Chicago Questions
 

Hello,

I will be flying into either Chicago ORD or Chicago Midway. My flight arrives on a Friday morning (from NYC) at about 11am.

I need to visit the Northwestern Business School on Friday.

I then need to spend a good part of Saturday in the University of Chicago Business School.

Could you please tell me:

a)Best way (using public transport) to get to these Universities

b)Good location to stay which offers access to downtown Chicago (the tourist areas, as my nephew will be visiting the city with me) and also offers public transportation to these Universities. I am looking for an area which has a range of hotels to choose from, as I am looking at budget hotels.


Thanks
Pat

Hi there,

I'm assuming you'll be needing to go to Kellog's Evanston campus? If so, there's no good way to get from Ohare except for a taxi cab. If you flew into midway you could take the train (it's either the orange or green line that goes by there but there's only one and you want to head towards the city). Then you would change trains at Clark and Lake to a red or purple line (purple is an express to Evanston but doesn't always run). You can call the CTA's info line 773 836 7000 for better information.

U of C B School is right in the heart of downtown near Michigan Ave, and is easy to get to via buses. The CTA info line can also help you get there from your hotel location.

Re budget hotels - I suggest you this out online (hotels.com, etc.).

Hope this helps.

Pat, you should check the address you need to get to for the University of Chicago, the U of C website says there is more than one location for the business school and that some of it has recently relocated to Hyde Park where the main university is.

And part of the business school for Northwestern is on the Chicago Campus so once again I suggest that you confirm which location you need to be at.

For hotels, I'd recommend checking out Priceline, you'll get a much nicer hotel for less money. Take a look at www.biddingfortravel.com before bidding so you understand the risks, if you want to be centrally located downtown, you'll want to bid on North Michigan Avenue.

Midway is much closer than O'Hare to the U of C campus on the south side. O'Hare is closer to Northwestern in Evanston. The loop is in between. Midway is a more sane airport than O'Hare. And that's what I have to say about that!

Hi,

I need to go to the Evanston Campus for the Kellog School of Management, and the Hyde Park Campus at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

I think getting to Hyde Park should be ok, as I have to visit on Saturday, and I am hoping to stay in the NMA/Loop area.

However, my concern is, lets say I land at Midway at 10am. I need to go to my hotel, which will likely be in NMA/Loop, check in, and then get to Evanston as soon as possible.

Can you tell me how long it would take me by train or bus to Evanston from

a)Midway
b)North Michigan Avenue/Loop.

Thanks,
Pat

Traveling to Evanston during nonrush hour periods takes longer--the so-called Evanston Express does not run during the middle of the day. It took me almost 2 hours to take the el from midway to my home in Evanston in the middle of the day. From North Michigan Avenue, I would still allow an hour, realistically, to get to Northwestern.

I think the Metra train is what you want to get to Hyde Park from the Michigan Avenue area, NOT the CTA. I'm not sure, but I think the station is near Randolph and Michigan?

Try to stay in the Loop - the Renaissance, Burnham, Palmer House Hilton, etc. are convenient to the trains you need. See www.choosechicago.com for a location map of the hotels.

Take the train from the airport to your hotel; the ride is 40-50 minutes depending on which airport. Check in, then, heading to Evanston, take the Red Line north to Howard and transfer to the Purple Line. Get off at Foster. You'll have to walk a few blocks to the business building. See
http://www.northwestern.edu/campus/d...lic-ohare.html Allow 1 hour and fifteen minutes for the trip; not as many trains run on Saturdays.

For the U of Chicago, you have the option of the train or the bus. See
http://chicagolife.uchicago.edu/city/chi_downtown.shtml

The CTA has a useful site that can help you with that information once you get your hotel but from Midway to downtown by el it's about a 1/2 hour to the State/Lake stop and from there I would just take a cab instead of trying to figure out the buses, it should only be $5 or so to NMA.

Or you get a closer hotel to State and Lake like the Burnham or Allegro you could walk the few blocks from State and Lake if you don't have too much luggage.

From the CTA's website it looks like it takes about an hour from downtown to get to Northwestern's Evanston campus and about 1 1/2 hours from Midway to Northwestern direct.