jen_bldr

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to plan a weekend outing to Charlotte, NC for the NIN/JA show on June 12. I hope to depart from Denver on the morning of June 11 and leave sometime on June 13 (so I can be back to work :/). I'm wondering how easy it is to get transportation 1) from the airport to cheap accommodations, and 2) from said accommodations to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

That said, my questions:

1) Would it be easy enough to travel on public transport between these destinations? My accommodations would probably be centered around the easiest transfer point., but I also want to spend relatively little on accommodations. I want to avoid renting a car, but I will do so if public transport is too much of a hassle.

2) Are there any less-expensive, but decent, economy accommodations somewhere on a bus route between the airport and the amphitheater, preferably no more than a mile from the bus route?

3) Do you have any advice to contribute for my trip?

Thanks!
/Jen

SAnParis2

First & foremost, I would suggest you rent a car. Public transport in & around CLT is not the best & it will likely be cheaper. There are some places to stay near Verizon if you want to reduce your drive time, but that is not the ideal place to stay, particularly. If the bus even runs out there, you would first have to (I'm guessing here) go clear Uptown then back out. www.ridetransit.org, www.charlotte.com

SAnParis2

www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/115 The venue website does offer some places to stay but the 1st two are Uptown (where I would stay), a couple are by the Airport (you don't want to stay there) & the last two are well south of town. You will probably want to stay in the University area (based on location + if you are on a budget) north of town, near where I-85 & I-485 intersect.

Gretchen

And you might want to look on Priceline for the areas SAn has suggested. It wouldn't be awful to stay in the vicinity of the airport and drive to the amphitheater--there's a Holiday Inn on I77 and Billy Graham. I wouldn't stay downtown since you'd have to pay for parking in addition.

jen_bldr

Thanks for your replies! I have no problem staying at budget hotels or places that are rather cheap. Since I am only staying for two night at the most, I don't feel like going all-out on a place to crash.

I will check out the Holiday Inn and I appreciate the realistic viewpoint of the public transport. Thanks so much!

How long does it take to get from the airport to the amphitheater?

Brian_in_Charlotte

Once you're in your car (I don't see how you can do this without a rental), outside of rush hour, 20 minutes, rush hour could add another 10 to 15.

jen_bldr

Wow, that's great. I think I will definitely have to take a rental. Thank you for the advice!

Brian_in_Charlotte

The times I listed are fairly aggressive and assume you know where you are going and have no show traffic. If you can't find a cheap hotel option in the University Area, look a couple exits up I-85 around the Concord Mills area.

Gretchen

Brian is right also. I only suggested the airport area for leaving. If you have a car just get a cheap room--and up around University will maybe have more possibilities, but look onHotwire, etc. Going west to Denver gives you the advantage of teh time change so you can arrive home early in thd

SLWR

You may have already figured your plan out, but as I read through all of this and read your schedule again, at first I was thinking you were here for a show/convention uptown and then catching a show at Verizon while you were in town. It occured to me that NIN was the Nine Inch Nails show, Right? And you have no need to be uptown?

If I'm right here, you could stay at that Holiday inn (it's actually about a mile from where I live and I put my family there last summer and they were happy) but it's no where near Verizon.

It's up to you when you want to drive, after the show or in the morning before your flight. If you'd rather not drive far after the show, stay up near the University Area or Concord Mills. If you want a quick 5-7 minute drive in the morning, stay at the Holiday Inn they mentioned.

Just FYI- before a show traffic can be really bad, I would take 77 to 485 then get off at the HWY29 Exit which is near Verizon, you'll dodge a good bit of traffic on Tryon (HWY29) coming from Univ. area.

If you have any other questions drop me a line...

Enjoy the show!

sushi_aficianado

As far as airport transportation, we flew into Charlotte 2 months ago and used a company called A Step Above Limo (http://www.astepabovelimo.com) and booked 2 town cars. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give them a 9. True to their name, they appeared to not only be prompt, but the driver had good knowledge of the airport and city - very helpful in keeping our itinerary on target.