Mention Illinois to most travelers and Chicago is all that comes to mind — but the state stretches nearly 400 miles south of the city, through rolling farmland, historic river towns, and landscapes that feel a world away from the Loop’s skyscrapers. Downstate Illinois rewards a slower kind of travel, best experienced from behind the wheel of a car with no fixed itinerary.
Springfield: Lincoln’s Illinois
Springfield, the state capital, is inseparable from the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, who lived and practiced law here for nearly 25 years before becoming president. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is the most comprehensive Lincoln collection in the country, using immersive exhibits — including life-sized dioramas and a holographic theater — to walk visitors through his life, presidency, and assassination.
A short walk away, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the only home Lincoln ever owned, exactly as it looked when he lived there with his family before departing for Washington. Free ranger-led tours run throughout the day, and the surrounding four-block historic neighborhood has been restored to its 1860s appearance, making it easy to picture the world Lincoln inhabited before the presidency.
Just outside the city, Lincoln’s Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery is a striking 117-foot obelisk monument and remains a place of quiet pilgrimage for history-minded visitors — rubbing the nose of the bronze Lincoln bust near the entrance, worn smooth by decades of visitors, has become an informal tradition for good luck.
Route 66: The Mother Road Through Illinois
Illinois holds a special place in Route 66 history as the highway’s starting point, with the original terminus marker still standing at Adams Street and Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. Driving south from Chicago on the old alignment takes you through small towns that built entire identities around the highway’s mid-century heyday — giant fiberglass statues, vintage diners, and retro motor courts that have become roadside attractions in their own right.
The Gemini Giant in Wilmington, a 30-foot spaceman statue outside a former drive-in restaurant, is one of the most photographed stops on the entire route. Further south, the Ariston Cafe in Litchfield has been serving travelers continuously since 1924, making it one of the oldest surviving restaurants on Route 66 anywhere in the country.
Starved Rock State Park: Illinois’s Natural Side
Illinois isn’t known for dramatic landscapes, but Starved Rock State Park, about 90 minutes southwest of Chicago, is a genuine exception. Carved by glacial meltwater over thousands of years, the park’s sandstone canyons and 18 canyon trails lead to seasonal waterfalls that are particularly spectacular after spring rains or winter thaws. The park takes its name from a Native American legend about a group of Illiniwek people who, according to local lore, retreated to the bluff and starved rather than surrender during a conflict with rival tribes — a story historians treat with some skepticism, but one that’s become deeply embedded in local identity regardless.
Galena: A Town Frozen in the 1800s
In the state’s far northwest corner, Galena is a 19th-century river town that largely escaped the industrial development that transformed much of the rest of the Midwest, leaving its Main Street lined with beautifully preserved brick buildings from its heyday as a lead-mining and steamboat hub. Ulysses S. Grant lived here before and after the Civil War, and his former home is open for tours. The town’s hilly streets, antique shops, and wine bars have made it a popular weekend getaway for Chicagoans looking for a change of pace without a long drive.
Practical Notes
Downstate Illinois is best explored by car — public transportation between smaller towns is limited to nonexistent. Amtrak does connect Chicago to Springfield in about 3.5 hours if you’d rather skip the driving for at least part of the trip. Spring and fall offer the most comfortable weather for road-tripping, while summer brings the state’s famous humidity, particularly in the southern regions.
