Virgina Tech Travel

[HuskerFreakz]

Folks,

For all those people going to the VT game or VT fans that frequent the site.

Where would be the best airport to fly into? Where to stay? Of course I'm trying to stay on a tight bugdet so my wife and I wanna come to a game and maybe catch some sites (Anything that we need to check out while we are there?) and travel back on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

Let us know.

Tom

[Scarlet Overkill]

Folks,

For all those people going to the VT game or VT fans that frequent the site.

Where would be the best airport to fly into? Where to stay? Of course I'm trying to stay on a tight bugdet so my wife and I wanna come to a game and maybe catch some sites (Anything that we need to check out while we are there?) and travel back on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

Let us know.

Tom

 

There are some flight options listed in this thread: http://www.huskerboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34015

 

I guess you have to weigh airfare to Roanoke versus airfare to a larger airport + rental car.

 

If you fly into Roanoke (closest to Blacksburg), I'm not sure how expensive it is, but Hokieluv has let me know about a bus that goes from the airport to Lane Stadium for cheap. (Thanks again, Hokieluv!) So, if you found a place to stay near the airport, or that had a shuttle to/from, you wouldn't need to worry about any transportation other than the flight.

[huKSer]

Be wary of any water transportation:

Deliverance

j/k Hokieluv

[Street Novelist]

LMFAO^^^

[VA Husker Fan]

Air travel is covered under that other thread.

 

As far as things to do, the mountains are beautiful around there, a lot more rugged than you'd think the eastern US would have. You can hike on the AT or other mountain trails, drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and explore caves such as Dixie Caverns.

 

If you're into Civil War history, Virginia has a lot of sites, though I don't know what's in the immediate Blacksburg/Roanoke area. Appomattox is east of Lynchburg, less than 2 hours away.

 

And as reminded by the Deliverance photo, how about white water rafting? It's Gauley season. For 5 weekends in the fall they open a dam on the Gauley River in West Virginia, about 2 hours away, and it is absolutely world class rapids. Book with an outfitter/guide in advance. I've actually only rafted the New and Chatooga (where Deliverance was filmed) rivers, and that's a blast too.

[Husker B]

The area is prime for hiking, especially in late September, with all the trees on the mountains changing colors. It is truly beautiful. I'm driving up on Friday and spending all day hiking and then going to bed early in order to rest up for the festivities on Saturday. Just wish it would hurry up.

[Hokieluv]

Folks,

For all those people going to the VT game or VT fans that frequent the site.

Where would be the best airport to fly into? Where to stay? Of course I'm trying to stay on a tight bugdet so my wife and I wanna come to a game and maybe catch some sites (Anything that we need to check out while we are there?) and travel back on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

Let us know.

Tom

 

Hey - we look forward to having you here in Blacksburg. As others have pointed out - nearest airport is in Roanoke (40 miles north along I-81). If you fly in you can catch the SmartWay bus to Blacksburg from the Roanoke airport (and other places) on a daily basis - $3 each way, but $1 on game-days. You can ask if they give a Husker-discount

 

As for hotels, you can pretty much forget Blacksburg. However, I know there is one hotel with availability in Christiansburg (10 minutes away) with rates around $140/night. Radford (15-20 minutes away) also have rooms around that price. If you stay in Roanoke you will have more options at lower rates, but you will deal with game-day traffic the morning of the game. If you stay there you may want to take the bus as you don't have to deal with parking and you can start your hydration-process earlier and not worry about driving

[VA Husker Fan]

So just how bad is the traffic from Roanoke and then off I-81? If I wanted to get there, say, 2 hours early (11:30 for a 1:30 kickoff), what time would I want to leave Roanoke? I'm actually coming from further north, but I'll be picking up someone in Roanoke. In fact I have to pick up my daughter in Harrisonburg first, so I'm wondering how traffic will be on I-81 further north. Is earlier going to be better?

 

As a side note, I'm pretty proud of the kid. She goes to JMU, and they've got a home game, and she's never lived in Nebraska, but she said if I can get her a ticket too, she's there. She's unbeaten, btw, with 2 wins in College Station, 1 or 2 in Waco, 1 in the Alamo Bowl, and 1 in the Orange Bowl (97 championship).

 

I think we'll have a parking pass so I'm not too worried about parking, just getting there.

[Hokieluv]

So just how bad is the traffic from Roanoke and then off I-81? If I wanted to get there, say, 2 hours early (11:30 for a 1:30 kickoff), what time would I want to leave Roanoke? I'm actually coming from further north, but I'll be picking up someone in Roanoke. In fact I have to pick up my daughter in Harrisonburg first, so I'm wondering how traffic will be on I-81 further north. Is earlier going to be better?

 

As a side note, I'm pretty proud of the kid. She goes to JMU, and they've got a home game, and she's never lived in Nebraska, but she said if I can get her a ticket too, she's there. She's unbeaten, btw, with 2 wins in College Station, 1 or 2 in Waco, 1 in the Alamo Bowl, and 1 in the Orange Bowl (97 championship).

 

I think we'll have a parking pass so I'm not too worried about parking, just getting there.

 

As the game is at 3:30 and you want to be there two hours early you probably should leave Roanoke around noon. In normal traffic it would be 50 mins, but leaving that close to the game I think you will be looking at 80-90 minutes. It will probably be a little stop and go once you exit 81 and get onto 460 which is the road leading into Blacksburg. If I were you I would leave a little earlier just to make sure the parking works OK. As I live within walking distance from Lane I usually don't deal with parking etc, but the only open parking on campus is the Prices Fork lot and I would be surprised if there is anything open that late on game day. If you have a pass you may be OK. If you have the chance to drive in the morning hours you will have no problems.

[VA Husker Fan]

So just how bad is the traffic from Roanoke and then off I-81? If I wanted to get there, say, 2 hours early (11:30 for a 1:30 kickoff), what time would I want to leave Roanoke? I'm actually coming from further north, but I'll be picking up someone in Roanoke. In fact I have to pick up my daughter in Harrisonburg first, so I'm wondering how traffic will be on I-81 further north. Is earlier going to be better?

 

As a side note, I'm pretty proud of the kid. She goes to JMU, and they've got a home game, and she's never lived in Nebraska, but she said if I can get her a ticket too, she's there. She's unbeaten, btw, with 2 wins in College Station, 1 or 2 in Waco, 1 in the Alamo Bowl, and 1 in the Orange Bowl (97 championship).

 

I think we'll have a parking pass so I'm not too worried about parking, just getting there.

 

As the game is at 3:30 and you want to be there two hours early you probably should leave Roanoke around noon. In normal traffic it would be 50 mins, but leaving that close to the game I think you will be looking at 80-90 minutes. It will probably be a little stop and go once you exit 81 and get onto 460 which is the road leading into Blacksburg. If I were you I would leave a little earlier just to make sure the parking works OK. As I live within walking distance from Lane I usually don't deal with parking etc, but the only open parking on campus is the Prices Fork lot and I would be surprised if there is anything open that late on game day. If you have a pass you may be OK. If you have the chance to drive in the morning hours you will have no problems.

 

Whoops, I was looking at the 2:30 CST time and subtracted instead of added. I imagine we probably will go a bit earlier. There's nothing like game day atmosphere on campus so there's no downside to going early, while the world ends if we're late!

[BigWillie]

Folks,

For all those people going to the VT game or VT fans that frequent the site.

Where would be the best airport to fly into? Where to stay? Of course I'm trying to stay on a tight bugdet so my wife and I wanna come to a game and maybe catch some sites (Anything that we need to check out while we are there?) and travel back on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

Let us know.

Tom

 

May have to drive a bit, but area has so much history.

 

You can drive up almost anywhere and just check out the scenery since you are so close to the Shenandoah Valley.

 

Another simple attraction I loved was to check out Natural Bridge. History behind it is great. Caverns there are fun as is the wax museum. If it was like it was years ago, the wax sculptures may surprise you a bit. You will see what I mean.

 

If you really take the time to take in everything at just the Natural Bridge, it can really take up your whole day with that alone. Love that place and I myself need to go back.

 

And if I were you, I'd head back on a Tuesday. Simply because you also should make the drive up to Charlottesville to check out Monticello and Montpelier. Also just drive around and check out the beauty of the UVA campus. Incredibly beautifully built place. You also have the Shenandoah National Park close.

 

Just according to how long you are willing to stay, but if you and the wife want to take in the most things and not stay an extra day, make the 1.5 hour drive up to Charlottesville from Roanoke to check that place out. Lots of stuff to see and do there. Make sure you get up early since there are so many things to do there.

[freefall]

how about white water rafting? It's Gauley season. For 5 weekends in the fall they open a dam on the Gauley River in West Virginia, about 2 hours away, and it is absolutely world class rapids. Book with an outfitter/guide in advance. I've actually only rafted the New and Chatooga (where Deliverance was filmed) rivers, and that's a blast too.

 

I do an annual trip to the upper Gauley with some skydiving buddies. It is awesome! If anyone's interested in rafting around the time of the VT/NEB, you're in luck. Here are the release dates for September, 2009:

 

9/11-9/14

9/18-9/21

9/25-9/28

 

We've been going with River Expeditions (fka River's) for years and their new campground is great. More info here:

 

http://www.raftinginfo.com/

 

Disclaimer: I have no connection to River's, I'm just a long-time satisfied customer. There are plenty of other outfitters, just google "gauley rafting" and take your pick.

 

Most of the outfitters also do other stuff like ATV tours, horseback riding, etc.