Albany Without a Car: A 3-Day Plan Using CDTA and Your Feet
CDTA bus in downtown Albany
A full weekend in Albany with zero rental car spending, using 4 bus routes and a lot of walking.
Day 1: everything downtown
Take Uber or the CDTA Route 22 from Albany International Airport into downtown (about 20 minutes). Check into a downtown hotel — Renaissance, Kimpton, Hampton Inn on Chapel, or Hilton Albany all put you within walking distance of everything on day one.
Walking day: Capitol at 9, Corning Tower at 11, lunch on the plaza concourse, State Museum 1 to 4, Albany Institute 4 to 5:30, dinner on Lark Street. Total walking about 3 miles, all flat except one climb from the river. Sleep downtown.
Day 2: Troy by bus
CDTA Route 22 (BusPlus) runs frequently from downtown Albany to downtown Troy in about 30 minutes. Get off at River and 4th. Spend the day on Troy's River Street: farmers market if Saturday, otherwise Market Block Books, the Arts Center of the Capital Region, and lunch at Little Pecks or Peck's Arcade.
Bus back to Albany by 5pm. Dinner in Center Square — Cafe Capriccio, Ama Cocina, or the New World Bistro Bar. All walkable from downtown hotels. Sleep downtown Albany again.
Day 3: Schenectady or Delmar by bus
Two no-car day trip options. Option A: Schenectady via CDTA Route 905 (about 45 minutes). See Proctors Theatre, the Stockade District, and lunch on Jay Street. Back by 4pm. Option B: Delmar via CDTA Route 18 (about 25 minutes) to walk the Delaware Avenue commercial strip and grab lunch at Nicole's Restaurant.
Both are legitimately worth a day. Skip Saratoga without a car — Amtrak works but the schedule doesn’t line up well for a day trip. Sleep downtown or head to the airport.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Downtown Albany, answered with this month’s numbers.
Route 22 (BusPlus) is every 15 minutes on weekdays, every 30 on weekends. Other routes are hourly. Download the Navigator app and plan around it.
Amtrak's Adirondack line runs once a day each way and the schedule is bad for day-tripping. If Saratoga is a must, use a rental car for that day only and Enterprise on Central Avenue delivers.
