PLANE

To Champaign-Urbana:

If you are planning to fly in, the easiest way is to fly directly to Champaign. The name of our Airport is Willard. Car rental agencies have offices at the airport, and a taxi to your hotel charge about 10 dollars. The website of the airport is:

http://www.willardairport.com/

To Chicago:

If you decide to fly to Chicago and use land transportation to get here, you can chose to land either at O’Hare, or at Midway. Most land transportation from Chicago will drop you at Illinois Terminal in C-U. This terminal houses local and long distance bus and train stations. Make sure you have on you at least 50 cents in exact change so that you can call a cab to take you to your hotel or final destination in C-U.

O’Hare Airport:

The busiest airport in the world (but not the worst).

http://www.ohare.com/ohare/home.asp

ð The easiest way to get from O’Hare to C-U is to take a bus. The bus that serves the airport is Bluebird Charter Coach.

Bluebird Charter Coach

Bluebird has trips from O’hare at 9:30am, 12:30pm, 5:30pm and 9:30pm (subject to change). Make sure to call them and check their times before you decide to use their service. (also, a word of caution: there is no service between 9:30pm, and 9:30am, so, if you are planning on using Bluebird, make sure you have enough time to make it to the bus station before the last bus leaves.

Instructions on how to get to the bus pick up station: Follow the overhead signs in the baggage claim (lower level) area of each Domestic Terminal 1, 2, amd 3 to the nearest Pedestrian Walkway Proceed to Elevator centers 3 or 4 and press the Bus Shuttle Center Button. Buses load at the Door 4 Area. The Walk from the Baggage claim area to the Shuttle Center takes about 10 minutes. A round trip on Bluebird costs 70 dollars (60 for children between 6 and 11 and for students with valid student ID). Reservations are advisable (1-800-400-5500)

CAUTION: Bluebird drops you at Illinois Terminal in CU, so, don’t forget to bring 50 cents in exact change so you can call a cab to take you to your hotel.

Another (more complicated) option is to take CTA or METRA (the local train services) to Union station in downtown Chicago, and from Union station, take the AMTRAK (train) to Champaign. Information about CTA, Metra and Amtrak follows.

The CTA station is located at the lowest level of the Main Parking Garage (next to elevator center 4) and is accessible by pedestrian tunnels located in Terminals 1, 2, and 3. From Terminal 5, take the Airport Transit System (ATS) to Terminal 3 and follow the signs. For additional CTA information: http://www.transitchicago.com/

Amtrak

You can take this train from Union Station in Chicago (or a number of other stations in North America). The train will drop you in downtown Champaign at Illiniois Terminal (so, don’t forget your 50 cents). You would still need a cab or a bus to get to your hotel. Amtrak tickets from Chicago to Champaign cost $32 for a round trip. Advance reservation is advisable.

http://www.amtrak.com/

Midway Airport:

A smaller , but easier to navigate airport. Often fares to Midway are cheaper than those to O’Hare. Their website:

http://www.ohare.com/midway/home.asp

For Midway, just like for O’Hare, the easiest way to get to C-U is to take Bluebird (information above). Their departure times are always 45 minutes after their departure time from O’Hare.

A more complex way to get here is to take the train (Amtrak) from Union Station in downtown Chicago. But, to get there, you need to take another train. Instructions on how to take the train to Union Station are below. Amtrak information is above.

Chicago Transit Authority

The Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Orange Line serves the southwest side of Chicago and connects Midway Airport and downtown Chicago in about 30 minutes. A one-way fare is $1.50. The CTA requires the use of fare cards, which can be purchased at the Midway Orange Line station.