How to Use Public Transportation to Get to Chicago's Navy Pier

CTA Red Line to Grand; CTA 29 State Street Bus to Navy Pier

This guide will detail how to use public transportation to visit Chicago's Navy Pier. Chicago's Navy Pier is the most visited tourist destination in the Midwest and draws 8.6 million guests annually. The attraction is an exciting 50-acre mix of entertainment, restaurants, shopping, luxury cruises, and tour boats. Obviously, Navy Pier's greatest landmark is the 15-story tall McDonald's Ferris wheel.

Of course, Navy Pier's location at 600 East Grand Avenue, which actually does rest upon a 3,300 foot long man-made pier jutting off into Lake Michigan at the northeast corner of downtown, is typically a driving disaster. The only streets leading into the area are Grand and Illinois, which are separated from the Streeterville neighborhood by the most notoriously congested section of U.S. 41 Lake Shore Drive.

Use public transportation to avoid the inevitable traffic and parking nightmare during peak hours. Navy Pier's quirky, yet essential location demands that tourists use a combination of the Metra Rail, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Trains and buses, and basic foot travel to arrive at this point of interest. CTA fares are set at $2.25 for one-way and $2.50 per two additional train to bus transfers at the time of this writing, whereas Metra commuter service charges vary according to zones and rush hour timing.

CTA Blue and Red Lines are operated all day, every day from O'Hare to Forest Park and Howard to 95 / Dan Ryan. Otherwise, tourists must be certain to reference Metra Rail and CTA schedules prior to any trip to ensure that the planned route is conveniently available in terms of time.

Metra commuter trains typically run every hour.

How to Use Public Transportation to get to Chicago's Navy Pier from the Loop

Numerous CTA buses crisscross the Chicago Loop into the North River section of the city and ultimately Navy Pier. Nearly every north-south street through downtown features buses that terminate their respective routes at this tourist attraction. For the sake of simplicity, I will direct Navy Pier visitors from the Loop towards State Street.