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Old 12-30-2012, 03:45 PM
 
53 posts, read 121,870 times
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I'm from St. Louis and my significant other and I will be visiting Chi town mid to late February (probably a Sat through Tues). I'm looking for a reasonably priced hotel, near transportation. We are hoping to not have to rent a car. Also, any suggestions on must see attractions? I've heard the Blue Man Group was a must see. Any others? Thanks!
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Old 12-30-2012, 04:37 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,810,634 times
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What is your price range for a hotel per night? If you can afford it, you're going to want to stay downtown somewhere - the Loop, River North, Magnificent Mile, Streeterville, Gold Coast, or even Lakeshore East area. I would look at deal websites for this and places like hotwire.com. Areas like I've mentioned above and many others are public transit oriented. If you're flying in, you can take the train directly to the Loop (Orange Line from Midway and Blue Line from O'Hare).

For things to do, yeah Blue Man Group is good. Here's some others.

- Second City, improv sketch comedy in the Old Town neighborhood (just north of "downtown"). A lot of SNL and comedic alums from there (like Steven Colbert, Tina Fey, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, etc).

- Art Institute of Chicago. Has some real good pieces of art there by very famous artists like Van Gogh, Chagall, etc.

- The stereotypical views. Sears Tower (er Willis) is the tallest building, but the best views in the city IMO are from the John Hancock Observatory. There's a lounge on the 95th floor.. Get up there and get a South view.

- Museum Campus. If you're into museums and what not, then there's the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Plaentarium all right near each other. There's also the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side which is supposed to be quite good.

- Magnificent Mile - Pretty much Michigan Avenue and a bunch of shopping. Pretty much at all price points. There's more stuff on Oak, Rush, and Walton streets to the west of Michigan Avenue.

- If you're interested in architecture, then I'd recommend a tour. It's too bad because if it was march or april until about november, I'd recommend an architectural boat tour. In February it might have to be from a bus or trolley. For free, you can go to the Gold Coast and see a bunch of mansions for free. This includes the original Playboy Mansion (I think it's 1340 State Parkway). Lot of cool stuff in the area if you're into all that. It's right north of downtown as well.

There's also areas like Wicker Park to the west of downtown which used to be kind of edgy, hipster..now it's half that way. Some cool boutiques and shopping there too, but cool restaurants, bars, etc too.


Nightlife and stuff, that all depends on what you're looking for...
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Old 12-30-2012, 04:42 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,810,634 times
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Oh yeah, and Millennium Park (free). Above is the real stereotypical stuff, besides other stuff like ice skating at Millennium Park and what not.
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Old 12-31-2012, 04:54 AM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
7,041 posts, read 14,972,302 times
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more to do than a few days can hold........
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Old 12-31-2012, 03:03 PM
 
53 posts, read 121,870 times
Reputation: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
What is your price range for a hotel per night? If you can afford it, you're going to want to stay downtown somewhere - the Loop, River North, Magnificent Mile, Streeterville, Gold Coast, or even Lakeshore East area. I would look at deal websites for this and places like hotwire.com. Areas like I've mentioned above and many others are public transit oriented. If you're flying in, you can take the train directly to the Loop (Orange Line from Midway and Blue Line from O'Hare).

For things to do, yeah Blue Man Group is good. Here's some others.

- Second City, improv sketch comedy in the Old Town neighborhood (just north of "downtown"). A lot of SNL and comedic alums from there (like Steven Colbert, Tina Fey, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, etc).

- Art Institute of Chicago. Has some real good pieces of art there by very famous artists like Van Gogh, Chagall, etc.

- The stereotypical views. Sears Tower (er Willis) is the tallest building, but the best views in the city IMO are from the John Hancock Observatory. There's a lounge on the 95th floor.. Get up there and get a South view.

- Museum Campus. If you're into museums and what not, then there's the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Plaentarium all right near each other. There's also the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side which is supposed to be quite good.

- Magnificent Mile - Pretty much Michigan Avenue and a bunch of shopping. Pretty much at all price points. There's more stuff on Oak, Rush, and Walton streets to the west of Michigan Avenue.

- If you're interested in architecture, then I'd recommend a tour. It's too bad because if it was march or april until about november, I'd recommend an architectural boat tour. In February it might have to be from a bus or trolley. For free, you can go to the Gold Coast and see a bunch of mansions for free. This includes the original Playboy Mansion (I think it's 1340 State Parkway). Lot of cool stuff in the area if you're into all that. It's right north of downtown as well.

There's also areas like Wicker Park to the west of downtown which used to be kind of edgy, hipster..now it's half that way. Some cool boutiques and shopping there too, but cool restaurants, bars, etc too.


Nightlife and stuff, that all depends on what you're looking for...
THANK YOU!! For hotel, I was hoping to stay under $100/night if possible. I'll be coming by Amtrak or Greyhound (haven't decided yet). I'm not even sure where the stop is in Chicago. Hopefully it's near transport.

We could do March, instead of February. I just need a vacation soon! LOL
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Old 12-31-2012, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,810,634 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by nhlbluesgirl View Post
THANK YOU!! For hotel, I was hoping to stay under $100/night if possible. I'll be coming by Amtrak or Greyhound (haven't decided yet). I'm not even sure where the stop is in Chicago. Hopefully it's near transport.

We could do March, instead of February. I just need a vacation soon! LOL
Under $100 is possible with Hotwire or whatever, but it's not going to be an amazing place, but not a bad place. I'd check that and just deal sites in general like travelzoo.com

Amtrak comes into Union Station and Greyhound isn't that much further away from that (point A is Union Station, point B is the Grayhound terminal):
Union Station Chicago to Greyhound Terminal - Google Maps

That is right west of the Loop, so yeah it's near public transit (although if you were staying downtown, the most useful would be the bus probably, but who knows ).



I know what you mean If you come in March then yeah you can probably do more outdoors stuff. Not guaranteed, but yeah more than likely. March 16th is St. Patty's day stuff for 2013, so depending on that....yeah. Tons of people are out and what not for that (and they dye the river green here). Either a good reason to go party or stay away depending on what you like. This year it was in the 70s for St. Patty's day weekend, so you never know
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