Midway to Wicker Park -- best route? (Ashland: transfer to, floor)

[SoonToBeChicagoan]

I'll have quite a bit of luggage with me -- I was wondering if it would be better to take the orange line to Clark/Lake and then grab a cab from there, or just to take a cab straight from Midway?

[Drover]

If you've got the cash to burn, just take a cab all the way there. Hauling luggage on a CTA train isn't always easy, especially if it's near rush hour. The more luggage you have, the more it sucks hauling it on a train.

If you're not coming in near a peak commute time, another altnernative would be to take the Orange Line and transfer to the Blue Line at Clark/Lake. There are elevators from the L platform all the way down to the subway so you won't have to haul your luggage down flights of stairs. Total cost: two bucks.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Drover

If you're not coming in near a peak commute time, another altnernative would be to take the Orange Line and transfer to the Blue Line at Clark/Lake. There are elevators from the L platform all the way down to the subway so you won't have to haul your luggage down flights of stairs. Total cost: two bucks.

The only WP train station with elevators is Western/Milwaukee, so you'd still have to deal with lots of stairs there. You could also take the Orange to one of the crosstown buses (49 Western, 50 Damen, 9 Ashland) -- I found that from North & Western, the X49 to Orange saved ~20 minutes over a Blue/Orange combo trip. Plus, all Orange Line stations have elevators, and the new low-floor buses are easy to get onto.

A shuttle service from MDW might be around $20. It might be worth it if you're really overburdened.