Our Area

Explore the Champaign, Illinois Area

The Champaign Garden Inn is located in the Sesquicentennial neighborhood, Champaign’s oldest neighborhood established and the first neighborhood founded in Champaign in the mid 1800’s.  The neighborhood was founded to be close to the railway line being planned.  Recently the city of Champaign has built a beautiful new Amtrack station a short walk away from the Inn making it easy to take the train from Chicago or from across the country.

Our neighborhood features brick streets and sidewalks which are historically protected.   Many of the grand old homes still line the streets, the grandest of which is the Champaign Garden Inn.  Mature trees line the streets providing cooling shade in the summer and beautiful color in the fall.  The residents take pride in their homes, and many have gorgeous gardens surrounding them.

We are just a four block walk from downtown Champaign.   The redeveloped downtown area features many of Champaign’s trendiest restaurants, coffee bars, shops, bars and clubs.   The long list of restaurants within a short walk include Big Grove Tavern, Distihl, Bacara, Dublin O’Neils, and Aroma Café to list a few.   Some of the areas hottest night spots in downtown are Esquire Lounge, The Blind Pig, Memphis on Main, Cowboy Monkey, Chester Street, and Radio Maria.  You can have a drink or two and not have to worry about driving or cabbing.

There are also some great shops in the downtown area.   Some of my favorites are Jane Adams Book shop (4 floors of vintage books), Ten Thousand Villages which combines shopping with charity, Wanut Street Tea Company, Exile on Main, and Christopher’s Fine Jewelry.  Whether you are shopping for clothes, books or souvenirs or Jewelry you are sure to fine what you need!

Of course many people who visit Champaign visit because of the University of Illinois.   We are just 1 ½ miles from the U of I.  It is definitely walkable, but public transportation running on Church Street and University Ave. can get you anywhere you’d like to go.   Of course you can always drive … and there is ample street parking available right by the Inn.

Prospect Avenue is one of Champaign’s retail corridors and is just a short drive from the Inn.   You’ll find restaurants such as Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday’s and Fazoli’s.  Most anything you could ever need you can find at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Meier or Target.  There are really more stores than one can name.

North Neil Street, also just a short drive is the home to Market Place Shopping center.  Marketplace is a beautiful indoor mall with Macy’s, JC Penny, Bergner’s and Camping World as their anchor stores.   Of course the mall is surrounded by numerous other stores and restaurants.

We believe that you’ll find the Champaign Garden Inn to be the perfect location for your Champaign trip.  Our central location and proximity to downtown Champaign make it  the perfect spot for business or pleasure.  We look forward to hosting you soon!

» facebook mail rss