Chicago.

RIP man. It's not called Chiraq for nowt. Just stay away from the south and west sides and you'll be fine. The Loop and Magnificent Mile are full of tourists so you will be okay there - just apply normal common sense as you would in any big city.

It's not bad at all, especially in the tourist areas - granted, it used to be much worse, but Cabrini-Green was torn down years ago. Presumably the OP is doing mostly tourist stuff, in addition to the rugby - which is at Soldier Field, right on the lake by a bunch of the tourist stuff. My wife (no) lived on the south side of Chicago for 6 years and never had any real issues.

Aye I think Shameless is set on the south side. It's a city with street names though and can make it more difficult to navigate - unless that was just me and my lack of direction.

FFS, it's still a grid.
 


It's not bad at all, especially in the tourist areas - granted, it used to be much worse, but Cabrini-Green was torn down years ago. Presumably the OP is doing mostly tourist stuff, in addition to the rugby - which is at Soldier Field, right on the lake by a bunch of the tourist stuff. My wife (no) lived on the south side of Chicago for 6 years and never had any real issues.



FFS, it's still a grid.

Yeah land Thursday evening, Friday tourist stuff, Saturday Rugby, Sunday pre- flight drinks all day
 
Yeah land Thursday evening, Friday tourist stuff, Saturday Rugby, Sunday pre- flight drinks all day

You'll be fine then. Given that itinerary, stay somewhere near the lake/Grant Park. Easy to get to the rugby from there, the rest of the tourist sites are nearby, and there's plenty of alcohol nearby as well. I usually stay at the Palmer House when I'm there for business, but that's pretty pricey for 9 people who are actually paying for themselves. I just mention it because it'd be in about the right location, so you could use that as a marker and look around there.
 
I have family scattered around the area. It's very nice June-August. The winter is grim. I know people there who wear two pairs of jeans or trousers, one over the other, when going outside in winter. I think that's a bit much, but when the wind is coming in off the lake it's about as cold as I've ever experienced anywhere - makes Boston and New York feel like Miami.
Chicago was f***ing freezing, I was there one day and it was possibly the most unbearable I’ve ever felt, I couldn’t stay outside long.
Just to put that into perspective. I live in Winnipeg :lol:
 
You'll be fine then. Given that itinerary, stay somewhere near the lake/Grant Park. Easy to get to the rugby from there, the rest of the tourist sites are nearby, and there's plenty of alcohol nearby as well. I usually stay at the Palmer House when I'm there for business, but that's pretty pricey for 9 people who are actually paying for themselves. I just mention it because it'd be in about the right location, so you could use that as a marker and look around there.
Yeah was looking at Palmer House as I'm a HH diamond member, but a couple of travellers are teenagers so is a bit out of their budget/need supplementing - Rafael looks cheap and old fashioned, and the AC Hotel?
 
Yeah was looking at Palmer House as I'm a HH diamond member, but a couple of travellers are teenagers so is a bit out of their budget/need supplementing - Rafael looks cheap and old fashioned, and the AC Hotel?

No idea on the latter two. I'm a creature of habit.

Chicago was f***ing freezing, I was there one day and it was possibly the most unbearable I’ve ever felt, I couldn’t stay outside long.
Just to put that into perspective. I live in Winnipeg :lol:

I've heard basically the same before but with "Edmonton" in place of "Winnipeg." I've never been to Alberta or Manitoba in the winter, so I'll take your word for it not being as bad as Chicago. Which is sort of like saying your neighbor is a bit nicer than Jeff Dahmer.
 
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Chicago is class. Had a mate over there for about 3 years so we all booked up one summer and jetted off to see the sights. Some class memories including hopping on the bus downtown to go visit a street festival we'd researched prior to leaving the UK. We were the only white folk on the bus & just sat in silence until the driver looked back and informed us this was our stop. Could have been dropping us anywhere. :lol: sure enough the area we got off in was fairly derelict, proper ghetto type place. We found it though and one of the stalls had fried alligator on the menu which was lush.

despite the above memory, we never felt in any danger regardless of Chicago's reputation.
 
Yeah was looking at Palmer House as I'm a HH diamond member, but a couple of travellers are teenagers so is a bit out of their budget/need supplementing - Rafael looks cheap and old fashioned, and the AC Hotel?
I stayed at the Essex Inn opposite Grant Park and it was reasonable. Hotel nothing special but location really good.
 
Anyone else visited?
What a cracking City........well recommended.
My lad spent 8 months at uni there a few years ago. Absolutely loved the place. He can't speak highly enough of the people and places. Took in a Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks games well worth visiting.
 
Frightening homocide stars there.

How cold does it get in winter, -20/25 like say Calgary

It does get that cold occasionally, but -10 celsius is more usual. The real problem is the wind, especially when it's snowing hard (which it does frequently, as it's right on Lake Michigan). Cold is one thing, but cold with a 50 mile per hour wind and whiteout snow conditions is a bit different.
 

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