Rails Midwest
The Midwest has a train network. Most people never look at it.
Pick any two stations. We’ll show you the real trains between them — published times, connections, and local guides.
Plan it yourself
Build a trip on the whole network
Every rail line and station across the Midwest, on one map. Pick any stations and our planner routes the real trains between them — with published times, connections, and overnight warnings. Tap the map to start.
Ready-made trips
Pick the one that sounds like yours
Each trip is complete — the cities, the train legs, a place to stay and something worth doing in each. Screenshot it, book the flights, and go.
Every trip is open-jaw: land at one airport, fly home from another. Multi-city fares are usually close to a round trip — worth pricing both.
4 of 4 trips.
Daily · + Hiawatha finisher
Chicago to Minneapolis–St. Paul
Chicago → Minneapolis–St. Paul
The Borealis and the Empire Builder, Milwaukee's lakefront, and a Chicago finish.
Down the Borealis and Empire Builder corridor: Minneapolis–St. Paul, a pause at Milwaukee's lakefront, and a Chicago finish.
See the itinerary →
Four daily departures
Chicago to St. Louis
Chicago → St. Louis
Down the Lincoln Service: Chicago, Illinois farmland, and the Arch at the end of it.
Chicago, St. Louis, and one Amtrak fare between them. Five hours of Illinois farmland on the Lincoln Service. Fly ORD, fly home from STL.
See the itinerary →
Three daily departures
Chicago to Detroit
Chicago → Detroit
Two American classics, and a reborn 1913 Beaux-Arts train station to walk into.
Chicago, then Detroit. The Wolverine runs three times daily into New Center station, a short hop to Corktown — where the restored Michigan Central, reopened in 2024, is the first thing you go see.
See the itinerary →
Daily · one departure each direction
Chicago to Grand Rapids
Chicago → Grand Rapids via Holland
The train curves east out of Chicago and Lake Michigan appears through the window.
Chicago, then the Pere Marquette through Michigan fruit country to the Lake Michigan shore. An optional stop in Holland for Dutch windmills and Saugatuck, then Grand Rapids — Beer City, Art City, genuinely underrated.
See the itinerary →
Already know your dates? See the real trains for them →
Or go off-menu
The cities
Each city has its own guide — airport transit, places to stay within walking distance of the station, the things worth doing. Mix and match to build your own.
St. Louis
MO
Where the rails converge. Four Lincoln Service departures a day from Chicago, and the Arch waiting at the other end.
Chicago
IL
The transit city: L trains overhead, Amtrak beneath, architecture everywhere.
Kansas City
MO
Barbecue smoke, jazz echoes, and the romance of the rails.
Detroit
MI
Rust and renaissance: the city where American industry met music, and is meeting art.
Milwaukee
WI
Beer halls, a lakefront, and an art museum with wings that open. Ninety minutes from Chicago on the Hiawatha.
Grand Rapids
MI
Beer City, Art City — and a Pere Marquette ride from Chicago to Lake Michigan's eastern shore.
Minneapolis–St. Paul
MN
Minneapolis–St. Paul, two personalities — a Beaux-Arts capital and a creative river town, stitched together by one light-rail line.
How you get here
Air Connections
Every Midwest city we cover, with the airport that serves it and the continents that fly there nonstop. Tap a continent below to filter the grid down to airports with direct service from that part of the world — or leave it on All to see the full picture.
Chicago
Domestic — Nonstops to virtually every major US city — the Midwest's busiest connecting hub.
International — Direct to Europe, East Asia, and South America. Most transatlantic travelers route through here.
MDW — Southwest's Chicago base, closer to the Loop than O'Hare. Domestic only — the Orange Line runs downtown in about 25 minutes.
Minneapolis–St. Paul
Domestic — Delta's northern hub — wide domestic reach across the US. Train to St. Paul Union Depot in ~50 min.
International — Year-round nonstops to several European hubs, plus a Tokyo run.
Detroit
Domestic — Delta's eastern hub — strong domestic coverage nationwide.
International — Year-round nonstops to Europe and to Tokyo and Seoul.
St. Louis
Domestic — Broad domestic network anchored by Southwest, plus the legacy carriers.
International — Lufthansa to Frankfurt year-round, plus seasonal British Airways to London Heathrow in summer — Star Alliance and oneworld both one stop away.
Kansas City
Domestic — Broad domestic nonstops from the new single terminal; a Southwest focus city.
International — No scheduled transatlantic nonstops — connect via ORD or DFW. Icelandair has run seasonally in past summers.
Milwaukee
Domestic — Solid domestic nonstops, especially to the major hubs.
International — No transatlantic nonstops — most fly into ORD and ride the Hiawatha north, ~90 min downtown to downtown.
Grand Rapids
Domestic — Domestic nonstops on eight carriers; Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis are the top routes.
International — No international nonstops despite the name — connect for Europe or Asia via ORD, DTW, or MSP.
Routes reflect the July 2026 schedule. Airlines add and drop service — and seasonal routes don’t run year-round — so confirm the current nonstop when you book.