State College

State College is a home rule municipality (styled as a "borough") in Centre County, Pennsylvania. It is home to the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University.

Get in

By plane

• 🌍 University Park Airport (SCE  ^IATA) (6.7 miles from the centre of the town), ☎ [phone]. non-stop flights to Chicago, Detroit, Washington and Philadelphia.  

By bus

Megabus serves State College with numerous buses from New York City, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago. Greyhound has more limited service to State College, with buses mostly from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Each company uses a different station, Greyhound buses use the 🌍 State College Bus Station on 152 N Atherton St, approximately a half mile (10 minutes' walk) from the center of town. More inconveniently, the 🌍 Megabus bus stop is located at a Walmart parking lot, on 1665 N Atherton St. (Public transport to downtown is available nearby.)

Ourbus serves bus service from State College to New York City & vice versa. These buses operates from 152 N Atherton St, State College, PA N. Atherton Street Bus Terminal, about half mile (10 minutes walk) from the college.

By car

State College is connected to nearby cities by the following highways

• I-80 west Cleveland and I-80 east Allentown connect with I-99 south/US 220 south.
• I-99 south/US 220 south from I-80 Williamsport and I-99 north/US-220 north from Altoona.
• US 322 north Lewistown and Harrisburg. US 322 and US 322 Business both pass around the city

Get around

Pennsylvania's 3rd largest city, sort of Football is a big deal throughout the Midwest, but college football is an especially big deal for Penn State fans. While the population of State College and adjacent College Township is less than 50,000, during Penn State home games as many as 110,000 people crowd into Beaver Stadium. On football Saturdays, there's more people in town than live in Pennsylvania's third largest city (Allentown, pop. 106,000)!

Most of downtown State College can be seen by simply walking around the compact downtown and university campus. Although a car is convenient to get to the outskirts of town, a bike is sufficient.

If you prefer to take public transportation, CATA provides on-time bus service to most of the county. There are also free buses running through the downtown area, as well as through campus. Most State College routes run from 6 AM until 2:30 AM (shortly after last call) the following morning.

See

• 🌍 Pennsylvania State University, ☎ [phone]. Penn State, home of the Nittany Lions, is the main campus of a university system with nearly 100,000 students in all. The State College campus has over 45,000 students, and its undergraduate enrollment of over 40,000 makes it one of the five largest university campuses in America by undergraduate enrollment.  
  • 🌍 Palmer Museum of Art, ☎ [phone]. Free. (updated Feb 2018)
  • 🌍 The Arboretum at Penn State. (updated Apr 2018)

Do

• Watch a Penn State football game.
• Ride your bicycle: There are many dedicated paths and bike lanes around town. Nearby Rothrock State Forest, which has hosted world-class mountain bike races, has miles of trails for all levels of mountain biking. Many of the country roads surrounding State College are also ideal for road cycling. The Centre Region Bicycle Coalition has more information on cycling in the State College area.
• 4th of July fireworks.
• 🌍 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. A variety of artists come to display their work on the streets of downtown State College and surrounding campus area. Live music, food stands and family friendly activities bring people from all over Pennsylvania.  
• The Pennsylvania State University IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, known colloquially as THON, is the largest student run philanthropy in the world raising money for pediatric cancer care and research at the Hershey Medical Center administered by the Four Diamonds fund. It is a 46 hour dance marathon held typically the penultimate weekend of February. Entry into the Bryce Jordan Center is free and open to the public during THON. Last year it raised 10.6 million dollars during its 6 month fundraising period.
• 🌍 The State Theatre, 130 W College Ave, ☎ [phone]. (updated Nov 2018)

Buy

There are a number of small shops downtown along College and Beaver Ave. Nittany Mall is also only a few miles away.

Eat

There are other numerous restaurants such as Applebees, Chili's, Baby's (a 50s style diner), and many little cafes and smaller restaurants no matter where you find yourself.

• 🌍 The Tavern, 220 E College Avenue, ☎ [phone]. Dinner from 5PM daily. Adjacent to Penn State, with a very nice atmosphere and excellent food and service. (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Penn State Berkey Creamery, 119 Rodney A. Erickson (In Rodney A. Erickson Food Science Building), ☎ [phone]. Generally open from 7AM to 10PM for working days. The largest university creamery in the nation. (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Kimchi Korean Restaurant, 1100 N Atherton St, ☎ [phone]. Best Korean food in town. (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Otto's Pub and Brewery, 2235 N Atherton St, ☎ [phone]. Microbrewery and pub-style food (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Phyrst, 111-1/2 East Beaver Ave., ☎ [phone]. The Phryst is one of State College's basement bars with a dedication to local music scene, friendly atmosphere, pool tables (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Herwig's Austrian Bistro, 132 West College Avenue, ☎ [phone]. Delicious Austrian Soul Food. Menu is in German, the staff will read it to you in English. BYOB. Credit cards not accepted. Menu changes daily. (updated Sep 2016)
• Meyer Dairy Store, 2390 South Atherton Street, ☎ [phone]. Yummy ice-cream and fresh bottle milk. 

Drink

Drinking is what State College is known for, second only to football. Whether you prefer sports bars, dance clubs, or Irish pubs, with over 20 bars in a mile radius, everyone is sure to find something to their liking.

Sleep

• 🌍 Best Western Plus University Park Inn & Suites, 115 Premier Drive, ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• 🌍 Courtyard State College, 1730 University Drive, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 
• 🌍 Days Inn State College, 240 South Pugh Street, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• Fairfield Inn and Suites, 2215 North Atherton St, ☎ [phone]. Newest hotel in State College! 
• 🌍 Hampton Inn State College, 1101 E College Ave (Rt 322 to Rt 26 exit, hotel half mile on the right), ☎ [phone]. Check-in: 1500, check-out: 1200. 
• 🌍 Holiday Inn Express, 1925 Waddle Road, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 The Nittany Lion Inn, 200 West Park Avenue, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Premier historic hotel, opened in 1931. (updated Sep 2016)
• 🌍 Residence Inn State College, 1555 University Drive, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 
• 🌍 SpringHill Suites State College, 1935 Waddle Road, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 
• 🌍 Carnegie Inn and Spa, 100 Cricklewood Drive, ☎ [phone]. Quaint hotel with wonderful specials and packages. 

Go next

• Greenwood Furnance State Park is located approximately 30 minutes southwest of State College using PA-26 and PA-305. It offers camping, hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities in season.

Routes through State College

to Williamsport ← Bellefonte ←	N  S	→ Altoona → Bedford
Meadville ← Clearfield ←	W  E	→ Lewistown → Harrisburg