Getting there

Downtown Milwaukee

Photo: Peter DiAntoni

By car
It’s roughly 85 miles to Brew City, about an hour and a half in okay traffic. But before you hop in the car, check out mchange.org. This site details all the work being done on the Marquette Interchange (where I-94 and I-43 intersect). Many exits are closed, which means that you can get to Milwaukee and not know how to get into Milwaukee. Once you’re at the site, click “getting around” and then “map-it routing” to get turn-by-turn directions to your specific destination.

By train
Seven trains a day (poetically named the “Hiawatha Service”) leave Chicago’s Union Station for Milwaukee’s downtown station. A round-trip ticket is $42 at Amtrak.com, and the trip is 90 minutes each way.

By bus
Megabus (megabus.com) travels several times daily to the city, with a ticket in each direction costing $1 to $10, depending on how far in advance you book. With the 50-cent booking fee, the max is $20.50. The trip takes two hours, but hey, it’s cheap. Greyhound (greyhound.com) costs $27 (including the “will-call fee”), and trips take two to three hours, depending on which line you choose.

By bike
If you’re an avid cyclist but have never considered riding up to Milwaukee, clearly you haven’t read Biking on Bike Trails Between Chicago & Milwaukee, by Peter Blommer (Blommer Books, $15). The book details a 96-mile route, almost all of which is on bike paths (various surfaces, but most of them paved). It was updated just last year, and each order comes with bonus bike maps for areas in Illinois and Wisconsin. Visit ridetheroad.com or call 414-291-7833.—Ruth Welte