Parking for ten days at Central Station in Chicago prices?

[Gingee]

Has anyone parked in at Central Station in Chicago for something like ten days or so? We are looking at parking there while we go on Amtrak and come back about ten or eleven days later. I went on the web site but it only gives weekend and weekday prices and things like that. Nothing like a long term price. I tried calling the number but no one answers. We thought of renting a car from here and dropping it off there but it is something like $250 for a rental for just a day and that is one way.

Does anyone know if there is a long term price?

Thanks

 

[Steve4031]

I would advise against parking here long term. My car was broken into in the parking garage.

 

[Gingee]

What did they do to your car? Steal anything? How long ago was this?

 

[Steve4031]

They stole a GPS, and ripped my Ipod capable radio out of the car. I was pissed. I was gone for 2 nights. I still use the garage, but I make sure to put anything of value out of sight. I do take some blame in that the GPS was left on the dash where all can see. But my attitude is if I'm paying to park there, there should be some better protection.

I do understand that no garage is liable for this stuff, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. I kind of h ad a feeling it was an inside job, but I know I could never prove that. I did cuss and holler, and did my best to verbally intimidate the people working there that night so that maybe they would think twice before doing it again. I know I over reacted in this incident, but it would be hard for me to consider parking there for more than a couple of days.

 

[amamba]

Rule #1 of cities: never leave a GPS visible in your car.

 

[diesteldorf]

Gingee,

I believe there is a parking lot near Lou Mitchell's restaurant--I'm sorry I don't have specific directions, but if you cross the street from the Canal entrance of Union station and walk straight to Lou Mitchell's, you should see it. I believe parking is between $10 and $20 per day.

With that said, I agree that leaving your car in the downtown area long-term could be a bad idea.

I don't drive, but I think it could be potentially cheaper for you to park in the suburbs. I like am partial to the Naperville area and have stayed there numerous times but never had any experience with parking.

You might want to click on: http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_sc...sf/station.html

and call Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, La Grange stations and ask about any long term parking in the area, particularly secure lots.

Click on each station for the phone #.

You could drop your car off and probably take a short cab ride to the metra station and ride the train to Union Station.

I was also curious so I called a couple 3 and 3.5 star hotels in the area and asked them if they would allow parking in their lot as long as you were a guest at some point. They said it should be OK.

For 10 days, I would probably reserve 2-3 nights at the hotel, several days apart. However, I recently reserved a couple nights at the 3.5 star hotel and paid around $45 per night tax included, so it would still probably fall within your budget. Plus, if you book two of those nights at the beginning and end of your journey, you can actually use the hotel and take the shuttle to and from the metra station. You can PM me if you need more info.

Using the hotel lots is only one option. It's possible you could find long term parking in one of those areas for cheaper.

 

[Everydaymatters]

Gingee, I agree with Diesteldorf that parking at a hotel outside of Chicago would be much safer.

When I went to Boston in October, I parked my car at a hotel in Rockford, where the Amtrak bus picked us up and brought us to Chicago Union Station. They charged $5 a day to park and neither my friend nor I had any problems with our cars. We were parked there for six nights, but you can park as long as you need.

IIRC, the Amtrak bus cost $16, but was a very relaxing ride through the Chicago traffic.

 

[diesteldorf]

Gingee, I agree with Diesteldorf that parking at a hotel outside of Chicago would be much safer.
When I went to Boston in October, I parked my car at a hotel in Rockford, where the Amtrak bus picked us up and brought us to Chicago Union Station. They charged $5 a day to park and neither my friend nor I had any problems with our cars. We were parked there for six nights, but you can park as long as you need.

IIRC, the Amtrak bus cost $16, but was a very relaxing ride through the Chicago traffic.

The Van Gaulder coaches are also pretty comfortable. When I did it, it was a nice ride, not like a train, but pretty good.

 

[Steve4031]

The rennaissance Ohare has some good park and fly rates. This allows you to park up to 10 days. The hotel is located on river road by I190. You might be able to walk to cta. If not there us a shuttle to Ohare where toy can easily roll your luggage to the cta station. You would get off at Clinton. The escalators don't always work here, so you might have to carry your bags up the stairs. You would have a 2 block walk north to union station.

Another thought. If you live near normal Illinois, there is a new Marriott near the Amtrak station. You investgate that option too

 

[Gingee]

We live in Peoria and it is about a three hour drive from here to downtown Chicago. What we did last year was we drove our car to Cary (suburb of Chicago) where our daughter-in-law and son picked our car up and we took the metra downtown and then walked over to Amtrak from there. I can tell you it was a pain to do this. Trying to think of a different option for this year.

Open to ideas. The train leaves at 9 p.m. and we were thinking of leaving Peoria in the afternoon. I don't know how a hotel would work out due to the times we have off.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Buy a DeLorean, drive it to 88 miles per hour, and then ride the Peoria Rocket.

 

[Ryan]

I would advise against parking here long term. My car was broken into in the parking garage.

By that logic, I'd never park my car in front of my house, since it's been broken into here (it's not that I live in a bad neighborhood either, the thugs up in Baltimore figured out that it didn't make sense to steal back and forth from each other and instead head out into the suburbs to steal where the good stuff is).
Really, if you clean out your car so that NOTHING other than what came from the factory is visible, you're probably going to be in good shape.

 

[rrdude]

I would advise against parking here long term. My car was broken into in the parking garage.

By that logic, I'd never park my car in front of my house, since it's been broken into here (it's not that I live in a bad neighborhood either, the thugs up in Baltimore figured out that it didn't make sense to steal back and forth from each other and instead head out into the suburbs to steal where the good stuff is).
Really, if you clean out your car so that NOTHING other than what came from the factory is visible, you're probably going to be in good shape.

I see two concerns here, "cheap" AND "safe". I like the idea, (although it takes extra time) of parking at the airports Long Term parking, taking the shuttle to the terminal, and then transit to the train station...Problem with this scenario is, it is "fine" when departing, but it is a MAJOR "PITA" upon completing your trip, when "all you wanna do is get in your car, and drive home........" Not to have to shuffle all your bags around, take this bus to that subway, etc., etc.. BUT, it can be very cheap, well under $10 a day in some locales..........

Better yet, get a friend to drop you off and pick you up.

 

[coachseats]

Another idea would be to consider driving your car to Galesburg or Princeton, leaving it there and taking an Amtrak train into Chicago. There is free long term parking at both of those stations, they should be safe as they are fairly small towns, and you wouldn't have to worry about walking far once you got to Chicago since you'd be right at Union Station.

 

[John Bredin]

We live in Peoria and it is about a three hour drive from here to downtown Chicago. What we did last year was we drove our car to Cary (suburb of Chicago) where our daughter-in-law and son picked our car up and we took the metra downtown and then walked over to Amtrak from there. I can tell you it was a pain to do this. Trying to think of a different option for this year.

I'm curious what you found to be "a pain" about this alternative. I live in a suburb of Chicago, and my usual means of catching an Amtrak train is to take Metra downtown. Moreover, I live on the same Metra line as Cary, so I have the same transfer downtown as you did -- use the stairs-no-elevator north entrance of Union Station on Madison kitty-corner from Ogilvie (former Northwestern) Station, or walk two blocks south on Canal or Clinton from Ogilvie to Union where there's an accessible entrance on the east side of Canal Street.

In my experience and opinion, the only inconvenience was taking a Metra train that arrived downtown sufficiently before the Amtrak train's departure to account for the transfer time and the occasional Metra delay. I don't consider the transfer itself to be an incovenience, but then I've never had to travel with luggage for more than a week.

If the transfer from Ogilvie to Union is the issue, riding a Metra line that ends at Union solves that problem. As diesteldorf suggests, the BNSF line is the best choice. Other Metra lines to Union are farther north (Milwaukee North & West lines, North Central Service) and thus less convenient from Peoria, or don't have every-day service (Southwest Service, Heritage Corridor, North Central Service).

 

[Bierboy]

Another idea would be to consider driving your car to Galesburg or Princeton, leaving it there and taking an Amtrak train into Chicago. There is free long term parking at both of those stations, they should be safe as they are fairly small towns, and you wouldn't have to worry about walking far once you got to Chicago since you'd be right at Union Station.

We drive down to Galesburg any time we use Amtrak whether it's direct boarding to a westbound LD train (SWC or CZ) or to take to CHI to connect to the EB or any eastbound LD train. It's just a 50 minute drive for us, and the vehicle is, indeed, safe.

 

[zephyr17]

Nobody's parked at Chicago's Central Station for some years, since it lost Amtrak service in 1972 when the last service was consolidated at Union Station, and was torn down in 1974. Commuter platforms remain at Roosevelt Rd, though.

 

[Gingee]

We are only 45 minutes from Galesburg and maybe a hour to Princeton. That is a thought.

The "pain" of going Metra was the fact that we had a very short time to pull all our luggage onto the metra before the doors closed and then hold them on our lap or across the seat from us. The conductor or whatever you call those people, said we could only put our luggage on the seats as long as they were not needed. Okay, we are talking probably one large suitcase (biggest we can find) and at least a small one per person. The other part of the pain was just getting to Chicago, dropping our car off with someone, getting on the Metra, going to Union Station and then taking the train to NYC. I should point out that my daughter and husband would rather fly and I hate it so I try to make it as easy as possible.

 

[Gingee]

Just checked going from Galesburg to Chicago which is doable but on the return, we would have to wait hours to get the train to go back to Galesburg. Could be home by then. Oh my gosh. What to do?

 

[rail_rider]

We are only 45 minutes from Galesburg and maybe a hour to Princeton. That is a thought.
The "pain" of going Metra was the fact that we had a very short time to pull all our luggage onto the metra before the doors closed and then hold them on our lap or across the seat from us. The conductor or whatever you call those people, said we could only put our luggage on the seats as long as they were not needed. Okay, we are talking probably one large suitcase (biggest we can find) and at least a small one per person. The other part of the pain was just getting to Chicago, dropping our car off with someone, getting on the Metra, going to Union Station and then taking the train to NYC. I should point out that my daughter and husband would rather fly and I hate it so I try to make it as easy as possible.

When I read your post regarding taking Metra being a pain the first thing that popped in my head was the luggage problem. Wife and I did the Metra thing last year and each of us had two medium sized bags. Hard to get them on and off train quickly & no place to store them once your on the train. We got lucky and a young man helped us find a seat to put the bags on, but then we had to start collecting them two stops before the station in order to exit. Not impossible but not easy either.

 

[Gingee]

Rail rider - sounds like you have been there - done that - just like us. LOL

 

[Bierboy]

Just checked going from Galesburg to Chicago which is doable but on the return, we would have to wait hours to get the train to go back to Galesburg. Could be home by then. Oh my gosh. What to do?

That's still not an issue...what's more enjoyable? Fighting Chicago traffic or relaxing in the Metroliner Lounge until your train leaves for Galesburg? I think you know the answer to that...

 

[Gingee]

Another thought would maybe be a safer garage close to Amtrak?

 

[D T Nelson]

Another thought would maybe be a safer garage close to Amtrak?

I have no firsthand knowledge of Chicago parking garages, but I just found this site, chicagoparkingmap.com, which has an interactive map showing all the parking garages and lots in Chicago. You can click on them and see the details about each one, including contact phone numbers. For example, I see a garage at 555 W Jackson, just to the west of Union Station's Great Hall. This might help you in finding a place to park.

 

[GregL]

Just checked going from Galesburg to Chicago which is doable but on the return, we would have to wait hours to get the train to go back to Galesburg. Could be home by then. Oh my gosh. What to do?

That's still not an issue...what's more enjoyable? Fighting Chicago traffic or relaxing in the Metroliner Lounge until your train leaves for Galesburg? I think you know the answer to that...

I agree, besides, we can always find things to do that would kill several hours in Chicago waiting for the 5:55 train that departs for Galesburg.

GregL