College tour and place to stay? (Indianapolis, South Bend: rental car, rental, good hotels)

[globetrekker96]

I want to ask about where should I stay that is within an hour, at most, of specific locations. I am from New York and am considering going back to college to get another degree.

1. If I fly into Indianapolis Airport, will I be able to take a bus to South Bend, or West Lafayette?

2. Will staying in Indianapolis be the best option? I want to look at Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana State, and maybe Valparaiso.

3. Parking in college towns, is it tricky? Can you park on campus without a permit? Do you need to pay by the meter in the towns mentioned?

4. What about the University of Indianapolis? I am looking for a typical college with good space and old buildings.

5. Anyone know any good hotels in Indianapolis that have a shuttle to and from the airport?

[ischyros]

As far as I know, the only bus service between the cities would be Greyhound. And I know there's only one a day that runs from Indy to South Bend unless you want to go elsewhere, like Chicago, and transfer. And since the return is an hour later, you'll have to spend a night in South Bend. The colleges you mentioned are spread across the northern half of the state. There are no cities that are going to be within an hour of all of them.

Once you get there, you still have to get around. Lafayette, Terre Haute, and South Bend all have bus routes but I don't have a clue how good those services are. South Bend and Valparaiso are both more than 2 hours from Indianapolis by car. By bus it's even longer and there's no direct route to Valpo. Terre Haute and West Lafayette are about an hour and 15 minutes. Also keep in mind Valparaiso is on central time while most of the rest of Indiana is on eastern time.

Parking shouldn't be an issue. Colleges have visitor parking somewhere on campus. You'll just have to go to their websites and find it.

[WestsideMac]

Most hotels on the westside of Indianapolis or in Plainfield will most likely have a shuttle service. Some of the downtown ones or more expensive ones will have that option as well.

I don't know about bus routes between those cities. As mentioned between Indy and those cities there's typically something, but from even South Bend to Lafayette I have no idea. If possible, renting a car might be the better option. That way you have the freedom to explore where you want in those areas. South Bend to Valpo is like an hour drive. Valpo to Lafayette is slightly longer but still only like 1.5 hours.

So making those drives wouldn't be terrible. However, I'd probably just stay in hotels in each city if I were you instead of coming back to Indy each night. That will give you a better feel for the college campus, city environment and atmosphere. While in college you aren't going to be staying or coming to Indy that often. So staying in Indy may not be the best option as you'd be getting familiar with a city you won't be in very often.

As mentioned there is usually visitor parking. Valpo will be a lot easier to find parking than Notre Dame or Purdue I believe though. Indiana State shouldn't be as hard either.

As for University of Indianapolis, just so you are aware it is quite different from the others you are looking at. Valpo would be the closest. Valpo may be smaller than UIndy population wise but campus size it is significantly larger. UIndy is very compact about 1 square mile for almost their entire campus. It will feel like a very small university while the others all feel huge. It has some great programs, especially in the health field, for how small it is.

[Karl Lagos]

Originally Posted by globetrekker96

I want to ask about where should I stay that is within an hour, at most, of specific locations. I am from New York and am considering going back to college to get another degree.

1. If I fly into Indianapolis Airport, will I be able to take a bus to South Bend, or West Lafayette?

2. Will staying in Indianapolis be the best option? I want to look at Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana State, and maybe Valparaiso.

3. Parking in college towns, is it tricky? Can you park on campus without a permit? Do you need to pay by the meter in the towns mentioned?

4. What about the University of Indianapolis? I am looking for a typical college with good space and old buildings.

5. Anyone know any good hotels in Indianapolis that have a shuttle to and from the airport?

You might be better off flying into Chicago Midway if you can get a direct flight there. Regarding parking worse case just park in an hourly garage. You could do Valpo and S. Bend on the same day then drive to W. LA and stay there or Lafayette (more hotels there). Univ of Ind is on the S. Side of Indy, small campus in a big city.


ISU is a different animal is pretty far from the others up North.

[rrah]

Those are some very different types of colleges in size, offerings and reputations. Also have to say I'm a bit surprised Indiana University is not on the list. It has old buildings and space. Is there a particular course of study you have in mind?

My suggestion for transportion: fly into Midway, take Orange line to a station that services the South Shore line. Take South Shore to South Bend. Uber/lyft to Notre Dame. Pick up a rental car after tour. Drive to Valpo (about an hour). Spend the night in Valpo or drive to Purdue and spend the night. Tour Purdue and drive to Indiana State. Tour ISU and drive to Indianapolis (I wouldn't want to spend the night in Terre Haute because I'd rather be some place with more to do.) Tour U Indy in the morning, drop off rental car at Indy Airport.

Parking on campuses: I am assuming Purdue and Notre Dame, maybe ISU, have similar parking rules to IU. Most places will require a parking pass/tag. You'll have to find visitor parking prior to arrival. Expect to pay for it. Valpo may have some free parking. U Indy had free parking about 10 years ago when I worked there.

I wouldn't depend on greyhound or another bus line to get you to all of these places unless you have a week.

[globetrekker96]

Thanks for the replies. I didn’t know that Valparaiso was on a different time zone.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by globetrekker96

I want to ask about where should I stay that is within an hour, at most, of specific locations. I am from New York and am considering going back to college to get another degree.

1. If I fly into Indianapolis Airport, will I be able to take a bus to South Bend, or West Lafayette?

2. Will staying in Indianapolis be the best option? I want to look at Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana State, and maybe Valparaiso.

3. Parking in college towns, is it tricky? Can you park on campus without a permit? Do you need to pay by the meter in the towns mentioned?

4. What about the University of Indianapolis? I am looking for a typical college with good space and old buildings.

5. Anyone know any good hotels in Indianapolis that have a shuttle to and from the airport?

If money isn't a major concern, you could fly into South Bend. There's a commuter terminal there. The airport is a 10 minute drive from Notre Dame.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by globetrekker96

4. What about the University of Indianapolis? I am looking for a typical college with good space and old buildings.

Um .. UIndy & Valpo do not fit your criteria. If you visit UIndy, visit Butler and IUI or PUI (still getting used to the divorce).

Purdue .. meh, barely, no offense to my Boilermaker brothers and sisters. It's a STEM school

ND, old buildings for sure, but it's not a typical college town... once you leave campus, it's south bend.

ISU ... it's ok. My oldest graduated from there and liked it. It really is the state school that tries.

Why not IU? honestly, your criteria fits IU and Bloomington, tbh.

Flying to midway is your best bet, south shore to SB and uber. I hope you have your license because you wil need to drive everywhere. If you schedule your college visits with the admissions office, you will get a parking pass.

[Kluch]

I would not be taking a Greyhound bus from Indy to NW Indiana (or anywhere really). I rode one during my college years and there were some shady characters on there. I don't think they've gotten much better in recent years.

I'd suggest a rental car or using Turo.com (basically AirBnB for cars/travel) which we've used with great success in the past.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by globetrekker96

I want to ask about where should I stay that is within an hour, at most, of specific locations. I am from New York and am considering going back to college to get another degree.

1. If I fly into Indianapolis Airport, will I be able to take a bus to South Bend, or West Lafayette?

2. Will staying in Indianapolis be the best option? I want to look at Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana State, and maybe Valparaiso.

3. Parking in college towns, is it tricky? Can you park on campus without a permit? Do you need to pay by the meter in the towns mentioned?

4. What about the University of Indianapolis? I am looking for a typical college with good space and old buildings.

5. Anyone know any good hotels in Indianapolis that have a shuttle to and from the airport?

Suggest you contact each school to see what it would take for a campus visit. Doubt if there is any bus. Parking at a big university gets tricky if you don't know where anything is. They may be large enough to have a campus bus for students. Most likely you will need to rent a car for your trip. Would be too far from Indy to South Bend.

You would have to check hotel if they do airport transfer.