Est. 1970
(Travel Information)
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NOTE: Pensacola is in the Central Standard Time (CST) zone. It is exactly one hour behind EST, and two hours ahead of PST. Remember that when making your travel plans! :) The nearest airport is Penascola Airport (airport code: PNS). It is on the north side of Pensacola, and is approximately a 10 minute drive from downtown. This is the only airport in the area that has shuttle service to and from select hotels in the area. The website for PNS airport is www.flypensacola.com. Clicking on "Ground Transportation" and then "Ground" on the left of the page will open a page listing the hotels in Pensacola that provide shuttle service (free of charge) to and from PNS airport. The next neareset is in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida at Valpariso Airport (airport code: VPS). It is roughly one hour east of downtown Pensacola.
Another hour or so east of there (2 hrs, 20 mins from Pensacola) is Panama City, FL (airport code: PFN).
Another hour and a half east(ish) from there, 3 hours from Pensacola, is Tallahassee, FL (airport code: TLH).
The next nearest is in Mobile, Alabama (airport code: MOB). It is approximately 1 hr 20 mins west of downtown Pensacola.
One hour further west of Mobile, AL (2 hours from Pensacola) is Gulfport Airport, in Gulfport, Mississippi (airport code: GPT).
An hour or so further west of Gulfport, MS (and 3 hrs, 20 mins from Pensacola) is New Orleans Airport in New Orleans, LA (airport code: MSY).
In some instances, it is actually less expensive to fly into one of the more distant airports and drive a rental car to Pensacola, than it sometimes is to fly directly into Pensacola airport.
To give you a visual, a map of the Gulf Coast would show the cities spaced as such, west-to-east:
New Orleans, LA (MSY) ----> 1hr 20 mins ----> Gulfport, MS (GPT) ----->1 hr ----> Mobile, AL (MOB) ----> 1 h r 20 mins ----> Pensacola, FL (PNS) -----> 1 hr -----> Ft. Walton Beach, FL (VPS) -----> 1 hr 20 mins -----> Panama City, FL (PFN) -----> 1 hr 30 mins -----> Tallahassee, FL (TLH)
Here is a map of the Gulf Coast (to move the map around, click and hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse in the desired direction. Use the buttons at the top right to change your view from "map" to "satellite" or "terrain," and use the buttons on the left to move the map or to zoom in and out):
View Larger Map
Of course, there are many travel websites that are helpful in these instances. For those of you who do not often book travel online, a list of resources you may find helpful includes: - Direct air carrier websites (www.delta.com; www.continental.com; www.aa.com (American Airlines); www.nwa.com (NorthWest Airlines); www.usair.com (US Airways -- a Star Alliance partner, which accepts air miles shared with United Airlines, which does not operate anywhere in or near Pensacola); etc.)
- Discount airfare websites are listed on www.yapte.com (that's yapte with an "e" at the end) and include:
- A fare-tracking site, www.yapta.com (note that this is yapta-with-an-a) is a search site that will monitor travel prices before you purchase your tickets, and if the price is reduced after your tickets are purchased, yapta will email you and you can get a refund for the difference! Best of all, the website is free! (Jason and I have a motto: "If it's for free, it's for me!") I believe Orbitz offers a similar guarantee.
For those of you driving, the drive to Pensacola can be very scenic and fun, especially if it's your first time making such a drive. www.fuelcostcalculator.com will allow you to track your approximate fuel expenditure for a road trip, based upon your city of departure, city of arrival, and vehicle make, model and year. http://www.frommers.com/articles/2783.html includes links to sites that allow you to search interesting sights and attractions, "road food," and fuel prices along your route.
We have included a Message Board, which can be accessed in the link "University Forum (Message Board)" to the left of this page (and all pages on our website). This is a communication tool for those of our guests who may wish to organize the sharing of rides, accommodations, or perhaps dinner or a drink with other guests. Please have a look and feel free to post a message!
However you get here, we're so happy you're coming -- have a safe trip!! :)
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