Driving to Sewanee  

Enter into your GPS: Sewanee, The University of the South, 735 University Ave, Sewanee Tennessee 37383

Please note: Pre-college students are not permitted to drive themselves alone to SSMF.

International Travel

You may be eligible to travel without a visa. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.  Please visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visitor.html for more information about obtaining a B-2 Tourist Visa. That process is overall pretty easy; however, the chief difficulty is the wait time for a visa interview. In many countries, there is an average wait time of 6-7 months for a tourist visa interview. Please begin your visa application process as early as possible to allow for this wait time. This resource from the Department of State is the best way to help plan for this. If your home country has multiple US Consular Offices for a visa interview, you may want to “shop around” for faster processing & wait times. It may involve a little more travel within your home country, but in some cases is has saved visa applicants months of time.

Air Travel

Sewanee is serviced by both Nashville (one hour thirty minutes) and Chattanooga (forty-five minutes) airports. However, we do not recommend flying through Chattanooga as arranging shuttles can be more difficult.

You will need to arrange your own transportation from the airport to Sewanee (University of The South campus) or Monteagle. For more information on this, see the shuttles section below.

If you are flying to and from Sewanee, your arrival date depends on your program: June 13 for Instrumental Experience, June 20 for OperaFest, and June 27 for Pre-College Programs. All participants traveling by air should plan to depart on Monday, July 13, allowing ample time for the closing concert festivities, check-out procedures, and travel to the airport. There is no additional fee for staying this extra night if you are flying.

SHUTTLES:

If you are flying to the festival, you’ll need to book the Groome Shuttle service to Monteagle. Our staff will meet you at the Monteagle shuttle stop and provide transportation to campus (about 10 minutes away). Please be sure to share your shuttle arrival time with us via the Smartsheet Survey so we can coordinate your pickup.

• Groome Transportation provides shuttles to Monteagle, Tennessee six miles from Sewanee, from Nashville International Airport (BNA).

Check-In

(Please review the detailed check in procedures in the student handbook and Residence Life page)

Early Check-In will take place from 9am—5pm, June 12th. Please plan your flights and shuttles accordingly. There will be a early check-in fee for any student arriving on June 12th. Parents are not allowed to stay in the residence hall with students under any circumstances. 

Regular Check-In

Early Check-In will take place from 9am—5pm, June 12th. Please plan your flights and shuttles accordingly. There will be a early check-in fee for any student arriving on June 12th. Parents are not allowed to stay in the residence hall with students under any circumstances. 

Check-Out

(please review detailed check out procedures in the student handbook and on the residence life page) 

Check-Out will begin after the orchestra concerts on Sunday, July 12th. The final concert will conclude by approximately 5:30pm.

Late Check Out: We ask that participants who are traveling alone by air schedule their departures from the Festival for Monday, July 13th. There will be no fee for staying this extra night if you are flying alone and staying at our request.

If you are driving, there will be a fee for staying overnight on July 12th, 2026. So, we encourage all students/families who are driving to depart after the final concert on July 12th. 

Please note students departing prior to the end of the festival will not receive pro-rated tuition or housing costs.