Hackathon Location

Country Inn and Suites
600 Tracy Trail
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
815-477-3500
815-477-0189 fax
http://www.countryinns.com/crystallakeil
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So you're not really IN Chicago?

Right, we're not in Chicago. If we were, costs would be 2-3x as high.

Crystal Lake is 48 miles from downtown Chicago, or about 1.5-2 hours drive time, depending on traffic. It's not in the middle of a cornfield, but it's not like you're going to hop out for a quick trip to the Sears Tower, either.

How far is it from me?

According to Google Maps, the mileage and drive time to the hackathon is:

76 miles, 1:39 from Milwaukee
109 miles, 2:14 from Madison
224 miles, 4:26 from Grand Rapids
228 miles, 5:04 from Indianapolis
318 miles, 5:38 from St. Louis
318 miles, 5:39 from Des Moines
333 miles, 6:18 from Detroit
369 miles, 6:27 from Minneapolis
389 miles, 7:12 from Cleveland
451 miles, 7:54 from Omaha
1088 miles, 18:16 from New Orleans
1183 miles, 22:07 from Houston, site of YAPC::NA 2007

Planes

If you're going to fly in, we suggest flying to O'Hare, and then using the Van Galder bus service to get out to Crystal Lake. We'll have transportation available to take you the last mile to the hotel. Fare is $16 one-way.

Taxi service is also available, but the fare will be more than three times that amount.

Chicago's famous El trains also run from both airports.

O'Hare: Take the Blue Line to the Irving Park stop and transfer to Metra there, and you can take the train out to Crystal Lake (see "Trains"). Alternately, transfer to the Green line downtown and get off at the Clinton stop, then walk two blocks south to the Metra station, and take the train out to Crystal Lake.

Midway: Transfer to the Green line and get off at the Clinton stop; walk two blocks south to the Metra station, and you can take a train out to Crystal Lake (see "Trains").

Trains

Metra's Union Pacific Northwest line has a stop at Pingree Road in Crystal Lake, which is a two-block walk to the hotel. The fare is $5.55, one-way, from downtown Chicago on Friday, but only $5.00 for an unlimited weekend pass for Saturday and Sunday.

Automobiles

A good mapping service should help you get to Crystal Lake easily. The hotel is set back from US Highway 14 about a block.

If you do not plan on staying around the hackathon group exclusively, a car is a good thing to have.

Other options

Other than the Van Galder service, bus service is very limited to Crystal Lake. You will probably have to bus into Chicago itself and then take the Metra into Crystal Lake. Consider using Greyhound or MegaBus to get into Chicago.

No teleportation receiver is available at this time.

For other public transportation options, Chicago's Travel Information Center may be able to help you plan travel.