Lauradublin

Hi All,

I am planning a trip to Chicago for about 2 weeks next April and am wondering about side trips that I can take. We will stay in Chicago for about 5 days but I would like to visit some other areas. I'm not fussy about what I see, but it's hard to find guide books on these areas.

I know that there are some Amish areas in Indiana, so we will go there, but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Many thanks, Laura

Cyonara

Hello there, Laura, from northeast Iowa. Some suggestions:

1) Galena, IL. Historic small town -- the vast majority of homes and cottages are charmingly preserved. US Grant's home is open. Lots of shops on Main Street, but the highlight (hope it's still there) is the Perry Street Brasserie, a tiny, wonderful restaurant operated by a former chef to the Beatles. Many B&B's.

2) Dubuque, IA is near Galena and is also historic. Its downtown takes you back to the 1930's and earlier. Take the Fenelon Place elevator (super-steep tram) to the top of the bluff for a great view of the Mississippi. The Mandolin Inn is a lovely Edwardian B&B. I have heard that the brand new river museum (I know it sounds ho-hum) is awesome.

3)For the best view of the Mississippi bar none, go north to McGregor, IA and Pike's Peak state park. The view, which takes in three states, is majestic.

The northeast corner of Iowa is very beautiful, pastoral, of course, but with steep hills, sweeping vistas, and a thousand shades of green.

CAPH52

Actually, there are a few guidebooks on weekend or day trips from Chicago. Quick Escapes is the one that comes to mind. Moon Guides does a very thorough guide on Wisconsin. And Midwest Living has put out a few books on trips in the Midwest. Your local Borders or Barnes and Noble should be able to order something for you. Or, if you have any Bargain Books stores in your area, try that.

How far from Chicago are you talking? Day trips, overnight trips...?

Lauradublin

Wow, thanks for the great info. I plan on arriving in O'Hare and then moving on from there for a few days. My middle time will be spent in Chicago itself and then have a few more days elsewhere towards the end, so I'm quite mobile. Although, I don't want to be driving for days.

I'm in Ireland, so my choice of guide books is very limited and I had trouble finding anything on Amazon.

Laura

placeu2

If you enjoy driving, you could drive the circle around Lake Michigan. However in April you could encounter snow...some years significant, in the UP.

Springfield, IL has a Lincoln Home museum type area and is the State Capital.

On Dubuque: I have relatives in this area and lived near there during college years. Absolutely do the River Museum. I did and loved it. Eat at Timmermans on the IL side of the river for a fantastic view and dinner (although I haven't eaten there in many years).

Milwaukee has nice museums and zoo. Green Bay is worth a stop at the Packer Hall of Fame if anyone enjoys football...but again if this is early April, it could be cool if not cold.

Probably early for the tulip festival but you could look into Holland, MI.

St. Louis is 5 hours away.

Frankly April is kind of dreary in the upper Midwest. Not green or blooming yet. Weather is variable and most touristy things are still indoors.

Kristi

If you spend 5 days in Chicago that would give you around 9 days to do a little exploring. A road trip that I really enjoyed a few years back was driving out through Indiana, Ohio, to Niagara Falls, Toronto and then back down through Michigan although we did it in the summer. Places you can stop along the way are (some of these things are closed in April which I've marked):

-Indiana Dunes State Park, some of the nicest beaches in the area, on Lake Michigan, still interesting in April
-Amish County near Middlebury/Shipshewana, Tues/Wed there is a big flea market, Wed there is an auction
-Cedar Point amusement park (closed in April)
-Put in Bay which is close to Cedar Point, you have to take a ferry over, not sure about the season
-Cleveland, a couple of major attractions are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Sea World
-Niagara Falls, one of the most impressive natural wonders in North America, esp. from the Canadian side
-Toronto
-Dearborn Michigan to see the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
-Area around Saugatuck Michigan is a popular summer resort area, not sure what it is like in April

If you are looking for some shorter type day/weekend trips, Milwaukee is about 2 hours from Chicago and can be visited with a day or two, lots of things to see and do. On the way up there you will go past several outlet malls (Gurnee Mills and 2 in Kenosha) if shopping is of interest and Great America, another amusement park (closed in April). Other popular places to visit up in Wisconsin are Lake Geneva, Baraboo (Circus World), Wisconsin Dells (with the addition of indoor water parks, this is becoming more of a year round destination) and Door County.

Going south from Chicago into Indiana you could visit Indianapolis about 2 1/2 hours from Chicago, just a bit south of that is Bloomington, IN a nice college town and about an hour south of that is French Lick/West Baden which is an interesting old resort area, they are still working on restoration of the big spa but it is a sight to see. If you like modern architecture, you could also check out Columbus IN.

Geckolips

Hi. I lived there 30 years. Here is what I enjoyed in the area:
1. Galena - lots of shops, quaint town and B&Bs. Hilly town on a river northwest of Chicago.
2. Door County in Wisconsin, will be very cool temps, but again, quaint shops, nice places on the lake, etc. I think you could do a search on-line for this area. Stay overnight.
3. Indiana Beach is nice but hard to find. Ask the locals and just keep turning left once you are out of the city.
4. Nappanee is where a lot of Amish are. Northern Indiana is very rural and pretty fields, but you will be too early for the crops to be planted.
5. If you want to venture over to Iowa, (long drive) Amana Colonies are very interesting. Lots of shops, resaurants, etc. Not Amish, but similar in life style of Menonites.
Things are not as close together as you might think.

6. Holland, Michigan is interesting.

7. The drive across Michigan is OK and Greenfield Village and the Ford Museam in Dearborn, Michigan, right by Detroit.
I would not go all the way over to Cleveland. Too far away.

There are SO many wonderful things to do in Chicago, go to a Broadway Show, Lyric Opera, Orchestra Hall, Art Institute, History Museum, Science and Industry Museum, The Shed Aquarium, Magnificant Mile (Michigan Avenue)shopping anytime, hotel lobby hopping (RITZ, 4 Seasons, Palmer House, etc.) I always used the nicer hotel restrooms off their lobbies Ha.), ride the elevators to the top of the Sears Tower, State Street shopping (if it is a blustery day you can go from building to building in the Loop underground) and looking at outdoor art work/scultures during the day. Navy Pier, Windella Boat tours on the Chicago River, beautiful churches, great ethnic neighborhoods - more Polish people live in Chicago than Warsaw!, China town, LSD (Lake Shore Drive)parks,etc. Are you sure you wouldn't like to spend more time in Chicago? Walk, Walk, walk, but not at night. You can very easily get into the wrong sort of neighborhood and be in harm's way! Michigan Avenue area is the only place I care to walk after dark. They have touristy horsedrawn carrriage rides day and evening that are fun. They have good public bus service and The "L" if you want an elevated subway ride...sounds strange!
I am sure you will be looking at sites on the WEB about Chicago and checking out the local events happening there.

I would not suggest a drive around Lake Michigan. It is very much solid city and you really don't see the lake all that often.
As someone else said, April is a very confused month, it can snow, rain, or be nice (or a day or two). You will see lots of black soil and naked trees as you leave the city.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

janeygirl

I heartily second (or is it third?) the suggestion for Galena, Illinois. It's also very close to Dubuque and the Mississippi River.

Here's a web site that might help you discover some areas in Wisconsin that you may want to visit:

www.travelwisconsin.com/index.html

(I live in Madison, Wisconsin, which is about 2-1/2 hours north of O'Hare)

Keith

It would be a shame to go as far as Dubuque and not continue on to the Amana Colonies.

Keith

Lauradublin

Thanks for all your help. I certainly have food for thought!

Laura

CAPH52

Sorry, I didn't notice the "dublin" part of your screen name. If I had, I might have had sense enough not to recommend ordering from your local Borders!

Glad to see you're getting lots of helpful responses. You might also want to take a look at www.enjoyillinois.com

tuckerdc

Hi Laura - Do you have in mind just what sort of side trips you'd like - what you're after? Milwaukee (as suggested) is urban, a small, more manageable city than Chicago (and a personal favorite). But...if you are spending 5 days in Chicago, Milwaukee is not going to give you much different 'flavor.' (There are brewery tours, but when you come from the land-of-Guinness, I'm not sure that that'd be much of a highlight for you.)

It's true that you will get into some nice rolling scenery if you head west towards Galena - but overall, the Midwest landscape within hours of Chicago is not very scenic. (Think
"f-l-a-t")- especially compared to Ireland. (One of our all-time favorite journeys too many years ago!) However, if you headed towards Galena (which has just never been a favorite of mine),you would continue with the pretty scenery and some nice towns if you headed north up through the hilly countryside towards Mineral Point (settled by Cornish miners); Spring Green (famous for Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin); and Mt. Horeb (Swiss settlers).

One nice/different trip might be to take a ferry across Lake Michigan. You could drive up to Manitowoc through the (scenic! - for the Midwest) Kettle Moraine country of Wisconsin and then angling east to Manitowoc. Get the car ferry for about a 4-5 hour ride to Ludington; go north from there to see Sleeping Dune and some of the Lake Michigan shore communities north of there; drive back down to Chicago.

I've read of working farm B*B's; not sure if there are any within 3-4-5 hours of Chicago...is that something that would be of interest?

Be prepared for weather that could be anything from darned chilly (40s, fahrenheit - never have mastered that conversion) on up to summery (70s, if you're really lucky!). We actually had quite a wonderful April in Wisconsin/No Ill this year, maybe we'll get a repeat.

tuckerdc

One More thought...but first a clarification. Above, where I mentioned "heading north from Galena," I mean into Wisconsin.

Another change of scene (and the likelihood of warmer weather for that time of year) would be to head south from Chicago, about 5-6 hours or so to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, and even beyond into Kentucky. This would really give you the sense and flavor of a whole other U.S. culture as you get towards the south.

Be prepared for the possibility of rain wherever you decide to head...and not "a bit of a mist," but real gully-washing spring downpours/thunderstorms.

Cyonara

I heartily second the Mineral Point and Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, suggestions. Eat at the Red Rooster Cafe in MP for Cornish food, and at Schubert's Cafe and Bakery in MH for both Norwegian and good old-fashioned American home cooking. Oh, and be sure to pick up a loaf of their Swedish rye bread.

JJ5

Really research schedules and prices if you would consider taking the car ferry across Lake Michigan. It is very expensive and I'm not sure it is even a "sure thing" in April at all.