Potsdam, NY
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Potsdam is an attractive, small college town in northern New York. The town dates from the early 19th century, and shortly afterwards (in 1816) SUNY Potsdam was founded as St. Lawrence Academy.
The downtown area lies around half a mile from the center of the SUNY Potsdam campus, and includes a wide range of shops and restaurants.
Traveling to Potsdam
For more complete travel information, see Directions or the Printable Directions
Coming to Potsdam by road
Potsdam lies on US Route 11, a major northeast-southwest route along the St. Lawrence valley, around 1.5 hours northeast of Watertown and 2 hours west of Rouses Point. It is around 2 hours drive from Ottawa, 2.5 hours from Syracuse or Montreal, 3 hours from Burlington, VT and 4 hours from Albany, NY.
Coming from Syracuse and the west, visitors should travel via I-81 to Watertown, then take route 11N via Gouverneur.
Coming from New England and the east, travelers can take I-89 past Burlington, VT, to Swanton, VT then via the bridge to Rouses Point, NY, and route 11 to Potsdam. Alternatively, from Burlington, some may prefer to take the more direct Grand Isle-Plattsburgh toll ferry; from Plattsburgh, Potsdam is around two hours via Routes 190 and 11. From Malone, Route 11B provides a slightly quicker route to Potsdam than Route 11.
Coming from Albany and the south, opinions differ on the best route. However one good route is via I-87 to exit 30, then via a very scenic route through the Adirondacks to Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. From Saranac Lake, travelers should take routes 30, 458 and 11B to Potsdam.
Coming to Potsdam by plane
There are three small airports close to Potsdam - Massena, Saranac Lake and Ogdensburg - all of which are served with affordable flights by Cape Air. There are three daily flights From Albany (ALB) to Massena (MSS), and three daily flights from Boston (BOS) to Saranac Lake (SLK). See [page] for a full timetable.
