Delaware, UMBC, Saint Joseph's and Morgan State in 2 Days: A Philadelphia-to-Baltimore College Trip
A parent-first plan for seeing Saint Joseph's, the University of Delaware, UMBC and Morgan State in two days from one hotel in Newark, Delaware: Saint Joseph's and UD on day 1, then UMBC and Morgan State in Baltimore on day 2. Official tour sign-ups, parking at all four schools, a campus creamery and the National Aquarium for siblings, and Delaware weather by season.
Cannon Hall, named for astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, University of Delaware (Jul 2018). Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
Last checked Oct 27, 2026. Every fact comes from the pages listed in Sources at the bottom. Some hotel and tour links are affiliate links (disclosure).
Check before you go. Tour times, sign-up rules, parking and seasonal closures change often, sometimes weekly. Every campus section below links to that school's official visit page and shows when we last checked it. Confirm there before you book or drive. College Visit Guides is not affiliated with or endorsed by any college or university. Names are used only to identify them.
The short version
Trip at a glance
Schools
Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia) · University of Delaware (Newark) · University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) · Morgan State University (Baltimore)
Days
2: Saint Joseph's and Delaware on day 1, then UMBC and Morgan State on day 2. Arrive the evening before.
Fly into
Philadelphia (PHL), about 24 minutes from Saint Joseph's with no traffic. Fly home from Baltimore/Washington (BWI), about 11 minutes from UMBC and 33 minutes from Morgan State.
Best base
Courtyard by Marriott Newark-University of Delaware, about 3 minutes by car from UD's Visitor Center and roughly midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Car or transit
You'll need a car. Saint Joseph's to UD is about 1 hour 4 minutes, Newark to UMBC about 1 hour 28 minutes, and UMBC to Morgan State about 32 minutes, all with no traffic.
Registration
All four schools take visit sign-ups online. Morgan State cancels reservations more than 10 minutes late, and UD's self-guided tour also has a sign-up calendar.
1. Who this guide is for
This plan is for parents with a high schooler, and maybe younger siblings, who want to compare four very different schools along I-95: Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, the University of Delaware in Newark, and UMBC and Morgan State in Baltimore.
Newark sits between Philadelphia and Baltimore, so one hotel works for both days: about an hour to Saint Joseph's and about an hour and a half to UMBC with no traffic.
Why this order
Day 1: Saint Joseph's Hawk Hill visit is an information session and campus tour that takes about 90 minutes, and UD's guided tour and presentation starts at its Visitors Center on South College Avenue.
Day 2: UMBC pairs a 30-minute information session with a student-guided tour, and Morgan State's tour involves 90 minutes of walking.
Morgan State is about 32 minutes from UMBC and about 33 minutes from BWI with no traffic, so day 2 ends close to the airport.
Each campus parks you differently
Saint Joseph's: weekday tours park free in the visitor lot; print the parking pass from your confirmation email. Saturday tours park in the Hawks Landing garage.
Delaware: pay with the Passport Mobile Pay app at Lot 41 by the Visitor Center on South College Avenue. Visitor permits aren't valid there or in the garages.
UMBC: visitor parking is $2 an hour through the ParkMobile app, in the Administration Drive, Commons or Walker Avenue garages.
Morgan State: park in the #13 Student Center Garage, at most $3 a day. Limited parking is also in front of the Montebello Complex.
Tour availability varies by season.
Winters are cold: Wilmington averages about 41°F highs and 26°F lows in January, with about 6.1 inches of snow.
Summers are hot and humid: July averages about 87°F highs. Morgan State skips the walking tour and holds only the information session when the heat index tops 90 degrees or a Code Red alert is issued.
Morgan State may cancel tours for bad weather and texts registered visitors by 8 a.m. at the latest.
UD's self-guided tour works any day, but the admissions office is open only Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
2. The suggested 2-day plan
Drive and walk times are no-traffic estimates from OpenStreetMap routing, using addresses geocoded with OpenStreetMap Nominatim. I-95 between Philadelphia and Baltimore is often congested, so leave extra time at rush hour.
Arrival evening: fly into Philadelphia and drive to Newark
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) → Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware (400 David Hollowell Dr., Newark, DE)
Driving (no traffic)
~50 min, 35.2 mi (no-traffic estimate)
Driving
Drive
Courtyard → UDairy Creamery flagship (535 S. College Ave.)
Driving (no traffic)
~6 min, 2.3 mi
Driving
Drive
The UDairy Creamery flagship, next to UD's athletic complex, is open 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily and serves more than 34 flavors made with milk from the university's farm.
Day 1: Saint Joseph's in the morning, Delaware in the afternoon
Courtyard → Saint Joseph's Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center (2502 Cardinal Ave., Philadelphia)
Driving (no traffic)
~1 hr 7 min, 42.7 mi (no-traffic estimate)
Driving
Drive
Saint Joseph's → UD Visitors Center (210 S. College Ave., Newark)
Driving (no traffic)
~1 hr 4 min, 43.2 mi (no-traffic estimate)
Driving
Drive
Visitors Center → Trabant University Center (17 W. Main St.)
Driving (no traffic)
Walk
Driving
~8 min walk, 0.4 mi
Visitors Center → Courtyard
Driving (no traffic)
~3 min, 1.0 mi
Driving
~22 min walk, 1.0 mi
Book a Saint Joseph's weekday tour on its daily visits calendar and plan on about 90 minutes on campus. Weekday tours start at the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center.
Pick an afternoon UD guided tour and presentation on the Visit UD sign-up page. If none fits, UD's self-guided tour lets you arrive any time, but it doesn't include building access.
Coming from I-95, take Delaware Exit 1B to Route 896 North, which becomes South College Avenue.
Day 2: UMBC and Morgan State, then fly home from BWI
Courtyard → UMBC (1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore)
Driving (no traffic)
~1 hr 28 min, 67.3 mi (no-traffic estimate)
Driving
Drive
UMBC → Morgan State, Tyler Hall (1922 E. Cold Spring Ln. at Hillen Rd.)
Driving (no traffic)
~32 min, 14.3 mi
Driving
Drive
Morgan State → Belvedere Square (529 E. Belvedere Ave.)
Driving (no traffic)
~9 min, 2.9 mi
Driving
Drive
Morgan State → Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI)
Driving (no traffic)
~33 min, 15.4 mi (no-traffic estimate)
Driving
Drive
Register for UMBC's Black and Gold Information Session and Campus Tour on its campus tours page. For directions, follow your confirmation email or call Admissions at 410-455-2291.
UMBC says its five signed drop-off points work much better in a GPS than the campus street address.
Book an afternoon Morgan State tour on its visit experience page. Check in on the first floor of Calvin and Tina Tyler Hall, and don't run late: more than 10 minutes late cancels the reservation.
3. Campus by campus
Barbelin Hall tower, Saint Joseph's University (Nov 2006). Photo: Brian O'Neill · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
The Hawk Hill visit is an information session and campus tour. Expect to be on campus about 90 minutes; tours run most weekdays and select weekends.
Weekday tours begin in the Maguire Wolfington Welcome Center, 2502 Cardinal Ave. Saturday tours begin in Mandeville Hall.
Visitor parking
Weekdays: free parking in the visitor lot; print the parking pass from your confirmation email. Saturdays: park in the Hawks Landing garage, 2481 N. 54th St.
Getting there
SEPTA's 65, 44, 1, 52 and G buses stop on campus, and the Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail line stops at Overbrook Station, less than a mile away.
What to know
Saint Joseph's lists nearby hotels on City Avenue on its visitor resources page if you'd rather start day 1 in Philadelphia.
Contact
Saint Joseph's University, 5600 City Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19131; main line (610) 660-1000.
Last checked Oct 27, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
Cannon Hall, named for astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, University of Delaware (Jul 2018). Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
UD offers a daily tour, open houses and virtual visits. The guided tour and presentation meets at the University of Delaware Visitors Center, 210 S. College Ave.
The self-guided tour lets you arrive any time; a walking-tour map link comes in the confirmation email. It doesn't include building access, and the admissions office is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Engineering-minded students can ask about department visits at coe-visits@udel.edu.
Visitor parking
Pay with Passport Mobile Pay at Lot 41 by the Visitor Center, or at the Trabant, Center for the Arts or Perkins garages. Payment is required on arrival, and visitor permits aren't valid in those spots.
Getting there
UD points visitors to PHL and BWI airports and to Amtrak and SEPTA trains. From I-95, take Exit 1B to Route 896 North, which becomes South College Avenue.
What to know
Main Street's restaurants, shops and movie theater, the UD Botanical Gardens and White Clay Creek State Park are all on UD's own list of things to see.
Contact
University of Delaware Undergraduate Admissions, 210 S. College Ave., Newark, DE 19716; 302-831-8123, admissions@udel.edu.
Last checked Oct 27, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
The Black and Gold Information Session and Campus Tour starts with a 30-minute session with an admissions staff member, then a student-guided tour with UMBC's Grit Guides.
Can't make a scheduled tour? UMBC has a self-guided tour booklet on its visits page.
Visitor parking
Visitor parking is $2 an hour with the ParkMobile app, on the upper level of the Administration Drive garage, the ground level of the Commons garage or the upper level of the Walker Avenue garage.
Getting there
BWI Airport is about 5 minutes away, and Amtrak and MARC trains stop at BWI Rail Station. Set your GPS to one of UMBC's five drop-off points rather than the street address.
What to know
The Campus Information Center is in The Commons, UMBC's student center.
Check in on the first floor of Calvin and Tina Tyler Hall. The tour involves 90 minutes of walking, so wear comfortable shoes.
Arriving more than 10 minutes late cancels the reservation. If the heat index is over 90 degrees or a Code Red alert is issued, the visit is the information session only.
Visitor parking
Use the #13 Student Center Garage, at most $3 a day. Limited parking is also in front of the Montebello Complex.
Getting there
The admissions office, Tyler Hall Suite 111, is at 1922 E. Cold Spring Lane at Hillen Road. BWI is about 33 minutes away with no traffic.
What to know
Morgan State also offers a virtual campus tour and an interactive campus map for a self-guided walk.
Contact
Morgan State Undergraduate Admission, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Tyler Hall Suite 111, Baltimore, MD 21251; (443) 885-8500, beartours@morgan.edu.
Last checked Oct 27, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
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 pickMid-range
Courtyard by Marriott Newark-University of Delaware
400 David Hollowell Dr., Newark, DE
Why here
It's about 3 minutes by car from UD's Visitors Center, about 1 hour 7 minutes from Saint Joseph's and about 1 hour 28 minutes from UMBC with no traffic, so one hotel covers both days.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 3-star property, so we place it in the Mid-range tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Good to know
Parking and amenities change, so confirm them on the Expedia listing before you book.
Two nights in Newark keep you close to UD and roughly midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, so neither day starts with more than about an hour and a half of driving.
5. Meals between tours
Hours change, so check before you go.
Newark (Delaware)
Eat
Vita Nova
Trabant University Center, 17 W. Main St., Newark, DE
UD's student-run fine-dining restaurant, open for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters; reservations are required at (302) 831-0500. About an 8-minute walk from the Visitors Center.
A North Baltimore food market open Monday through Sunday, with kid-friendly options like Atwater's; check the directory for each vendor's hours. About 9 minutes from Morgan State.
On Baltimore's Inner Harbor, about 18 minutes from UMBC and 17 minutes from Morgan State with no traffic. Hours change by month and last entry is 60 minutes before closing, so check the visit page first.
Open daily 8 a.m. to sunset, about 8 minutes from the Courtyard. There's a daily vehicle entrance fee; check the park page for current fees and trail closures.
At Saint Joseph's, print the parking pass from your confirmation email for the free weekday visitor lot.
At UD, have the Passport Mobile Pay app ready for Lot 41; at UMBC, have ParkMobile ready for the visitor garages.
At Morgan State, park in the #13 Student Center Garage (at most $3 a day).
Flying in and out
Fly into Philadelphia (PHL), about 24 minutes from Saint Joseph's and about 50 minutes from Newark with no traffic.
Fly home from BWI, about 11 minutes from UMBC and about 33 minutes from Morgan State. A one-way car rental from PHL to BWI saves backtracking.
Weather by season (1991–2020 NOAA normals: Wilmington)
Spring: April averages about 64°F highs and 44°F lows, with about 3.5 inches of precipitation.
Summer: July averages about 87°F highs and 68°F lows, with about 4.4 inches of rain.
Fall: October averages about 67°F highs and 47°F lows, with about 3.7 inches of precipitation.
Winter: January averages about 41°F highs and 26°F lows, with about 6.1 inches of snow.
Parent checklist
Register for all four visits online: Saint Joseph's in the morning and UD in the afternoon on day 1, then UMBC and Morgan State on day 2.
Print the Saint Joseph's parking pass and install the Passport and ParkMobile apps for UD and UMBC.
Book two nights near UD and a car from PHL, returning at BWI if you can.
Leave buffer before Morgan State: more than 10 minutes late cancels the reservation.
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.
4 Division I
Athletics
Saint Joseph's University
NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 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 (Saint Joseph's University, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Morgan State 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 27, 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: Courtyard by Marriott Newark-University of Delaware (star class, checked 2026-10-27) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Wilmington-Hotels-Courtyard-By-Marriott-Newark-University-Of-Delaware.h1141316.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Baymont by Wyndham Newark at University of Delaware (star class, checked 2026-10-27) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Wilmington-Hotels-Baymont-By-Wyndham-Newark-At-University-Of-Delaware.h41973.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Hotel Du Pont (star class, checked 2026-10-27) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Wilmington-Hotels-HOTEL-DU-PONT.h19839.Hotel-Information)
