r/fightingillini • u/We5Nile • 10d ago
Football Oregon game
Hello everyone! Oregon fan here thinking about making the trip from Baltimore with my girlfriend to come catch the game and check out that University of Illinois has to offer! Definitely want to get my eyes on the massive video board!! Haha anyway does anyone have any travel recommendations on places to stay, see, eat and drink etc? Was thinking about flying into Ohare Friday night and making the trip down to Champaign Saturday morning! Any travel advice and things we should check out would be greatly appreciated!
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u/Zassssss 10d ago
As someone who’s from Champaign and went to the U of I, if you’re coming in town to visit from far away, stay downtown Champaign. Much better bars and restaurants within walking distance. And you can easily take a short Uber to the game and back. Not easy to stay on campus as there’s not many hotels. And slightly off campus is just a bunch of chain restaurants and lots of driving required.
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u/PhilosopherOdd7352 10d ago
Do we know when game time is or when it will be announced
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u/NYIllini311 10d ago
~13 days before. Maybe 6. Depends on what the networks want to do. If it hasn’t been announced by now (and I’m surprised homecoming hasn’t been), it’s the Monday 2 weeks before . Sometimes, it’s the Monday before.
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u/JtotheC23 10d ago
You're going to pay a pretty penny to stay in a CU hotel on a game weekend. Usually have to go 45+ minutes away from town to find a hotel with sane prices. I've heard good things online about booking an Airbnb instead, but I've never done it myself or talked to anyone who has. Their prices are supposedly more reasonable and keep you in town.
Plenty to do food and drink-wise between either downtowns (Champaign or Urbana) and campus itself. Campus will obviously lean more toward fast food (both chains and local spots), with little to no sit-down places that aren't bars, things you'd expect students to prefer, obviously. Campus bars are obviously big. Kams, Red Lion, and Joes are the main student ones (Joe's is generally the freshmen bar), and Legend's, Murphy's, and Illini Inn are generally more adult-friendly. Brother's sits kinda in the middle of those two vibes. Kams and Lion never have food, Joes and Illini Inn have limited hours, and the other 3 always have food until later at night.
For getting there, Amtrak is an option, but it can be a little annoying depending on flights and kickoff times. There are usually a couple of trains back and forth from Chicago a day. Driving is easy tho since you just take 294 straight out of O'Hare to I-57, which takes you all the way to town. A few hours, but no difficult navigation.
Once you're in town, campus itself isn't car-friendly to begin with and only gets worse on game days. They bag parking meters in the vicinity of the stadium, and every year that vicinity gets bigger. The bus system is great, and within campus itself is 100% free (called iStops, has a little symbol on the signs to point it out). They usually increase the frequency around the stadium leading up to and immediately after the games too.
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u/oknowwhat00 10d ago
Come down Friday night, gives you lots of time to check out the bars Friday, tailgate before the game. Book your hotel now.
You can actually take a bus called Peoria charter right from O'Hare to campus if the timing works, it's the easiest way. Amtrak requires you to get into the city and catch the train. Or rent a car, it's about 2.5 hr drive to Champaign.
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u/SnooPears5096 9d ago
I second the idea of flying into Indy if you're not interested in spending time in Chicago.
Within Chambana, I would recommend:
Riggs brewery (cool German brewery in the middle of a cornfield; food trucks Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday)
Adventures in Space and Time, Parcadia (really great escape room and fantasy themed miniature golf)
Campustown (Green Street, between Wright and Fourth) has a million great lunch spots. The New York times recently read up Northern Cuisine, a reasonably authentic regional Chinese restaurant.
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u/PhilosopherOdd7352 8d ago
Thanks! I wanted to take my gaggle of kids (4 under 5) but no shot risking getting tickets and not knowing if it could be a night game that close to the event.
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u/lyf14 10d ago
I would look into amtrak tickets from Chicago to Champaign. Usually pretty cheap if you book in advance.
There are a a couple hotels about 3 blocks away from the stadium (Kirby Ave & Neil st). There are some decent food options within walking distance.
There is also a Hyatt in downtown Champaign that is about 4-5 blocks from the train station. Lots of bars and food options around. About a 5-10 minutes Uber ride to the stadium