I know hotels around each airport have free shuttles to their respective airport - but not sure about getting from one airport to the other with complimentary hotel/airport shuttle. You may to just have to google away.

I think there even may be a commercial shuttle/bus line between the two - but you might be well advised to pop in a taxi - as they are not that far apart.

If it was me - I would bite the bullet on arrival at O'Hare- and get closer to Midway - and then have more time to relax the next morning before catching your flight home.

BTW - the distance from O'Hare to Midway is only about 15 miles - so by the time you either caught the shuttle to the O'Hare hotel - you could also pop in a taxi and be at the Midway hotel possibly even faster. And again, if you google - I think most of the hotels by Midway would have shuttle service to the airport the next day.

Here is also a limo service that might be helpful?

http://stretchlimochicago.com/illinois-specials/Chicago.htm

And here's a page for Midway Hotel(s?)with free shuttle - and again, just google away for hotels around either airport.

Oops. The paste didn't take. http://www.midwayhotelcenter.com/

The Blue line comes into downtown from O'Hare. Free transfer to the Orange line if you make it in one trip. http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/clickable_system_map/200806C.htm
Many people ride the CTA trains into the city from the airports.

Deb:

This may help:

http://www.ohare.com/PassengerInformation/GroundTransportation/TransportationBetweenOHareAndMidway.aspx

Sorry, but MDW is more like 25A+ miles from O'Hare and the estimate taxi fare is about $60.00 not including tip.

Keep in mind that getting from O'Hare to Midway should be quicker late in the evening when you arrive than the next morning.

Thinking now about staying at hotel near O'Hare with free shuttle, then next morning taking shuttle back to O'Hare and taking train to Midway. Is that crazy? Cheapest way and I figure we will be up very early the next morning anyway.

We always use the "L" (or is the the "El"?) to and from the airports in Chicago - I always feel very superior to the masses sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic below us!

How much luggage will you have?

1 carry on each

You are not at all crazy to take the shuttle back to the airport and then take the train. From O'Hare you take the blue line to Clark/Lake stope then go up two levels in the same station to get the orange line line to Midway. Google transit says entire trip O'Hare to Midway would take 1 hour 15 minutes but I would plan that each segment takes at least 45 minutes for a total of 1.5 hours. But in the morning around rush hour time this is the best way. There really isn't a direct highway route between the two airports. You pay only one fare even for both segments ($2.50 or whatever it is these days). I always say that the train to the airport is the best bargain in town.

Maybe I read it wrong - but is not the Q primmarily asking how to get from a hotel (with free shuttle) - around O'Hare to Midway the next morning - and/or is there perhaps a Miday hotel that would by chance - offer a free shuttle to pick someone up at O'Hare? And yes, it is probably closer to 25 miles between the 2 airports - but hey - I drive fast - so it seemed closer.

As for planning ahead, I think it's waaaay too much work to wait for the hotel shuttle at O'Hare - get to your hotel, all the time schlepping your bags around - and the next morning - take the shuttle back to O'Hare and wait for the train connecting to Midway.

Hey - I too like to economize where possible - and ferret out the great deeals - but I would just pop for the taxi (geesh - 50 beans or so?) upon arrival and get straight away to a Midway Hotel in half an hour or so. BTW - I think the hotels around Midway are less expensive across the board than those around O'Hare for the same star category, and then you would be able to relax the next morning,maybe take a dip in the pool or use the jacuzzi, whatever.

Now - if your Q was about wanting to stay at a hotel in downtown Chicago for the night - that is a completely different matter.

The O'Hare Hilton is right in the middle of the terminals and easy to catch the train to downtown/MDW from there.

I would bite the bullet and take a shuttle to Midway upon arrival as traffic will be light at that hour.

We always stay at the Hilton ORD, a short walk all inside the terminal, if we need to stay at the airport( actually prefer staying downtown.)Trains are also inside the terminal so the next day you would take the Blue Line into the city and change to the to Orange Line and you're at Midway, easy to do.
ORD is NW of the city and MDW is south of the city.

BTW - you did say "we" correct? For two people - I think it's a no-brainer that you catch at Taxi at O'Hare to a Midway hotel. Again, think you can find a less expenwsive - similiar quality hotel by Midway - and if you want to cut back on expenses - just might just grab a sandwich to go at one of the many places as you are leaving O'Hare, whatever.

The next morning - you can enjoy a nice - presumably complimentary breakfast at your hotel and leisurely make your way to the airport - v. having to worry about making connections, possible rush hour traffic, accidents somewhere on the route, and the like.

Uno Mas: The taxi ride is probably about half an hour - direct to your hotel check in area - and if you make connections on the train - while they say an hour and a half -you are still waiting for two trains - and it could be two hours depending on connections, etc, not to mention you are still dragging around your luggage, etc.

I understand now that there is no hotel that would have free airport shuttles to both airports; it's going to be one or the other.

While I understand about heading to Midway area on arrival, the fact is that we will have actually been traveling for over 14 hours before we land at O'Hare. We did this same trip last year and we were beat when we landed, so that is why I am thinking better to sleep near O'Hare. With time difference it will be past 2 am for us.

I'd imagine we will be asleep by 9 pm and up very early next morning, so allowing 2 hours for train doesn't seem all that awful.

I am going to toss out this suggestion. Upon arrival, take a taxi from ORD to the Marriott Burr Ridge which takes about 20 minutes. Take the hotel's free shuttle (reservation necessary) to MDW the following morning. I happen to use this hotel as my "guest room."

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/chisw-chicago-marriott-southwest-at-burr-ridge/

weekender. great suggestion!

Amen Weekender - very good idea. And again - Debit - not sure that I have been clear - and yes I understand you are flying in from overseas, but I would still challnge you that I could pop in a taxi outside baggage claim at O'Hare and be in my Midway hotel within half an hour - probably as quick as your waiting for a shuttle to board and then to get to a hotel by O'Hare.

And as for staying at the Hotel inside O'Hare - have you checked the rates on that v. staying at a decent hotel by Midway? I am only guessing it would be about double.

If you go to Burr Ridge, make sure you don't take a Chicago taxi since there will be a 50% surcharge for going to a suburb. You'll have to call a suburban taxi company and wait for them, since they aren't allowed in the Chicago taxi line. That can easily take half an hour or more. Don't know why you would want to stay at a hotel that is only a 15-20 minutes drive at night from Midway.

And please forgive me if I am beating a dead horse - but I was faced with this same challenge last October - when flying back to Chicago to then go to the SC game at Notre Dame/South Bend, Ind. I was flying into O'Hare - and from there was going to the game and back - and then flying on to NYC out of Midway, then 3 days later - back to Midway - and after going to a college reunion event that evening up in the North Shore area - the next day - out of O'Hare back to SD.

I checked ALL the ways to get from one airport to another and scoured the Net for clean, inexpensive lodging near both airports - since it was just myself (my wife went somewhere with the girls for a fun weekend - Santa Barbara I think it was).

I found a number of clean 2 stars Hotels/Motels by both airports - (that I also drove by after I picked up my rental car - on the way to a friend's place up in the North Shore - and the next day going over to South Bend) and one at Midway was around $50 a night. And I made sure they had comp shuttles to the airports.

This site may help - and it shows a 3 star Clarion near Midway - for a night I randomly picked in May- the 17th - for $109.

Here is the site - and it has a number of hotels, and there are other sites. It's all about what you want for one night - and what you want to pay.

http://chicago.hotelscheap.org/mdw-airport.html

About taking the train in the morning - how crowded will the train be? Do people use this route for commuting to work? What are considered train "rush hours" for this route?

Still leaning towards staying near O'Hare and taking the train in the morning, at this moment.

Also, want to thank everyone for their input. This is what makes Fodors so great!

Good idea Debit. If you don't sleep at all on the plane, find a very close to O'Hare hotel. Your body clock will tell you that it is 10:30 AM in Europe at about 4:30 AM CDT. Get on the Blue line about 5AM and you will be at Midway before the big rush.

Checking the map that you posted [thanks!] tomfuller, it looks like the Blue Line in would have commuters, but the Orange Line out seems not be used by commuters as it travels from Chicago downtown to Midway, perhaps just by reverse commuters.

Both lines are used by commuters but in the morning O-Hare stop is the beginning of the blue line so you will get on pretty easily and find a seat. It will get full though. The Orange line is more questionable as there are businesses, schools, hospitals etc. along that route with people who do commute. But even if you wanted to allow extra time at Midway and arrive at 10:00 am (2.5 hours before your flight) you would not be needing to get on the Orange line until about 9 am. That time is at the tail end of the rush hour anyway.

Hey - it's your call. If you want to get on the shuttle to go back to O'Hare, and then spend time waiting for trains/connections - all the time schlepping your bags around - all told two hours or more - be my guest. To me - it's a whole lot of work when you could probably save the cost of the cab fair by getting a more resonably priced room close to Midway and be checking into your hotel abou a half hour after getting out to the taxi stand.

Agree with Tomsd. At O'Hare, there is one Shuttle Center for rental cars, hotels, etc. You will need to take the inter-terminal train from International Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 or 2, proceed to the Shuttle Center and then wait for pickup.

Do yourself a favor. Grab a taxi at Terminal 5 and go to a hotel at Midway.

Actually, I think we will stay at Holiday Inn Express in Rosemont. It has a free airport shuttle from O'Hare and they will take us on the shuttle to the train station for the Blue Line into Chicago.

Please file a post trip report and tell us how it went.

Moi - I would much rather be enjoying my continental breakfast - with maybe a glass (even two?) of champagne to celebrate returning from a great trip in Europe - and then take a dip in the pool - or maybe pop in a Jacuzzi - before taking a leisurly shower and catching the 5 to 10 minute shuttle to Midway.

It's not till end of October, but I will.

Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions. There are always many ways to do things and in the end, you have to go with works for you.

Hi Deb
We have stayed at a hotel in Rosemont (I can't remember the name) but it was very easy. Then we walked outside the hotel to an italian restaurant and had a bite to eat before crashing. I think that is a good plan. Have fun.

I stayed at the Hyatt O'Hare in August, the blue line was walking distance from the hotel. Not sure if they had an airport shuttle but I would guess they do.

I can see both sides - Yes, it makes sense to push yourself and just take a cab to Midway area when you arrive as you'll probably save a little bit of money and won't have to travel much in the morning. But, I can totally see how the thought of cabbing it to another airport after a long flight would be unappealing.

I actually enjoyed riding the train, might sound weird but it was not a bad way to spend an hour. Since you each have just one carry-on it won't be a lot of stuff to lug around. Perhaps you could take the train into downtown, wander around a little bit and then head to Midway? You'll get increasing numbers of riders the closer you get to downtown, but once outside the loop the train really emptied out (at least on the Orange line).

The hotel where we stayed was the Residence Inn Rosemont. They had a shuttle which was reached from the hotel phone in the arrival area. As I said, it was very easy.

I think a 1 hour 45 minute train ride with change of lines before a flight ( albeit the next day) instead of a 35-45 min taxi ride where i could doze off against my travel companions' shoulder after a long flight and wake up next to my fight airport does not sound appealing at all to me.

I doubt any of us would do this in Paris or London.

Sounds like a tiring way to start out yet another long trip.

P.S. I LOVE the "El" and LOVE public transportation but in this case scenario, I doubt you could convince me.

<Weekender on Mar 13, 12 at 3:49pm
Agree with Tomsd. At O'Hare, there is one Shuttle Center for rental cars, hotels, etc. You will need to take the inter-terminal train from International Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 or 2, proceed to the Shuttle Center and then wait for pickup.

Do yourself a favor. Grab a taxi at Terminal 5 and go to a hotel at Midway.>

I 100 percent agree and echo Lincasnova's thoughts of 1.45 minute train right with a change of trains with bags sounds like hell to me the morning after arriving back from a long international flight. I would get a taxi at night - and grab a hotel by Midway and be able to sleep/relax in the am. The Taxi and knowing my bed is right on the other end and no hassle in the am would make for a much more restful sleep. What is planned sounds pretty rough to me.

Hi Deb, http://www.transitchicago.com/ I'm not sure if you have the link or not, public transportation options for Chicago. I will be using their trains from Midway in April. I'll let you know my thoughts on ease of use etc. with carryon luggage, as I am a novice at using public transportation. After your planned trip and using the metro, the Chicago el might seem like a piece of cake. TA has some good info in the Chicago forum. Enjoy your trip, ziggypop

ziggy - did you ever use the trains??

You don't have to go to the main terminal for pick-up by your hotel shuttle at Ohare. They do pick up at the international terminal (#5) if you call them. I do it all the time!

I have used the blue line several times, but never the orange line. I'm sure you will be fine. You are doing what I would probably opt to do after returning from a transatlantic flight. I'd want to lie down as soon as possible. Forget a taxi ride right after arriving, IMO. Get some rest, and yes, you will most likely wake early the next morning!

Sharing my 2 cents worth. I will not give you a definitive choice but build the two options:

O'Hare to Midway is a lot further than the mile breakdown. There are a lot of variables involved and it may take a lot longer than you think. If you arrive at 7 in ORD, most traffic will be gone and you can do it in about 40 minutes by taxi. If you don't have big expectations about food, I would get close to Midway and sleep in and reduce stress.

If you want good food. There are very good restaurants around O'Hare in the Rosemont hotel area - all of which offer shuttles.

If you are courageous and don't want to pay for a taxi, you can take the train system. Blue to orange and get there in about an hour and 20 minutes. Difficult with big bags since you will need to go up and down stairs.

Here is the if it were me advice. Since you are more concerned about being tired and don't have time to really take anything in that one night. Get over to the Midway area at night. There is no benefit in rushing in the morning and running into unexpected construction or traffic.

I'd rather "sleep-in" at Midway than start stressing and leave SUPER early from O'Hare the next morning. Just my 2 euro cents worth.

I've also lived and lately traveled in Chicago frequently and the traffic can be HORRENDOUS in the mornings.

I don't feel that we will be so rushed in the morning as the flight isn't until 12:30 pm. I know we will be up very early in the morning as we will still be on Paris time.

Still kicking things around.

Midway doesn't seem to have a big choice in hotels, especially with a restaurant for dinner.

You are right about the hotel assortment at Midway being less inviting than at OHare. Some of my faves at OHare (I do park sleep fly all the time) would be the Hyatt Regency, the Marriott Suites (not sure about the restaurant on-site), the Hilton Garden is fine (next to a new casino so plenty of food and entertainment if you'd want it), Hyatt (not Hyatt Regency) is also located next to that new casino.

Marriott Renaissance is a little further away. Not sure about their restaurant options either.

There is also a Crowne Plaza and an Intercontinental. I've not stayed at Intercon, but we parked the car there (not a park SLEEP fly, just PARK/FLY) and it looked very nice.

Used Priceline today and got Renaissance Chicago O' Hare Suites Hotel for $80 [$199 regular price]. It is close to the Blue Line so we will use the L to get to Midway. Thanks for all the input.

Good deal! The trains are easy and the best way to go in the morning.

Renaissance is a very good choice! There is some sort of train station almost right next door. I see people walking in that direction all the time, with whatever they need for a day in the city.

Hi Deb!
Interesting situation! Here's what the the Chicago Dept. of Aviation has to say about connections between the airports:

"The CTA is an economical mode of transportation between O'Hare International and Midway Airport but is also the more time consuming at close to two hours. The CTA Blue Line serves O'Hare (located at the lowest level of the Main Parking Garage, next to elevator center 4, and is accessible by pedestrian tunnels located in Terminals 1, 2, and 3), and the Orange Line serves Midway. Clark and Lake is the free downtown transfer stop between the two lines. For more information, please go to the CTA Website.

Coach USA offers hourly service between O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport from 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. for $23.00 for a one-way fare. Pickup at O'Hare at the Bus Shuttle Center and at Midway on the lower level. Allow at least 1 hour travel time between O'Hare International and Midway Airports. They may be reached at 1-800-236-2028 toll free or at 262-542-8861. For more information visit www.coachusa.com

Omega Shuttle offers hourly service between O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport from 7 a.m. until 11:45 p.m. for $45.00 for a one-way fare. Allow at least 1 hour travel time between O'Hare International and Midway Airports. They may be reached at 773-734-6688. For more information visit www.omegashuttle.com"

The bus is another option. Everything will be slow at rush hour! I have come into one airport and gone out the other several times, but always over a few days, and always having a rental car or a ride.

That's all I know. Have a great trip!

Thanks Dave. Since we have so much time in the morning, and
I know we will be up early, we are going to do the Blue Line to the Orange Line. It'll be an adventure. The $46 or $90 would be better spent on pastries in France!! With carry-on only, that shouldn't hamper us too much.

Bon apetit!