Self-drive
Chicago, Illinois, to Columbus, Ohio
Chicago-Elkhart, Indiana – 100 miles: Chicago, the major gateway for the Great Lakes region, is a major attraction. In the shadow of the skyscrapers, Chicago is packed with family entertainment. Restaurants span cuisines from 77 countries, shopping ranks among the best in the world, and a tour around the greater Chicago area – known as Chicagoland – offers theme parks and many open-air activities. Interstate 90 takes drivers from Chicago to Indiana’s Amish Country. En route, especially in summer, families will want to divert to Indiana’s relatively short but beautiful length of Lake Michigan shoreline. There are miles of spectacular beaches at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Eastbound from Chicago, one crosses a time zone from +6hrs GMT to +5hrs.
Elkhart-Indianapolis – 150 miles: Highway 31 takes drivers from northern Indiana to Indianapolis. The state capital is uncomplicated and downtown centres on a Nelson’s Column-style monument to the state’s war dead with one of the few roundabouts to be found in the US. For first-time visitors it makes an ideal orientation point. Famous for its Indy 500 race, Indianapolis’ race track has a speedway museum. The city zoo has been redeveloped and walks along the banks of the White River have been opened up.
Indianapolis-Dayton, Ohio – 130 miles: less than 3hrs on I-70 from the heart of Indiana and one is in Dayton, the Ohio city which was thrust into the limelight by hosting the 1995 peace talks that ended the Bosnian conflict. Flight figures large here. From a Dayton bicycle shop, the Wright Brothers first developed their ideas for an aircraft. The US Air Force Museum, the world’s largest, is just outside the city.
Dayton-Columbus – 60 miles: a further 1hr drive on I-70 is the Ohio state capital Columbus which is in the process of regeneration. The Brewery District has been refurbished while the Centre of Science and Industry is on the move to a new riverfront site that will enable it to attract more than a 1m visitors a year to its interactive and hands-on exhibits.