City Bus: Athens Transit (The Bus, The Link, 706-613-3430; The Lift, 706-613-3435) Adult fare is $1.25, with discounts for children, senior citizens (65+) and the disabled. UGA students, faculty, staff and dependents ride The Bus free by swiping their university IDs. Athens Transit buses have bike racks mounted on their front bumpers. www.athenstransit.com.

Station: The Multi-Modal Transportation Center (775 E. Broad St.), just east of downtown, is the transfer hub for city buses as well as a UGA bus connection. It's adjacent to the Classic Center parking deck, is always staffed for passenger information, and has public restrooms, indoor and outdoor waiting areas and bike lockers and racks. Open Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.–10:45 p.m. and Saturdays, 7:30 a.m.–10:45 p.m.

Campus: Most buses operated by UGA Transit (706-369-6220) run more frequently than Athens Transit's, but they only service the campus and adjacent parts of town (including Milledge Avenue and Broad Street). UGA buses are free to all, no UGA ID required. Route maps and schedules are at www.transit.uga.edu, and are worth a look before setting out, as the many routes can be confusing. Buses are jammed with students at peak travel times (like when classes are changing throughout the day) when school is in session, so visitors beware, you may have to wait for several (very) full buses to pass before you can grab an empty seat.

Bus (Out-Of-Town): Southeastern Stages (220 W. Broad St., 706-549-2255, www.southeasternstages.com) offers daily service to Atlanta, Augusta and the Carolinas. Check schedules on the website.

On Foot: Most pedestrians find central Athens to be smaller than it seems, and much of campus and many of the neighborhoods are downright pleasant for strolling. Take care in crossing a busy street, though: even if a nearby sign proclaims your safety, not every car's gonna stop.

Cycle: Local non-profit BikeAthens puts out a free bike map showing topography, bus stops, and streets color-coded as to their quality from a cyclist's perspective. Find it around town (especially bike shops) or on-line at www.bikeathens.com/resources/bikemap. Athens can be a great town for riding; traffic and hills can be deterrents, but they both get easier with practice, and with learning routes to avoid them.

Greenway: A growing bike-ped path runs from Oconee Street at the North Oconee River northward along the river to the Sandy Creek Nature Center. Near Dudley Park, the greenway's southern end is just a few blocks from the Multi-Modal Transportation Center and downtown. See Park information on p. XX.

Car: Athenians hate the traffic we have nowadays, while escapees from Atlanta think it's nothin'. You be the judge. The main things to watch out for road-wise are football Saturdays in the fall, when thousands of cars and RVs come to town. (An expert can run errands during the game itself, when the streets are eerily quiet, but don't get caught out too late!) Also, watch out for students when driving through downtown and campus during class changes. Worse than lemmings, whole groups of them will blithely walk in front of oncoming traffic. For that matter, take special care when driving downtown during business hours. Streets are jammed with pedestrians, cars and behemoth delivery trucks vying for loading zone spaces in the center lane of Clayton Street.

Parking: Locally there is a time-honored tradition of driving maddening laps around downtown at busy hours looking for a space, but there are also decks and surface lots downtown that can be easy and cost-effective. Metered spots are free after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday; check the information printed on the meter to avoid a ticket. Some (but not all) of downtown's red-painted loading zones open up to car parking at night; read the fine print on signs to avoid the tow truck. A few in-town neighborhoods have resident-only on-street parking in certain signed areas, so keep an eye out.

Taxi: A few different companies serve Athens, mostly with minivans, and the only designated cab stand operates at night along Broad Street near the UGA Arch. A phone call can be quicker. A&A Athens Taxi, 706-353-2424; Top Dawg Transportation, 706-552-0744; United Taxi, 706-549-0808; Your Cab Co., 706-546-5844.

Plane: Ben Epps Field (706-613-3420, www.athensairport.net) is close to everything but offers just two flights in and out daily on weekdays; one in and one out on weekends. The map in the center of this Guide includes directions to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. AAA Airport Express operates shuttles to and from Hartsfield-Jackson, www.aaaairportexpress.com or 800-354-7874.

Rail: Up the road in Gainesville, GA, is the nearest Amtrak station (800-872-7245, www.amtrak.com). It's a stop on the Crescent, which runs daily between New York City and New Orleans.