The Richmond International Airport is located quite close to the city, only a 15 minute drive away. There are eight major air carriers servicing the airport, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways and the low-cost carriers, AirTran and JetBlue.

Non-stop services are available from 21 domestic cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Orlando and Philadelphia as well as many international destinations. Currently, 2.9 million passengers use the Richmond International Airport annually and the number continues to grow.

The airport offers a full range of facilities. A bank is located in the main lobby, providing full service banking, including foreign currency exchange. ATMs are found throughout the upper level of the terminal building and also in the parking garage lobbies. Several bars, cafés and restaurants are conveniently spread around the airport. You’ll find a range of shops in the atrium area on the second level. Free LAN and wireless Internet connections are available for laptops on the upper level, where you’ll also find a visitor's information centre.

The Richmond airport features a variety of parking and payment options. There is close-in parking as well as reduced-rate parking in economy lots and the many choices include daily, hourly, valet, handicapped and long-term parking facilities. Free courtesy shuttles run every 10 minutes between the long-term parking lots and the terminal. Daily parking is located directly opposite the terminal, combining both a well-lit, spacious garage and surface parking. Hourly parking is also found directly opposite the terminal, on the first levels of both the north and south garages.

Curb-side valet parking is available at the departure area outside the terminal. Your vehicle will be parked for you and returned to you at the same spot. For your convenience, this service may be pre-arranged. Parking spaces for the disabled are found at all of the airport’s parking facilities.

To be able to explore the greater Richmond area, you’ll probably want to hire a car and you’ll find that all major car hire companies are represented at the airport as well as in the city centre. At the airport, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty are all located by the centre entrance on the ground level of the new passenger terminal. The area highways are very good and traffic normally isn’t a problem here. Amtrak provides regularly scheduled train services to Washington, New York and Boston on its northerly route and to other points in the South, on its southerly route. There are two main rail stations in Richmond: the Main Street Station, which is located in the city centre and Staples Mill station, located approximately 10 miles west of the city. For travel by bus, Greyhound/Trailways have a terminal that is located just a few minutes from the centre.

If you choose to travel by taxi in and around the city, you’ll need to call ahead as hailing a cab on the street isn’t possible. Taxis can be found at airport and hotel taxi stands, however.

Richmond’s public transport system is operated by the GRTC. Bus services are concentrated in the city centre and areas east, west and south of the city. You can visit the GRTC website for information on routes and schedules: www.ridegrtc.com