Car Hire in Chicago - Getting to Chicago

Chicago is served by two main airports: O'Hare International 17 miles northwest of downtown, is the world's busiest air hub; Midway 12 miles southwest of downtown, is much smaller and is primarily served by discount carriers. 50 million people pass through O'Hare each year and each day flights depart to close to 300 cities worldwide, a figure unmatched by any other airport anywhere. It is however huge, and well equipped to deal with the volume. Transport to various points throughout the area is well served from here, with several options available to arrivals at any time of the day or night.

Chicago is also the hub for Amtrak's national and regional train service, so it has more service than any other city. Amtrak's three trains from Chicago to the West Coast can be vacation experiences in themselves and travel to Seattle and Portland, passing through the northern Rockies and Montana. Others pass through dramatic canyons in both the Rockies in Colorado and the Sierra Nevada in California. Long-distance trains serve Texas, Washington DC, Boston and New York. Short-distance trains run more than once a day and go to Detroit, St Louis, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The sole national bus line Greyhound has dozens of buses a day departing in every direction. Conditions are average, but cheap. Indian Trails is a regional line operating buses similar to Greyhound's.

If you want to travel by car, highways converge on Chicago from all points of the compass.