Never been to Auburn before....

[drail14me]

Just got my tickets to the game at Auburn this week. I've never been before and looking for any suggestions and advice as I plan the trip.

Planning on driving over from Starkville Friday night, catching an inexpensive room for the night, game Sat morning then back home after the game.

Bing Maps shows one mile difference between going through Montgomery or through Birmingham. I hate the drive from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery so I'm leaning towards Birmingham then HWY 280 to Auburn. Any reason to go via Montgomery?

For those that have been before, would you stay the night somewhere along the way between Birmingham and Auburn or in Opelika? It's been 20 years since I was last in Opelika while stationed at Ft Benning and I think I remember Opelika not being so nice. Thoughts?

What about game day parking and pre-game stuff to get into other than checking out the dying trees?

 

[99jc]

staying in Montgomery and leave there at 6:00 am for Aubie. Auburn is smaller than starkvegas and the stadium looks similar but the parking sucks there.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Well, I don't book many hotel rooms in Auburn, but my understanding is most all of them require a two night minimum on game weekends. Our local tourism board keeps an updated listing of all the local hotels for game weekends. You can check the (jacked up) rates and availabilities here.

http://aotourism.com/db/AccommodationsDocs/1/AOTB_2011_812.pdf

If you are coming over on Friday night, I'd go Birmingham. More chances to eat, gas up, whatever. I typically go to Starkville via Montgomery, but that is mainly to avoid Bham traffic on Friday afternoon/evening. When I come back here, I almost always go Bham, then 280.

So if you are doing that, you probably won't want to come all the way into Auburn. You can try Alexander City or Sylacauga, then get up early on Saturday and come the rest of the way into Auburn.

If you decided to go 82 or to Bham and down 65, you could stay in Prattville or on the east side of Montgomery.

Pregame is gonna be pretty limited with an 11 am kickoff. By the time you park, get to campus and grab some food it's gonna be time to head into the stadium.

I guess if you were so inclined you could go check out the new Football Recruiting Center errrrrr Auburn Arena. It houses the Lovelace Athletic Museum with some pretty cool memorabilia.

Don't hate on the trees man. I used to live in downtown Auburn with a view that overlooked Toomer's. Those trees were my neighbors.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

If so, I agree. That's why I go to Starkville on Fridays on 82.

 

[aerodawg.sixpack]

We went through Birmingham and 280 down to get there and back. The drive was pretty nice, four-lane almost the entire way as far as I remember with moderate traffic (and we drove down on gameday).I despise the trip from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery so I don't think I will ever go that way.

We booked last minute last time and the game was a night game so we actually stayed about 25 miles in the wrong direction just to be able to get to our hotel room within an hour after the game. I have no real experience with any of the hotels around the Auburn-Opelika area other than driving through and it seemed to be a nice enough area. I know there is a Holiday Inn Express in Sylacauga which is about halfway between Birmingham and Opelika on 280 and maybe a few more hotels in Alexander City a little closer to Opelika.

Personally, my girlfriend found and thought the America's Best Value Inn in Opelika was good enough to stay at this time. Nothing special, but it does look clean and decent and was renovated in 2010 when it was bought from previous owners, not to mention it was quite cheap. We prefer to stay at Marriott or Hilton hotels like we are for the Georgia game, but being in college the $250 bucks a night was not worth it.

 

[ShaNaNa]

Stay on 82 all the way to Montgomery. I have been to Auburn countless times and it is most definitely the quickest route. 82 is pretty much 4 lane all the way from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

At night you have to deal with a good bit of two lane from Centerville to Prattville. The only time I do it is when Bama's home game is ending when I get to t-town and I don't want to be in their ballgame traffic from Tusc to Bham. It's awful. Still a lot of cars headed to Montgomery, but not as bad as 20/59 in my opinion.

And if you do 82, get off at Prattville via Cobbs Ford Road and hop on 65 to get to 85. Saves a little time.

 

[kcomphlint]

The one time I have been to an Auburn game (Tubby's last year, i think), we had to park on the front yard of the Beta Theta Pi house and walking almost a mile to the stadium.<div>
</div><div>If you come through Birmingham, take 65 to Montgomery. 280 is a nightmare during rush hour and will be even worse on game morning.</div><div>
</div><div>Might could also find a cheaper hotel in Birmingham. Not sure if Montgomery/Auburn/Opelika jack up their rates on game weekend.</div>

 

[Nugdawg]

the Jackson/Meridian area, make sure you have gas and nobody has to use the bathroom when you leave Meridian as you DO NOT want to stop in Uniontown or Welfarema (selma) Alabama. This stretch of HWY 80 is the stretch of road that time has forgotten.

As for lodging, two years ago I stayed in East Montgomery in a bit of a nicer area that was fine. I could recommend it and you weren't that far, maybe an hour from Auburn and there were some dining options so that if you need to avoid gameday congestion in Auburn you could grab a bite either before or after you return. Or better yet, snag an invite from Dawgatauburn for the tailgate spread he and his wife offer up on gamedays at their house.

 

[drail14me]

Looks like I'm not going to be able to leave Starkville until after 6:00 on Friday so I should miss all the traffic in Birmingham and on 280. Found a hotel at a decent rate in Alexander City, AL. From there, should only be an hour or so to the stadium Saturday morning. I sure wish this was an afternoon or night game!!!! Thanks for the advice.

I'd still like to find a bus trip for the game though!! Would be nice to be able to just sit back and enjoy the trip with a cold one and not worry about driving!

 

[wrhodestider]

Auburn is smaller than starkvegas and the stadium looks similar but the parking sucks there.

How do you figure that? Auburn's population is a little over 50k and Starkville is about half that.

 

[Kim Jong Il]

Looks like I'm not going to be able to leave Starkville until after 6:00 on Friday so I should miss all the traffic in Birmingham and on 280. Found a hotel at a decent rate in Alexander City, AL. From there, should only be an hour or so to the stadium Saturday morning. I sure wish this was an afternoon or night game!!!! Thanks for the advice.

Not really sure if you are hooking up with some people or not. But I have been to Auburn many times. Here is some help for a newbie, when you are on 280 the exact road you want to turn on is highway 147 SOUTH. From Alex City you will first see a sign that says 147 NORTH, the one you want is up the road about 1000 more feet to the right which is 147 SOUTH.
That road is called College Street and will take you right downtown Auburn where all the sidewalks and Tommer's corner is located. When you get to or close to Tommers corner. You have a few options. Go straight toward the campus and there will be some parks well on down the road or you could turn left near Tommer's and the next street over is called Gay Street. They have alot of churches that open up parking but are kinda pricey like $20. But most will provide a restroom for you inside the church. Since it is a morning game if you want out quickly that is the place to park. if you want tailgating the keep on College and go to the south of campus and they have some lots that you can park. But getting out of there is a *****. But if you are staying they can be fun.
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They also have frat house on the east side of campus that let you park for a charge. They open the house most open up their house and you can use their restrooms. and is also a great place to tailgate.
If you want to check those frat houses out and see the other side of campus then while you are on college Street and bfore you get to Auburn city limits there is a loop called Jordans parkway or something like that. You can turn right on that road and will take you around east auburn.