<p>I am unfamiliar with the Boston area, but will be staying in Waltham for a business trip and will have a bit of free time. How close will I be to Brandeis and to Boston College, and are either accessible through public transportation? Any other colleges in that immediate area that I could see? I won’t really have the time to go downtown and see Harvard and MIT (which I’ve been to, anyway).</p>
<p>Pretty close. I believe there’s a T line (Boston’s public transportation system) that goes out to Waltham, and once you’re on the T, BC and Brandeis will be readily accessible - I’m not too familiar with it but ask around or look online, you should be fine. Other schools you could check out…BU? Tufts?</p>
<p>Its doable, but not very direct. It looks like you’d have to take a bus into Boston and then transfer to the subway (Green Line) to get to BC (and pass by BU). Brandeis is in Waltham, but I’m not sure how accessible it is via public transportation. I’ve stayed out in Waltham many times. If you’re staying out where all the hotels are (off Rte 128), there isn’t much in the way of public transportaion out there. This might help you plan your trip: [MBTA.com</a> > Official Website for Greater Boston’s Public Transportation System](<a href=“http://www.mbta.com/]MBTA.com”>http://www.mbta.com/)</p>
<p>Brandeis should be a few minutes drive from wherever you stay in Waltham while Boston College is about 15-20 minutes drive depending on what time of day and traffic. For both places, you should be able to take the bus but I really don’t know what bus route to use for this. Your hotel or Brandeis might have a shuttle bus that goes between them. Since Brandeis is so closed, Taxi might also be a good option here, otherwise, you need to check out the public bus. ([MBTA.com</a> > Official Website for Greater Boston’s Public Transportation System](<a href=“http://www.mbta.com%5DMBTA.com”>http://www.mbta.com)) For Boston College, it is on the end of one of the subway line (Green Line B) but it is not really convenient to get there from Waltham using the subway. You will probably need to check the mbta website for bus route for Boston College from Waltham.</p>
<p>For other colleges to visit that are closed by, I am not sure what kind you are looking for but here are some; Bentley (Waltham), Wellesley (Wellesley), Babson (Wellesley), Regis (Weston). Unfortunately, none of these are easily accessed without having a car.</p>
<p>Public transportation is not practical from where the main hotels are in Waltham. If you are renting a car, Brandeis is about 7 mins. Boston college is more like 20 mins, Harvard and Tufts about 25 mins each, MIT and BU also about 25 mins each but use the Mass Pike for those and go into Boston. You are also about 15 mins from Alewife which has a big parking garage at the end of the Red Line and from there you can visit Harvard or MIT in about 10-20 minutes on the Red Line.</p>
<p>I’d suggest driving to Brandeis and Boston College. Boston College has a suburban campus and adequate parking for visitors on lower campus. You will have to get a pass from the security guard and leave it on your front dash. There is some on-street metered parking on Commonwealth Avenue but it can be crowded sometimes.</p>
<p>You can drive east on Commonwealth Avenue to Boston University but it’s a bit of a messy drive and the roads can be in pretty bad shape. Parking can be a headache at Boston University too. Boston University is laid out on Commonwealth Avenue and walking from end-to-end can take a while. It’s good to plan out what you want to see there unless you want to do a lot of walking or hop on and off the MBTA.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I may or may not have a car and will have very limited time so I may just wind up taking taxis. I may not have the ability to take a full tour, but I’d like to walk around each campus (at least Brandeis and BC, possibly Tufts) and just get an overall feel. Given that, what would be the “starting points” for getting on to each campus and where best to walk around? If you give me a starting point, I can check out campus maps and do my own self-tour.</p>
<p>Taking taxis will be impractical not to mention outrageously expensive. To accomplish what you’re trying to do you really need a car. You’d be spending ridiculous amounts of time on public transportation. Even finding taxis willing to drive you to some of these comparatively far flung schools would be difficult.</p>
<p>That said, Babson, Bentley, Brandeis, Wellesley and BC are either in or close to Waltham.</p>
<p>As it happens, the commuter rail stops directly at Brandeis.</p>
<p>Since this same line goes through Waltham, it is actually very easy to take the train from downtown Waltham to Brandeis.</p>
<p>For details, see the trip planner at [MBTA.com</a> > Official Website for Greater Boston’s Public Transportation System](<a href=“http://www.mbta.com%5DMBTA.com”>http://www.mbta.com)</p>
<p>You can get from Waltham (right near Brandeis) into West Newton on bus route #554. From there, it’s a 1.8 mile walk to Boston College, according to Google Maps. Unfortunately, I can’t find a bus route that will cover the rest of that. But it’s certainly less of a pain than taking the commuter rail from Waltham/Brandeis to the Red Line to the Green Line out to Boston College. <em>That</em> one makes me shudder. You could probably walk the entire distance more quickly.</p>
<p>I still might wind up with taxis, screw the expense :-). What are the landmarks I’d want to start at on each campus (Boston College and Brandeis), so I don’t wind up having a taxi drop me at an area that won’t give me the right feel for each college? I’m probably just going to wind up walking around, maybe going to the bookstore and grabbing a t-shirt, LOL. Anything I should make a point to either look for or avoid at each?</p>