University of Illinois -- Urbana Champaign Princeton Review

12 Top-Rated Things to Do in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

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With a diverse community and expanding population, the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area stands out from its agricultural surroundings in central Illinois. Roughly 130 miles from both Chicago and Indianapolis, this sprawling community is defined much in part past the campus of the University of Illinois, home of the Fighting Illini.

Forth with the academic pursuits and historic architecture found on campus, the academy adds to the urban center with an assortment of public attractions and things to do. A few of the customs additions sponsored by the academy include art and cultural museums, a stunning arboretum, and spirited sporting events throughout the year.

It's not only the campus that attracts attention to Champaign-Urbana. Tourists oft frequent the area for the downtown street festivals, children'southward museums, and bountiful natural spaces. Urbana'south Market at the Square on Sat mornings is something to mark on the agenda, and several attractions at Crystal Lake Park also tend to draw a crowd.

More educational attractions tin be found on the northwest border of Champaign at Parkland College, including an open-to-the-public planetarium with shows that are out of this world.

Programme your sightseeing with our list of things to do and places to visit in Champaign-Urbana.

Notation: Some businesses may be temporarily airtight due to recent global wellness and condom problems.

1. University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana

McFarland Carillon, Academy of Illinois Champaign-Urbana | Photograph Copyright: Brad Lane

Founded in 1867, the Academy of Champaign-Urbana has helped define the city for over 150 years. The institution currently educates more 40,000 students each semester. The peak-tier degrees and programs offered at this Large 10 public university attract a large enrollment, and the sprawling campus and academic spirit brand many proud to be Fighting Illini alum.

A office of the larger Academy of Illinois System, including campuses in Springfield and Chicago, the Champaign-Urbana campus is well integrated into the city. Alongside cultural attraction and amusement, a youthful energy stems from campus and throughout the streets of Champaign-Urbana.

Fighting Illini sporting events are a longstanding tradition throughout the state, including Saturday football game at Memorial Stadium and basketball at the State Farm Centre. For public pursuits of further education, both the Krannert Fine art Museum and Spurlock Museum offer displays of cultural works on campus with costless access.

Impressive pieces of architecture and historical landmarks dot the unabridged campus. With enough of pedestrian pathways supporting foot traffic, simply walking the grounds tin can make for a fun visit or suspension between classes. The outdoor classroom and UI Arboretum displays the richest natural attractions on campus.

Official site: http://illinois.edu/

ii. Crystal Lake Park

Busey Woods Gateway Trail at Crystal Lake Park | Taylor Studios, Inc. / photo modified

On the n side of the city, Crystal Lake Park is a crown jewel of the Urbana Park District. With dense urban forest and scenic surroundings, the park also provides many community attractions.

On the due north finish of the park, a Family Aquatic Center features an overhanging stone wall, a nil-depth entry pool, and three different waterslides. The Anita Purves Nature Center is also on the north side of the park and features educational resources, including classes and animal encounters. The Nature Heart also features an interpretive trail through the next Busey Woods natural area.

More fun is found in the south region of Crystal Lake Park. Crystal Lake, itself, is on the south side of the park, including the adjacent Lake House big-grouping rental facility. All visitors to the park can relish the water, and non-motorized boat rentals are available between May and September.

Other popular attractions on the south side of the park include playgrounds, picnic areas, and a unique landscaped brick labyrinth that is a claiming to piece of work your fashion through. Interpretive information well-nigh the surrounding landscapes is scattered throughout the unabridged park.

Address: 206 Westward Park Street, Urbana, Illinois

3. Downtown Champaign

Downtown Champaign | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

Simply a few miles northwest of Campustown and the academy, downtown Champaign is lined with local shops and restaurants. Breakfast is a popular option at the locally owned Sam'south Buffet, and places similar Bacaro feature seasonal menus and unique American cuisine. Al fresco dining is abundant in downtown during the summer months.

Younger explorers of the metropolis can notice enough of hands-on entertainment at the Orpheum Children's Museum downtown, located in a historic and renovated vaudeville theater. For bibliophiles and casual readers, Jane Addams Bookshop is a locally owned favorite. The Aroma Café is regarded as one of the best coffee shops downtown, though Caffe Benne is too a contender.

Among the many events and concerts that take place downtown throughout the year, the ii divide Fridays of StreetFest in the summertime is where you'll detect the all-time lineup of live music and dancing in the street.

The Champaign Farmers Marketplace takes place downtown every Tuesday afternoon.

4. Urbana's Marketplace at the Square

Flowers on display at Urbana'south Market at the Foursquare | Emmie's_Mommy / photo modified

Urbana's Market at the Square takes place every Saturday forenoon from May through October. This pop farmers' market is an open-space selling venue featuring fresh produce, prepared foods, plants, vesture, and a wide variety of locally made goods.

In downtown Urbana, Market at the Square operates rain or polish and can attract quite the large oversupply throughout the summer. Special programs are also held here, and between chef demonstrations and the child-orientated "Sprouts at the Market place," entertainment can be institute for the whole family.

Fabricated-to-eat hot food items give a rich aroma to the air at the Urbana'southward Market at the Square. Each week too features different local performers and musicians sharing their skills and providing a bang-up soundtrack to this community effect.

Accost: 401 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois

Official site: https://urbanamarket.org/

5. Spurlock Museum Editor's Choice

Spurlock Museum | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

On the east side of the U of I campus, this Museum of World Cultures contains more than l,000 artifacts from beyond the globe. Connected by a "Central Cadre of Humanity", the nine galleries and rotating exhibits at the Spurlock Museum highlight human beings throughout history from dissimilar regions of the earth.

Aboriginal Mesopotamia, Eastern asia, and Due north America are represented among many other cultures in the museum. Each gallery contains eye-communicable displays and artifacts including marble sculptures, traditional headwear, and ancient tools. With 55,000 square feet and two floors of displays to discover, an unabridged day can be devoted to this esteemed cultural museum.

Access to the museum is costless for all customs members and visitors, though a suggested donation of $3 goes to aid museum services. The museum is open throughout the year and closed on Mondays.

Address: 600 South Gregory Street, Urbana, Illinois

Official site: http://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/

half-dozen. Meadowbrook Park

Meadowbrook Park | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

For those that enjoy the outdoors, Meadowbrook Park is a popular place to walk in nature. More than than 5 miles of paved and unpaved trails weave throughout the park. Other popular outlets for enjoyment include a sculpture garden, a historic farmstead, and a xiii,000-foursquare-pes playground – the largest in the Urbana Park District.

The numerous gardens and natural spaces of Meadowbrook Park also attract a lot of involvement. The park features a unique sensory garden, an 80-acre tallgrass prairie, and an organic community garden where residents can reserve a plot.

Picnic tables and pavilions at the park brand this a neat place to pack a lunch and enjoy eating outside.

Address: 2808 South Race Street, Urbana, Illinois

7. Academy of Illinois Arboretum

Sen Cherry Tree Allée at the UI Arboretum | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

Encompassing 160 acres of the academy's south campus, the UI Arboretum is a bountiful collection of gardens, habitats, and special features. Every bit an outdoor classroom for students studying plant sciences or mural design, this sprawling public space is also well used as an like shooting fish in a barrel escape into nature.

Different gardens similar the Sen Cherry Tree Allée are fun to visit during the bound bloom, and the Idea Garden is known to provide some inspiration throughout the year. Cultural attractions are also inside this tree-lined space, including the university's Nihon House consummate with a Zen and rock garden.

The arboretum is open throughout the year between sunrise and sunset. Admission is gratis, though visitors should expect to pay for parking if they want to park nearby.

Address: 2001 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois

Official site: http://arboretum.illinois.edu/

viii. Krannert Art Museum

Krannert Art Museum | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

A few blocks from Memorial Stadium on the University of Illinois campus, Krannert Fine art Museum hosts two floors and several distinct galleries of fine art. Spanning millennia and from across the world, the Krannert art collection features ancient Andean artworks, Due west African headwear, and American and European paintings from the previous two centuries.

The galleries at Krannert feature permanent and rotating displays. The high ceilings and well-lit infinite adds to the experience of viewing the fine art. Krannert is free and open to the public, and various events throughout the twelvemonth, like Summer Yoga at the Museum, provide even more reason to visit.

Address: 500 Eastward Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois

Official site: https://kam.illinois.edu/

ix. Orpheum Children'south Science Museum

Orpheum Children's Science Museum | Photograph Copyright: Brad Lane

Located in downtown Champaign, the Orpheum Children's Scientific discipline Museum is an interactive space aimed at inspiring kids through science and creativity. Housed in a historic and readapted vaudeville picture palace, the children's museum provides a diversity of exhibits including a Dino Dig, Critter Corner, and an interactive Water Flume.

Outside on the grounds, the Orpheum Butterfly Garden is a fun place to visit in the spring and summer. Alongside the many permanent exhibits of the museum, the Orpheum likewise provides a multifariousness of summer camps and after-school programs for children in kindergarten through 5th grade. The Children's Museum is closed on Mondays.

Address: 346 North Neil Street, Champaign, Illinois

Official site: http://www.orpheumkids.com/

10. William 1000. Staerkel Planetarium

William 1000. Staerkel Planetarium | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

On the northwest edge of Champaign, Parkland College provides fifty-fifty more bookish involvement inside the customs. While thousands of students take advantage of the various degrees and programs offered by this two-twelvemonth community college, you lot don't have to be a student to savour the academic offerings.

The William M. Staerkel Planetarium, one of the largest in the land, provides a comfy seat for anyone interested in communicable a show. Pop for field trips and astronomical guild meetings, the 50-foot dome screen of the planetarium hosts several public showings. Most public screenings at the planetarium accept place on the weekends and range from Solar Superstorms to Pink Floyd'south Dark Side of the Moon.

Accost: 2400 West Bradley Avenue, Champaign, Illinois

Official site: https://www.parkland.edu/Audition/Community-Concern/Parkland-Presents/Planetarium

eleven. Japan House

Nihon House | Photo Copyright: Brad Lane

Within the University of Illinois Arboretum, this traditional Japanese-style home aims to broaden perspectives and provide a moment of placidity in the day. Every bit office of the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Nippon House offers experiential didactics through diverse programs and events, likewise as artful pleasure with features similar the Japanese tea garden outside.

Students and the public are encouraged to check out the firm and grounds from dawn to sunset throughout the spring, summer, and autumn. The house offers a wide variety of educational opportunities and cultural demonstrations throughout the year. A few of the program include traditional tea ceremonies, Zen studies, and almanac Gallery Days.

Accost: 2000 Southward Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, Illinois

Official site: http://japanhouse.fine art.illinois.edu/en/

12. Hessel Park

Hessel Park | Photograph Copyright: Brad Lane

Having celebrated its 100th birthday in 2018, Hessel Park has a long history equally one of the about popular parks in the urban center. Encompassing about xxx acres, the park'due south key location and sprawling layout contribute to its popularity, simply it's the abundance of copse and play spaces that draw a consistent crowd.

Alongside an accessible playground, Hessel Park besides has a splash pad that is well used throughout the summer. A half-mile paved pathway circles the entire park, making for a cracking manner to have in all the shaded environs of this public space. During the summertime, live and local music takes over the park on the first Saturday of each calendar month.

Address: 1400 Grandview Bulldoze, Champaign, Illinois

Official site: https://champaignparks.com/park/hessel-park/

Where to Stay in Champaign-Urbana for Sightseeing

• Mid-Range and Luxury Hotels: 1 of the finest places to spend the night in Champaign-Urbana is the I Hotel and Briefing Eye . This hotel is located near the IU Arboretum on the south side of the metropolis, and with spa-quality personal care items in each room, this affordable, upscale hotel besides provides an attached restaurant, chichi décor, and staff members who go the actress mile to facilitate a comfortable experience.

  For an upscale stay in the heart of downtown, Hyatt Place Champaign is 1 of the meridian-rated hotels in city. Its great reputation and popularity for repeat visits comes much in thanks to its downtown location, which is also reasonably close to campus, but the high ratings derive from the spacious rooms, clean facilities, and circumspect forepart-desk staff.

  Some other quality pick close to Interstate 74, Comfort Suites Urbana Champaign, University Expanse also allows quick access to campus, every bit well equally large suites, comfortable beds, and free breakfast every morning time.

• Budget Hotels: Many of the best budget hotels in Champaign-Urbana can be establish north of Champaign near I-74, and places similar Red Roof Inn Champaign offering an affordable rate for a comfy bed and tidy room.

  Well-nigh the Red Roof Inn, WoodSpring Suites Champaign Urbana is a depression-cost extended-stay hotel providing extra infinite, including a two-burner stove, microwave, and refrigerator.

  Another extended-stay hotel nearby, Extend Stay America provides similar amenities aslope an outdoor tennis court and a complimentary grab-and-go breakfast with each nighttime'south stay.

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Source: https://www.planetware.com/illinois/top-rated-things-to-do-in-champaign-urbana-illinois-us-il-134.htm

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