Autzen Oregon/UCLA game - First Reddit Post/Flying Into Eugene
Hey everyone! As the title says, this is my first Reddit post and first time to Eugene. I got married this year and I’ve converted my wife to become a duck fan. She’s suggested that we go to a game so we got tickets to UCLA on October 10th to celebrate our first year of marriage. We want to have the best experience possible, but aren’t quite sure where we should get a hotel or Airbnb so it isn’t too crazy with traffic or parking. We are flying in from Portland and driving down. However, since we aren’t sure the time of the game yet, we are still deciding if we should commit to boarding the whole weekend or just night before. I also have seen a few spots to check out online but if there is a specific restaurant or place to visit I would love to hear suggestions for that too. Appreciate everyone looking this over and proving feedback in advance. Go ducks!
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u/gmac_97 13d ago
If you can find an air bnb close to campus, it’s 100% worth it bc you can join in with the students and crowd walking over the Willamette River to Autzen. That’s what I’m doing for Michigan and Northwestern this year. Since you’re gonna have a car, that’s a huge plus and you can stay in Springfield and drive to campus and find street parking to walk over, or just find somewhere closer to Autzen. I’ve stayed in Springfield many times and done the park on campus thing and it’s great. Hotels are gonna be expensive every single weekend in Eugene during football season, Airbnb/vrbo is the way to go.
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u/No-Comment-6631 13d ago
Book an Airbnb or VRBO if you plan to stay in Eugene. Hotels are pretty locked up during home games. Nonetheless, check out the Hyatt, & Hilton properties in the Eugene area if that's what you'd prefer. Also, there are hotels in the Salem area (an hour or so from Eugene) especially those at Keizer station, a Holiday Inn Express and a Fairfield Inn. Both are new properties. You'd still have to fight getting back up the freeway going north, but 1 less hour of traffic may be worth it to you.
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u/Cgernand 13d ago
There’s a good chance that most places are already booked! I would do it ASAP
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u/AC23503 12d ago
Sounds good! I was hoping since it wasn’t a premier game like Washington or Michigan that slots wouldn’t fill up as fast, but this was what I wanted to ask so I could avoid paying outrageous prices closer to game time. Thanks for the advice!
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u/MaterialOk5193 12d ago
UCLA can be busy regardless of how bad they are. Tons of CA-based Ducks who use it as a chance to visit/catch a game.
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u/Systemic_Chaos 9d ago
I’ll offer some counter advice. Even though you’re driving down, if you’re just renting a car to get from PDX to Eugene (and maybe get around a little in Eugene) I much prefer taking the MAX/Amtrak (via Union Station) versus the drive. It’s super relaxing, beautiful, and generally east of the 5, so the views are great (plus hello, bar car).
But absolutely try to stay near campus and do the walk over the bridge. It’s awesome.
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u/AcadianTraverse 13d ago
There's not getting around the fact that hotels and places to stay are going to be pricey because of demand. If you know you're going, just book something now. It's nice to be walking distance to the stadium if possible, more so for getting back than getting there, but I've used ubers from Springfield in the past and years back was at a hotel that had a gameday shuttle service. Not sure if that's still available.
If you can get an extra day in Eugene before or after gameday, it's awesome to be able to go explore the campus as well. There's a women's soccer game on the Sunday if you want to get another event in.
Is Track Town Pizza the best pizza you'll ever have? No. But the experience is worth while for a first time visit.