Where do Chicagoans like to vacation? (Hampton, Ohio: stats, beaches, cities)

[probablyimnotsure]

If I lived in Chicago I would just take advantage of O'hare. You can go to Colorado, Montana, New England, the West Coast for nature. Why drive up to Michigan or Wisconsin when you can fly to more scenic places. Unless there is something I'm missing about Wisconsin and Michigan. Is there? When I move there I would definitely at least drive up to Wisconsin and Michigan to see if I am missing anything.

[dlong1991]

Florida, Arizona, Virginia.

Gotta love Midway!

[Maintainschaos]

Galena, S. iL, N. WI for local area.

San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, or Vancouver if traveling long distance. Sometimes Costa Rica.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by probablyimnotsure

If I lived in Chicago I would just take advantage of O'hare. You can go to Colorado, Montana, New England, the West Coast for nature. Why drive up to Michigan or Wisconsin when you can fly to more scenic places. Unless there is something I'm missing about Wisconsin and Michigan. Is there? When I move there I would definitely at least drive up to Wisconsin and Michigan to see if I am missing anything.

I love the west coast for nature, but there's some beautiful places in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. There are a few places in Michigan along the lake that don't look like it's in the midwest.

Michigan
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...bear-dunes.jpg
NLP.2806.04.jpg | Aaron Peterson Photography
http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net...84636a53_z.jpg


Minnesota


Wisconsin
http://media.chicagomag.com//images/...ver=1280515921



That being said, the vacation habits for people in the area vary wildly. Even many people who might travel internationally a lot still go to places like Lake Geneva, WI or Door County, WI from time to time for short vacations.

[adele115]

New Buffalo and the other towns that comprise "Harbor Country" in MI

Michiana, Grand Beach, New Buffalo, Union Pier, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Three Oaks Michigan - Harbor Country Chamber of Commerce

[chicagobear]

Seems like Naples, Florida and Arizona are very common.

[Atlanta_BD]

When I lived in Chicago, it was California. Never really had the desire to go elsewhere in the summer because we had the beach and plenty of neighborhood pools and lots of festivals and free concerts from major acts. So much going on in Chicago in the summer that you don't want to miss out on anything.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Yeah it is pretty interesting that Chicago essentially becomes a tourist destination in the summer, so the need to go away for a vacation becomes less apparent. People are coming HERE for vacation. The proximity of 1 world class airport and 1 more convenient airport that makes flying somewhere for vacation easy is something that takes someone like me from Pittsburgh a while to grasp right away. Now that I think about it more, a vacation to CA, CO, FL, etc. via a quick nonstop flight seems the most desirable, with less expensive, shorter driving distance trips to MI/WI a second option. Interesting how different cities take on their vacations. In Pittsburgh, the most popular thing to do is take the 7-12 hour drive to "the beach" anywhere from Maryland all the way down to South Carolina for a week in the summer. A flight to Florida is fairy common and easy, but flights to most other places will be quite expensive and require at LEAST one layover each direction coming from PIT airport. A quick flight to Colorado, Montana, Arizona, etc. just isn't a common thing in Pittsburgh.

Edit; out of pure curiosity, I plugged in some random dates in January for a flight from Chicago to Denver. $154. Nonstop from MDW. Wow.
That same flight from Pittsburgh? $340 with a layover in Cincinnati or Minneapolis.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly

Yeah it is pretty interesting that Chicago essentially becomes a tourist destination in the summer, so the need to go away for a vacation becomes less apparent. People are coming HERE for vacation. The proximity of 1 world class airport and 1 more convenient airport that makes flying somewhere for vacation easy is something that takes someone like me from Pittsburgh a while to grasp right away. Now that I think about it more, a vacation to CA, CO, FL, etc. via a quick nonstop flight seems the most desirable, with less expensive, shorter driving distance trips to MI/WI a second option. Interesting how different cities take on their vacations. In Pittsburgh, the most popular thing to do is take the 7-12 hour drive to "the beach" anywhere from Maryland all the way down to South Carolina for a week in the summer. A flight to Florida is fairy common and easy, but flights to most other places will be quite expensive and require at LEAST one layover each direction coming from PIT airport. A quick flight to Colorado, Montana, Arizona, etc. just isn't a common thing in Pittsburgh.

Edit; out of pure curiosity, I plugged in some random dates in January for a flight from Chicago to Denver. $154. Nonstop from MDW. Wow.
That same flight from Pittsburgh? $340 with a layover in Cincinnati or Minneapolis.

I've got friends that practically spend more time skiing out west than they do in the Midwest. Not "rich" by any means just using loyalty miles from a moderate about of business travel can basically drop even round trips down low enough that half a dozen or so trips out west are totally in budget. They tell me they have friends in Colorado that live around Dallas or Atlanta and they all coordinate trips to ski country based on airline deals from those hubs too...

[LittleMartha]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...you won't find too many people that drive to the "Outer Banks". That is just too far.

We've driven to the Outer Banks and other parts of the Carolinas multiple times. It's a beautiful drive once you're in the rolling hills of Ohio. And driving through the Blue Ridge or Smokies is spectacular.