Question by chicagosucks82: What are some cool vacation spots for a night or two within 3 hours of chicago?
Looking to get away with my gf for a night or maybe a weekend. Looking for some cool places within a 3 – 5 hour drive frm chicago.
I’m in my mid 20s so not looking for antique shopping type places, something more fun. also i know lake geneva and other cool outdoor places around here but with it being winter not interested in outdoor stuff. thanks
Best answer:
Answer by FutureLMT
Wisconsin Dells is nice but its kind of cold to go their now, its a summer vacation spot.
St. Louis is about 4.5 hours away, that would be your best bet, you could see the Arch and visit some really cool casinos.
What do you think? Answer below!
Tags: Chicago, Cool, hours, some, within
Actually the Dells is a good idea. The best indoor attractions in the region. Also has some skiing, boarding, tubing options. The potential downside is you may have to put up with a bunch of kids on weekends.
Is snowmobiling out of the question?
You could head toward Indianapolis if you have never been. Good downtown stuff, maybe take in a basketball game.
- Milwaukee might be a good location. You could go on a tour of Miller, lake front brewery, or sprechers.
- Nice shopping in third ward area with some artsy areas.
- Art museum, Harley DAvidson museum, zoo, domes (horticulture)
- Louisville, KY would be farther away than Milwaukee (about 5hrs exactly) but worth a weekend trip. We just went there recently. It has the Louisville slugger factory and museum to see baseball bats made. You can see Churchill downs and the Kentucky Derby museum. There is the Muhammad Ali center. Overall, really fun young city. Eat at Lynn’s Paradise Cafe.
- Madison, WI is awesome and since it is a college town they love to party! Go see the capitol or on Saturday there is an awesome farmers market (super delicious spicey cheese bread!). It has a street called State Street where no cars are allowed and it is busy with shopping and eating/drinking all day. Plus it has awesome restaurants for a reasonable price and the hotels and everything is cheap.
- St. Louis is a good idea too. Go to the top of the arch and tour the Anheuser Busch brewery tour. Try some fried ravioli.
I’d say look up Milwaukee, Indianapolis, or Windsor,Ontario.
The Milwaukee area has some cool things to do, and I wish I could remember the name this one place my brother has gone with friends to.
This may be a weird idea – but you and your gf would like something like an indoor water park, I would highly recommend Blue Harbor in Sheboygan, WI. A couple of the water slides are very nice (I’ve been there.)
Elkhart Lake, WI – probably better in the summer. However, the Osthoff is very nice. Romantic if you like quiet romantic. They have a couple restaurants and an indoor pool and whirlpool, etc. It is out in “the country” though, so maybe it would be too boring for you. There are some bars and taverns on the way out there if you are so inclined.
It depends on the weather, and which area of Chicago you are talking about, but you may be able to make it to St. Louis or even Indianapolis within five hours. Then there is always central Illinois, if you want.