The Greater Rochester International Airport is not difficult to get around.  With just two concourses and a central baggage area, it is easy to find your way.

 Instructions: Arrival at Rochester airport to Clarion Riverside Hotel: The Clarion Riverside Hotel operates a free shuttle bus between the hotel and the Rochester airport.  The shuttle runs 5:00 AM to 11:00 PM. You may call the hotel at any time after landing to arrange for the shuttle; their number is 585-546-6400.  If you do not have a phone to call them, there are hotel courtesy phones in the baggage claim area of the airport terminal opposite the car rental counters (there is construction in this area.)  The directions on the wall next to the courtesy phone will indicate the appropriate number to call the Clarion Riverside.  The hotel will then send its shuttle to the airport, which takes about 15 minutes. The pick-up point is at the far right end of the arrival lane (the arrival lane is one way from left to right as you face it).  There is construction at this end of the airport, but that is still the pick-up point. The trip to the hotel is 15 minutes or less.

FROM OHIO: From Cleveland, Rochester is about 260 miles and about 4 ½ hours driving time. Take Interstate 90 east from Cleveland, past Erie, Pennsylvania, and into New York State.  Upon entering New York, Interstate 90 becomes the New York State Thruway, a toll road.  Follow I- 90 north and, around Buffalo, follow the signs for "Albany." From Buffalo, follow the Thruway directions below.

FROM ONTARIO, CANADA (Toronto or Hamilton): take the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW 403) east. Just east of St. Catherines, take Exit 37, Rt. 405 east, to the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge to the USA. Note:  Do not, repeat, do not continue on the QEW past exit 37 to Erie-Buffalo. 

On the United States side of the Lewiston Bridge, take Interstate 190 South past Niagara Falls and Grand Island.  About 15 miles south of Lewiston, just past the Grand Island toll plaza, Interstate 190 interchanges with Interstate 290, the Youngmann Expressway. Take Interstate 290 East about 10 miles.  Interstate 290 merges into Interstate 90, the New York State Thruway.  Head EAST on the Thruway, toward "Albany."  There is a toll plaza just east of the Interstate 290 merge, and you will get a toll ticket. 

THRUWAY DIRECTIONS: Take the Thruway 42 miles east from the Buffalo toll plaza to Exit 47, LeRoy NY (pronounced locally LEE-Roy).  The exit is the beginning of Interstate 490 East. Take 490 East 20 miles into Downtown Rochester.

As Interstate 490 East passes exits "9 A-B" (the interchange with Interstate 390), stay in the middle lane, which is marked "Rochester".  At this point you are about three miles from Downtown. In the Spring of 2008, the three miles between I-390 and Downtown Rochester is under construction and reduced to two lanes each way.  This should not be a problem unless you are entering Rochester between 7:00 and 9:00 AM weekdays or leaving 4:30 to 6:30 weekdays.  It probably won't much of a problem those times either. 

DIRECTIONS FROM THE WEST: 490 TO THE CLARION RIVERSIDE HOTEL. If you are going to the Clarion Riverside Hotel, here's the tricky part: when entering Downtown Rochester from Interstate 490 (about 3 miles from I-390, heading east), STAY IN THE LEFT LANE in the construction zone and exit at the "INNER LOOP-PLYMOUTH AVENUE-DOWNTOWN EAST" signs, Exit 13.  The left lane is an exit-only lane.  This exit immediately descends under rail road tracks, and immediately afterward the decent, the exit divides, with Plymouth Avenue exit on the right and the Inner Loop exit on the left: stay on left lane for the Inner Loop exit. 

In less than a quarter mile, the Inner Loop crosses over the Genesee River; immediately exit the Inner Loop on the far side of the bridge over the river, at the "DOWNTOWN - ST. PAUL ST. - CLINTON AVE" signs. At the St. Paul St. Exit, stay in the far right lane; this is a right-turn-only lane, with signs saying "St. Paul only".  At St. Paul, turn right (south).  St. Paul is one-way, heading south.  Continue on St. Paul a few blocks past Andrews, past Pleasant, and past Bragdon to Main Street.  The Clarion Hotel is on the right at St. Paul and Main Street.  Turn right (west) at Main Street and then immediately turn right again (north), under the pedestrian bridge over the street, into the hotel entrance area between the hotel and the Genesee River.  This is the front entrance to the hotel; it is a long covered entry spanning the entire front of the hotel, with the river on the left.  You can check-in, and they will give you instructions on parking (basically you continue to the far end of the hotel driveway, turn right and then enter their parking garage in the back.)  Parking is free for guests.  There is a height limit for the garage of 6'4".

DIRECTIONS FROM THE WEST: 490 DIRECTLY TO GEVA THEATRE: To get directly to Geva Theatre from the west, proceed on Interstate 490 East, staying in the RIGHT LANE as the highway enters the work area just before Downtown.  The right lane is marked "490 East"; the left lane - which you do not want - is an exit-only lane for exit 13 Plymouth Avenue.  Continue in the right lane for another 3/4 mile, proceeding over the Genesee River.  While crossing this large bridge, stay in the right lane, which is an exit-only lane. You will IMMEDIATELY exit to the right on the east end of the bridge, at "INNER LOOP - SOUTH AVE - Rt. 15"  Here's the tricky part.  After exiting, stay in the left lane of this exit (the right lane goes to South Avenue, the left lane to the Inner Loop, which is what you want).  But just after the South Ave. - Inner Loop exit split, the Inner Loop exit curves to the left, rising over the highway you just exited, and descends on the other side toward the Inner Loop.  As you descend, the signs indicate "INNER LOOP" to the left and "NY 31 MONROE AVE" to the right.  Keep to the right and exit immediately at Monroe Avenue.

At the Monroe Avenue ("West 31") exit light, turn left (north) and cross over the Inner Loop you just exited.  The Gull-winged roof of the Strong Museum is on your right. There is a parking garage on your left, Washington Square Parking Garage.  Turn left (west) and enter the garage by a short little street called Johnson Place. Geva is on the other side of the garage (if you enter the garage from Monroe Avenue, you are entering from the east; Geva is west of the garage.) 

IF THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PARKING GARAGE IS FULL: This is more complicated.  Turn left (west) at the next intersection, "Woodbury".  Proceed one block to Clinton Avenue ("West 31") and turn right (north) at Clinton, which is a multi-lane one-way avenue (you will see Geva just in front of you on the left; you will be walking back to it.)  As you proceed north on Clinton stay to the right but one lane away from the right-most lane.  The right lane is a right-turn-only lane at the next intersection, Court Street, and you do not want to turn yet.  Continue north on Clinton past Court Street; the tall black Xerox Tower is on your right.  You will see an underground parking garage entrance on the right at the far end of this block, just before the next cross street, Broad Street. The garage is marked by a red "P" and "Midtown".

This underground garage is the Midtown plaza Garage and will definitely have parking spaces available.  Note down which of the three levels you are parking at and where your car is located; you will be completely disoriented when you return to this garage.  Take the elevators at the center of the garage to the first floor (skip the escalators, that will be more disorienting.)  When you leave the elevator lobby on the first floor, you will turn right (south) and leave the building a few feet away at Broad Street (if you turn left at the elevator door lobby, you will be entering Midtown Plaza.) After exiting at Broad Street, turn right (west) and walk half a block to Clinton Avenue.  Turn left (south) and walk two blocks to Woodbury Blvd.; Geva is across the street at Woodbury and Clinton.

EXITING THE PARKING GARAGES AND LEAVING DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER, HEADING WEST:

Clarion Riverside Hotel parking, heading west: At the garage exit, turn right on the little side street, go up the little hill to St Paul Blvd. and turn right (south) on St. Paul (a sign saying "To 490" will have an arrow pointing to the right at St. Paul.) Proceed south on St. Paul, staying on the left side of the street to the third light, Court Street, just past the library.  Turn left (east) at Court street and proceed to the third light, Chestnut Street.  Turn right (south) and follow directions "Chestnut to 490 West", below.

Washington Square Parking Garage, heading west: This is a confusing garage to exit, but after circling around, eventually you will find the exit for "Woodbury Blvd."  Turn right (east) at Woodbury, and turn right (south) at the end of that block at Chestnut Street (it becomes Monroe Avenue to the right.) Follow directions "Chestnut to 490 West", below.

Midtown Parking Garage, heading west: exiting this garage is confusing to those unfamiliar with it.  There are two exits, "Chestnut Street" and "Court Street", and you will probably only be allowed to exit on one or the other, depending on what level you are at.  Either one is fine, just note down which you are leaving.  After you pay for your parking, the exits ramp up steeply back to street level.  If you are exiting on Court Street (you will see a red brick church across the street from the ramp), turn left (east) get to the right side of the street, proceed half a block to Chestnut Street and turn right (south).  If you are exiting on Chestnut Street (you will see a tall masonry building across the street from the ramp), turn right (south). (Note: if you are caught in the "No Right Turn 6-9" time period, turn left on Chestnut, left again on Euclid Street, left again on Atlas St. and left again on Elm St; you will be back to Chestnut at a place where you can turn right.) .  Proceed south on Chestnut.   Whichever exit from Midtown Garage you take, proceed south on Chestnut St., which turns into Monroe Avenue on the other side of Woodbury. Follow directions "Chestnut to 490 West", below.

CHESTNUT TO 490 WEST: As you proceed south on Chestnut (which becomes Monroe Avenue south of Woodbury), stay in the right lane and follow that lane to the right (west) at the sign "To 490" with an arrow pointing right. ) After you make this right-hand turn and proceed west (the sign says "Inner Loop West"), move to the left lane.  The first exit, which comes up very quickly, is "15 - South Ave - Clinton Ave"; stay to the left and avoid that exit.  The next exit, "490 East", comes immediately after.  You are going west, so avoid the "490 East" exit; move to the left again and merge into "490 West - Inner Loop". Stay to the left and follow 490 west out of Downtown.

If you are coming to Rochester from New York City or New Jersey, take Interstate 80 West to the  Delaware Water Gap, Interstate 380 north to Scranton, Interstate 81 North to Syracuse, and Interstate 90 West to Rochester.  From Washington DC or eastern Pennsylvania, take Interstate 81 North to Syracuse and Interstate 90 West to Rochester.  From Boston take Interstate 90 West to Rochester.  From Eastern Ontario or Quebec, take Interstate 81 South to Syracuse, then Interstate 90 West to Rochester.

From all these directions, exit Interstate 90 (New York State Thruway) at Exit 45, Victor NY, and proceed about 15 miles on Interstate 490 West.  Exit Interstate 490 at Clinton Avenue, Downtown Exit 16, and proceed north.  Geva Theatre is on the left side of this exit, and the Washington Square Parking Garage is on the right. 

If you are going directly to Geva and the Washington Square garage is full, proceed two blocks to the north to the Midtown garage (see "If The Washington Square parking garage is full", above.)

If you are going to the Clarion Riverside Hotel, proceed north on Clinton Avenue past Court St., past Broad St., past Main Street, and turn left (west) at Mortimer Street.  Turn left again (south) at St. Paul Street. Turn right (west) at Main Street and then immediately turn right again (north), under the pedestrian bridge over the street, into the hotel entrance area between the hotel and the Genesee River.  This is the front entrance to the hotel; it is a long covered entry spanning the entire front of the hotel, with the river on the left.  You can check-in, and they will give you instructions on parking (basically you continue to the far end of the hotel driveway, turn right and then enter their parking garage in the back.)  Parking is free for guests.  There is a height limit for the garage of 6'4".

EXITING THE PARKING GARAGES AND LEAVING DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER, HEADING EAST:

Clarion Riverside Hotel parking garage, heading east: At the garage exit, turn right on the little side street, go up the little hill to St Paul Blvd. and turn right (south) on St. Paul (a sign saying "To 490" will have an arrow pointing to the right at St. Paul.) Proceed south on St. Paul past Main Street, past Broad Street, and past Court Street (note: St. Paul becomes South Avenue south of Main Street.)  After Court Street, there are two exits strait ahead for "490 East", one on the right side and one on the left side; take either one, they both go to Interstate 490 East.  Take 490 east to Interstate 90, the New York State Thruway.

Washington Square Parking Garage heading east: This is a confusing garage to exit, but after circling around, eventually you will find the exit for "Woodbury Blvd."  Turn right (east) at Woodbury, and turn right (south) at the end of that block at Chestnut Street (it becomes Monroe Avenue to the right.) Follow directions "Chestnut to 490 East", below.

Midtown Parking Garage heading east: exiting this garage is confusing to those unfamiliar with it.  There are two exits, "Chestnut Street" and "Court Street", and you will probably only be allowed to exit on one or the other, depending on what level you are at.  Either one is fine, just note down which you are leaving.  After you pay for your parking, the exits ramp up steeply back to street level.  If you are exiting on Court Street (you will see a red brick church across the street from the ramp), turn left (east) get to the right side of the street, proceed half a block to Chestnut Street and turn right (south).  If you are exiting on Chestnut Street (you will see a tall masonry building across the street from the ramp), turn right (south). (Note: if you are caught in the "No Right Turn 6-9" time period, turn left on Chestnut, left again on Euclid Street, left again on Atlas St. and left again on Elm St; you will be back to Chestnut at a place where you can turn right.) .  Proceed south on Chestnut.   Whichever exit from Midtown Garage you take, proceed south on Chestnut St., which turns into Monroe Avenue on the other side of Woodbury. Follow directions "Chestnut to 490 East", below.

CHESTNUT TO 490 EAST: As you proceed south on Chestnut (which becomes Monroe Avenue south of Woodbury), stay in the right lane and follow that lane to the right (west) at the sign "To 490" with an arrow pointing right. ) After you make this right-hand turn and proceed west (the sign says "Inner Loop West"), move to the left lane.  The first exit, which comes up very quickly, is "15 - South Ave - Clinton Ave"; stay to the left and avoid that exit.  The next exit, "490 East", comes immediately after. Follow this sign and exit to the right.  The exit curves around and enters Interstate 490, heading east.  Take 490 east to Interstate 90, the New York State Thruway.