There's a lot of things that can cause overheating. Fans dead, bad fan temp switch, bad thermostat, low coolant, bad water pump, bad radiator cap; would probably be the common ones.

DO NOT REMOVE THE RADIATOR CAP WHILE THE CAR IS HOT. When it is cool, check the fluid level in the radiator.

If the thermostat is no good, the lower hose will be cool and will not be hard when the car is on (system pressurized), though that could be the pump too - the pump would likely be making noise though. You can take the thermostat out and put it in a pot of boiling water to see if it is operational. This is fairly simple and inexpensive to remove/install yourself, just have some extra coolant/water around.

It can be bad to have the car overheat all the way to red - it is not good for the head/block, so if you can't check it yourself or work on it yourself, take it to a mechanic.