IMPORTANT!
UMass Amherst is located in relatively rural western Massachusetts and travel to it from Boston, New York City or Hartford Connecticut takes between three and six hours and it can be a bit complicated. We are trying to provide good information for your planning below.
Some key travel reminders:
- Carry hardcopies of key documents.
- If you are coming from outside of the USA
- The UMass Global Affairs dispatch number to call is 413-545-2121 if you have any trouble at the border. However the UMass Global Program Office’s influence and access with border control is limited.
- Keep any medications you need in your carry-on and bring some food in the low-probability case you are taken to secondary inspection. That process can take a long time.
Airports and buses to UMass Amherst
IASC 2025 Participants should plan to fly into either
- Bradley International Airport at Hartford Connecticut USA (~50 miles from UMass Amherst – an hour bus or shuttle ride) or
- Boston Logan Airport in the City of Boston Massachusetts USA (~100 miles from UMass Amherst – a 3-4 hour bus ride).
- John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.
All three airports are international airports.
- This is the nearest airport to UMass Amherst, about 50 minutes by drive away at Bradley International Airport in Hartford Connecticut. We recommend participants fly here.
- A map of the airport and the drive to UMass Amherst is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/84qJP6dqYqwTCgSNA.
- Participants are encouraged — sooner than later — to make their own transport arrangements by contacting the “Valley Transporter” at https://valleytransporter.com/. Rates for shared rides can be found at https://valleytransporter.com/bradleyairport/bradley-shared-ride-rates/.
- We are also investigating other possible busing options that we will post here when we have them completed.
- This airport is about a 2.5 hour drive from UMass Amherst by car and can take 4.5-5 hours by bus. For that reason, we recommend conference participants fly into Hartford Bradley Airport (above) instead of Boston Logan. However, we understand that flights might be cheaper for some conference participants if they fly into Boston Logan.
- There are two bus lines that take people from Boston Logan to UMass Amherst.
To reserve, visit:
Origin and Destination
Approximate Price
(one-way)
Approximate
Travel Time
Boston Logan Airport to UMass Amherst
$39-$56 per person
4.5-5 hours
City of Boston South Station Train Terminal
(take the Silver subway line from the Logan airport to South Station)
$38 per person
3-4 hours
To reserve, visit:
Origin and Destination
Origin: City of Boston South Station Train Terminal
(take the Silver subway line from the Logan airport to South Station)
Destination: Northampton MA
Approximate Price
(one-way)
$35
Approximate
Travel Time
3 hours
Notes
In Northampton,
take the public transit bus B43
from
Northampton
to UMass
John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) is located in Queens, New York (145 miles/240 km from UMass Amherst).
The best way to get to UMass Amherst from JFK Airport is:
- Take public transportation from JFK to New York City’s Penn Train Station to get to the Amtrak train service. This will take about an hour. Plan your trip using the MTA Trip Planner website.
- Take an Amtrak train from New York Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station (NYP) to the Northampton, MA (NHT) station. Book your train here. For example, on Sunday June 15th, there are two train times departing Penn Station:
- 11:30 am – arriving at Northampton at 3:57 pm
- 3:02 pm – arriving at Northampton at 7:27 pm
- We are working on providing bus service from the Northampton train station to UMass. More information coming.
Car travel to UMass Amherst
If you will be driving to UMass and staying in an OFF-CAMPUS LOCAL HOTEL (see lodging page) AND you have a car…
- it will be easiest for you to drive to the campus and park rather than take public transit which can be quite time consuming.
- Discounted parking will be available in the Campus Center Parking Garage located at 91 Campus Center Way in Amherst, MA.
- A coupon code will be provided to registered attendees closer to the event which can be used to reduce parking fees to $0.93/hour, maxing out at $10.00/day.
- Please stop at a garage pay station within 20 minutes of parking to select the number of hours you will park that day, enter the coupon code, and submit payment. You will need to repeat this process each day you park in the garage.
If you will be driving to UMass and staying in one of the CAMPUS DORMATORIES (see lodging page) AND you have a car…
- … you can typically park in a nearby surface lot to your building at no charge to you, however this is still being negotiated for this summer. We will update this page when we have more information.
If you will be driving to UMass and staying in the CAMPUS HOTEL (see lodging page) AND you have a car……
- … you can add a Campus Center Parking Garage pass to your room at check-in, paying via the same means as they would pay for their room. The hotel parking rate is $6.00/day. For this option, you would need to proceed to the hotel lobby upon arrival to register their vehicle. Check-in is not available until after 3PM on their date of arrival, but if you are coming in for something earlier in the day, they can still stop by the hotel front desk to register their vehicle upon arrival, and then return again to check-in to their room after 3PM.
