Travel TravelThe main north-south highway through Charlottesville is Route 29 (also called Seminole Trail); within city limits, it is known as Emmet Street. The main east-west highway, just south of town, is Interstate 64. Interstate 81 (north-south) lies to the west of Charlottesville on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains; it intersects I-64 about 25 miles to the southwest of the city. The region is served by the Charlottesville/Albemarle County Airport (CHO).
The Charlottesville/Albemarle County airport (CHO) is just off Route 29, eight miles north of the University of Virginia. It is served by (in decreasing order of utility) USAir Express, United Express, Colgan (allied with TWA), Delta Comair, and Continental. The major regional airports are Dulles International Airport (IAD), half an hour's drive west of Washington DC, and downtown Washington's National Airport (DCA), both of them a two-hour drive from Charlottesville (although you may want to allow some extra time when driving to or from National).
Information online: For online information about flights into and out of CHO, ground transportation, &c., consult the airport's URL: http://www.cho-airport.state.va.us/terminal.html
Direct flights to Charlottesville: Direct flights to Charlottesville are available from Washington DC/Dulles (United Express), Pittsburgh (USAir Express), Charlotte (USAir Express), Baltimore (USAir Express), Cincinnati (Delta Comair), NYC/LaGuardia (Colgan, USAir Express), and NYC/Newark (Continental).
Flying to Charlottesville via Dulles: Dulles is generally your best bet for transcontinental flights, through United Express, which offers from four to six 35-minute flights/day between Dulles and Charlottesville, depending on the day of the week. If you want to come into Dulles but these flights (or United Airlines) aren't convenient, rent a car at Dulles and drive to Charlottesville or take the bus (see below).
Flying to Charlottesville via other airports: The best connections into the Charlottesville airport are via Pittsburgh, Dulles, and Baltimore. There are no direct flights from Washington National to the Charlottesville airport. If you are flying into National, the best way to get to Charlottesville is to rent a car at National and drive.
From Dulles (IAD): URL: http://www.metwashairports.com/. You can now get public ground transportation (Greyhound Bus) directly from Dulles to Charlottesville (you can confirm the schedule listed below, and check for other options, at 1-800-231-2222). The bus from Dulles picks up at Section D the lower level of the main terminal of the airport.
| Bus Service between Dulles Airport and Charlottesville | |
| Leaving Dulles | Arriving Charlottesville |
| 2:05 p.m. | 4:30 p.m. |
| 5:35 p.m. | 8:00 p.m. |
| 7:20 p.m. | 9:45 p.m. |
| Leaving Charlottesville | Arriving Dulles |
| 6:20 a.m. | 8:40 a.m. |
| 8:30 a.m. | 10:50 a.m. |
| 12:45 p.m. | 3:05 p.m. |
| All routes run seven days a week. One way fare: $17. Round Trip fare: $30. | |
From National, you'd need to take public transportation from the airport into downtown Washington DC and then take a bus or train to Charlottesville.
From Richmond (RIC): URL: http://www.flyrichmond.com/. There is no public ground transportation from the Richmond airport to Charlottesville, and RIC is to the east of Richmond (i.e., on the other side of Richmond from Charlottesville), and thus about 80 miles away--which is to say, not particularly more convenient than Dulles or National (each about 110 miles away). There are no rational air links between Richmond and Charlottesville. The most practical way to travel between the two cities is by renting a car at RIC; it is a pleasant hour-and-a-half drive west to Charlottesville on Interstate 64.
From the Charlottesville/Albemarle Airport (CHO): URL: http://www.cho-airport.state.va.us/terminal.html/. Cabs are almost always available at the airport. (If there are no cabs in sight, phone for one--don't rely on the push-button signal out front.) The ride into town takes about 20 minutes and normally costs about $25 (including tip), same price for 1-4 persons. The AAA Cab Company (804/975 5555) offers a special rate of $15 for one person, somewhat more for additional passengers. There may well be other ACH-ALLC participants on your flight or coming in at about the same time you are; don't be shy about asking to share rides. For dormitory check-in, tell the cab driver to take you to Clark Hall on McCormick Road; then walk over to Venable House (UVa Conference Housing Office) in Brown College. Many of the local hotels also offer a complimentary van service.
Car rental: The car rental agencies at the Charlottesville/Albemarle airport include Avis, Budget, and National (for details, see the airport URL). Cheaper alternatives include Rent-A-Wreck, located about a mile from the airport (call in advance to arrange for free shuttle service, telephone 804/973-7979).
Train: The Amtrak train station is on West Main Street, half a mile from the Central Grounds of the University. For dormitory check-in at UVa, take a cab from the RR station to Clark Hall on McCormick Road and then walk over to the UVa Conference Housing office at Venable House in Brown College.
There is direct train service to Charlottesville on the New Orleans/Washington line, but trains to Charlottesville have at least in the past had a reputation for being late, and this method of transportation is recommended only to the (at least slightly) adventurous.
There is daily service from Charlottesville to Washington DC (including Saturdays), leaving Charlottesville at 6:53 am.
Bus: The Charlottesville bus station, at 310 West Main St is served by Greyhound-Trailways (804/295-5131). Bus service is available between Charlottesville and Richmond (70 miles to the east; 1 1/2 hours; terminal at 2910 North Blvd) and Washington DC (110 miles to the north; 3 hours; terminal at First and L Street NE). Take a cab from the bus station to UVa, asking to be let off at Clark Hall on McCormick Road; then walk over to Venable House (UVa Conference Housing Office) in Brown College for dormitory check-in. If no cabs are in sight at the bus station, walk two blocks to the Omni Hotel and get one there (to get to the Omni, turn right out of the front door of the bus station and walk one short block east on West Main Street to the intersection with the statue of Lewis & Clark in the center; cross, then walk a block north down the hill on McIntire Road to the hotel entrance).
Speed limits: The speed limit on Virginia interstate highways is 65 mph unless otherwise marked; the speed limit on Virginia state highways is 55 mph. You have quite a decent chance of getting a speeding ticket ($29 plus $3/mile over the speed limit) if you speed, especially (but not only) in Madison County on Route 29 and in the area around the Culpeper exits.
Driving from the north: Take I-495 around Washington DC to I-66 West. Proceed west on I-66 about 25 miles to Gainesville. Take Exit 43A (Warrenton, Culpeper) to Route 29 South. I-66 and Route 29 crisscross a couple of times; wait for the Gainesville exit). Take Route 29 South about 80 miles to Charlottesville. Skip to the paragraph below headed: Driving into central Charlottesville from the north, then follow the relevant instructions given on p 14. Note that there is a Virginia Visitors' Center on I-66, just beyond Exit 53 on the southbound side: stop here for maps and tourist information.
Driving from National Airport: Leave the airport (follow the signs saying: Crystal City/I-66) on Route 1 north leading to Route 110 north, and proceed about three miles to Exit 73 and Interstate 66 West. (BE CAREFUL: you will get only one chance to turn off Route 110 onto I-66. You will go by the Pentagon and then Arlington National Cemetery, both to the left. The right exit onto I-66 is just after the Cemetery, immediately beyond a pair of overpass bridges.) Proceed west on I-66 about 25 miles to Gainesville. Take Exit 43A (Warrenton, Culpeper) to Route 29 South. (I-66 and Route 29 crisscross a couple of times; wait for the Gainesville exit). Take Route 29 South about 80 miles to Charlottesville. Skip to the paragraph below headed: Driving into central Charlottesville from the north.
Driving from Dulles: The fail-safe route is to leave the airport and take Route 28 South to Route 29 South, and proceed down 29 to Charlottesville. More adventurous is to take 28 South to I-66 West (the exit, just outside the airport, is badly marked), then go west on I-66 about 25 miles to Gainesville, where you take Exit 43A (Warrenton, Culpeper) to Route 29 South. (I-66 and Route 29 crisscross a couple of times; wait for the Gainesville exit). Either way, once you're safely on Route 29 South, proceed about 80 miles to Charlottesville. Skip to the paragraph below headed: Driving into central Charlottesville from the north.
Notes on driving Route 29: The best place on Route 29 to stop for food (though it is not excellent) between I-66 and Charlottesville is a MacDonald's in a huge Texaco truck stop on the east side of the highway, 18 miles south of the junction of I-66 and Route 29 (60 miles north of Charlottesville). It's open 24 hours/day. Otherwise, take an exit to a nearby town for food; don't keep hoping that something will materialize on Route 29 proper: it won't.
In Charlottesville, Route 29 is known as Emmet Street. Be prepared to be patient: Route 29 just north of Charlottesville is being widened this summer, and there are likely to be short delays, especially during rush hours (it would be pretentious to say that there is anything approaching a real traffic jam in Charlottesville).
Driving from the east or west: Take I-64 to Exit 118B. At the end of the exit ramp, turn right (north) onto Route 29/250 By-pass and proceed two miles, passing one exit, to the Business 250 (Waynesboro/Charlottesville) exit. At the end of this exit ramp, turn right (east) onto 250 Business (= Ivy Road; you can see this half-cloverleaf intersection at the upper left-hand corner of the folded map). Drive east on Ivy Road just over a mile, until you reach the Route 29/Ivy Road/University Avenue intersection.
Driving from Charlottesville/Albemarle airport: Leave the airport and follow the signs to Route 29 (less than a mile). Take a right turn onto Route 29 and proceed south into Charlottesville (eight miles). Then follow the instructions in the next paragraph.
Driving into central Charlottesville from the north: Shortly outside Charlottesville, Route 29 will become Route 29 Business (ignore the invitation to take the Route 29 By-pass round Charlottesville!). Once within city limits on Route 29 Business (just past Hydraulic Road), you will go down a long hill (past the ramps for, and under, the Route 250 By-pass). Continue south on Route 29 Business, passing by the Barracks Road Shopping Center (on the right), and then by University Hall, the University's basketball dome. Proceed under a small railroad bridge. You are now at the Route 29/Ivy Road/University Avenue intersection.
Driving to the Central Grounds of the University from the Route 29/Ivy Road/University Ave intersection: Turn left (east) onto University Ave = Route 250 Business. UVa is visible on both sides of the street. To drive by the Central Grounds of the University, proceed up University Ave. Alderman Library is the large building on the right, past the tennis courts and No Name Field; the Rotunda is at the top of the hill, to the right.
UVa Conference Housing will staff an office at Venable House in Brown College during the conference week from 8 am - 10 pm, very convenient for ACH-ALLC check-ins. From the Route 29/Ivy Road/University Ave intersection, proceed south on Emmet Street for three long blocks, past Memorial Gym on the left to the Central Grounds Parking Garage, also on the left. Turn into the Garage and park.
Scenic routes: The Shenandoah National Park and the George Washington National Forest begin about 20 miles to the west of Charlottesville on Interstate 64. One option is to drive south to I-64 on the Skyline Drive from PA or north to I-64 on the Blue Ridge Parkway from NC. (If you opt for this route, take account of the fact that the feasible speed limit for the Drive and Parkway is on average no more than 40 mph.) See the Mobil (or another national travel) Guide for detailed possibilities regarding travel along these breathtakingly beautiful roads.
Driving back to Dulles and National: Take Route 29 North about 80 miles just beyond Warrenton), then I-66 east. For Dulles, leave I-66 east at Exit 53 and follow the signs. For National, stay on I-66 east for about 25 miles. Start paying careful attention when tall buildings begin to loom up on either side of the road. Immediately after passing a tall new shiny building on the right (very close to the road) with an oval-shaped cross-section, take a right exit marked "Route 110 South - Alexandria/Pentagon." Go past the Pentagon on the right (a couple of miles - you can't miss it), immediately get into the left lane, and take the left exit marked "Route 1 Alexandria." You are now on the Jefferson Davis Highway, an old trunk road with stoplights. After a mile or two, you will go by a Day's Inn hotel on the right. In the next block after the Day's Inn, at 23rd St South, again on the right, is an Exxon station: the last gas station before the turnoff into the airport (refuel here if you're in a rental car). Almost immediately after the Exxon Station, exit right onto Route 233 (it is well marked) and proceed up and around and into National Airport.
Flying and driving to Charlottesville are the easiest ways to get here. Having a car during the days in which you are attending the conference is not necessary, and only occasionally convenient (there are plenty of places to eat within easy walking distance of the Central Grounds of the University, and there will be plenty to do on the Grounds both all day and during the early evening).
Cavatina on Monticello: If you plan to visit Monticello, it would make sense to do so with the conference-sponsored excursion. If you elect to go it alone, you will want to arrive early to avoid the long summer-tourist lines. If you arrive after 9 am especially on weekends, you will have to wait two hours or more to see the interior of the house. Crowd control is well-managed: you buy your ticket, take a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the top of the mountain, and are told when to assemble for your tour of the house; meanwhile, you are free to wander around on the grounds, visit the gift shop (where there is a good selection of books, 3-inch nickels, posters showing TJ's architectural use of the classical Orders, &c., &c.), or take the excellent garden tour (offered every hour from 9:15 am through 4:15 pm) or the Plantation Community tour (offered every hour from 11 am through 3 pm). Still, the wait can be a long one.
The best way to do the tour is to arrive at the ticket booth at 7:45 am (and that means 7:45am: the ticket booth opens at 8 am, but at 7:55 am a clutch of immense tour buses, jammed to capacity, is liable to lumber up). If you follow this plan, you'll have virtually no wait for a house tour (which takes half an hour), and you will have plenty of time to wander around on the grounds (eg look for the view on the nickel) and still be off the mountain by mid-morning with time to stop in the Jefferson Foundation Visitor's Center and museum at the foot of the hill near I-64 and Route 20.
Parking while checking in: Free short-term parking is available in three locations while checking into dormitory housing at the Venable House (UVa Conference Housing Office) in the Brown College Residence Area:
(1) in the Central Grounds Parking Garage. After you've parked in the Garage, take the elevator up to the top floor and follow the signs to Venable House . The housing office will validate your parking ticket and can sell you a parking permit (for $7/week) for the R-6 or C-1 parking lots.
(2) on Newcomb Road in front of Venable House. To get to these spaces, drive from University Ave down McCormick Rd, past the West Range, Monroe Hall, and Clark Hall; then take a right onto Newcomb Rd. You cannot get to the Brown College end of Newcomb Rd directly from the University Ave end of Newcomb Rd (there's a car barrier in front of the bookstore).
Parking Garage on Emmet Street (the parking lot to the north of Ruffner Hall, just to the NE of the footbridge).
Parking for out-of-town ACH-ALLC participants. Week-long parking ($7/week) will be available in two University parking lots (R-6 and C-1). Permits and detailed parking maps may be picked up during dorm check-in at the Housing Office at Venable House in Brown College.
Warning: if you park for any length of time in reserved (numbered) parking spaces on Newcomb Road behind Brown College, your chances of being towed are excellent.
Parking in the neighborhood: Single-day on-the-street parking in the immediate precincts of the University is fairly limited (many spaces require a local residence permit: read the signs carefully). The best places are on the side streets off Rugby Road to the north of the painted railroad bridge.
There is abundant free on-the-street parking in central Charlottesville, generally with a two-hour limit. Downtown, the most convenient places to park are the (pay) public parking garages on East Market Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets NE, and on Water Street between Second and Fourth Street SE.3
At the University: The University has many parking lots, and many restrictions governing their use. If you park in a lot for which you do not have the proper sticker or dashboard pass, you are likely to get a ticket (fines are $10 and up, depending on the gravity of the offense). Note: the first parking ticket you get in a given year is a warning ticket which does not need to be paid - however, the first time-free allowance does not apply to parking spaces reserved for the handicapped (see below). There is some chance that you will get towed if you park illegally in a lot where "Towing Enforced" signs are posted. If you do get towed, see below.) Note: almost all University parking lots allow permitless parking after 5 pm.
Within City limits: The most desirable curbside parking spaces in the University neighborhood tend to be two-hour-maximum. Overtime tickets are $5 if paid immediately, $10 after 48 hours. Charlottesville is a well-run city; it aggressively pursues non-payers.
If you park in a fire lane or other street area that must be kept clear at all times, you may be towed in as little as 20 minutes. There is an excellent chance that you will be towed at some point during the second day of a routine parking violation.
Parking spaces for the handicapped: It is unwise to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped, either at UVa or in Charlottesville generally (unless, of course, you have handicapped license plates). The fine is $50, and there are no warning tickets.
If you get towed: If you park like a reasonable person, you will not get towed. If your car has been towed, there are two possibilities: (1) the University had it towed; or (2) the Charlottesville police department had it towed.
(1) The University had it towed. The University uses a number of towing companies, so you can't be sure who has your car. Call the Dept of Parking & Transportation Services at 804/924-7231 for information. If P&T did not tow it, or you get no answer at this number, call the University Police at 804/924-7166.
(2) The Charlottesville police department had it towed. During the week, call 804/295-1107 (this is the number of the towing company the police department uses exclusively).
At least if your car is gone (Charlottesville being Charlottesville) there is the consoling fact that there is a much better chance that your car was towed than that it was stolen.
Information adapted from the Vade Mecum for Terry Belanger's Rare Book School 1997.
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