IL · Metro pop. 9.4M
The transit city: L trains overhead, Amtrak beneath, architecture everywhere.
A postcard from the city
The L rumbling past the Loop, a deep-dish slice at Pequod's, the sand curving off North Avenue Beach, the wheel turning over Navy Pier, and a frozen winter morning under the river — Chicago shows itself in sections. Give it three days and it starts to hold together.
Rails Midwest · City Guide
Chicago is America's second city and its most transit-obsessed. The 'L' rumbles overhead with a mechanical poetry, Union Station presides over a downtown canyon of Art Deco and modernist towers, and the lakefront sprawls endlessly north and south. It's a city built for movement—from the Illinois Central that brought the Great Migration northward to today's rail-centric urbanism. Come for the architecture tours and deep-dish pizza, but stay because Chicago's walkable neighborhoods and world-class cultural institutions reward extended stays.
Orient yourself
Where the train gets in and where the planes land — tap a pin.
Getting here & around
Flying in from abroad, connecting from elsewhere in the US, arriving by Amtrak — and then getting around once you’re here, without renting anything.
From the US:O'Hare (ORD) is a United and American hub with non-stop service from virtually every major US airport. Midway (MDW) for Southwest.
From Europe: daily non-stops to ORD from London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam. Customs at Terminal 5 — build buffer before Amtrak connections.
ORD → downtown
CTA Blue Line runs from the ORD stations direct to downtown in about 45 minutes. Union Station (Amtrak) is a short walk from the Clinton stop.
Union Station is the Amtrak hub of the Midwest. The Lake Shore Limited (Chicago–New York), Empire Builder (Chicago–Seattle), Southwest Chief (Chicago–Los Angeles), and multiple daily trains to St. Louis, Milwaukee, and beyond. Chicago is the nexus of the entire Amtrak network outside the Northeast Corridor.
Connecting on Amtrak: The Hiawatha runs up to seven times a day from Milwaukee, the Wolverine and Lake Shore Limited connect from Detroit and the East Coast, and the Borealis / Empire Builder feed in from St. Paul. All deliver you directly to Union Station — no transfer between stations.
Lincoln Service
To St. Louis
5h · 4 daily departures
Wolverine
To Detroit
5h 30m · 3 daily departures
Hiawatha
To Milwaukee
1h 30m · 7 daily departures
Pere Marquette
To Grand Rapids
4h · 1 daily departure each direction
Borealis
To Minneapolis–St. Paul
7h 45m · 2 daily — the Borealis and the Empire Builder
Southwest Chief
To Kansas City
7h 25m · 1 daily each direction
The 'L' is the second-largest transit network in the country and the reason Chicago works without a car: eight colour-coded lines, 24-hour service on the Red and Blue, and the Blue Line running straight from O'Hare to the Loop. Union Station has no L stop of its own — the Clinton stop on the Blue Line is the closest, a few minutes' walk. Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban buses reach the wider region; a Ventra card or contactless tap covers the L and Pace, and Metra takes the Ventra app or its own tickets.
Near Chicago Union Station
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Our picks · no commission
Architecture90 minutes
The Architecture Center's own docents aboard Chicago's First Lady. The 2026 season ends November 22. Boards at the Michigan Avenue Bridge, about 25 minutes' walk from Union Station.
Details at architecture.org→
MuseumHalf day
Enter between the bronze lions on Michigan Avenue. Closed Tuesdays. About a 20-minute walk from Union Station.
Details at artic.edu→
ViewsAbout 1 hour
Tickets are sold by half-hour time slot and can sell out. The closest pick to the station — about a 6-minute walk.
Details at theskydeck.com→Take the train here
Minneapolis–St. Paul → Chicago
Minneapolis–St. Paul to Chicago by train
The Borealis and the Empire Builder, Milwaukee's lakefront, and a Chicago finish.
See the trip →Chicago → St. Louis
Chicago to St. Louis by train
Down the Lincoln Service: Chicago, Illinois farmland, and the Arch at the end of it.
See the trip →Chicago → Detroit
Chicago to Detroit by train
Two American classics, and a reborn 1913 Beaux-Arts train station to walk into.
See the trip →Chicago → Grand Rapids → Holland → Chicago
Chicago to Grand Rapids by train
The train curves east out of Chicago and Lake Michigan appears through the window.
See the trip →Chicago → Kansas City → Chicago
Chicago to Kansas City by train
A proper long-distance train, a 1914 station, and a city that takes its barbecue and jazz seriously.
See the trip →Questions travelers ask
Chicago Union Station, downtown on the west bank of the Chicago River. Every train on this site starts or ends there — the Lincoln Service to St. Louis, the Wolverine to Detroit, the Pere Marquette to Grand Rapids, the Hiawatha to Milwaukee, and the Borealis and Empire Builder to St. Paul.
Take the CTA Blue Line from O'Hare into the Loop (about 45 minutes) and get off at Clinton, a few minutes' walk from Union Station. Union Station has no L stop of its own.
On the L — eight lines, with 24-hour service on the Red and Blue — plus CTA buses, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban buses. A Ventra card or contactless tap covers the L and buses.
Fly into Chicago O'Hare (ORD) — a hub for both United and American with non-stop service from virtually every major US airport and most European capitals — or Midway (MDW) for Southwest's domestic network plus secondary international service. Both airports connect to downtown via the CTA 'L' train, and Chicago's Union Station is Amtrak's Midwest hub — trains to every other city on this site depart from there.