This section of the website will help you find your to Charlottesville, find your away around the area once you arrive, and provide you some links to general tourist information about Charlottesville and Central Virginia should you wish to extend your visit and enjoy some of the many area attractions.
In planning your travel, please keep in mind that the ALA Annual Meeting will be held in Chicago this year, and later than usual: RBMS business meetings at ALA Annual will be held from Friday, July 10 through Monday, July 13, 2009. Our preconference dates, on the other hand, do fall during our normal season, and in fact coincide precisely with the opening of the first RBMS preconference on June 18, 1959, which was also held in Charlottesville.
Also note that Rare Book School has scheduled a variety of interesting courses during the weeks immediately preceding and immediately following the preconference. Why not come for a course and stay for the preconference or come for the preconference and stay for a course? See the course schedule and registration information (separate from the preconference) at http://www.rarebookschool.org.
- Getting to Charlottesville
- Getting around Charlottesville
- General Tourist Information
By Air
The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO) is a non-hub, commercial service airport offering about 50 daily non-stop flights to and from Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York/LaGuardia, Washington/Dulles, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Atlanta. CHO is served by Delta Connection, United Express (Atlantic Coast Airlines), Northwest Airlines, and US Airways Express (Piedmont Airlines).
CHO is located 8 miles north of the City of Charlottesville, one mile west of Route 29 on Airport Road. Long and short-term parking lots are conveniently located near the terminal building. Long-term parking is $7.00 for each 24-hour segment.
For information on airlines, flights and ground transportation to and from the airport, see the Airport’s website at http://www.gocho.com.
It is sometimes cheaper to fly directly to Washington Dulles (a bit over two hours by car) or Richmond International Airport (about 90 minutes by car).
By Rail
Amtrak Service information can be obtained on the Amtrak website: http://www.amtrak.com
The local Amtrak Station is:
810 W. Main Street, Charlottesville, VA
(a few blocks from the Downtown Mall)
(434) 296-4559
By Bus
Greyhound Bus Lines schedules and reservations can be obtained by calling 1-800-231-2222 or visiting http://www.greyhound.com/home/
Charlottesville Station information:
310 W. Main Street, Charlottesville, VA
(one block from the Downtown Mall)
(434) 295-5131
By Car
Driving Directions to Charlottesville:
From Washington DC: Take Interstate 66 West until Exit 43A to merge onto US-29 S toward Gainesville. Continue on 29 South into Charlottesville. See map for specific venues.
From Richmond and points east and south: Take Interstate 64 West to Exit 118B to merge onto US-29 N toward Charlottesville. Charlottesville exits are Fontaine Avenue (29 Business), Ivy Road (250 Business), Barracks Road, and Route 29 (N to Washington, S to Charlottesville).
From Staunton and points west and north: Take Interstate 81 South to Exit 221 to merge onto Interstate 64 East. Continue on I-64 E to Exit 118 B to merge onto US-29 N toward Charlottesville. Charlottesville exits are Fontaine Avenue (29 Business), Ivy Road (250 Business), Barracks Road, and Route 29 (N to Washington, S to Charlottesville).
Car rentals are available at all area airports.
The Virginia Festival of the Book maintains information about local transportation in and around Charlottesville. at http://www.vabook.org/site09/travel/getting-around-cville.html.
Local bus service information may be found via the Charlottesville Transit Service website, which also has information about the free trolley service, which runs between the downtown pedestrian mall (near the Omni hotel), along West Main Street (with stops near the Hampton Inn and Marriott Courtyard hotels), The Corner (shopping are near the UVa campus), and UVa.
Free university bus service is available across most of the UVa campus area.
Maps of the University of Virginia campus are accessible at http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/, with the historic Central Grounds—the area around the Newcomb Hall Conference Center and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library—visible here: http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/GMcCormickRoadArea.html.
The New York Times recently featured an article summarizing the virtues and attractions of the local community.
A Charlottesville WikiTravel site contains numerous links to area attractions and restaurants. general information: http://wikitravel.org/en/Charlottesville. More detailed dining information is available from Charlottesville's DiscoverOurTown site.
There are two weekly newspapers in Charlottesville, both accessible online and both outlining goings-on, including dining, movies, exhibits, and more: The Hook and C-Ville.
A few additional tourist sites to peruse include the Monticello Wine Trail, and the American Shakespeare Theater located in Staunton, Va, about a 30 minute drive from Charlottesville, and home to Blackfriar’s Theater, modeled on Shakespeare’s original indoor theater.
