Champaign, IL Road Trips

Champaign-Urbana is a community of about 220,000 amongst the corn and soybean fields about 150 miles (250 km) south of Chicago. The area was first settled by Europeans in the early 19th century. Urbana was founded in 1833, Champaign in 1855 and the university in 1867. Starting out as a farming community, the area's development was largely influenced at various times through the years including the Illinois Central railroad, the university, now-defunct Chanute Air Force Base in nearby Rantoul and others. Today, the cities are growing, cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse, with a modern urban feel in the area's core. Most residents of Urbana know that their town was there first, and that Champaign (originally named "West Urbana") started because a major north-south railroad was built three miles west of downtown Urbana, prompting the building of a second town along the tracks. Today Champaign-Urbana is defined by some amount of traditional industry such as Kraft Foods, Hobbico, and others, a growing technology and information sector, and the university. The university is the county's largest employer and a very large institution of 43,000 students. It would be short-changing Champaign-Urbana to call it merely a college town. But there is no doubt that the center of gravity of the arts, entertainment, and intellectual communities rest with the university. Champaign-Urbana is a very open-minded community with regard to social issues, in stark contrast to much of the surrounding area.

1 Champaign County Historical Museum (Cattle Bank), 102 E University Ave, Champaign, ☏ +1 217 356-1010. W 1-5PM, Th 1-7PM, F 1-5PM, Sa 10AM-5PM. Houses quilts and other historical artifacts documenting the history of Champaign County. free, suggested donation $3. (updated May 2024) 2 Orpheum Children's Science Museum, 346 North Neil Street, Champaign, ☏ +1 217-352-5895. Constructed in 1914 as a movie theater, it has been converted to a children's museum. $2-3. 3 Krannert Art Museum (KAM), 500 E Peabody Dr, Champaign. Tu-W 10AM-4PM, Th 10AM-8PM, F-Sa 10AM-4PM. Permanent and rotating collections on exhibit. free, $3 suggested donation. (updated May 2024) 4 Spurlock Museum, 600 S Gregory St, Urbana, ☏ +1 217 333-2360. Tu Noon-5PM, W-F 9AM-5PM, Sa 10AM-4PM, Su Noon-4PM. Cultural artifacts from around the world. free, $3 suggested donation. (updated May 2024) 5 Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, 1103 S Sixth Street, Champaign. The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (SACAM) acquires and preserves significant archival records and historical artifacts in multiple media formats that document America's local and national music history and its diverse cultures. Tours are available at no charge though donations are accepted. 6 Museum of the Grand Prairie, 950 N Lombard St, Mahomet, ☏ +1 217-586-2612. 1-5PM; Summer M-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su 1-5PM. A free museum with interactive exhibits teaching about the history of people living in prairies as well as local history exhibits. free, donations encouraged.

Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding countryside is an attractive place for bicycling. The Prairie Cycle Club has organized rides of varying distances and intensities throughout the non-winter months. 1 Japan House, ☏ +1 217-244-9934. Houses informal and formal Japanese tea rooms constructed by Japanese artisans, and surrounded by Japanese-style gardens. Tea ceremonies are held every other week throughout the year ($5, reservations required). Classes and free tours are also available. 2 Market at the Square (Urbana Farmer's Market). May-No: Sa 7AM-noon. At the corner of Illinois Avenue and Vine Street, Urbana. 3 Urbana/Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC). Community-run center for community media and social events in downtown Urbana. It regularly hosts independent music, cultural, and political events as well as a variety of classes and community group meetings. A schedule of events can be found on the Independent Media Center's website. (updated Mar 2019) 4 Illini Union. The University of Illinois Student Union hosts many dance, music, comedy, and other assorted social events in its ballroom or outside in its patio. A link to their schedule of events can be found on their online calendar (linked). 5 Krannert Uncorked, 500 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, ☏ +1 217-333-6280. Th 5-7PM. Most Thursdays throughout the year (check calendar), Krannert Center holds a free wine tasting for those who are 21+. Each week, a different local bar/winery/store brings in one white and two red wines to sample. Generally, a sample of each will range from 1-3oz.

Black Dog Smoke & Ale House, 320 N Chestnut St. 11AM-9PM. Some of the best BBQ in chambana. Can fill up quickly at dinner time. (updated May 2024) 1 The Apple Dumpling, 2014 North Highcross Rd, Urbana, ☏ +1 217-344-0076. Tu-F 7:30AM-7PM, Sa 7:30AM-2PM, Su 11AM-3PM. Great local American diner. Don't miss the biscuits 'n gravy and, of course, the famous Apple Dumplin'. (updated Mar 2022) 2 La Bamba, 1905 Glen Park Dr, Champaign (west of downtown Champaign), ☏ +1 217-355-6600. "Burritos as big as your head." 3 The Courier Cafe, 111 N Race St, Urbana (downtown Urbana), ☏ +1 217-328-1811. For students, a popular place to have breakfast with their parents. For locals, a comfortable place to have burgers, malts, and fountain drinks. Several options for vegetarians. 4 Jarlings Custard Cup (Custard Cup), 309 West Kirby Avenue, Champaign. Local favorite for frozen custard desserts, including "snowstorms" -- custard mixed with toppings or cookies. 5 Jerusalem Restaurant, 601 S Wright St, Champaign. Palestinian food. $6-9. 6 Maize Mexican Grill (Maize), 60 East Green Street, ☏ +1 217-355-6540, [email protected]. An inexpensive restaurant featuring tacos, burritos, tortas, tostadas and other Mexican treats made with fresh ingredients. (updated Feb 2015) 7 Merry Ann's Diner, 1510 South Neil Street, ☏ +1 217-352-5399. A local diner and favorite late night eatery. Open 24 hours. 8 Peking Garden (Inside Church Street Square, entrance is on Randolph Street). Chinese, good whole steamed fish as well as their shrimp with lobster sauce. Has some interesting sweet cocktails.

25 O'Clock Brewing Co, 208 W Griggs St. Tu-Th 3-10PM, F-Sa 3-11PM, Su 3-9PM. Small brewery near the heart of downtown Urbana, sells flights. Happy hour 4-6PM with $1 off drafts. (updated May 2024) There are three "scenes" that contain most of the best known bars in town. These are campustown, downtown Champaign and downtown Urbana. Closing time is 2AM, set by local ordinances, but may be earlier based on individual businesses. Since the real St. Patrick's Day often falls within the University's Spring Break, local bars often celebrate "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" the 2nd Friday before. The event goes off much like a normal St. Patrick's Day, and attracts party animals from all over Illinois and other Big Ten schools. Be aware of it if you plan to travel to Champaign-Urbana in early to mid-March as parking can be scarce and drunk driving checkpoints are common. Campustown contains roughly a dozen bars. Almost every bar has daily and weekly specials, too numerous to mention here. Here you can expect a clientele that is uniformly college-aged, if it is not Homecoming weekend. Most bars here have a pretty open floor plan and what seating there is tends to be in a loud and exposed area, in contrast to more of a "lounge" establishment. Most bar are 19+ to enter (sometimes with cover for those who are underage. Generally, all ages can be on the property for food and non-alcoholic drinks during the day and evening until 9PM. 1 Green Street Cafe (GSC), 35 E Green St (one block west of First St). 8PM-2AM.

Many national chains have a hotel in the area, though only a couple are within walking distance of campus. The area also has a fairly decent Couchsurfing community [2], but a lack of visitors. Because of this you are likely to find plenty of couchsurfers willing to host you in their homes and show you around the city. 1 Illini Union Hotel, 1401 W Green St, Urbana, ☏ +1 217-333-3030, [email protected]. Located in the center of the University of Illinois campus and adjacent to campustown, the Illini Union offers guests the unusual experience of sleeping in a student union -- in this case, a grand colonial building built in 1939 on the north end of the University's main quad. The building has a bowling alley, video games, food court, art gallery, reading rooms and lounges, walk-in massage clinic, and other amenities (additional charges apply). Room rate includes parking, but it will be off property when the hotel is busy. Often completely booked far in advance. Accepts reservations by e-mail. $129+. (updated May 2024) Comfort Inn, 305 Market View Dr. Champaign (near I-74 and I-57), ☏ +1 217-352-4055. Has a restaurant/bar in the lobby which opens at 5PM. Econo Lodge, 1908 N. Lincoln Ave (Right off Interstate 74, exit 183), ☏ +1 217-367-6000. Close to the University of Illinois, Carle Medical Center, the Champaign County Fairgrounds, and Market Place Mall. (updated Mar 2019) Other hotels include: Hampton Inn Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express Marriott Courtyard Hilton Gardens Best Western Red Roof Inn Baymont

1 University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI IATA), 11 Airport Rd, ☏ +1 217-244-8604. A regional airport operated by the University of Illinois about 20 minutes south of downtown Champaign. The only commercial flights to Willard Airport are on American Eagle which flies to and from Willard Airport to Chicago and Dallas. (updated Mar 2019) A typical taxi fare between the airport and Urbana west of Vine Street is $14 for the first person and $10 for each additional person (not including tip). Car parking at Willard Airport (short- or long-term) costs a maximum of $5 a day. In contrast, all parking at nearby (45 min away) Central Illinois Regional Airport (BMI IATA) in Bloomington, Illinois is free. Passengers with car problems should contact the parking booth attendant for free assistance provided by Crash and Rescue (for example, jump starting a dead car battery). It is possible to bicycle to Willard Airport from Champaign-Urbana via country roads. You can bike south on First Street in Champaign or Race Street in Urbana and then head west on County Road 1100 N which runs directly into the airport. The distance is 8.4 miles from downtown Urbana and 7.0 miles from downtown Champaign. There is an outside bicycle rack in front of the terminal. The closest CUMTD bus stop to Willard Airport is the Yellow Line stop at the Savoy Walmart, though accessing it on foot requires walking on the grass next to the 55 mph traffic on US 45. The nearest major airports are in Chicago (O'Hare (ORD IATA) and Midway (MDW IATA)), Indianapolis, and Saint Louis.

Most of Champaign-Urbana is laid out on a grid, aligned with due north, making navigation not too difficult. The exception is the oldest part of downtown Champaign, which is rotated east from the main grid. (This is because Champaign first developed parallel to the railroad). However, street addresses can be ambiguous if not given with the city name. For example, there are four Green Streets: East and West in Champaign, and East and West in Urbana. Therefore, if you drive eastward from Champaign to Urbana along Green, you will start out on West Green, go through East Green, and then you'll be back on West Green again—but in Urbana. Other examples are the two Washington Streets, which have nothing whatsoever to do with each other, and the two Elm Streets, one of which goes east-west, and the other, north-south. Champaign-Urbana has a lot of bicyclists who cycle for transportation and recreation. The flat geography of the community makes it easy to get around on bicycle. While there are few on-street bike lanes or marked bicycle routes and the University of Illinois campus bike path system is considered by some to be obsolete and a bit chaotic, traffic on non-arterial streets is usually light and conducive to bicycling. 3 The Bike Project Coop in downtown Urbana provides a shop for do-it-yourself bicycle repairs and also recycles and sells bikes at low prices. Two other bicycling organizations are the Prairie Cycle Club and Champaign County Bikes.org.