Help with Chicago trip

<p>The 3-day CTA pass one and a half years ago cost $12/person. We had figured that the cab ride from O’Hare to downtown would be at least $50 (each way). Check the schedule and try not to come in too late.</p>

<p>The U of C website says cab fare from Midway to the campus should be about $20, though this seems low to me. There’s also a shuttle from Midway to Hyde Park, Omega Shuttle, that costs $17/person. At that rate, a cab is probably cheaper for 2. The U of C website also says a cab between Hyde Park and downtown should be $18, but I’d guess a few dollars higher, plus tip.</p>

<p>OP - I would check UC and NU and find out when they have tours before deciding to do it in one or two days. IMO 2 days would be much, much better. I think the “unofficial” part of the visit can be the most important (there is a thread concerning this). Walking around Hyde Park and Evanston plus doing a little exploring on the campus on your own can be an important way to get the real feel of a place.
The tours are helpful but definitely limited.</p>

<p>I agree about the exploring. Also, when you come into Evanston to see NU, you’ll have wildly different impressions (IMO) if you come in from the west (as you would if driving from O’Hare) versus if you come in from the north (in which case you’ll think of it as set near luxury lakefront homes) or from the south (in which case you’ll get a real feel for downtown Evanston). If you’re going to walk around NU, make sure you walk into downtown Evanston and get a feel for what’s there.</p>

<p>Definitely stay downtown. If you decide to go to school in Chicago, it is worth your stay downtown because you will want to experience that as well.
There are few excellent breakfast places downtown. Depending on your time of visit the next morning at NW, you can grab a quick breakfast at the Corner Bakery (AWESOME!!!) or if you have time, try out a trendy restaurant called, ‘Orange’. They have awesome food, but the service is not so hot!!! [Orange</a> Menu & Reviews - Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 549-4400](<a href=“http://www.allmenus.com/il/chicago/192195-orange/menu/]Orange”>http://www.allmenus.com/il/chicago/192195-orange/menu/)
I guess that doesn’t really sound like a very good suggestion, but the food outweighs the service!!! LOL</p>

<p>And in Evanston, you’ll find so many great places. Try the Lucky Platter and Dave’s Italian Kitchen (a NW favorite for so many years). Then you’ll have to try Chicago pizza at Lou Malnatti’s. I hope you have time to visit the schools. ;)</p>

<p>And I agree - stay downtown. There are lots of hotels off Michigan Avenue which will be very active in the evenings.</p>

<p>Have fun!!</p>

<p>We’re going to have a throw down, momoftwins. ;D</p>

<p>I’m a Gino’s East fan for Chicago style pizza.</p>

<p>The CTA (the El) and the Metra are two different train systems. You can purchase CTA passes at the automated kiosks (cash or credit cards.) Metra passes are like regular trains, so you purchase them from a seller at a ticket booth. Interestingly, the El and Metra sometimes go to the same places. It’s a good thing this was the case with Oak Park, as my SIL read the schedule wrong and told us a Metra was leaving at 9:30. Well, we wanted AM (which she knew) but she was reading the PM schedule!</p>

<p>NU is one of those campuses that likes you to pre-register for a tour. I’m unclear whether they will take you if you just show up. I can saw, after taking the tour just three weeks ago, that the info session room was packed to the gills, SRO for sure. Fortunately, they had plenty of students ready for the campus tours that followed.</p>

<p>In my experience, as a long time Hyde Park resident, the U of C website is right on cab fares. But of course one could get taken, as JHS was. My guess is that the cab headed north from Midway to I-55… Midway to Hyde Park via downtown.
Staying downtown and taking the #6 bus or Metra to the U of C and the Metra or CTA Red line to Northwestern would be my choice. Hotwire should work well on hotel prices.
If you fly into Midway, I would take the CTA Orange line downtown from the airport. $2.25 per person. And not slower than a cab, usually, if there is any traffic.
You could do the trip with one overnight, but things aren’t apt to go completely smoothly for a first time visitor. A second night would give you some breathing room and be more enjoyable.</p>

<p>read the tips and strategies on better bidding site and bidding for travel website…they have tips on bidding on priceline and have hotel lists for hotwire and priceline.</p>

<p>i’ve used both hotwire and priceline and now usually prefer to use priceline. name your own price and bid on priceline…bid on areas…</p>

<p>millenium park, loop and grant park area</p>

<p>north michigan avenue river north area</p>

<p>we have successfully bid on the mp, loop and grant park area before. great hotel great price. we’ve had best results on bids for 4 star hotels.</p>

<p>since there are only 2 of you, priceline works well.</p>

<p>Here’s a link to the Second City Mainstage show, order your tickets early for summertime shows. You can just pick them up at the Box Office prior to the show. Many weeknights after the main show they do an improv session and invite other local comedians to join them. Often they are also joined by any Second City celebrity alums who might be in town. It’s worth sticking around for. </p>

<p>[The</a> Second City | Chicago | Chicago Mainstage](<a href=“Comedy Shows in Chicago, Toronto & New York City - The Second City”>Comedy Shows in Chicago, Toronto & New York City - The Second City)</p>

<p>My son loved it and told a friend who also took it in with his parents when they visited several months later. It’s great fun. Make sure to look at all the photos in the lobby and on the stairways of former cast members; it’s a who’s who of modern American comedy.</p>

<p>Here’s the Mexican restaurant next door; it’'s called the Adobo Grill (I live in Dallas and am very picky about Mexican food) and it is very good and very convenient. You can also dine outside and monitor the crowd arriving at SC so you’ll know when to leave to get in line for seats.</p>

<p>[Adobo</a> Grill Old Town :: Chicago, Illinois](<a href=“http://www.adobogrill.com/oldtown/index.aspx]Adobo”>http://www.adobogrill.com/oldtown/index.aspx)</p>

<p>Celebrity Chef Rick Bayless also has two great Mexican restaurants on Clark Street, they are next door to each other but use the same entrance. One of them, Topolobampo always shows up on the “Best of Chicago” restaurant lists. I recently ate lunch at the other restaurant, Frontera Grill, and it was wonderful. I am in Chicago a lot on business and really love the food choices of all varieties that the city offers.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.fronterakitchens.com/restaurants/restaurants.html[/url]”>http://www.fronterakitchens.com/restaurants/restaurants.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Second City is a great suggestion, very Chicago and a tremendously important institution in the American comedic tradition of the past 40 years ago. The list of Second city alums is eye-popping: how about Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jim Belushi, Peter Boyle, John Candy, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Eugene Levy, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Joan Rivers, and George Wendt, for starters? </p>

<p>Chicago also has terrific theater, best in the U.S. after New York. Enjoy!</p>

<p>The first night we went to Second City there was this great guy there and a year later we saw him on SNL - Chris Farley. We’re so glad we got to see him when he started - he was amazing.</p>

<p>4gsmom,</p>

<p>Gino’s is great; so are Aurelio’s, Giordano’s, and so many others. But Lou’s deep dish with the butter crust is my version of pizza heaven.</p>

<p>And I agree that for anyone visiting Chicago (where I’ve lived my whole life) Second City is the perfect entertainment venue. Call for reservations and ask when they actually do improv. It used to be after only some shows.</p>

<p>OP, if you stay downtown, you may also want to eat at Heaven on Seven. It’s another Chicago landmark with amazing Cajun food.</p>

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<p>Corner Bakery is perfectly fine, but it’s a chain. I wouldn’t bother! It’s like recommending Panera Bread as a lunch place – perfectly fine, but not the point of traveling!</p>

<p>The last meal I had in Chicago was at Gino’s.</p>

<p>It reminded me that Chicago-style pizza is a regional taste that I don’t particularly like.</p>

<p>There is a lot of great, great food in Chicago. It will be a loooong time before I get around to their pizza again.</p>

<p>Oh! And another activity recommendation that I haven’t seen yet in this thread, but that always pops up in “what to do in Chicago?” discussions: the architectural boat tour on the Chicago river. It takes about two hours, and it’s fabulous for seeing how cool downtown Chicago is. You need reservations.</p>

<p>My recommendation to people is to have breakfast at Ann Sather and dinner at Twin Anchors. </p>

<p>Two of our regular haunts when we lived in Chicago…</p>

<p>I second the boat architectural tours.</p>

<p>For Metra, on weekends, you can buy a $5 Weekend pass.</p>

<p>Thanks so much everyone for these great suggestions in so many areas. We do plan to stay two nights, and I think we’ll have a great mini adventure.</p>