Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU) lies fifteen minutes south-east of downtown Durham and serves most major US cities directly, with a handful of international flights to London, Frankfurt, and the Caribbean. Taxis, Lyft, and Uber to Durham run around twenty-five to thirty-five dollars.
Amtrak's Carolinian and Piedmont services connect Durham daily with Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington DC, and New York; the small station is a few minutes' walk from American Tobacco Campus. The Megabus and Greyhound long-distance buses run from the same vicinity.
The city itself is laid out for cars — Duke campus is three miles west of downtown, the major sights are spread widely, and the public-transport system is functional but slow. A rental car or a willingness to use ride-shares makes a meaningful difference to what you can fit in.