<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tom911:
I looked at the AMTRAK site and the fares were actually quite reasonable...$36 one way from Union Station in DC to Durham. If you wanted to combine the university visit with a DC visit, that might work. There's only two trains a day, with the one at 1050 having a 1715 arrival, one long train ride. The other train doesn't arrive until after 2200. The return trip from Durham is at 1037 with a 1705 arrival in DC.</font>
Be careful with the train option - there really isn't a train station in Durham - the trains stop there, but you need to be picked up by someone at the station or know your way around in advance. There is no way to rent a car, for example.
There are several hotels near the Duke campus, but if you really want to see the area, you might want to rent a car to drive around. It would probably work out to be about the same cost as a cab from RDU to campus and back.