’s list.
You will be near Bethlehem in PA. It was a surprisngly interesting town. Go visit the old steel factory, it’s really cool, and the old town is interesting too.
You seem to have done this before, and I seond Hampton Inns when possible. I also really like Best Western. They seem to have improved a lot over the years.
We saw Lehigh and Lafayette on the same day and that is doable, especially during the summer when school is not in session. We stayed in Easton at a chain hotel that was fine, nothing great. I have not yet stayed in Bethlehem, but people like the Historic Hotel Bethlehem. I’d recommend you stay closest to whichever of the schools looks better on paper, see it in the am, drive to the other, and then head to Bucknell (a few hours away). You will probably need to stay the night before. We stayed at a terrible chain hotel the first time. The second time we stayed at a B&B that was great-- Copper Beach(?)- highly recommended.
We made the exact trip through Pennsylvania last Spring, (leaving from Buffalo) starting at Bucknell and ending at Villanova.
Bucknell…We stayed at the Country CupBoard (Best Western) which was convenient, clean and your basic hotel.
Lehigh & Lafayette…Historic Hotel Bethlehem. After spending too many nights in typical hotels we wanted to mix it up a bit and stay at a Boutique Hotel. It was a great choice. Its is easy to get to either college from this location. Our Lehigh’s tour and information session took much longer than Lafayette’s. It is easy to do both in the same day.
Villanova…We picked another boutique hotel, the Wayne Hotel which is about 2 miles from Villanova. Again, it was an excellent choice, We are actually staying there again for accepted students day in February. There’s a lot to do around Philly if you have the time or it’s just as easy to flight home from Philly.
Hotel Bethlehem is a definite must and works as anchor for Lafayette/Lehigh. Lafayette is 20 minutes away on Route 22. You cannot walk to either from the hotel. Depending on when you go, there are festivals in Bethlehem (Food & Wine in June, Musikfest in August etc) and that can make parking a problem.
My son and I looked at Hamilton and Colgate.Visited Hamilton first then drove to the Colgate Inn and did Colgates tour the next morning. We had dinner in one of the restaurants in town and then went to the movies. Town is small but quaint.
If you are in Hamilton, NY to tour Colgate, check out the Flour and Salt Bakery, diagonally across the street from the Hamiton Eatery, about a 2 minute walk from the Colgate Inn. Great bagels, scones and breakfast sandwiches, everything made on premises, seating for 30 or so, always busy, open mornings to early pm Weds to Sun inclusive.
You can do Lehigh and Lafayette in the same day. Many people do - we saw the same faces on the same day during our visits.
The Copper Beech is a B&B in Lewisburg/Bucknell. The Comfort Suites is the newest chain motel I believe. If you are trying to visit during a college event weekend (reunion is first weekend in June) everything will be sold out, otherwise you should be okay. Visit Ard’s Farm Market for a little local flavor if you want to see greater Lewisburg, otherwise just driving Market Street is a nice thing to do.
Villanova will be a much more busy suburb and right in the heart of Philly’s main line old suburbs. Very nice area.
I second the idea of looking at Haverford – it has a lot more in common with Hamilton than Villanova does. The two colleges are literally walking distance apart – about 2 miles, a 5-minute drive most of the time.
There are a bunch of hotels on Lancaster Ave. (Route 30) west of Villanova, including the Wayne Hotel (historic, lots of charm) and the Radnor (modern, corporate), which is less than a mile from the campus. If you want cheaper, the Spring Hill Suites in Plymouth Meeting would work. It’s close to where you would come down the turnpike from Lafayette/Lehigh, and about a 15-minute drive from Villanova.
The real challenge in your itinerary – and it’s really not much of one – is that everything except Bucknell is more or less within a few miles of a north-south line, approximately represented by I-81 and I-476. Lewisburg is an hour-plus west of that line, and Lehigh and Lafayette are both somewhat east of it. So you have to decide when to make the westward jog and then to come back, before L&L or after. Before is probably slightly more efficient in terms of driving, if you are coming down from New York, since Lewisburg is north of the Lehigh Valley, but not so much so that it would make a big difference.
It’s probably a two-hour drive between Lewisburg and Bethlehem, in either direction. Hamilton to Bethlehem should take about 3-1/2 hours, Hamilton to Lewisburg probably a little less than that. Bethlehem to Villanova takes less than an hour unless you do it at the height of rush hour. Lewisburg to Villanova is probably 2-1/2 hours.
We liked the Country Inn and Suites in Lewisburg, I like that chain for lower priced hotels. I’ve never stayed in one that I’ve been unhappy with.
In Bethlehem, there is also a Hyatt Place in the historic downtown which I hear is really nice. The closest hotel to Lehigh is the Comfort Suites. On 22 there is a Hampton Inn and Residence Inn. There is also a Best Western in Bethlehem which while worn is fine. Lots of hotel options in Bethlehem, not sure about Easton. We aren’t into fancy hotels so we’ve never stayed at Hotel Bethlehem. There is also The Sands casino which is part of the old Bethlehem Steel complex.
Places kids eat in south Bethlehem where Lehigh is are The Goose, Sal’s, Tulum. Across the river in historic Bethlehem, good places to eat include Brewworks and Tapas on Main (my favorite) Apollo Grill is very nice.