Guides ·Essentials

Walking

Downtown Albany is small. State Street to Empire State Plaza to Lark Street to Washington Park is under 20 minutes end to end. Bring shoes for hills — State Street climbs 200 feet from the river to the Capitol. Center Square's brownstone-lined streets, Lark Street's restaurants, and the plaza's underground concourse are all walkable within a half-mile radius of the Capitol. Sidewalks are generally well maintained downtown, though ice and snow between December and March mean waterproof boots with grip are worth packing. The Empire State Plaza's underground walkway lets you avoid the worst of the wind and cold, connecting several state office buildings directly to the plaza's train and bus concourse.

Walking beyond downtown gets less rewarding. Pine Hills and the Delaware Avenue corridor are each about a 25-minute walk from the Capitol, doable in daylight but better reached by a CDTA bus after dark, since streetlighting thins out past Lark Street. The riverfront along Broadway and the Hudson River Way pedestrian bridge make a pleasant half-hour loop down to the Corning Preserve, especially at sunset. Skip trying to walk to the airport or to Crossgates Mall — both are six miles out along arterial roads with no continuous sidewalk, and neither is safe or pleasant on foot.

CDTA buses

The Capital District Transportation Authority runs buses across Albany, Troy, and Schenectady. Fare is $1.50 a ride or $4 for an all-day pass — buy on the CDTA Navigator app or with cash on board (exact change). Key routes: the 905 BusPlus runs the length of Washington Avenue and Central Avenue every 15 minutes and connects downtown to Wolf Road hotels. The 22 goes to Troy. The 100 connects downtown to Crossgates Mall. Buses run roughly 6am to midnight. Transfers between routes are free within 90 minutes if you tap the same Navigator app pass, and the app also shows real-time bus locations rather than a fixed schedule. The main downtown transfer point is Quackenbush Square, near Broadway and Clinton Avenue, where most north-south routes converge before heading out to the suburbs.

Weekend service runs thinner — expect 30-minute waits on the 22 and 100 after 8pm on Saturdays, and Sunday schedules drop several routes entirely. A shuttle route links the Albany-Rensselaer train station across the Hudson to downtown and is the cheapest way to reach Amtrak without a costly cab ride over the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Seniors, students, and riders with disabilities qualify for a $0.75 half fare with ID. If you are staying more than three days, the $4 day pass usually beats paying per ride, since most visitors end up taking the bus at least three times a day between downtown, Lark Street, and a hotel out on Wolf Road or Central Avenue.

Rental car and parking

Rent a car if you’re doing day trips — Saratoga, Hudson, Cooperstown, and the Berkshires all need one. Airport rentals are $50 to $80 a day. Downtown parking is metered $1.25 an hour Monday to Saturday, free Sunday. Garage parking runs $10 to $15 a day; hotels typically add $18 to $28 for valet. Saratoga Springs is 40 minutes north on the Northway (I-87), Hudson is 45 minutes south on the Thruway toward the Taconic, Cooperstown is 90 minutes west, and the Berkshires start about an hour east on Route 20. All four are essentially impossible on CDTA, since none of them sit on a regular bus route. Book rental cars at Albany International Airport rather than downtown — the airport counters have far more inventory than the handful of downtown branches.

Street parking is easiest to find north of the Capitol or south along Green Street, both a 10-minute walk from Empire State Plaza. Meters take coins or the ParkMobile app, and enforcement runs 8am to 6pm; overstay and the ticket is $25. City-run garages near Green Street and the Times Union Center hold overflow for events and charge a flat $10 to $12 for anything under 12 hours. If you're driving in just for a Times Union Center concert or an Empire State Plaza event, arrive at least 30 minutes early — surface lots near the arena fill up fast and latecomers get pushed several blocks out.

Rideshare and taxis

Uber and Lyft both operate reliably. Downtown to the airport is $22 to $30, downtown to Troy $18 to $25. Taxis exist but are worse — book Uber. Both apps have healthy driver coverage around downtown hotels, the airport, and Crossgates Mall, so wait times rarely exceed five to eight minutes outside of a Saturday night bar rush on Lark Street or Pearl Street, when surge pricing can push a short downtown hop to $15 or more. Schenectady is a longer haul at 20 to 25 minutes and $25 to $35 depending on traffic on I-890. Late at night, after CDTA buses stop running around midnight, rideshare becomes the only real option besides a rental car already parked at your hotel.

Taxis still operate through dispatch numbers rather than apps, which means calling ahead and waiting 15 to 20 minutes rather than watching a car icon approach on a map — a real disadvantage in cold weather. Fares are metered and typically run higher than the equivalent Uber trip for anything over two miles. The one case where a taxi can beat rideshare is a pre-booked early morning airport run, since a scheduled taxi guarantees a car at 4am when driver supply on the apps thins out. Otherwise, book Uber or Lyft for anything within the city and save taxis for that one scenario.

Amtrak and the train station

Albany-Rensselaer, the area's main train station, actually sits across the Hudson River in Rensselaer, not in Albany proper — a detail that surprises first-time visitors checking a map. Amtrak's Empire Service runs roughly every two hours to New York City's Penn Station, a 2.5-hour ride costing $30 to $70 depending on how far ahead you book. The Adirondack continues north toward Montreal and the Ethan Allen Express heads east into Vermont, while the Lake Shore Limited passes through overnight en route to Chicago. Book at least a week ahead for the cheapest Empire Service fares; walk-up tickets on a Friday afternoon can double in price.

Getting between the station and downtown Albany takes some planning, since the two are separated by the Hudson River and it is not a walk anyone should attempt with luggage. A CDTA shuttle route runs between the station and downtown for the standard $1.50 fare, timed loosely around train arrivals. A taxi or Uber across the Dunn Memorial Bridge takes about 10 minutes and runs $12 to $18. If you're catching an early departure, build in 20 minutes of buffer beyond the drive time — the station's drop-off area gets congested during the morning Empire Service departures toward New York.

Albany International Airport

Albany International Airport (ALB) sits in Colonie, about 8 miles and a 15- to 20-minute drive north of downtown via I-87. It's a small single-terminal airport — you can walk from curb to gate in under 10 minutes, and security lines rarely run past 15 minutes outside of the Thursday and Sunday peak travel windows. Most of the airport-area hotel cluster runs along Wolf Road and nearby streets — Courtyard by Marriott Albany Airport, Hampton Inn & Suites Albany Airport, Residence Inn by Marriott Albany Airport, and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Albany Airport among them — and many run their own free shuttle vans, often the easiest way to cover the last mile if you're not renting a car.

For getting into the city, CDTA's airport route runs to downtown for $1.50 every 30 minutes and takes about 25 minutes — slower than a cab but a fraction of the cost. Uber and Lyft both pick up from a designated area outside baggage claim, and a downtown ride runs $22 to $30 as noted above. If you're staying further out in Latham, the TownePlace Suites Latham Albany Airport and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Albany Airport Area Latham are close enough that a short Uber or the hotel's own shuttle covers it in under 10 minutes. Rental car counters are inside the terminal, not off-site, which saves the shuttle bus hassle common at larger airports.

Biking

CDPHP Cycle!, the region's bike-share system, has docking stations scattered through downtown Albany, along Lark Street, and down by the Corning Preserve riverfront. A single ride is $2 for 30 minutes, or a monthly pass costs $15 if you're around long enough to make it worthwhile. The flattest, most useful stretch is the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail, which runs along the river from the Corning Preserve north toward the Twin Bridges — a mostly flat, paved route if you're ambitious, or an easy few-mile out-and-back for an afternoon. Uphill from the river toward the Capitol is a real climb, so budget extra time and expect to dismount and walk the steepest block of State Street.

Biking works best as a way to see the riverfront and Washington Park rather than as primary transportation between hotels and downtown, since Albany's arterial roads — Central Avenue, Washington Avenue, Western Avenue — carry heavy traffic with inconsistent bike lanes. Helmets aren't provided with CDPHP Cycle! rentals, so bring your own if you're picky about safety. Avoid biking to the airport or Crossgates Mall; both routes run along highway-adjacent roads with no dedicated path. For a low-effort ride, stick to the paved loop through Washington Park and the connector down to the Corning Preserve, both easy to reach if you decide halfway through that you'd rather not pedal back uphill.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

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Downtown Albany DoubleTree by Hilton Schenectady Downtown

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