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Chicago Information:
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Chicago Skyline © SOM Crystal CG
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Time
Chicago, Illinois is in the Central Time Zone of the USA.
Standard time zone: UTC/GMT -6 hours
Daylight saving time: +1 hour
Current time zone offset: UTC/GMT -5 hours
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Electricity
Electricity in the United States is 110/120 Volt AC, 60Hz. If you intend to bring your own devices / appliances you may need two things:
1) An adapter plug
2) your device must be prepared to be switched to 110/120 V
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Climate
Afternoons frequently reach the 60s and 70s [15 - 20 °C] in October, while lows are in the 40s and 50s [4 - 10 °C]. However, some mornings dip to freezing or lower as the end of the month approaches. Autumn precipitation is relatively light. Average rainfall in October is just over 2.5 inches.
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Cuisine
Chicago is one of the great restaurant towns in America. If you're looking for a specific kind of cuisine, check out the neighborhoods. Greektown, or Chinatown are just the tip of the iceberg. Other areas are more eclectic: Lincoln Square and Albany Park have unrivaled Middle Eastern, German, and Korean food, while Uptown offers nearly the whole Southeast Asian continent with Ghanaian, Nigerian, contemporary American, stylish Japanese, and down-home Swedish a few blocks away. If you're interested in celebrity chefs and unique creations, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park have plenty of award-winners and River North has several good upscale restaurants. No matter what you enjoy, you'll have a chance to eat well in Chicago, and you won't need to spend a lot of money doing it—unless you want to, of course.
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Shopping
The Chicagoland area offers a wide variety of shopping experiences, from upscale boutiques to discount outlet malls, and everything in between. The primary shopping strip in the city is the Magnificent Mile, which runs along north Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street. State Street is another major shopping destination.
The Chicago suburbs offer excellent shopping centers as well. Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois is an enclosed mall and the largest in the area. Beautiful outdoor malls include Oakbrook Center in Oakbrook and Old Orchard in Skokie.
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Getting There
By Plane:
O’Hare International Airport:
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (Tel: +1 (773) 686 2200; online airport code ORD) is about 15 miles northwest of the Loop. Depending on traffic, the drive to or from downtown can take anywhere from 30 minutes to more than an hour.
Midway International Airport:
On the opposite end of the city, the southwest side, is Chicago’s other major airport, Midway International Airport (Tel: +1 (773) 838 0600; online airport code MDW). A cab ride from Midway to the Loop usually takes about 20 minutes.
You can find the latest information on both airports at the city’s Department of Aviation website: www.flychicago.com.
By Car:
Interstate highways from all major points on the compass serve Chicago. Here are approximate driving distances in miles to Chicago: from Milwaukee, 92; from St. Louis, 297; from Detroit, 286; from Denver, 1,011; from Atlanta, 716; from Washington, D.C., 715; from New York City, 821; and from Los Angeles, 2,034.
By Train:
When you arrive in Chicago, the train will pull into Union Station, 210 S. Canal Street, between Adams and Jackson streets (Tel: +1 (312) 665 2385). Bus #1, #60, #125, and #156 all stop at the station, which is just west across the river from the Loop. The nearest El stop is at Clinton Street and Congress Parkway (Blue Line).
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More general information on Chicago can be found here:
Chicago travel guide from Wikitravel
Chicago guide from Wikipedia
Official City Website
Official Office of Tourism website |
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