Riding the L around the Loop

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Riding the L around the Loop

Photo: Cragin Spring from Richmond Illinois, United States · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🚂 Train · Chicago

1.5 hours · $ · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 5.0
1–3 yrs
★ 5.0
3–5 yrs
★ 5.0
5–10 yrs
★ 5.0
  • 🚗
    About 45 min drive
    From Naperville · Parking: Metra to Union Station, then a 10-minute walk to Quincy; Loop garages are $15–30 on weekends if you drive
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Some shade
    Rain-OK · Fine on cold days · Great on sunny days
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 1.5 hours
    Best seasons: Spring · Summer · Fall · Winter

Board the Brown or Orange Line at the old Quincy station, built in 1897, and the train bends between skyscrapers, crosses the river, and screeches its way around the Loop on the elevated tracks; then stay on the Brown Line out to Armitage in Lincoln Park to look at rooftops and backyards, with two-year-olds glued to the window the whole way.

💡 Tips
Fare is $2.50, and kids under 7 ride free with an adult. Weekends are quiet; take the front seat of the first car to watch the tracks. Quincy and Washington/Wabash have elevators, but most other Loop stations are stairs only.

What this place offers

✓elevated train
✓ride
✓historic station
✓city views
✓kids ride free
✓stroller friendly

Featured in these guides

This weekend's weather in Chicago

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

☀️
Sat 10/17
Sunny · 34–57°F · 3% rain
☀️
Sun 10/18
Sunny · 48–62°F · 0% rain

Location

Chicago, Illinois

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