UTC and Alabama A&M in 2 Days: A Chattanooga and Huntsville College Trip
A parent-first plan for seeing the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Alabama A&M University in two days: how each tour works, where to park, hotels from budget to upscale in Chattanooga and Huntsville, the drive across the time zone line, sibling stops and seasonal weather, every fact sourced and checked Oct 29, 2026.
Students between classes on the UTC campus, Chattanooga (September 2011). Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
Last checked Oct 29, 2026. Every fact comes from the pages listed in Sources at the bottom. Some hotel and tour links are affiliate links (disclosure).
The short version
Trip at a glance
Schools
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN) · Alabama A&M University (Normal, AL, in Huntsville)
Days
2 days: UTC on day 1, a drive of about 2 hours west, then Alabama A&M on day 2.
Fly into
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), about 18 minutes from UTC's visitor garage with no traffic. Fly home from Huntsville International (HSV), about 23 minutes from AAMU, or drive back to CHA (about 2 hours 15 minutes).
Best base
The Read House Hotel downtown for night 1, about a 5-minute drive or 21-minute walk from UTC's visitor garage, then the Hampton Inn & Suites Huntsville Downtown for night 2, about 10 minutes from AAMU.
Car or transit
Rent a car: the campuses are about 102 miles apart, and Alabama A&M's 2,000-plus acres are easiest by car.
Registration
Book a UTC weekday tour and an Alabama A&M campus tour, each from the school's own visit page.
1. Who this guide is for
This plan is for parents with a high schooler, and maybe younger siblings, who want to pair two very different public universities in one trip: the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, in the middle of downtown Chattanooga, and Alabama A&M University, the largest HBCU in Alabama, on "The Hill" in Normal, minutes from downtown Huntsville.
UTC tours begin and end at the University Center, across the street from the Visitor Parking Garage at 601 Mocs Alumni Drive. At Alabama A&M, every visitor's car needs a pass, which you pick up from Public Safety on arrival.
Why this order
Day 1: UTC runs weekday campus tours Monday through Friday, plus Tour Plus visits that add time with enrollment specialists, a free lunch and sessions with advisement and academic departments.
Day 2: Alabama A&M's weekday guided tours are led by its University Echo Student Ambassadors and cover academic buildings, residence halls, student spaces and campus landmarks.
Plan ahead: registration and timing
UTC asks you to register early and bring a copy of your confirmation; tours fill up quickly, especially during fall and spring breaks. Registration opens in a pop-up, so turn off your pop-up blocker if the form doesn't appear.
At UTC, a departmental visit with your student's intended major is a separate registration from the campus tour.
Alabama A&M texts you a confirmation with your visit details after you register. Arrive on time: tours are planned around the student ambassadors' class schedules.
Time zones: Chattanooga is on Eastern time and Huntsville is on Central, so you gain an hour on the drive west to AAMU.
Tour availability varies by season.
UTC also offers Saturday tours on select dates, transfer tours, a self-guided tour packet and a virtual tour, plus a Blue and Gold Preview Day open house.
Alabama A&M hosts High School Senior Day, with special programming, lunch on campus and admission to a Bulldogs football game, and a Spring Open House; both need their own registration.
2. The suggested 2-day drive
Drive times are no-traffic estimates from OpenStreetMap routing, and walking times use OpenStreetMap foot routing, with addresses geocoded by OpenStreetMap Nominatim. Drive times to UTC are to the Visitor Parking Garage area on McCallie Avenue, and to Alabama A&M are to the AAMU Welcome Center at 3900 Meridian Street.
Arrival: fly into Chattanooga and check in downtown
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) → The Read House Hotel
Driving (no traffic)
~17 min, 10.3 mi
Driving and walking
Rental car
The Read House is a short walk from the Tennessee Aquarium (about 15 minutes), so an arrival-day evening downtown is easy.
Day 1: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, then drive to Huntsville
The Read House Hotel → UTC Visitor Parking Garage (601 Mocs Alumni Dr.)
Driving (no traffic)
~5 min, 1.4 mi
Driving and walking
~21 min walk, 1.0 mi
The Read House Hotel → Tennessee Aquarium (1 Broad St.)
Driving (no traffic)
Walk
Driving and walking
~15 min walk, 0.7 mi
UTC Visitor Parking Garage → Hampton Inn & Suites Huntsville Downtown
Driving (no traffic)
~2 hr 6 min, 104 mi
Driving and walking
Drive (you gain an hour crossing into Central time)
Register your car on the day of your visit with the parking registration link on UTC's Visit Us page.
UTC suggests comfortable shoes and an umbrella, and asks you to tell admissions about any accommodation you need when you schedule.
Day 2: Alabama A&M University, then fly home
Hampton Inn & Suites Huntsville Downtown → AAMU Welcome Center (3900 Meridian St.)
Driving (no traffic)
~10 min, 4.3 mi
Driving and walking
Drive
AAMU Welcome Center → U.S. Space & Rocket Center (1 Tranquility Base)
Driving (no traffic)
~15 min, 8.6 mi
Driving and walking
Drive
U.S. Space & Rocket Center → Huntsville International Airport (HSV)
Driving (no traffic)
~15 min, 9.9 mi
Driving and walking
Drive
AAMU Welcome Center → Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA)
Driving (no traffic)
~2 hr 13 min, 109 mi
Driving and walking
Drive (you lose an hour heading back into Eastern time)
Pick up a visitor parking pass first: at the Security Information Station (SIS) gate off Chase Road, between the School of Business and the Morrison Fine Arts building, or at the Public Safety Office in the University Services building across from the Foster Complex.
Check your text confirmation from AAMU for where your tour meets.
3. Campus by campus
Students between classes on the UTC campus, Chattanooga (September 2011). Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
Campus
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN)
Weekday tours run Monday through Friday. Each tour begins and ends at the University Center, directly across the street from the Visitor Parking Garage.
Tour Plus adds a guided tour with a current student, time with enrollment specialists and students, and a free lunch with advisement, academic departments and the Honors College; versions focus on the Honors College and on Mosaic, UTC's support program for students on the autism spectrum.
Visitor parking
Park in the Visitor Parking Garage at 601 Mocs Alumni Drive, and register your vehicle on the day of your visit with the parking registration link on the Visit Us page.
Getting there
The garage is about 5 minutes by car (or a 21-minute walk) from The Read House, about 5 minutes by car from Hotel Indigo and about 18 minutes from CHA with no traffic.
What to know
If you also want a departmental visit, register for it separately from the campus tour.
If you're driving in from Central time (Nashville or Memphis), you lose an hour on the way to UTC.
Contact
UTC Undergraduate Admissions, 101 University Center, 615 McCallie Ave.: 423-425-4662.
Last checked Oct 29, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
Guided tours run Monday through Friday, led by University Echo Student Ambassadors, and cover academic buildings, residence halls, student spaces and campus landmarks. You'll get a text confirmation with your visit details after you register.
The campus covers more than 2,000 acres, so wear comfortable shoes.
Visitor parking
Every vehicle on campus needs a permit or Public Safety pass, or it can be ticketed or towed. Get a visitor pass at the SIS gate off Chase Road or the Public Safety Office in the University Services building, and put it on your dashboard.
Park in designated Visitor spaces (white curbs) or any non-numbered, non-reserved space.
Getting there
The AAMU Welcome Center is about 10 minutes from the Hampton Inn downtown, about 9 minutes from the Holiday Inn Express Huntsville Northeast and about 23 minutes from HSV with no traffic.
What to know
Can't make it in person? AAMU also has a virtual campus tour on its Visiting Campus page.
Contact
Alabama A&M Office of Admissions, AAMU Welcome Center, 3900 Meridian St., 2nd Floor: admissions@aamu.edu or 256-372-5250.
Last checked Oct 29, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
4. Where to stay: a night by UTC, then a night in Huntsville
Price tiers (Budget, Mid-range, Upscale) follow each hotel's star class on Expedia. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Hotel · Our pickUpscale
The Read House Hotel
107 W. M.L.K. Blvd., Chattanooga, TN 37402
Why here
A historic downtown landmark about 5 minutes by car or a 21-minute walk from UTC's visitor garage, a 15-minute walk from the Tennessee Aquarium and about 17 minutes from CHA with no traffic.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 4-star property, so we place it in the Upscale tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Good to know
Expedia lists an indoor pool, Bridgeman's Chophouse, a Starbucks cafe and valet parking (surcharge), and a minimum check-in age of 21, so the adult booking the room should check in. Confirm details on the Expedia listing before you book.
The Huntsville base for night 2: about 10 minutes from the AAMU Welcome Center and about 10 minutes from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center with no traffic.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 2.5-star property, so we place it in the Budget tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Good to know
Expedia lists free breakfast, a 24-hour gym and paid self-parking. Confirm details on the Expedia listing before you book.
Sleep in Chattanooga the night you land and in Huntsville after the UTC tour, so the 2-hour drive happens on day 1 (you gain an hour heading west) and you're about 10 minutes from Alabama A&M on day 2. Flying home from HSV saves the drive back to Chattanooga.
5. Meals between tours
Hours change, so check before you go.
At the hotels
The Read House has Bridgeman's Chophouse and a Starbucks cafe, and both Huntsville hotels include free breakfast, per their Expedia listings.
On a UTC Tour Plus visit
Tour Plus includes a free lunch.
6. Things for siblings along the route
With siblings
Tennessee Aquarium
1 Broad St., Chattanooga, TN 37402
About a 15-minute walk from The Read House. Two buildings on one ticket take you from the mountains to the sea, and there's an IMAX theater too. Hours change by day, so check the site before you go.
About 15 minutes from Alabama A&M and 15 minutes from HSV, so it fits before a flight home. It's an official NASA Visitor Center and the home of Space Camp, with roughly 1,100 artifacts on display. Check its hours before you go.
At UTC, use the Visitor Parking Garage at 601 Mocs Alumni Drive and register your car online the day of your visit.
At Alabama A&M, get a visitor pass from the SIS gate off Chase Road or the Public Safety Office before you park, and look for white curbs.
Flying in and out
CHA is about 17 minutes from The Read House. Flying home from HSV (about 23 minutes from AAMU) avoids the 2-hour-plus drive back to CHA.
Remember the time change: Huntsville is an hour behind Chattanooga.
Weather by season (1991–2020 NOAA normals: Chattanooga Lovell Field)
Spring: April averages about 74°F highs and 50°F lows, with about 4.9 inches of rain.
Summer: July averages about 91°F/71°F, with about 5.1 inches of rain. Bring water and sun protection for the walking tours.
Fall: October averages about 74°F/51°F, with about 3.6 inches of rain, the driest month of the year.
Winter: January averages about 51°F/32°F, with about 5 inches of rain and about an inch of snow. UTC says to be ready for wet weather and bring an umbrella.
Parent checklist
Register for a UTC weekday tour (or Tour Plus), plus a separate departmental visit if you want one, and print your confirmation.
Register for an Alabama A&M campus tour and watch for the text confirmation.
Register your car with UTC's parking link on the day of your visit, and plan to pick up an AAMU visitor pass when you arrive.
Book flights into CHA (and home from HSV or CHA) and a rental car.
Book a night in Chattanooga and a night in Huntsville.
After each visit, take five minutes to jot down what stood out to your student.
8. Student-athlete recruiting visits
For families whose student hopes to play a college sport. Rules below are the NCAA's; each school's links were checked Oct 26, 2026.
Coaches arrange the recruiting part of a visit, not the admissions office. The tour sign-ups in this guide are for the regular family visit. An official (school-paid) visit is offered by the school, and contact with coaches follows NCAA rules that vary by division, sport and grade level.
Start with your sport's questionnaire, then email the coaches. The NCAA suggests emailing coaches with your achievements, highlight videos and interest in their program, including your name, position, NCAA ID and graduation year.
2 Division I
Athletics
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
NCAA Division I Southern Conference
RecruitingWe found no department-wide recruiting page. Look for a questionnaire on your sport's team page at the athletics site ↗, or email the coaches.
RecruitingWe found no department-wide recruiting page. Look for a questionnaire on your sport's team page at the athletics site ↗, or email the coaches.
Unofficial visit: any campus visit you or your family pay for. You can take as many as you like; in Divisions I and II each one has to come after the first permissible date for your sport.
Official visit: a visit paid for by the school. Each school can offer your student only one. Before a Division I official visit, your student must be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center, be on the school's institutional request list, and the school must have their high school transcripts.
Division I (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Alabama A&M University): on an official visit the school can pay for travel for the student and up to two family members, lodging, up to three meals a day for the student and up to four family members, and up to $60 a person in entertainment, including five home-game tickets. On an unofficial visit there are no free meals, but the school can give up to three home-game tickets. Division I uses recruiting calendars with contact, evaluation, quiet and dead periods; in a dead period, no in-person contact and no visits.
Rules change. Confirm with the coach, or check the NCAA's recruiting page and recruiting calendars, before you plan dates.
Planning around the season
Check each school's athletics schedule (linked above) before you pick dates, so a coach meeting doesn't land on a road trip or game day for your sport.
Our recommendation, not a school rule: ask the coach whether they can line up an admissions session or tour around your meeting. If not, book the regular family tour yourself through the official sign-up links in this guide, and leave time between the two.
Add your dates and how you're getting there, and we'll pull this guide into one plan: tour sign-up links, the hotel base, parking or airport notes, the route and meals.
Coming soon
Planning more college trips?
Visit-season reminders and new trip guides from College Visit Guides. Newsletter coming soon.
Sources
All checked Oct 29, 2026. Tour schedules change constantly, so always confirm on each school's official sign-up page. Photo credits are under each photo and on our About page.
Expedia listing: The Read House Hotel (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-29) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Chattanooga-Hotels-The-Read-House.h22491.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Hotel Indigo Chattanooga - Downtown (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-29) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Chattanooga-Hotels-Hotel-Indigo-Chattanooga-Downtown.h36392300.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Hampton Inn & Suites Huntsville Downtown (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-29) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Huntsville-Hotels-Hampton-Inn-Suites-Huntsville-Downtown.h71421770.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Huntsville Northeast (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-29) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Huntsville-Hotels-Holiday-Inn-Express-And-Suites-Huntsville-Northeast-By-Ihg.h117914287.Hotel-Information)
