Getting from St. Louis to Chicago

St. Louis and Chicago are about 300 miles apart, and there are four ways to make the trip. Flying is the fastest, though once you add airport time on both ends, the gap with the train shrinks. Driving is all interstate through central Illinois farmland, so there's no scenic reason to pick one over another. Pick on time, cost and where you want to end up.

By train

The train is the one we'd take. Amtrak's Lincoln Service runs several times a day between St. Louis and Chicago Union Station in about five hours, with parts of the line now cleared for 110 mph (Wikipedia). The long-distance Texas Eagle uses the same tracks once a day on its way to and from Texas, which adds another departure. It takes a little longer than the Lincoln Service, closer to six hours.

In St. Louis, trains leave from Gateway Station in the Gateway Transportation Center at 430 S. 15th St., which also has the Greyhound station and connects to the MetroLink Civic Center stop. The train stops at Alton, Springfield, Bloomington-Normal and Joliet, among others, on the way. Springfield is an easy place to break the trip if you've never seen the Lincoln sites. The Lincoln Home and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum are both within walking distance of the station.

The trains have Wi-Fi, a café car and a Business Class section. Schedules change a few times a year, so check the current Amtrak timetable, and book early for holiday weekends. You'll arrive at Union Station on Canal Street, on the west side of the Loop.

By bus

FlixBus runs a few direct trips a day from the St. Louis bus station at the Gateway Transportation Center to the Greyhound station at 630 W. Harrison St. in Chicago, near the Blue Line's Clinton stop. They take about six hours, an hour longer than the train. Fares can be lower, which is the main argument for the bus. Look closely before you book, because the same site also sells Greyhound trips on this route with a change of bus that take nearly twelve hours.

Megabus used to run double-deckers on this route. Its parent went through bankruptcy in 2024, and megabus.com is now a booking site for other bus lines, so check which company runs any trip you find there.

Driving

It's just under 300 miles, and nearly all of it is I-55. Figure on about five hours, plus stops and Chicago traffic. The last part is the Stevenson Expressway, which runs into the south end of downtown, and it can be slow for miles at rush hour. I-55 in Illinois isn't a tollway.

The drive is flat and straight, but there's more to it than cornfields if you have time. I-55 follows the old path of Route 66 most of the way, and some of the towns along it still lean into that. Pontiac has the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, and Wilmington has the Gemini Giant, a fiberglass spaceman that was restored and moved to South Island Park (Wikipedia). Our Route 66 page covers the Chicago end. Once you're in the city, parking gets expensive, so see our getting to Chicago page before you pick a hotel.

Flying

From St. Louis Lambert, American and United fly to O'Hare, with their regional partners, and Southwest flies to Midway (Wikipedia). The flight is short, and there are plenty of them, so fares can be low outside holidays. Midway is the easier airport if Chicago is where you're going. The Orange Line gets you to the Loop in 20 to 25 minutes. Our airports page has the details, and flights to Chicago covers when fares drop.

If you're making the trip in the other direction, see our page on what to do in St. Louis.

Photo by paparutzi