Completing schoolwork and keeping up with jobs and extracurriculars can be overwhelming, whether you’re a freshman, a senior or someone in between. Relaxing in your room might not be enough to decompress, so why not take an off-campus adventure with friends? There are plenty of locations to check out to truly become a part of the local area.
Savin Rock Beach
Savin Rock Beach has a boardwalk that you can walk down to get a closer view of the clear, blue water. A park is nearby if you want to go through some greenery after playing in the sand. Rocks line the shore, which is great if you want to look at the water from afar and take some pictures. It is a 13 minute drive or Uber ride from campus to the beach and only 16 minutes if you prefer biking there, which is great since they have bike parking. While the beach does not have any scheduled activities, there is free reign to make your own fun by bringing beach games and food and drinks for picnics.
Yale University Art Gallery
If you are interested in pondering fine art and sculptures, go visit the Yale University Art Gallery. The art gallery has over 180,000 works of art ranging from an antique cream pitcher from the late 18th century to a lion relief dating back to at least 605 B.C. in Babylon. Visiting the Yale Art Gallery is a great opportunity if you are an art history enthusiast. For those interested in visiting the art gallery, it is open and free to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays.
It Adventure Ropes Course
For those of you who are looking to get active, head over to Jordan’s Furniture in West Haven, where inside is the entrance to the It Adventure Ropes Course. There are different activities for everyone, such as zip lining across different rails and beams along with a multitude of climbing walls lined with funky shapes and colors rather than your common rocks. If you’re interested, you are able to walk in or book an appointment. There is a one hour limit per reservation and no time limit for the climbing wall, but there is a limit of 10 climbs per person and reservation.
Mew Haven Cat Café
If you are a cat lover and a coffee connoisseur, then head to the Mew Haven Cat Café. You can book appointments online for 30-50 minutes of playtime with the cats and when you arrive for check-in, you can get a drink before heading into the cat lounge to hang out with some furry friends. You get to focus on playing with the cats and show them affection rather than stressing over work and school. If you can and are willing, the Mew Haven Cat Cafe has a partnership with Halfway Home Rescue, a non-profit organization that rescues abandoned or abused animals, where you can adopt cats, or any other animals from the organization. For cats specifically, there is an adoption fee of $200-275 depending on the cat’s age.
Escape New Haven
If collecting clues and solving puzzles in a high-stakes, collaborative game is entertaining, then check out Escape New Haven – an escape room close by in the city of New Haven, Connecticut. There are options to do different escape room locations that are indoors as well as outdoors, the latter of which is good if you are wary of the indoor experience. Ticket prices start at $79 per group; groups for indoor games must have six to eight people depending on the room, and outdoor groups must have five people.
This is just a starting point of all the great places that one could visit off campus while remaining close to the University of New Haven. As time goes on, your personal list of off-campus adventures can only grow longer.