<p>Can anyone give some suggestion on getting to UA? Our nearest airports are IAD, DCA.
Thank you,</p>
<p>We have never been to Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>What is the best way to get to Tuscaloosa?</p>
<p>What is the best time to visit the campus?</p>
<p>What do you do with accommodation?</p>
<p>Will visiting on Thursday and Friday give you a representation of the campus life?</p>
<p>I am sorry about the multiple posts. I’m new to the site and am trying to fill my initial 15 posts requirements.</p>
<p>Birmingham is the nearest airport, Tuscaloosa is about an hour drive from there. Beautiful campus and very friendly. Dd is accepted for Class of 2018. Been to visit 2x. Def exceeded my expectations. Hampton inn near campus nice place to stay and reasonably priced.</p>
<p>The Crescent is also a nice travel option. Be aware there is track work between Atlanta and New Orleans during January and February right now. Always check the schedule for travel alerts. If you are AAA, there is a discount as well.</p>
<p>Southwest flies direct from BWI to Birmingham (BHM). I don’t think there are any direct flights from your other airports. You can fly direct from those airports to Huntsville (HSV), which is about 2.5 hours from Tuscaloosa. Huntsville is a big tech area with lots of defense contractors, so plenty of flights to Washington. You can also fly direct to Atlanta, just over 3 hours drive from UA. Or, of course, you can take connecting flights to BHM. Cost vs time is the usual decision, so check out all these options and decide.</p>
<p>Once you get to Tuscaloosa, there are other threads on this board listing good hotels and restaurants. The Hampton Inn mentioned before is popular, as are the Microtel on Veterans Hwy and the Wingate, among others.</p>
<p>Visiting on Friday and Saturday are fine during the school year to get a good feel for campus life. Might want to avoid a home football weekend, as that would be mobbed and infinitely crazier than normal. Usually no tours anyway on game weekends.</p>
<p>I’m sure our esteemed leader mom2collegekids will be around shortly to give advice. Take it. We all do.</p>
<p>I stand corrected. USAirways flies direct from DCA to BHM.</p>
<p>Posts 16, 17, and 20 provide lodging info in this thread.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=1604154[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=1604154</a></p>
<p>If you’re flying into Tuscaloosa, you’ll fly into Birmingham and then take I-20 west to Tuscaloosa. Takes about an hour…EZ drive.</p>
<p>Some fly into Atlanta and take I-20 in. Takes about 3 hours.</p>
<p>Some fly into Huntsville (HSV) and take I-565, I-65, and I-20 in. Takes about 2 hours</p>
<p>*Will visiting on Thursday and Friday give you a representation of the campus life?
*</p>
<p>If you visit on Thursday, it will. Fridays can seem “light” because some students have schedules with no school on Friday.</p>
<p>Would you be coming late Wednesday, tour on Thursday, further check out the school/area on Friday? IF so, that should work well.</p>
<p>If you do not want or intend to rent a car, you can get rides from the airport in Bham to Tuscaloosa. They average about $150 each way, so renting a small car could be less expensive, depends on size needed and what is going on that week. If you do want to stay “on” campus there is the Hotel Capstone. Price wise it can be about the same as the Hampton Inn close to campus, price depends on what is activities on campus are going on at that time. </p>
<p>The Birmingham airport is very easy to navigate. Rental cars are onsite. It is an easy drive from the airport to Tuscaloosa. </p>
<p>As others said, some Fridays can seem “quiet” on campus due to some arranging their schedule to have no Friday classes.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone. All your suggestion are so helpful in planning our trip. I just booked a flight to Bham from IAD on Wednesday, drive to Tuscaloosa with a rental on Thursday, trying to arrange a campus tour with the Honors College and Engineering dept. the same day, reservation at Hampton Inn, tour the general area on Friday, fly home Saturday. All are arranged with all of your help. Now I am just waiting for the great trip!</p>