If you’re at O’Hare Airport and wondering how much it would cost you or how to get to downtown Chicago areas such as the Loop, Magnificent Mile, or River North, there are a few ways you can go about it. Here’s a helpful guide on the various transportation options, their rates, and their duration so you can pick what works best for you.
This guide is part of our travel guides at O’Hare International Airport.
Also read: How big is O’Hare Airport?
Where is O’Hare in respect to Downtown Chicago:
Downtown Chicago is along the Atlantic seaboard, while O’Hare is situated to the northwest of the city. If you take a bird’s eye view of the area, you’ll notice that O’Hare actually forms a triangle with two other airports – Midway Airport being one of them.
This is a link to Google map of the directions from the airport to Downtown Chicago.
To give you an idea of how far these two locations are from each other, it would approximately take you an hour to get from O’Hare to downtown Chicago by car – and that’s without traffic! If you were to take public transport, the CTA Blue Line ‘L’ Train is the most direct route but even that would take close to 45 minutes.
So if you’re pressed for time, your best bet would be to take a taxi or an Uber/Lyft. But of course, this comes at a price.
5 Travel Options from O’Hare to Downtown Chicago:
Mode | Cost between O’Hare & downtown | Travel time: O’Hare to downtown | Cost: Midway to downtown | Travel time: Midway to downtown |
CTA trains | $5 or less* | 45 min | $2.50 or less* | 25 min |
Taxi | around $40 | 25-90 min | around $25 | 15-40 min |
Shuttle Van Services | over $25 | 25-90 min | over $15 | 15-40 min |
Rideshare (Uber, Lyft, etc.) | around $35-50 (surges to $140 or more) | 25-90 min | around $25-40 (surges to $100 or more) | 15-40 min |
Option 1: Use Chicago Transit Authority(CTA) Trains:
- Cost: $5
- Time it takes: 45 mins
The ‘L’ service can take you directly from both O’Hare and Midway airports to Downtown Chicago area. There are machines at the station that will help get you a new Ventra Card or load fare or passes onto your card. You have the option of buying a Ventra Ticket that gives access to CTA—airport station ticket options include:
- Single-Ride CTA Tickets (includes 2 transfers to bus and/or another train ride within two hours)
- 1-Day CTA Tickets (good for unlimited rides for one person for 24 hours)
- 3-Day CTA Tickets (good for unlimited rides for one person for 72 hours)
Option 2: Taxi
- Cost: $40 to $50
- The time it takes: 25 to 60 mins
The most popular (and convenient) way to get from O’Hare to downtown Chicago is probably by taxi, which will only cost you $40-50. From O’Hare International, the taxi fare should be approximately $50 + tip, and the journey should take about 35 minutes. If you choose to travel with one other person, there is a flat rate of $24 per person for shared taxis.
Option 3: Shuttle van services:
- Cost: $27
- The time it takes: 45 to 60 mins
There are various shuttle services available that will take you from the airport to your hotel in downtown Chicago. This is a more affordable option if you’re travelling solo, and will cost you around $27. The journey time is about 45-60 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.
Option 4: Rent a car:
Cost: $60 to $70
The time it takes: 45 to 60 mins
If you’re planning on staying in Chicago for more than a few days or if you’re travelling with a group, then renting a car might be the best option for you. You can easily find rental car companies near the airport. The journey to downtown Chicago would take about 45-60 minutes, and the cost would be around $60-70. Just remember to factor in the cost of parking as well!
Option 5: Take an Uber/Lyft
Cost: $35 to $40
The time it takes: 30 to 40 mins
If you’re taking an Uber or Lyft from O’Hare to downtown Chicago, the journey will cost you between $35 and $40. The duration of the trip will be about 30-40 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.
Use the L Train at Night from Ohare to Downtown area:
At night, use the Blue Line or L Trains by CTA as they operate 24-hour rapid transit train service between Chicago-O’Hare International Airport and the Forest Park terminal, via downtown Chicago.
The trains schedule runs every 7 to 10 mins as shown in the schedule snapshots below;
Mon to Friday Schedule from O’Hare to Downton area:
Saturday CTA schedule from Ohare:
Sunday Train Schedule from Ohare to Downtown:
If you’re taking a taxi, it will be more expensive as there is a 50% surcharge from 9pm to 6am.
Blue Line O’Hare Schedule:
To board the Blue Line train serving all stations along the route to the Downtown area, use the Terminal 2 station or Terminals 1, 2, 3 stations accessible by underground pedestrian walkways.
Below is a condensed version of the updated schedule of the L Train serving OHare Airport provided by CTA:
If you’re traveling during the day, all the options mentioned above are available to you. However, do note that traffic conditions might impact your journey time and cost.
Mode | Cost between O’Hare & downtown | Travel time: O’Hare to downtown | Cost: Midway to downtown | Travel time: Midway to downtown |
CTA trains | $5 or less* | 45 min | $2.50 or less* | 25 min |
Taxi | around $40 | 25-90 min | around $25 | 15-40 min |
Shuttle Van Services | over $25 | 25-90 min | over $15 | 15-40 min |
Rideshare (Uber, Lyft, etc.) | around $35-50 (surges to $140 or more) | 25-90 min | around $25-40 (surges to $100 or more) | 15-40 min |

My name is Alex Mutuma and I founded this blog, Airport LLC as a way to document and engage with clients in my travel consulting business. Airportllc.com is the only source of over 2,000 fun things flyers could do during layovers.
Over the past 7 years, I have designed and planned tour packages for hundreds of clients and have recently focussed on the mission of changing boring layovers to excellent mini-vacations by giving you the best suggestions on must-do activities when flying over different airports.
Next time you or your friend are looking for suggestions on what to do in some airport, remember Airport LLC or Airportllc.com. On this site, you’ll get the best suggestions available on the internet regarding hand-picked activities that will fulfill your airport experience.
I currently reside in New York City and have obtained a license to provide professional tour guidance at Airports in the US and across the world. Why should you listen to my suggestions? I have flown through more than 100 airports in the world and fortunately, I have pictures, stories, and tips to share with you regarding all the fun stuff you can do as you wait for your next flight.
Aside from gaining thousands of flying miles, I am also a travel consultant assisting clients with bookings and specifically advance tour bookings of things to do at airports when the layover is longer than 5 hours.
To make a 15-minute free things-to-do consultation with Alex, use my email, alex@airportllc.com.
This is only recommended for flyers with long layovers of over 5 hours. If your layover is 3+ hours, you can still reach out but we cannot guarantee the ideal package that will change your layovers to mini-vacations. I only support clients flying through US airports and a select number of cities across the world.
———–
Name: Alex Mutuma
Profession: A professional travel consultant with a focus on airport activities to do during layovers
Email: Alex@airportllc.com
Phone: +1 945 348 889
Website: airportllc.com
Location: 322 Main Packway Street, Boston, US
———–