gr8_fun

How safe are these areas during the summer for family travel/ tour?

What other areas are fun to see in the general area besides the Amish country??

cfntmpn

I grew up in this area. #1 - just like any other city, S.Bend has it's safe parts, and it's not so safe parts. If you will be visiting the sites at Notre Dame you have nothing to worry about.

#2 S. Bend is unlike any other college town. I often wonder why it is even there. I have been to IU Bloomington (gorgeous) graduated from Purdue (go boilers) have visited Ball State (not as nice as IU or Purdue, but still more of a college town than S. bend) and S. bend just does not measure up. It is an industrial, blue collar town. If you head North & East there are nicer parts of town, but nothing within walking distance of Notre Dame.

Where will you be traveling from? There is plenty to do. You can always take the South Shore (electric train) to Chicago (2hrs)

You can go North to Lake Michigan - I spent all of my weekends as a teenager at Warren Dunes - right on Lake Michigan. St. Joe is also a great place to visit (close) - just don't venture off to Benton Harbor

There is a College Football Hall of Fame in S. Bend

The Studebaker Mansion (Tippecanoe Restaurant) is worth a visit - just to go through the home.

Studebaker Museum is an excellent car museum.

If you will be heading East definately visit Amish Acres or the Shiphewana area. A new amish farmers market will be opening in the spring. I prefer Essenhaus versus Amish Acres, but they are very similar. Amish Acres is closer to S. Bend than the later.

I hope these suggestions will get you started!

There are some nice restaurants - LaSalle Grill, Carriage House, just about every chain you can mention and some decent shopping.

There is a great outlet mall (Premier Outlets in Michigan City) just north of S. Bend (45 mins) one of the only outlet malls that has a Waterford Crystal outlet store.

gr8_fun

Thanks for the report, Cfntmpn.
We are traveling from CA. What is the typical airport people use this location? If we toured the campus and did the Amish area, about how many days do you think we should plan on? Not too much interested in Chicago as we can do city stuff here in LA. We'd really prefer a change of scene and the Amish part should fit the bill. Other suggestions? Can you walk to anything worth seeing from the ND campus area? How far is Purdue from this area? I'll need to get a guidebook.

exiledprincess

gr8_fun, IMHO, comparing Chicago to LA is like apples to oranges. Yes, they are both large cities, but different atmospheres. If you haven't ever been to Chicago, do take a look at all it has to offer.

That being said, if you go to Notre Dame, and were looking for something different than city life, my suggestions would be these: In Michigan, go north along Lake Michigan's shoreline through Harbor Country and up to at least the Saugutuck/Douglas areas. You might wish to go as far north as Mackinac Island and see the Grand Hotel.

In Indiana, if you were interested in seeing a lovely campus, go to Indiana University at Bloomington, IN and continue your journey into Brown County (maybe some lodging at the Brown County State Park or in Nashville, IN - maybe take in some bluegrass at Bean Blossom) and perhaps go into Parke County for the covered bridges. Of course, you might be coming at some time when a race is being held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - but you might want to stop in to see the museum.

And, if you wanted to, you could fly into Indianapolis instead of Chicago if you were planning on taking in some of these areas.

gr8_fun

Exiled - Thanks for the ideas! I'll have to get a map to see how much driving time for all these locations.

J62

If flying to Chicago and driving to Indiana, Midway airport is a bit closer than O'Hare. Traffic through Chicago can be bad as well. Drive from Midway to SB is about 2hrs, but can be longer.

ND is essentially a completely self contained campus, not directly connected to or within walking distance of any town or commercial area. There is really no advantage to staying on-campus if you are just visiting.

I recommend including in your visit a Sat pm or Sunday am mass at the ND Basilica, even if you are not Catholic. Sunday am folk mass with wonderful music is a beautiful mass. Summer tends to be slower, and may have reduced mass schedule since students are gone so you'd need to check schedules.

The others have covered SB and surrounding details well. On a hot summer day an afternoon at Indiana Dunes state park (along Lake Michigan), or one of the Mich. parks would be fun, esp for kids who enjoy the beach. (w/o salt water)

cd

Michigan City is about 15 miles from South Bend and has a great beach with cat walk you can sit on and watch the boats enter and leave the marina. They have a beach changing house so your children could change clothes there. West Lafayette and Purdue would be about 1 1/2 hrs south on 421 to 43 right into Lafayette which has ton's of hotels.

k

The previous posters gave you good advice. I too grew up 8 miles from ND.I now live in Wisconsin and still make the trip every 6 wks to see relatives. During rush hour, the travel time from O'Hare to ND is about3-3.5 hours otherwise less than that. Clear sailing and little to no traffic from the Sykway to ND. Cgo loop to ND is exactly 100 miles. I would suggest staying in downtown Cgo for a day or two. It is a wonderful vibrant city especially in the summer and vastly different from Calif. Do hit Warren Dunes. Great memories and lots of time beaching there too "cfntmpn" . ND is very safe. But of course very safe means to always keep your wits about you. Purdue, IU aand Ball State are all options too if you are college shopping, but not worth the time IMO. Do Chicago..Take in a SOX or Cubs game, hit the Ravinia fest or action in Millenium park or Navy Pier (not my thing). Nothing like LA at all. Shipshewana is nice but pretty sleepy. Hit their flea market/antique sale I think it is Tues or Wed. If youre looking for great italian food, stop in Elkhart. lots of little ma and pa italian restaurants.

gr8_fun

How far from Indy to Notre Dame??? Thanks for the tips!

cfntmpn

indy is a great city, and about 2.5 - 3 hrs away, (i lived there for 5 years) but again, why would you consider Indy instead of Chicago?

Chicago is NOTHING like LA. Think a smaller, more condensed version of NY City. Very ethnic, sorta gritty in a GOOD way, not "sparkly" like LA.

In Chicago you can WALK, WALK, WALK, nothing like LA!

Have you been to Chicago???? If not, you really, realy, really should go!

Just an idea. You can fly into SB Regional airport....do the Notre Dame/Amish visit...then take the South Shore (from the South Bend airport) - you can park your car at the airport. Go to Chicago for a couple of days (get your room on priceline for the best hotels for the best prices on Michigan Ave) then, when you've had enough of Chicago, get back in your car and head north along the Lake Michigan shore.

If you want some specific travel info email me offline cteglsnst at aol dot com

gr8_fun

CFN -- Uh, what is the South Shore? Is that a train or subway? Is the street you mentioned in Cgo centrally located for walking around Chicago and seeing the sites?? If so, what are the sites on or around this street?

exiledprincess

gr8_fun, the South Bend and South Shore Railroad is an electric train that travels parallel to the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan between Chicago (several stops in Chicago but the Millennium Station - under Millennium Park - is the final destination there) to the South Bend Airport. Do a search for NICTD to find their fares and timetables.

South Bend is approximately a 1.75-2 hour drive east from Chicago (notwithstanding any traffic problems which you might encounter due to the Dan Ryan Expressway - and other roadways - construction, rush hour or if you are coming on a holiday weekend).

Indianapolis is approximately 3-3.5 hour drive southeast from Chicago - but Indianapolis is a very sprawling city, so it might take more time, depending on where you are going there.

I personally have not driven from South Bend to Indianapolis directly, so cannot give you exact info on the time, but would say it would probably be somewhat more than 3.5 hours.

I mentioned the Indianapolis airport in case you wanted to go to Indiana University in Bloomington, Brown County or Parke County in Indiana. Bloomington is about 1-1.25 hours south of Indianapolis as a point of reference.

By the way, if you are thinking about going to a couple of the Indiana state parks, such as the Indiana Dunes State Park, Turkey Run State Park, Brown County State Park, look at purchasing an annual pass. And each of the state parks offer different activities (i.e., canoeing, swimming, camping, fishing, etc.) and lodging options (from inns to cabins to only campsites - with utilities or primative).

Hope this information helps a bit.

cfntmpn

As mentioned, the South Shore is an electric train from S. Bend airport to downtown Chicago. It drops you off right in the heart of Chicago. It sounds like you have never been - do a search on this forum for "chicago" and browse through some of the great things to do in the city. Museums, restaurants, architecture tours, shopping, all of which you can do without a car - you might have to take a few taxis and some public tanspo, but you can park your car and forget about it! Chicago would be an excellent addition to your Notre Dame visit!

JJ5

There's a whole lot North and a whole lot South.

You've gotten great ideas, but if you REALLY do not want to do city and want something different, like old, vintage and cultural- just a mere 1/2 hour North of Notre Dame is a town called Mendon, MI. This town is in the center of a bigger and less advertised/marketed Amish area, IMHO.
It is also the old coach stop that was 1/2 way between Detroit and Chicago.

The Mendon Country Inn is a Bed and Breakfast but far, far more. No tvs, but your room is vintage and you will have pianoed breakfast cooked by a cordon bleu chef who is world traveled. They are originally from South Africa. Geff can take you to an Amish home for dinner if you are there on a preplanned night, usually a Friday. There's so much else that I could not fully describe. google Mendon Country Inn website if interested. It's an experience that is rather unique. There's even a ghost.
The building was built in 1870's. Many celebs, Presidents, politicos have slept there- and some famous Native Americans as well. The Puddleton Room for games, dining- incredible.

tamryn

Having grown up in SB, currently living in Chicago, and having a daughter at ND, I am something of an expert on your question! I wanted to clear up a misunderstanding that many have about SB, since most people only know it from visiting ND. ND is on a beautiful large campus setting, but located in one of the poorer surrounding areas in all of South Bend. Also, SB is not a college town, but instead a city of 100,000 people. There is a lot of industry and also high end white collar occupation all unaffiliated with the University. As such, South Bend's restaurants and shops are not centered near the campus, as it is not dependant like a "college town". There are many lovely affluent areas on the North and South ends of town that are hidden to visitors to the campus. ND is currently methodically purchasing much of the property surrounding it in order to develop more of a village atmosphere for the students in the way of shops and restuarants, which will be great. Hope this answers some of your questions and let me know if I can help in any other way!

paradise411

I'm originally from Chicago and now live approximately 5 minutes from Notre Dame. Also just recently been to Indy (not worth the trip IMO). I agree with some of the other posts - you will not want to miss Chicago - my favorite big city by far - IMO even better than New York, although traffic can be a bear. I'd fly directly into South Bend as was mentioned - it's a nice small airport that is just a few minutes from Notre Dame and so much easier than flying into Chicago or Indy. Rent a car, tour the ND campus and take a nice drive up to Amish country or the Sagatuck area as mentioned. Could even spend a few days up in Sagatuck area. Then avoid traffic and take the South Shore train (can catch it at the same airport you flew into) and head to Chicago for a few days. Michigan Avenue is THE place to shop and dine in Chicago with so much to choose from. There really is no need for a car in the city as the train drops you in a great spot downtown and not only is everything right there but public transporation is great. If you love museums I recommend the Art Institute or the Shedd Aquarium. Michigan Ave is one of the most famous streets in the country, not to be missed. Would priceline a hotel as mentioned on Michigan Ave to get a good deal. Also, I recommend staying in Mishawaka if visiting ND, near Grape Rd. to be exact. Safe area that is just outside ND campus with new shopping and lots of chain restaurants to choose from.