Hartford

Hartford is the capital of the state of Connecticut in the United States of America. It is home to the country's oldest public art museum (Wadsworth Atheneum), and the Mark Twain House, in which the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family. Mark Twain wrote in 1868, "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief."

Understand
Founded in 1635, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to the country's the oldest publicly funded park (Bushnell Park), the oldest continuously published newspaper (the Hartford Courant), and the second-oldest secondary school (Hartford Public High School).

The Greater Hartford region is enmeshed with Springfield (Massachusetts), which lies only 24 miles to the north. Hartford and Springfield are the principal cities in the Knowledge Corridor, the second largest urban region in New England with 2.18 million people, 29 universities and colleges, and 120,000 university students.

Tourist information

 * Hartford tourism website

Get in
A recommended route for getting to Hartford from a rather distant city is to fly into Boston Logan International Airport and then take one of the below-mentioned buses into the city. This also happens to be the cheap route.

By plane
is north of Hartford in nearby Windsor Locks. It can be reached by car along I-91. CT Transit's Bus 30 operates service between the airport and downtown.

By car
Hartford is located in the junction of Interstates 91 and 84, as well as Connecticut Routes 2 and 6.


 * From Boston/Worcester, MA: I-90 West (tolled), then I-84 West
 * From Springfield, MA: I-91 South
 * From New Haven: I-91 North
 * From New York City: I-95 North or Hutchinson River Parkway/Merritt Parkway (CT-15 North), then I-91 North
 * From Danbury/Waterbury: I-84 East
 * From Providence, RI: Route 6 West, then I-384 West

By train

 * Train operators:CT Rail logo black.svg
 * Routes stopping at Hartford:
 * Amtrak Hartford Line operating 3-5 trips per direction daily between Springfield and New Haven with stops in Windsor Locks, Windsor, Hartford, Berlin, Meriden, and Wallingford.
 * Northeast Regional operating twice daily between Springfield and Washington, D.C. with stops in Windsor Locks, Windsor, Hartford, Berlin, Meriden, Wallingford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New Rochelle, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and New Carrollton.
 * Vermonter operates daily between St. Albans and Washington, D.C. including stops in Essex Junction, Waterbury, Montpelier, White River Junction, Claremont, Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, Springfield, Windsor Locks, Hartford, Meriden, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and New Carrollton.
 * Valley Flyer operates twice daily between Greenfield and New Haven including stops in Northampton, Holyoke, Springfield, Windsor Locks, Windsor, Hartford, Berlin, Meriden, and Wallingford.
 * Travel time to Hartford form New Haven is 45 minutes and from Springfield is 40 minutes.

By bus

 * Greyhound operates to Hartford Union Station. Buses are available from Springfield, New Haven, New York City, and Boston.
 * Peter Pan Bus operates express buses to Hartford Union Station from more than 50 cities in North East United States.
 * Go Buses operate to the from Manhattan, Cambridge, Newton, and New Haven.

By car
Hartford is easy to navigate. Street parking is free on the weekends. Downtown is the safest to drive and park.

By public transport

 * CT Transit Hartford operates public bus service throughout the Greater Hartford Area. Most bus-stops receive service every 15-30 minutes. The regular fare is $1.75, with one free transfer. All day passes are also available for $3.50. Passes can be bought online or at the CT Transit Customer Service and Sales Outlet located at State and Market Streets next to the Old State House (M-F 7AM-6PM, Sa 9AM-3PM,
 * CT Fastrak is Connecticut’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. It is a system of bus routes that utilize a bus-only roadway on dedicated lanes with offboard fare payment and level boarding, using a former rail corridor. The CTfastrak system provides direct service to and from Hartford to New Britain, Bristol, Waterbury, Cheshire, Southington, Bristol and more with routes that take advantage of the bus-only CTfastrak roadway.
 * Dash Shuttle is a free circulator bus that operates in the downtown area every 15 minutes Monday-Friday 7AM to 7PM and weekends during major events. The route connects the CT Convention Center, the Riverfront, the Arts and Entertainment District, various restaurants, and downtown hotels.

Sports

 * Hartford Yard Goats - the Minor League Baseball team, home stadium is Dunkin' Donuts Park.
 * Hartford Athletic - the Division II Professional League soccer team, home field is Dillon Stadium.
 * Hartford Wolf Pack - the American Hockey League (AHL) team, they play their home games at the XL Center.
 * UConn Huskies - The university's football team plays at Rentschler Field (Pratt & Whitney Stadium), and the men's and women's basketball teams play off-campus games at the XL Center.

Learn

 * University of Connecticut - Hartford Campus In August 2017, UConn opened its new campus in downtown Hartford, after nearly 40 years in neighboring West Hartford. The new campus is in the old Hartford Times Building on Prospect Street, part of Hartford's Front Street neighborhood.
 * University of Hartford - The University of Hartford was chartered through the joining of the Hartford Art School, Hillyer College, and The Hartt School in 1957.
 * University of Connecticut School of Law - is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. The school was once ranked 50th overall, and 51st by academic peer reputation.
 * University of Saint Joseph - is a Roman Catholic comprehensive institution of higher education and an undergraduate coeducational university with graduate programs.
 * Trinity College - is a private liberal arts college. Founded as Washington College in 1823 as an alternative to Yale, it is the second-oldest college in Connecticut.
 * Capital Community College - community college in downtown in the old G. Fox Department Store building on Main Street
 * Rensselear at Hartford - is the Hartford branch of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
 * Hartford Public Library - serves the city of Hartford. The library's main branch is at 500 Main Street in downtown Hartford. There also nine branch locations throughout the city.

Eat
Over the years, Hartford came to be known for its Italian cuisine. South End of Hartford used to be called Little Italy, and even though most Italian-Americans have migrated to the southern suburbs of the city, their restaurants and shops remain. Today, however, Hartford is not limited to Italian cuisine. Waves of immigrants from South America, the Caribbean Islands (mainly Puerto Rico and Jamaica) and southeast Asians have added a richer cuisine to Hartford. South End and West End is filled with Peruvian and Brazilian cuisines. West End and parts of East Hartford have seen a surge in Vietnamese and Thai cuisine, North End and parts of West End are known for their Jamaican and Caribbean/West Indies cuisines, and Park Street for the Puerto Rican cuisine.

To the locals and those in the surrounding areas, Hartford is known for its giant grinders (sandwiches). Most of these giant grinder shops are in the South End neighborhood, on or near Franklin Avenue, which include Corner Grinder, Franklin Giant Grinder, La Rosa's, and Wethersfield Pizza House.





Dessert

 * King Donut (multiple locations)

Sleep
There are an abundance of large chain hotels in the Hartford area as well as many upscale ones downtown and in the suburbs. Over 60,000 rooms are located in Greater Hartford.

Stay safe
Despite what the media says, Hartford is generally a safe city. The areas where tourist attractions, colleges, shops, nightclubs and restaurants are is safe. Most of the violence is confined to the north end of Hartford which includes areas north and west of downtown (excluding the North Meadows and West End). A majority of the attractions and entertainment in Hartford is located in Downtown/Central Business District, the West End, South End, and North Meadows and these areas are fairly safe.

North Meadows safety: If you are a visitor you would visit the North Meadows if you were attending some sort of event. The Dodge Music Center, Connecticut Expo Center and the Greater Hartford Jaycees Community Boathouse are all in the North Meadows. This area is not a residential neighborhood, it is a commercial and industrial neighborhood and when major events take place there is a police presence in the area to make sure things don't get out of hand at a big concert for example.

West End safety: The West End is home to the Mark Twain House, Harriet Beecher Stowe House, UCONN School of Law, Hartford Seminary, University of Hartford, Governors Mansion, Elizabeth Park and Watkinson School. This area is extremely safe and since there are so many colleges University of Hartford and UCONN police patrol the area in addition to the Hartford Police Department

Downtown/ Central Business District safety: Downtown is home to the Old State House, Wadsworth Atheneum, State Capital, Capital Community College, Constitution Plaza, Hartford Civic Center, CT Convention Center and most of the major Hartford hotels (Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn Express Downtown, Goodwin, Residence Inn by Marriott, Homewood Suites by Hilton) as well as many of the well known nightclubs, bars and restaurants and so there are usually people downtown. If you are planning on going to the major nightclub/bar area by Union Station (Allyn Street, Union Place, Ann Street) there are sometimes police patrolling the area to make sure nothing gets out of control. Also when there are major events such as games or conventions there are also usually extra police on duty.

South End safety: The south end is safe but when driving in areas of the south end do be cautious as drivers can be wild and pedestrians many times do not confine themselves to crosswalks. Besides Franklin Avenue, Wethersfield Avenue and Maple Avenue many areas of the South End are residential so there is a sense of community and low crime

North End safety: Areas in the north end of Hartford (Albany Avenue between just north of downtown and the west end) and the surrounding neighborhood can be dangerous during the nighttime. Since it is better to be safe than sorry, if you are planning on driving through this area keep your doors locked.

Radio
Radio stations serving the Hartford area include:


 * Top 40/Mainstream: KISS 95.7 FM; 96.5 TIC FM; KC 101.3 FM
 * Hip-Hop/R&B: Hot 93.7 FM
 * Classic Rock: 102.9 The Whale FM; The River 105.9 FM
 * Alternative Rock: Radio 104.1 FM
 * Country: Country 92.5 FM
 * News/Talk: WNPR 90.5 FM (NPR), WTIC 1080 AM (conservative)

Television
Television stations serving Hartford include:


 * WFSB Channel 3: CBS.
 * WTNH Channel 8: ABC.
 * WEDH Channel 24: PBS.
 * WVIT Channel 30: NBC.
 * WTIC Channel 61, FOX

Newpaper

 * Hartford Courant - the largest daily newspaper in Connecticut, and is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States.

Consulates

 * 🇧🇷 Brazil
 * 🇵🇪 Peru

Go next

 * Springfield, Massachusetts - 24 miles north.
 * New Haven, Connecticut - 37 miles south.
 * Storrs, Connecticut - 25 miles east.