Our D21 is considering applying to Lehigh and the rep is coming to her high school soon. She’d like to meet with her but I’d like to know ahead of time how she could get to campus. Do kids fly into Newark? Philly? And then what? How do they get to the college?
When we visited a few yrs ago, we flew to Philly and I believe it was a 90 minute drive. Maybe a bit less.
There is also a very small airport nearby - ABE (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton) so I imagine she could fly and take a cab. Probably expensive. Glad to hear she is thinking Lehigh. I was just there over the weekend and got a great update on changes since I graduated back in the ‘80s, so I’m happy to help with questions if I can.
There is the Lehigh Valley airport very close by.
Hm not sure about flights from Chicago to Lehigh Valley. Sounds like a small airport. I’m not talking about just visiting. I’m talking about how she would get back and forth if she went to school there. Are there busses that go to Philly from the school? Or to Newark? Surely not everyone drives there.
Ah it’s Allentown. Looks like American flies there. Still wondering if there’s any transportation between the school and Philly or Newark airports though.
Allentown airport is less than 10 minutes from campus. Philadelphia is 60 miles & NY is 70 miles. There are buses and trains to both. Because it is so close to many major cities there are several airports to choose from.
@santorini thanks. What I’m trying to get at is how do students there get to Philly airport? Does Lehigh have buses during breaks to get kids there? I can’t imagine kids are on their own to get from school to an airport that’s an hour away. A taxi or Uber would be crazy expensive. If the school doesn’t sponsor a bus, how hard is it to get to a bus or train to get to the airport?
United also flies into ABE from Chicago ORD. Other than that, Newark is probably your best bet since it’s a straight shot to Bethlehem on I 78. Trans Bridge bus lines has regular bus service between EWK and the Lehigh Valley, including Bethlehem.
@TheBigChef Thanks. I did just look on Lehigh’s website and taking a two hour bus ride to an airport when that bus doesn’t even originate on campus sounds like a pain. Looks like there are buses to JFK, Philly, Newark but you have to get to Bethlehem first to get the bus. I think we’d have to give up on using Southwest and let her take United into ABE. Just want to know up front about the travel.
No problem homerdog. I went to Lafayette back in the 80’s and took many a ride on Trans Bridge between the Port Authority in NYC and Easton PA. You could actually walk to campus from the bus station in Easton, but that might not be the case in Bethlehem. In any event, definitely a lot easier to fly in and out of ABE - although probably more expensive.
FYI the United ABE-EWR “flight” is actually a… bus ride.
My son is a freshman this year. We are flying him in and out of ABE and he will get a ride share there.
Down the road, I would like to use SW from Philly or Newark when we have more time and he knows people to travel with there.