Location: Champaign-Urbana
Top Things to do in Champaign-Urbana
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What to do and see in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (IL): The Best Sights & Landmarks
The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign-Urbana and Urbana-Champaign, is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. It is the 191st largest metropolitan area in the U.S. It is composed of three counties, Champaign, Ford, and Piatt. The Office of Management and Budget has designated the three-county Champaign-Urbana area as one of its metropolitan statistical areas (the Champaign-Urbana, IL MSA), which are used for statistical purposes by the Census Bureau and other agencies.
Restaurants in Champaign-Urbana
1. Altgeld Hall Tower
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 24 reviews
Reviewed By timfl2016 - Urbana, United States
It used to be possible for people visit the belfry on Fridays between 12:30 and 1 pm. No longer. Still worth a visit, for the sounds and for the math/statistics library, which has a beautiful interior.
2. St. John's Catholic Newman Center
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
3. Curtis Orchard & Pumpkin Patch
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 228 reviews
Escape to the country at Curtis Orchard from July 20 - December 23. This farm in southwest Champaign features apples, pumpkins and a large country store. Shop for specialty food items and take home the farm's fresh apple cider. Try their famous donuts & pies, along with great meals in September & October. The orchard offers free admission & parking. Entertainment options for a fee include a giant slide, obstacle course, corn maze & pony rides. Free activities include a playground & petting zoo. Pick-your-own apples and pumpkins are purchased in the store.
Reviewed By ReallyNiceClark - Edmond, United States
Stopped here over the Thanksgiving break for fresh cider and had to get an apple pie too. It’s the best apple pie I have ever had. The peach pie was the best I ever had too. Perfect crust like grandma made.
4. Memorial Stadium
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 124 reviews
Reviewed By chezbuc - Antioch, United States
It had been a few years since I set foot in Memorial Stadium. I can only take so much bad football. I was impressed with the upgrades to the stadium since my last visit. While the Illini got whacked badly by a Northwestern team they were supposed to crush, at least beer sales helped ease the pain. No more sneaking in booze...like I heard other people do.
5. State Farm Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 76 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
I remember when the then Assembly Hall was merely a big hole in the ground. That was in 1962 and I was a senior at the University of Illinois. As sports editor of The Daily Illini, the student newspaper, and a sportswriter for the Champaign-Urbana Courier in 1963, I covered the last basketball game played at Huff Gym and the first basketball game played at what is now State Farm Center. If you have visited other basketball arenas across the country, you are aware that the State Farm Center is unlike any other. Even after 56 years, it is an architectural masterpiece, a large dome-shaped indoor arena, the home for Illinois' men's and women's basketball teams and a performance and event center that has hosted Broadway plays and graduations. On this occasion, my wife and I walked inside with a few curiosity seekers eager to view the interior of this grand structure in the wake of its $169.5 million renovation. The 16,128-seat arena was designed by architect Max Abramovitz, an Illinois alum. Often referred to a a "flying saucer," the dome is supported by 614 miles of one-quarter inch steel wire wrapped at the base under intense pressure. From 1963 to 1965, it was the largest domed structure in North America until the opening of the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Today, the Astrodome is gone. But the State Farm Center remains. The renovation improved sight lines, added more concession stands and restrooms and upgraded seating. From a retired sportswriter's viewpoint, however, there is only one drawback. In the old days, the Assembly Hall's press box surpassed any other arena. Located above the seats reserved for season ticket holders, it was spacious with two levels stretching from one end of the playing floor to the other. Today, the print media is squeezed behind the players' benches and the scorer's table with barely enough room to scribble play-by-play notes. But more room has been given to the students, the famed Orange Krush cheering section, and the pep band.
6. University of Illinois Ice Arena
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
Reviewed By urbanguy - Richmond, United States
This facility is home to the Illini Hockey Clubs. There are very modest admission charges for UI students and the public to watch hockey matches. Four days a week, the Arena is open for public skating (UI students are free) and skate rental is only $2! You can take skating lessons and book the place for parties.
7. Alma Mater
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 36 reviews
Reviewed By jas0719 - Tuscaloosa, United States
We are alum and always enjoy taking photos in front of Alma Mater. We swapped picture taking with another former student who was visiting. Illini Nation!
8. South Quad Bell Tower
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Some architectural critics have compared the McFarland Carillon on the University of Illinois campus to the Picasso statue in Chicago. Not so. Located at 1301 West Gregory Drive in Urbana, the McFarland Carillon also has been referred to as the McFarland Bell Tower or McFarland Memorial Bell Tower or South Quad Bell Tower. Built in 2008-2009, it is a 185-foot-tall bell tower with 49 bells, which can be controlled by a computer with 500 pre-programmed songs or can be played directly with a keyboard. Truth be told, the South Quad Bell Tower wasn't supposed to be. The carillon project began as an attempt to upgrade and renovate the University Chimes in the bell tower of Altgeld Hall. But it wasn't feasible to fit 49 bells in a tower that holds only 15. So a free-standing campanile tower that had been considered as a possibility for the campus since 1913 became a reality. The construction of the McFarland Carillon was funded with a $1.5 million donation by Illinois alum H. Richard McFarland and named for his wife Sarah "Sally" McFarland, who died of ovarian cancer in 2003. The tower's 49 bells were cast in the Netherlands and transported to Champaign-Urbana at a total cost of $550,000.
9. University of Illinois Main Quad
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 43 reviews
Reviewed By Vijay103 - India, null
I got opportunity to visit this place in September & December 2019. I do not have words to describe the richness and the importance of this university.This was such an extraordinary feeling to watch this place during the day and after sunset in lights. So much of talent in the air all around. The QUAD stands tall so fabulous !! I salute this center of knowledge and accomplishment !! Honored to stand in the center lawn and watch the QUAD all around.
10. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 36 reviews
Reviewed By timfl2016 - Urbana, United States
As a local here, I suggest the following things for a one-day tour when you're in town: the Main Library, Altgeld Hall, Lincoln Hall, Morrow Plots, Smith Hall, the Main Quad, the Siebel Center, the Illini Union, the Alma Mater, the Japan House, and the round barns (if you have time).
