A day trip to the suburbs (Chicago, Cicero: transfer, neighborhoods, purchase)

[augusto440]

Hi everybody, I am from Argentina and I will be traveling to Chicago next year. Most of the time I will be visiting the attractions at the loop and near north side, but I am thinking of making a day tour trough the chicago northern suburbs by train. I will purchase a cta free pass so I will be able to make as many trips as I want using the Chicago L. My idea is get off the train and walk at any interesting neighborhoods and then keep going to the next one.
My trip plan as far as today is:
Blue line from the loop to Irving Park
Brown line from Kimball to Bellmont
Red line from Bellmont to Howard
Purple line from Howard to Davis
Purple line back to the loop
So what do you think about this plan? Do you have any suggestion about which neighborhoods are worth visiting?

[jsk1983]

Those are all neighborhoods, not suburbs. There are a few suburbs the el goes to, Evanston, Wilmette, Skokie, Oak Park, Forest Park and Cicero.

[augusto440]

Ok thanks, I thought that suburbs and neighborhoods was the same thing. My trip does include Evanston (Davis station-purple line) so I guess thats the only suburbs I am going to visit then.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by augusto440

Hi everybody, I am from Argentina and I will be traveling to Chicago next year. Most of the time I will be visiting the attractions at the loop and near north side, but I am thinking of making a day tour trough the chicago northern suburbs by train. I will purchase a cta free pass so I will be able to make as many trips as I want using the Chicago L. My idea is get off the train and walk at any interesting neighborhoods and then keep going to the next one.
My trip plan as far as today is:
Blue line from the loop to Irving Park
Brown line from Kimball to Bellmont
Red line from Bellmont to Howard
Purple line from Howard to Davis
Purple line back to the loop
So what do you think about this plan? Do you have any suggestion about which neighborhoods are worth visiting?

As someone else pointed out, the only suburb on that list is Evanston (Davis Street). While that is downtown Evanston with lots of restaurants and shops, you might want to go up to Central Street and visit the lighthouse there. You would need to walk a bit to get to the beach and lighthouse area and there is a small museum there too. Also if you like to walk and have the time, the architecture north in Evanston around Sheridan Road is quite interesting.

How long do you have? You may not want to do all of that in one day. You would be spending a lot of time on the el rather than seeing anything.

There is not much interesting around Howard. Depending on what you enjoy seeing, Loyola's campus is nicer than the Howard street area.

[jsk1983]

Originally Posted by augusto440

Ok thanks, I thought that suburbs and neighborhoods was the same thing. My trip does include Evanston (Davis station-purple line) so I guess thats the only suburbs I am going to visit then.

If you do decide to go that far north I'd suggest taking the Purple Line to the end (Linden) and taking the short walk to the Bahai temple in Wilmette.

[ToriaT]

Don't forget to visit some of our tango places to dance some tango while you are here.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by jsk1983

If you do decide to go that far north I'd suggest taking the Purple Line to the end (Linden) and taking the short walk to the Bahai temple in Wilmette.

Oh, yeah, great idea. I love the Bahai.

[ChicagoMeO]

You could take the Green Light west to Oak Park and walk around. The whole neighborhood has great stuff - some historic , some boutique stores that are really nice.

You could take the Red line to Argyle and then walk over toward the Asian area (Little Chinatown) and shops and restaurants.

[augusto440]

Originally Posted by nana053

As someone else pointed out, the only suburb on that list is Evanston (Davis Street). While that is downtown Evanston with lots of restaurants and shops, you might want to go up to Central Street and visit the lighthouse there. You would need to walk a bit to get to the beach and lighthouse area and there is a small museum there too. Also if you like to walk and have the time, the architecture north in Evanston around Sheridan Road is quite interesting.

How long do you have? You may not want to do all of that in one day. You would be spending a lot of time on the el rather than seeing anything.

There is not much interesting around Howard. Depending on what you enjoy seeing, Loyola's campus is nicer than the Howard street area.

Thanks, so maybe it is a good idea to continue to Linden station, as someone else said, and then start walking south from Sheridan Road. I have added Howard on my trip plan just to make transfer with the purple line, I dont see it having a stop near Bellmont.
I will be staying 8 days in Chicago, but I have a lot of things to do around the loop, I am thinking now of making the trip to Evanston directly from the loop and leaving the neighborhood tour for the day I am going to the Brewers vs. Cubs opening game, I haven't made any plans for that day because I don't know the start time yet, but I guess it should be late considering it will be a monday game.

[augusto440]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

Don't forget to visit some of our tango places to dance some tango while you are here.

Thanks, but I am not even interested on the tango places in my hometown (Buenos Aires). I'd rather go to Buddy Guy's Legends .

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

You could take the Green Light west to Oak Park and walk around. The whole neighborhood has great stuff - some historic , some boutique stores that are really nice.

You could take the Red line to Argyle and then walk over toward the Asian area (Little Chinatown) and shops and restaurants.

I will add Oak Park to my trip to the neighborhoods, but I have already planned to visit Chinatown in New York, I think that two Chinatowns in the same trip will be too much.