Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Purple Line
(Evanston Express)
Red Line
Blue Line
(O'Hare Airport)
Brown Line
Orange Line
(Midway Airport)
Green Line
Clark/Lake
State/Lake
Lake
Transfer
Randolph/
Wabash
Washington/
Wells
Washington/
Dearborn
Washington/
State
Madison/
Wabash
Monroe/
Dearborn
Monroe/State
Adams/Wabash
Quincy/Wells
Jackson/
Dearborn
Jackson/State
LaSalle/Van Buren
Library
(State/Van Buren)
Free Train
Connections
LaSalle/Congress
and points south, your only views along this underground stretch will be of dingy
stations. For sightseers, I recommend taking the aboveground Brown Line, which
runs around the downtown Loop and then north through residential neighbor-
hoods. You can ride all the way to the end of the line at Kimball (about a 45-min.
ride from downtown) or hop off at Belmont to wander the Lakeview neighbor-
hood. Avoid this scenic ride during rush hour (before about 9am and between 3:30
and 6:30pm), when your only view will be of tired commuters.
Study your CTA map carefully (there's one printed on the inside back cover
of this guide) before boarding any train. While most trains run every 5 to 20
minutes, decreasing in frequency in the off-peak and overnight hours, some sta-
tions close after work hours (as early as 8:30pm) and remain closed on Saturday,
Sunday, and holidays. The Orange Line train does not operate from about
11:30pm to 5am, the Brown Line operates only north of Belmont after about
9:30pm, the Blue Line's Cermak branch has ceased operating overnight and on
weekends, and the Purple Line does not run overnight.
The CTA recently posted timetables on the El platforms so that you can
determine when the next train should arrive.
BY BUS
Add to Chicago's gridlike layout a comprehensive system of public
buses, and virtually every place in the city is within close walking distance of a
bus stop. Other than on foot or bicycle, the best way to get around Chicago's
warren of neighborhoods—the best way to actually see what's around you—is
by riding a public bus, especially if you're staying near the lakefront, where the
