Amtrack Trip for St. Paul to Chicago for a Long Weekend

I’m thinking about the idea of taking the Amtrack train from St. Paul to Chicago and spending 2-3 days there with the family for something fun to do over the kids spring break in late March. Looking at the Amtrack website, it looks like it will be about an 8 hour trip and cost about $100 per person for a round trip ticket. I think driving takes about 6 hours.

Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations about lodging, things to do (Chicago City Pass??), how to get around once we reach the train station in Chicago, package deals, etc.

My wife wants to go to Wisconsin Dells but we’ve done that quite a few times and after the kids swim a few hours, they’ve had enough and there doesn’t seem to be much else to do. But it’s only a three hour drive and the kids do have fun but I thought the train trip and Chicago would be something different.

Thanks for your help,

Boone

Shedd aquarium and museum of science and industry are great things to see. To really see everything at the science museum takes 2 days.

Thanks to the hotel points I generate during business travel, my wife & daughter spend a weekend every summer here: http://www.icchicagohotel.com/

Convenient to Navy Pier, Michigan Ave, the river, etc.

The Museum campus is easy to get to, the Museum of Science & Industry is certainly worth visiting. You can get just about anywhere on public transportation. http://www.transitchicago.com/planatrip/

HRG

Where are you planning to stay?

IMO, we have the most fun when we stay in the city proper, as close to Michigan or the lakefront as possible. My personal favorite hotel is the Sofitel because of the location and quality.

There are a lot of crappy hotels in Chicago! My impression is they get a lot of turn and burn convention traffic so the hotels don’t really have to care about service or room quality. The convention traffic is stuck at the hotel, like it or not. Don’t be fooled by brand name, read the reviews. Chicago has more sucky-ass hotels than any other city in the US, so beware.

Things to see:
– Hancock Tower. Wow! What a view. Arguably better than the Sears tower view-wise because of on the lake location. Make sure you go on a clear day.

– Boat architecture tour on the Chicago River. Just freaking cool to take a boat through Chicago. Kids will like it even if the subject of the tour may not interest them a ton.

– Obviously, you have to get a Chicago-style hot dog. There are a lot of places, I wouldn’t go way out of the way to go to one of the “brand name” joints. Use Yelp.

– Chicago art museums. It’s pretty freaking cool to see iconic paintings and artwork like American Gothic and Nighthawks firsthand. Chicago is home to a long list of super-heavy hitters from the big guns of art.

– Food, food, food. Whatever you’re into, it’s there. Personally, I like soul food and there is plenty of it in Chicago. Some of it is in rather unsavory areas, however. Also, I like traditional Eastern European food, which is great in Chicago.

– Iwan Reis Cigar and Tobacco shop. It’s a wonderland.

Grouse

If you go on a weekend,for 8 bucks a person you get unlimited rides on most Metra trains.

When in Chitown you must do Pizza! Lou Malnati’s is my fav. Many locations to choose from…

We stayed at the hawthorn terrace on our “honeymoon” and had a great time. That neighborhood is the “gay” neighborhood but there was some nice food in the area and it was really easy to get to places. Then again we had our car. We also felt safe walking around there at night.

I lived in Chicago for a couple of years. Hard to be bored in a city like that.

If you provide more details I can probably point you in the right direction.

With the price of gas, I’d drive down. I had my cousins down from St Paul this past summer. They did not realize how much walking is involved with being down town. The CTA is under $3 per ride, but it can be unpleasant. Otherwise, you’re looking at cabs and Uber.

Depending on the age of your kids, the children’s museum at Navy Pier is a good one.

The Field Musuem, and the Art Institute should be on your list.

Iwan Reis – Worth the trip if you like smoking cigars or a pipe.

Lou Malnati’s – Deep Dish Pizza

Chicago Hot Dogs – Gene and Judes is a good one, but out away from down town.

China-Town is something different and worth a meal.

the_popper wrote:

With the price of gas, I’d drive down. I had my cousins down from St Paul this past summer. They did not realize how much walking is involved with being down town.

If driving, be aware that many downtown hotels charge for parking. And at least the ones we’ve stayed at have had a significant charge of $40 to $50 per day, plus Chicago tax, tourist tax, IL state tax, county tax, DMV tax, and taxes levied on other taxes.

Driving in is fine, never had any issues, but the dang parking can easily add up multiple bills for a long weekend.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>the_popper wrote:</div>
With the price of gas, I’d drive down. I had my cousins down from St Paul this past summer. They did not realize how much walking is involved with being down town.

If driving, be aware that many downtown hotels charge for parking. And at least the ones we’ve stayed at have had a significant charge of $40 to $50 per day, plus Chicago tax, tourist tax, IL state tax, county tax, DMV tax, and taxes levied on other taxes.

Driving in is fine, never had any issues, but the dang parking can easily add up multiple bills for a long weekend.

Grouse

This is exactly the problem. Parking overnight downtown anywhere you stay will be at least 30 dollars.

And this is after they tax you heavily just to use their roads. I go down there monthly if not more, and I absolutely hate it. I have an Ipass, and it still costs me about $10 round trip in tolls, and that’s with a 50% discount.

Thanks for all the advice and tips. I spent quite a bit of time last night doing some on-line searching and learning. Looks like the City Pass is the way to go to see some of the major attractions and a lot of things are within walking distance (1-2 miles).

Boone

Amtrak is a nice way to travel, if it is on time. You are lucky if it is less than an hour late. I have had trains be 6 hours late, cancelled for 2 days and derailed. For much less, you could ride the Megabus all the way down and get off very near Union Station. Book way in advance and your ticket could be as little as $1.

rmartin wrote:

Amtrak is a nice way to travel, if it is on time. You are lucky if it is less than an hour late. I have had trains be 6 hours late, cancelled for 2 days and derailed. For much less, you could ride the Megabus all the way down and get off very near Union Station. Book way in advance and your ticket could be as little as $1.

I thought riding the train would be part of the fun. We’ve never rode a train so I was looking forward to it. I had no idea the reliability could be so bad. Thanks for the warning.

If you do decide to take the train, you can get updates of the trains whereabouts and ETA online and by calling 800-USA-Rail. Only use this as a general guide though as time lost can sometimes be made up.