New Brunswick Travel and Things to Do Guide

Home to the main campus of Rutgers (the state university of New Jersey), New Brunswick and its surrounding area are alive with college students, performing arts, museums, galleries and historical sites. In addition, the city is known as "Health Care City" as it is home to Johnson & Johnson as well as numerous medical teaching and research institutions. New Brunswick event venues feature innovative cultural arts and diverse attractions, making the city a popular meeting destination. Centrally located between New York and Philadelphia, New Brunswick offers access to many East Coast cities. An hour from New York City or Philadelphia, New Brunswick is convenient by air, train or car. Newark Liberty International Airport is the closest airport to New Brunswick – although LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and Atlantic City International Airport are also alternatives. Large convention venues in the New Brunswick area are ample and include the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, which has more than 150,000 square feet of exhibit space in nearby Edison, NJ. Another of the New Brunswick area's meeting venues is the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ, with 72,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space adjoining a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The Raritan River Conference Center in downtown New Brunswick features meeting and research space with advanced audio-visual technology for smaller groups. Hotel venues in New Brunswick feature the 288-room Hyatt Regency Hotel, which has 33,000 square feet of meeting space and 4,000 square feet of pre-function space. The 25-room Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center is nestled on 21 wooded acres and has six meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 100. The 248-room Heldrich (an IACC-certified facility) has 25,000 square feet of meeting space. In addition to the almost 50 dining venues in New Brunswick, there are "Grease Trucks," a group of truck-based food vendors on downtown's College Avenue. New Brunswick features a vibrant art scene. Theaters include the African-American-focused Crossroads Theatre, the George Street Playhouse and the State Theater of New Jersey. In addition, there is the American Repertory Ballet; also, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, which houses 60,000 works of art on the Rutgers campus, should not be missed.