Monica

Help - I'm flying into Midway, getting a rental car and need to go to a hotel near O'Hare Airport. What is the best way to get there ? The map web sites have given me at least 5 different options and I'm completely confused on which would be best. I just want the Fastest and Easiest. I get in at 10:30am (on a weekday) and need to be at the Hyatt O'Hare in Rosement by noon.
Any suggestions ?

tweedy

Well you will probably get at least as many suggestions here, but I used to live in the Chicago area (Oak Park), so I would suggest taking Cicero Ave to the Eisenhower heading for downtown and then take the Kennedy North. The Hyatt is right off the Kennedy. It will be on your left, the exit (I think just after Cumberland), it is a pretty pinkish not more than 10 story building. There is a sign for the convention center, which is right at the Hyatt.

Hope this helps some, have a great time in Chicago.

tweedy

Nancy

Monica, Monica, Monica....you DO need help!

Why would you fly into Midway when you need to be near O'Hare? The airfare may be cheaper, but the congestion at Midway these days is enough to drive you to drink. If you wanted fastest and easiest, it would have been to fly into O'Hare and take the el or a hotel bus.

If you land at 10:30, it will take you half an hour *at least* to secure the rental car. That gives you an hour to get to Rosemont. If you follow Cicero Ave. to the Stevenson Expressway *the rental car company can point you in the direction*, I suggest going South on Interstate 55 *Stevenson Expressway*. If you go north, you will run into construction.

Take I-55 South toward St. Louis until you reach I-294 *toward Wisconsin*. Take I-294 North until you get to the O'Hare/River Road exit. Follow the River Road signs and over to the hotel.

You will cut your noon deadline very close, if not miss it at all. Congestion around Midway is bad, so don't be impatient. And the Hyatt O'Hare can be tricky to find and park at. You may consider calling them for the best directions from I-294. That should take you to their front door with the minimum amount of wrong turns.

As a side note, since your timetable is so strict, I'd ignore any online directions as they can be grossly incorrect. I think your best bet is to call the hotel directly for exact directions once you get off I-294.

Best of luck!

kam

Monica, I must agree with the above. Used to live in Chicago and have just returned from there yesterday, totally frustrated with the construction and traffic. I would seriously consider flying into O'Hare. As we used to say, "there is winter and there is construction--two seasons in Chicago." All expressways in Chicago basically want to lead to the Loop and there is no easy way to go from south to west or north to west. Midway to O'Hare is just not easy! You could do it on surface streets, but if you don't know the city, you would most likely get hopelessly lost.We even got a bit lost this weekend, and my husband is a native, although we haven't lived there for 10 years. We tried to get creative and out of the construction traffic, but ended up wasting time. Good luck.

Mrs. O'L.

Hey, why assume Monica's being obtuse? Maybe she has a reason why she MUST fly into Midway (like cheaper airfare or a specific airline). But Monica, they're right, this is gonna be a squeaker. You might consider biting the bullet and getting a cab (will shave off time at car rental agency, and cabbie may know the best way to get to Rosemont in the best time). If you still need a car after your noon meeting, rent it at O'Hare after inquiring about possible drop-off at Midway (assuming you have to leave from Midway).

Michael

Ms O'l is right on, with only an hour and a half, it would be much better to pay the freight on the cab fare since those cabbies can get you there with time to spare, then rent a car at O'Hare anything else could take too long.

peg

Not sure this is viable, but could Monica take the train from midway into downtown, then transfer to the train to O'hare and cab to hotel from there? There might be a short cab ride to get between trains, but the trains from each airport to downtown are only about 40 minutes each, so this might be the path of least resistance without paying cab/shuttle prices. just a thought.

Michael

That might work, though I seem to remember it taking longer than 40 minutes to take the Orange Line to the Loop, transfer to the Blue and take it to the O'Hare area. Although there is the Rosemont stop on the Blue Line, I wonder how close that stop might be to the Hyatt.

marilyn

It really is not that hard to drive from Midway to O'Hare on a weekday morning. You could easily do it in probably 40 minutes, though I don't know how long it takes to pick up a rental car at Midway, or if your flight will be on time. Nancy's directions are closest to accurate, though I think the Eisenhower expressway (Hwy 290) is a better choice than the Stevenson, even though you have to go further north on Cicero Avenue to get to it. You don't want to head INTO Chicago to pick up the Kennedy, but away from Chicago to link up with the Tristate Tollway, which is 294, north to Wisconsin. You get off at 190/River Road. The Hyatt is a very distinctive sort of pink glass building with circular tower-looking things on the corner that you can see from 190.

Monica

Thank You all for your responses. I know , I know - I personally WANTED to fly onto O'Hare - It just makes more sense but what can you do when you have no control over it. It wasn't my idea to rent the car either...

When I first looked at a map I was thinking of taking the route of I-55 South to I-294 north but none of the map web sites picked that way - thus leading me to ask my original question.

So - If I take that route - I hear I-294 is a toll road ? Does anyone know what the toll is so I can have the right change ?

I may stick to the Cicero to the Eisenhower into downtown then North on the Kennedy. It looks a bit shorter.
I did hear from a friend what ever I do - do NOT take I-55 in downtown at all cost - they say its a nightmare !!

Thanks Again.

marilyn

They recently revamped the toll booths, and amounts vary from 40 cents to 50 cents to 75 cents. It is a little-known fact (well, it may not be a FACT, but it is my experience) that it is actually faster to go through the attendant booths, which are on the right, than the exact change ones, because so many people seem to prefer to use the exact change ones. I don't think you'll be sorry if you use the Eisenhower in preference to the Stevenson. As to mapping sites on the internet, my faith in them was somewhat weakened when I pulled up one for a local destination and the suggested route included two streets that did not go through, as well as a wrong expressway exit. They seem especially bad for certain local expressway connections--I regularly drive from a suburb north of Chicago, just off 94, to Minneapolis, and the map sites regularly want to route me over toward the airport to pick up 90, which is LAUGHABLE to a local.

Monica

Thansk again - I'll cross my fingers and hope I make it...

just wondering

Do we REALLY want to send Monica over Cicero Avenue to the Eisenhower???

Nancy

RE: Midway to O'Hare

I'd vote with Peg, but it would be *very* close. Assuming Monica has no checked bags, walks fast, and her plane is on time, she can be on an orange line train by 10:40. The trip to the Loop is only about 30 minutes. The orange line connects directly with the blue line, but then that trip is 45 minutes or so to Rosemont. So this would require good connections and a cab at Rosemont to the Hyatt to make it by noon. Perhaps a cab from Midway is really best under these circumstances.

Here's an idea on renting a car. I rent cars all the time from Avis, as a so-called "preferred" customer. It doesn't cost anything to set up this profile and it means that your car is ready and waiting for you at the airport. You just buzz through and pick up the pre-printed contract with the car key, all neatly stuffed into a folder with your name on it. Saves a TON of time. A truly wonderful service.

Good luck, Monica.

-Nancy

Ed

I know I am bumping up a very old topic here, but I need to do basically the same drive tomorrow (Friday) at around 2:00pm. I need to get from Midway to Norridge (just southwest of O'hare) and need to know the best route to take. Thanks.

mary f

There is a shuttle from Midway to O'Hare. Leaves at 11, arrives at 12 - then you would have to take a taxi. The fare is $17.
www.omegashuttle.com

patg

Ed, go north on Cicero, turn left north of the airport and then right onto Harlem. Take Harlem straight into Norridge. It's not fast but it isn't horrible.