We are from out of town and unfamiliar with the practicalities of getting around the Chicago area. We plan to visit U Chicago and Northwestern and have two questions.
Is it practical to visit both UC and Northwestern in one day? We could spread this over two days, but that would cause some complications elsewhere in our schedule. Ideally, we'd spend a morning at one and afternoon at the other. Is this feasible without driving ourselves crazy?
Is it better to travel by public transport or car? We will be staying with relatives in the western suburbs. We can take a car or train (or some combination, e.g., take car to one campus, train to other, etc). Which is easier and avoids rush hour hassles?
During the middle of the day, driving will be much more convenient. Public transportation will likely take 1.5 to 1.75 hours.
You can do it in one day, the info session and tour can be done in one morning. However, If your child is really interested, I would split into two days. If you do a little homework, you can do other events and even meet professors.
It’s about two hours between Northwestern and UChicago via the train, so you could do it but it would be a long day. Personally I would go via train and since its just a campus visit a couple of hours at each would suffice.
I live in the western suburbs. If I were you and I had to cover both schools in one day, I would take Metra BNSF to Union Station or Union Pacific West to Ogilvie Transport Center (OTC) in the morning. Then I would take Metra Electric at Van Buren Street to Hyde Park. Taking Metra is convenient and reliable and you can avoid the morning rush.
Then after you are done with your morning school tour at UChicago, by noon either ask your relatives to drive you to Evanston or you get Uber or Lyft to go there. When you are done in Evanston, take the CTA purple line to downtown and go to Union Station to take BNSF or OTC to take Union Pacific West back to western suburbs. Of course, you can ask your relatives to drive you home from Evanston.
If you follow my suggestion, you should be able to avoid I-290 (Eisenhower) or I-55 (Stevenson) during rush hour.
if you’re trying to squeeze in 2 places in one day, I would go by car. If you’re driving during non-rush hour between the 2 places, it’s probably about 45 min between the 2 places. Public transportation between the 2 places is not that bad but it’ll still take at least 1.5 hours minimum and depending on where you are catching public transportation at U of C, you could be heading into sketchy areas (Metra you should be fine, Red Line, sketchy).
Thanks folks! This is exactly the kind of local savvy that we need. Unfortunately, our options will be somewhat constrained by availability of info sessions and we likely will have to cram two visits into one day.
@oldschooldad We visited both schools in one day using a rental car. It was not a problem at all. Parking at Northwestern is available in a garage next to the visitors center, while parking at the Univ of Chicago is not as convenient. Therefore, if you have a choice, it might be slightly more efficient to start with the Univ of Chicago in the morning, so you have more time to find parking and figure out the walking route to the visitor’s center, rather than trying to figure it between schools.