URI Family Weekend 2026: A Transportation Guide for Visiting Families

From Kingston to Pawtucket, Providence and PVD, here's what families should know when planning their Rhode Island weekend.

URI Family Weekend is about spending time with your student — not spending the weekend figuring out who parked where.

URI Family Weekend 2026 takes place October 23–25, bringing families to Kingston for a weekend of campus activities, events and plenty of Rhody pride.

This year, though, there’s an important transportation change families should know before arriving in Rhode Island:

Saturday’s football game won’t be played on URI’s Kingston campus.

Because Meade Stadium is undergoing construction for the 2026 football season, URI’s home games are being played at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket. The Family Weekend game against UAlbany kicks off Saturday, October 24 at noon.

For many visiting families, that turns a weekend centered around URI into an itinerary that may stretch from Kingston to Pawtucket, Providence, Warwick and beyond.

Rhode Island is small. Your itinerary still isn’t.

URI Family Weekend 2026 Has One Big Logistics Change

On a typical URI football weekend, campus activities and the game keep families largely in the Kingston area.

This year is different.

Centreville Bank Stadium is in Pawtucket, north of Providence, while URI’s main campus remains in Kingston. Families attending both campus activities and the football game will need to plan for travel between the two.

URI is offering families the option to purchase charter bus transportation from campus to the game. For families planning to begin and end that portion of their day on campus, that may be a convenient option.

But Family Weekend itineraries don’t all look the same.

You may be staying at a hotel in Providence. Grandparents or siblings may be joining you. Someone may be arriving at PVD Airport Saturday morning. You may want to head into Providence after the game for dinner — or return to Kingston for one of URI’s evening events.

That’s when planning transportation around the entire itinerary, rather than one individual trip, can make a difference.

Your Saturday Could Cover More of Rhode Island Than You Expect

Consider what Saturday might look like for a visiting family:

Start the morning with your student in Kingston.

Head north to Pawtucket for the noon football game.

Spend the afternoon or evening in Providence.

Return to Kingston for an evening Family Weekend event — including the John Mulaney show scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Ryan Center.

Head back to your hotel at the end of the night.

Add airport arrivals, restaurant reservations or family members staying in different places, and what initially looked like a simple college visit can quickly become a multi-stop transportation plan.

For some families, driving themselves will still make perfect sense.

For others, professional chauffeured transportation allows everyone to stay together while someone else handles the timing, routes, parking logistics and multiple pickups or drop-offs.

The right transportation plan should fit the weekend you actually want to have — not force your weekend to fit the transportation.

Staying in Providence for URI Family Weekend?

Providence can serve as a convenient home base for families who want to combine URI Family Weekend with more time exploring Rhode Island.

A weekend could include visiting your student in Kingston, attending Saturday’s game in Pawtucket and heading into Providence afterward for dinner or an evening out.

Instead of coordinating several vehicles or deciding who will drive each leg, a private vehicle and chauffeur can remain part of the plan throughout the day.

That flexibility can be especially helpful when plans involve several generations of the family or when everyone wants to enjoy the day together rather than separate into different cars.

Sentinel has provided professional transportation throughout Rhode Island and Southern New England since 1987. Being Rhode Island-based means our team understands that a trip may look short on a map while still requiring thoughtful coordination when timing, traffic, events and multiple stops are involved.

Flying Into PVD for URI Family Weekend?

For families coming to Rhode Island by air, transportation planning may begin before you ever reach campus.

Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport — better known by its airport code, PVD — is located in Warwick. From there, families may be traveling to hotels in Providence, URI in Kingston or other destinations throughout the state.

Sentinel provides PVD Airport transportation for both arrivals and departures, with live flight tracking to help our team coordinate pickup times when flights arrive early or are delayed.

Airport transportation can also be arranged separately for family members arriving at different times.

Instead of making your URI student leave campus to pick someone up or adding an airport run to an already busy weekend, your family can meet where the weekend is actually happening.

Bringing the Whole Family?

Sometimes Family Weekend really means family weekend.

Parents, siblings, grandparents and extended family can quickly turn a few separate cars into a caravan.

Keeping everyone together can simplify the day — particularly when an itinerary includes several stops or family members who may not be familiar with Rhode Island.

Sentinel’s fleet includes sedans and SUVs as well as passenger vans and other vehicles designed for larger groups. Rather than choosing a vehicle simply because it technically holds a certain number of passengers, our reservations team can help consider the number of travelers, luggage, itinerary and how the group will actually be using the vehicle.

The goal is to help your family fit comfortably — not just technically.

Private Transportation Doesn’t Have to Mean a Stretch Limousine

When some travelers hear “limousine service,” they immediately picture a stretch limousine.

That’s only one type of chauffeured transportation.

For URI Family Weekend, a family might be better served by a sedan, SUV or passenger van depending on group size, luggage and the plans for the day.

Sentinel regularly provides chauffeured transportation for university and college travel, airport transfers, family trips, special events and multi-stop itineraries throughout Southern New England.

Our job isn’t to put every client into the same type of vehicle or service.

It’s to understand the itinerary first and recommend what works in real life.

URI Family Weekend Transportation FAQs

Where is the URI Family Weekend football game in 2026?

URI vs. UAlbany will be played at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket on Saturday, October 24 at noon.

Does URI provide transportation to the football game?

Yes. URI is offering families the option to purchase charter bus transportation from the Kingston campus to the game.

How do I get from PVD Airport to URI?

PVD is located in Warwick, and families can arrange private airport transportation directly to URI, Providence hotels or other Rhode Island destinations.

Can a whole family travel together?

Yes. Vehicle options including SUVs and passenger vans can accommodate families and groups depending on passenger count, luggage and itinerary.

Make Transportation One Less Thing to Coordinate

Family Weekend goes quickly.

Between catching up with your student, attending campus activities, cheering on the Rams and finding time to enjoy Rhode Island together, there’s already plenty packed into a few days.

Transportation doesn’t need to become another event to manage.

Whether you need a simple airport transfer, transportation for a larger family group, a vehicle for Saturday’s multi-stop itinerary or chauffeured service throughout the weekend, Sentinel can help build transportation around the plans you already have.

If you’re beginning to plan your URI Family Weekend trip, tell us where you’re staying, where you need to be and who is traveling with you.

We’ll help you determine what makes sense.

Contact Sentinel Limousine to start planning your URI Family Weekend transportation.

Sentinel Limousine

Rhode Island to Worldwide

Simplifying Your Life by Providing Excellence in Ground Transportation Since 1987