From Illini game days at Memorial Stadium to late nights on Green Street, Champaign packs a lot into a compact college town — and Party Bus Peoria makes it easy to keep your group together for every stop. Call 309-561-8690 or use our online quote tool for an all-inclusive price in under 30 seconds.
A few of the organizations across Champaign that have trusted us with their group transportation.
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Party Bus Peoria has spent over 15 years moving groups around Central Illinois, and Champaign is one of our busiest service areas. Whether you're bringing a corporate group through the University of Illinois Research Park, shuttling wedding guests between venues in Champaign-Urbana, or organizing a full fan convoy to Memorial Stadium for a Big Ten matchup, we've handled trips like yours — down to the exact gate, the specific curbside drop-off, and the post-event pickup window. You get an all-inclusive price before you ever book, a reservation team available around the clock at 309-561-8690, and a fleet that covers groups of 14 to 56 without charging you for seats you don't need.
Champaign sits at the crossroads of I-57 and I-72, with US-45 threading through the heart of the metro. Those roads fill fast on home game weekends and during University of Illinois graduation week in May — when every hotel room within 30 miles is full and rideshare demand spikes hard. We've moved groups through all of it, and our team knows exactly when to leave Champaign to hit State Farm Center before the arena empties from a checkout crowd, and which IL-130 approach to avoid on a Saturday night in October.
That local knowledge is what gets your group there on time, every time.
Book a 14-passenger Sprinter limo for a small celebration, a 15- to 35-passenger minibus for wedding guest shuttles or school trips, a 15- to 50-passenger party bus for nights out on Green Street, or a full 40- to 56-passenger charter bus for large corporate events and Illini away-game road trips. Call 309-561-8690 to match the right vehicle to your headcount.
Party buses in our fleet come equipped with color-changing LED lighting, a built-in bar, Bluetooth sound, and flat-panel TVs — so the pregame energy is already running by the time your group reaches Memorial Stadium's south parking lot. Minibuses offer plush reclining seats and powerful climate control, a real plus during Central Illinois summers when the heat index on Neil Street hits triple digits. Full-size charter buses carry the whole package: reclining seats, onboard restrooms, WiFi, power outlets at every row, and undercarriage bays big enough for tailgate gear, luggage, or presentation equipment headed to the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center.
ADA-accessible vehicles are available in our fleet — just mention your needs when you book.
Air-conditioning
Wraparound Leather Seats
Premium AUX / Bluetooth Sound System
LED and Fiber Optic Lighting
Built-in Bar Areas With Ice Storage and Cup Holders
TVs and Premium Entertainment Systems
Champaign party bus rental prices depend on vehicle type, your event date, and total hours on the itinerary. As a general range: 14-passenger Sprinter limos run $170–$344/hour; 15–20 passenger party buses run $204–$378/hour; 20–30 passenger party buses run $244–$414/hour; 35–50 passenger party buses and minibuses run $294–$490/hour; and 40–56 passenger charter buses run $150–$300/hour or $1,200–$2,500/day. Weekend rates run higher than weekday equivalents, and peak dates — Illinois home football weekends, State Farm Center concert nights, and University of Illinois graduation week in May — can affect availability significantly.
You will never see a surprise on your final invoice; every quote is all-inclusive. Check out our party bus prices page to learn more, or call 309-561-8690 for a free quote built around your exact date and group size.
| Type of Bus | Cost Per Hour Weekdays | Cost Per Hour Weekends | Cost Per Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Passenger Sprinter Limo | $170 – $318+ | $219 – $344+ | $1,526 – $3,113+ |
| Sprinter Van Rental | $187 – $273+ | $218 – $366+ | $1,395 – $2,748+ |
| 15 Passenger Party Bus | $204 – $330+ | $241 – $312+ | $1,396 – $2,817+ |
| 18 Passenger Party Bus | $266 – $330+ | $268 – $378+ | $2,121 – $2,563+ |
| 20 Passenger Party Bus | $244 – $338+ | $268 – $340+ | $1,939 – $2,796+ |
| 25 Passenger Party Bus | $248 – $326+ | $265 – $360+ | $1,827 – $2,854+ |
| 28 Passenger Party Bus | $255 – $337+ | $279 – $351+ | $2,147 – $2,653+ |
| 30 Passenger Party Bus | $297 – $374+ | $318 – $414+ | $2,331 – $3,021+ |
| 40 Passenger Party Bus | $297 – $338+ | $321 – $478+ | $2,297 – $3,473+ |
| 50 Passenger Party Bus | $294 – $441+ | $337 – $490+ | $2,173 – $4,043+ |
| 15–35 Passenger Minibus | $113 – $246+ | $147 – $261+ | $1,098 – $2,105+ |
| 40–56 Passenger Charter Bus | $158 – $327+ | $162 – $348+ | $1,331 – $2,841+ |
| Rates vary by trip length, travel dates, passenger count, amenities, and availability. Use our online quote form or call 309-561-8690 for exact pricing. | |||
Getting a group around Champaign comes with headaches that first-timers rarely see coming. Green Street parking on a home game weekend is effectively nonexistent by 10 a.m. The surface lots nearest State Farm Center fill within the first 30 minutes of doors opening for major concerts.
I-57 northbound out of Champaign turns into a crawl after a late-evening Illini game, and rideshare surge pricing during graduation week routinely hits two to three times the standard rate. A Champaign party bus rental solves every one of those problems in a single booking.
Party Bus Peoria gives you a 24/7 reservation team, all-inclusive pricing you can see before you commit, and a fleet wide enough to match your exact headcount without padding the bill. Since 2011, we've moved student groups, corporate delegations, wedding parties, and fan convoys through Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding region. Our team knows the staging area behind State Farm Center, the right approach to Assembly Hall during graduation traffic, and how to time an arrival at Willard Airport ahead of a Sunday-morning departure push.
You just tell us the stops and the time. We take care of the rest. Call 309-561-8690 any time to get your group moving.
Party Bus Peoria handles group transportation for every occasion across Champaign-Urbana. From airport transfers and concert shuttles to wedding guest loops and school field trips — whatever brings your group together in Champaign, we have a vehicle and a plan ready. Call 309-561-8690 to get started today.
University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI) (11 Airport Road, Savoy, IL 61874) sits about five miles south of downtown Champaign on IL-45. The terminal handles a tight daily schedule of American Eagle and United Express flights, which means when a connection is running late out of O'Hare or Dallas, your entire group's departure window compresses fast. Getting the whole party to CMI in separate rideshares on a Sunday morning — when the streets around the University of Illinois campus are still foggy from a Saturday night — is exactly the kind of scramble that ends in someone missing a flight.
A Champaign airport shuttle bus rental keeps everyone on a single timeline. Your group loads at one pickup point, the bags go into the undercarriage bays, and you arrive at CMI's curbside departures zone together. For groups flying into CMI and continuing on to Chicago or Indianapolis, we also coordinate direct transfers to Chicago O'Hare (ORD), roughly two hours north on I-57.
Call 309-561-8690 to book your CMI airport run.
A Champaign bachelorette party that starts on Green Street and finishes at one of the bars along Neil Street covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Cowboy Monkey (6 Taylor Street, Champaign, IL 61820), Joe's Brewery (706 South Fifth Street, Champaign, IL 61820), and the cluster of late-night venues near the corner of First and Green get packed on weekends, and parking anywhere near them between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. is a negotiation with a lot you probably can't find again at closing time.
Skip the hassle entirely. A Champaign party bus rental keeps your whole squad together from first pickup through last call, with a custom schedule built around the stops you actually want. The onboard bar, color-changing lighting, and Bluetooth sound turn travel time into part of the celebration.
Nobody draws the short straw for the sober drive home. Call 309-561-8690 and tell us your stops — we'll plan the route.
Champaign has a genuine concentration of celebration venues — from private event spaces in Savoy to banquet rooms in the hotels along Mattis Avenue — and getting a birthday group of 20 or 30 across town without splitting into multiple cars almost always ends in someone's group running 15 minutes behind by the time the venue opens. A Champaign birthday party bus rental fixes that before it starts.
Our 15- to 50-passenger party buses are completely customizable for the occasion: load a playlist, set the lighting color, and build the itinerary around the guest of honor's favorite stops in Champaign-Urbana. Sweet 16 and quinceañera groups love the entrance a party bus makes pulling up to the venue — a much better opening than three separate SUVs circling the parking lot. We offer a wide range of vehicle sizes, so you never pay for seats your group doesn't fill.
Call 309-561-8690 to plan your Champaign birthday celebration.
State Farm Center (1800 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820) is the University of Illinois's 15,500-seat arena and one of the largest venues in Central Illinois for touring acts. The surface lots on First Street and the deck on St. Mary's Road fill completely for major shows, and the walk from the nearest available street parking to the arena entrance can stretch past 20 minutes on a sold-out night. After the show, that same walk happens in reverse — in the dark, in the cold, or in whatever weather Central Illinois has decided to produce that evening.
A Champaign concert bus rental drops your group at the arena's main entrance on First Street and the bus waits nearby for a post-show pickup at a window you set in advance. No hunting for a parking spot, no post-concert rideshare wait, and no designated-driver conversation. Our party buses come with a built-in bar, LED lighting, and premium sound so the energy carries from your front door to the first song.
Call 309-561-8690 for a quote.
Champaign-Urbana's corporate corridor runs from the University of Illinois Research Park on south First Street up through the tech campuses lining Windsor Road and Marketplace Drive. If your company is hosting a conference at the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center (1900 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820), shuttling attendees between the conference center, the Hyatt Place on Neil Street, and dinner reservations in Campustown means managing multiple rideshare accounts and late arrivals across a busy two-day schedule. That's the part we take care of.
A charter bus or minibus rental for your Champaign corporate event keeps your group together between sessions, on schedule for every keynote, and off the hook for coordinating a dozen separate rides. For recurring employee shuttle needs — staff moving between the Research Park, downtown Champaign, and the Urbana campus — we can build a route that runs on a set schedule. WiFi and power outlets on charter buses keep your team productive on every leg.
Call 309-561-8690 to discuss group rates.
The University of Illinois calendar creates some of the most intense demand spikes for private transportation anywhere in Central Illinois. Unofficial St. Patrick's Day — the unofficial Illini holiday held the Friday before the national holiday — draws tens of thousands of people to Campustown bars starting before 8 a.m., and Green Street becomes effectively impassable by mid-morning. A private charter bus or party bus rental drops your group in before the worst of it and the bus waits nearby for a coordinated exit before the crowd disperses.
Family Weekend in October and Dad's Weekend in November bring large groups of out-of-town visitors who need transportation between hotels on Neil Street and University Avenue, the stadium, and dinner reservations scattered across Champaign-Urbana. A private Champaign bus rental keeps those groups together without requiring a designated driver or a caravan of rental cars navigating unfamiliar one-way streets. Call 309-561-8690 to build a custom itinerary for your private event.
Champaign-Urbana's high school prom season runs hard from late April through mid-May, when multiple schools across Champaign, Urbana, and the surrounding communities all compete for the same pool of vehicles in the same six-week window. Central High School, Champaign, and Urbana High School proms typically land in May — and if you're organizing transportation for a group of 20-plus students, waiting until March to book almost always means premium pricing or no availability at all.
For prom: book by January or expect premium pricing or no availability. A typical six-hour prom rental — school pickup, pre-prom photos at Meadowbrook Park, venue arrival, and return — costs significantly less when booked four to five months ahead than when secured last-minute. Party Bus Peoria works directly with parent committees across the Champaign-Urbana area to lock in dates, confirm student headcounts, and build pickup windows that keep the evening running on schedule.
Call 309-561-8690 today to hold your date.
Teachers and trip coordinators in Champaign-Urbana count on Party Bus Peoria for reliable field trip transportation that doesn't require juggling parent carpool chains or navigating school bus availability windows. A full-size charter bus to the Orpheum Children's Science Museum (346 North Neil Street, Champaign, IL 61820) gives students climate-controlled seating, overhead storage for backpacks and lunch bags, and the kind of smooth arrival that keeps a field trip running on schedule from the first pickup bell to the return drop-off.
For longer excursions — the Illinois State Museum in Springfield, the Chicago Field Museum, or the Morton Arboretum in Lisle — an onboard restroom and undercarriage storage cut out the roadside pit stops that eat into exhibit time. TV monitors and a PA system keep students engaged on the way. ADA-accessible buses are available in our fleet; just note your group's specific needs when you reserve.
Call 309-561-8690 to book school field trip transportation in Champaign.
Illinois Illini home football at Memorial Stadium (1402 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820) draws 60,000-plus fans into a corridor already crowded by First Street and Stadium Drive, and the tailgate lots in Orange and Blue parking areas fill by two hours before kickoff for marquee Big Ten games. Rideshare pickup after the final whistle stacks up at the designated pickup zone on St. Mary's Road — a wait that routinely runs 30 to 45 minutes on capacity-crowd nights.
A Champaign sporting event bus rental takes your group directly to the stadium's perimeter, the bus waits nearby during the game, and is right there when the crowd pushes out — no long walk to a remote lot, no post-game rideshare queue. For Illinois basketball at State Farm Center and soccer at Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium, the same logic applies. Our party buses come with a built-in bar and sound system so the tailgate starts on the ride.
Call 309-561-8690 to lock in your game-day run.
Champaign-Urbana's most popular wedding venues — The Station (102 North Chestnut Street, Champaign, IL 61820), Allerton Park (515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, IL 61856) about 25 minutes west on IL-105, and reception spaces inside the I Hotel — need a real shuttle plan when your guest list includes out-of-town visitors who've never navigated Champaign's one-way downtown grid. Parking near The Station fills well before ceremony time on a Saturday evening.
A Champaign wedding shuttle keeps guests moving between hotels on Neil Street, the ceremony venue, and the reception without asking anyone to navigate unfamiliar streets in formal wear. Because we've been coordinating Champaign-Urbana weddings since 2011, your timeline can stay tight — clear pickup windows, staged departures, and one point of contact from quote to final drop-off. For the bachelorette portion of the weekend, our party buses handle Green Street and beyond with a custom itinerary built entirely around your group's plans.
Call 309-561-8690 for a wedding transportation quote.
East-Central Illinois has a surprisingly deep craft beer and winery circuit within a 45-minute drive of downtown Champaign. Triptych Brewing (304 North Randolph Street, Champaign, IL 61820) pours rotating small-batch IPAs in a renovated downtown warehouse. Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works (201 West Springfield Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820) offers a full menu alongside their barrel-aged program.
Head northwest on I-74 and you reach Kaskaskia Brewing in Gibson City, or push further on US-150 toward Blue Moon Winery in Mahomet — close enough for an afternoon circuit that hits three stops without anyone watching the clock.
A Champaign pub crawl party bus rental keeps your group together at every pour, puts one bus in charge of getting between breweries and wineries, and gets everyone home without the designated-driver conversation. Our party buses carry a built-in bar for between-stop celebrating, and the itinerary is yours to build. Tell us the stops and we'll handle the route.
Call 309-561-8690 for a free quote.
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Use the Party Bus Peoria online quote tool to share your trip details, including the date, passenger count, and pickup/drop-off locations. You can receive a personalized quote in under 30 seconds.
Compare The Options
Compare real-time pricing and vehicle photos from our fleet. You can browse various makes, models, and amenity packages to find the perfect fit for your group.
Lock In Your Bus
Secure your vehicle by making a payment directly online. Now you can relax!
Party Bus Peoria serves Champaign and the entire surrounding region — and our fleet means we can get your group anywhere across Central Illinois. Whether you need a Danville party bus, a Decatur bus rental, a Bloomington charter bus, transportation to Urbana, or a group transfer to Springfield, we have the right vehicle for you. Call 309-561-8690 today.
We Go Anywhere!
Party Bus Peoria proudly serves Champaign, Illinois and every nearby community across Metro Peoria. If you don't see your city listed, call us at 309-561-8690 — we go anywhere your group needs to roll!
Such a great experience for our group outing around Champaign. The booking was easy and the team was helpful and flexible. The bus was spacious with a fun atmosphere, and the ride was smooth from start to finish. Everyone could relax and just enjoy the night together. No driving worries at all. It made the whole evening feel effortless and memorable. I'd book with them again happily.
Paloma H.
Gideon K.
From start to finish this was a smooth and enjoyable experience. The reservation was quick, the communication was clear, and the bus showed up right on time. Inside was clean and comfortable with great sound. Our group had an amazing time without a single logistics worry. It made the night feel easy and fun. I would absolutely use them again for any group event we have coming up.
Beatrix V.
We wanted something special for our group and this delivered completely. The booking team was warm and attentive, and they nailed every detail. The bus was comfortable, clean, and had a great party feel inside. Everyone got to relax and enjoy the ride together. The timing was perfect. It made our outing feel like a real event. I'd recommend them to anyone in a heartbeat.
Leander P.
Booked the bus and was thrilled with how everything turned out. The reservation was simple, the team was responsive, and there were no surprises along the way. The vehicle was roomy and clean with a fun vibe inside. Our group had a blast on the ride. It took all the stress out of coordinating transportation. Such a great experience overall. I will definitely be calling them again soon.
Champaign party bus rental prices depend on vehicle size, the date, and total hours needed. As a guide: 14-passenger Sprinter limos run $170–$344/hour; small party buses (15–20 passengers) run $204–$378/hour; mid-size (20–30 passengers) run $244–$414/hour; large party buses and minibuses (35–50 passengers) run $294–$490/hour; and full-size charter buses run $150–$300/hour or $1,200–$2,500/day. Illinois home football weekends and University of Illinois graduation week in May are the peak demand periods — prices are highest then and availability tightens early.
Call 309-561-8690 for an all-inclusive quote on your specific date, or use our online tool for instant pricing.
Charter buses serving Memorial Stadium (1402 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820) typically stage along First Street and the perimeter of the Orange parking area south of the stadium. Rideshare pickup after Illini games is designated on St. Mary's Road, which runs well over a 20-minute wait on capacity nights. A chartered group bus drops your crew at the stadium perimeter and the bus waits nearby — no post-game rideshare queue and no long walk from a remote lot.
For specific approach routing on your game date, our team confirms the current plan when you book. We recommend reviewing the Illinois Athletics Memorial Stadium parking page before game day for the most current lot assignments and road closure advisories.
University of Illinois Willard Airport (CMI) (11 Airport Road, Savoy, IL 61874) is a compact single-terminal airport with straightforward curbside pickup on the arrivals level. Once your group has collected luggage, your coordinator contacts our team, and the bus moves to the ground-level arrivals curb — typically within a few minutes of the call. Because CMI handles a limited number of daily arrivals on American Eagle and United Express, the window between a flight landing and baggage appearing on the carousel is tighter than at a major hub.
Have everyone assembled with bags before calling for the bus. For the most current curbside commercial vehicle pickup guidelines, check the Willard Airport ground transportation page before your travel date.
University of Illinois commencement ceremonies in May split across multiple venues — including State Farm Center for college-level ceremonies and outdoor events on the Quad — with thousands of families converging on Champaign-Urbana from across the country in the same 72-hour window. Hotel availability within Champaign-Urbana essentially disappears by February for May graduation weekend, and parking near the UI campus on ceremony days costs $15–$25 in the closest university lots, which still fill before the morning session ends. A charter bus or minibus rental keeps your extended family group together, cuts out the parking equation entirely, and runs on your family's schedule rather than a shuttle circuit's.
Book graduation weekend transportation at least four months out — this is one of the tightest demand windows on our calendar. Call 309-561-8690 as soon as your ceremony date is confirmed.
Absolutely. Our party buses are built for multi-stop itineraries — you give us the list of bars, breweries, or venues and the approximate time at each stop, and the bus waits nearby between stops so your group loads and moves on your timeline. On busy Campustown weekends, the blocks around Green Street between Sixth and First can see heavy foot and vehicle traffic after 10 p.m.
We factor that into the pickup routing so the bus isn't parked somewhere inaccessible when your group is ready to move. The onboard bar keeps the energy going between stops. There's no need to pre-purchase parking for every location your group visits — one bus covers the whole crawl for one flat rate.
Call 309-561-8690 to build your custom bar crawl route.
For most Champaign events outside the demand peaks, two to four weeks of lead time is workable — but the earlier you call, the better your vehicle options. For Illinois home football weekends (September through November), University of Illinois graduation week (mid-May), and prom season (late April through mid-May), book three to six months in advance to secure the right vehicle at the right price. For prom specifically: book by January.
The six-week prom window in Champaign-Urbana compresses vehicle supply fast, and last-minute bookings in April regularly result in premium pricing or no availability. Lock in your date as soon as your headcount is confirmed. Call 309-561-8690 any time — our reservation team is available 24/7.
A Champaign party bus itinerary can cover everything from Big Ten game days to the region's growing craft brewery circuit, with stops at the Illini's iconic athletic venues, world-class arts facilities, and the kind of college-town entertainment districts that keep the energy running past midnight. Here are six destinations your group will love arriving at by bus.
Home of the Fighting Illini since 1923, Memorial Stadium (1402 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820) seats 60,670 and stands as one of the iconic Big Ten venues in college football. The stadium's exterior is fronted by a colonnade of pillars honoring Illinois veterans — a striking entrance that makes pre-game photos a given. Orange and Blue parking lots open three to four hours before kickoff for Illini home games, but the closest lots on Stadium Drive fill fast, and First Street becomes heavily congested within the final hour before game time.
A party bus drops your group at the stadium's south perimeter and handles the return staging — so the tailgate ends at the bus, not at a parking lot search. For current lot assignments and capacity events, check the Illinois Athletics parking page before your visit. Address: 1402 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820.
Phone: (217) 333-1391.
State Farm Center (1800 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820) is the University of Illinois's 15,500-seat arena, home to Illini men's and women's basketball and one of Central Illinois's primary touring concert venues. Originally opened in 1963 as Assembly Hall, the arena completed a $163 million renovation in 2016 that transformed the interior while preserving the iconic flying-saucer roofline visible from I-57. Street parking along First Street fills for sold-out games by two hours before tip-off, and post-event rideshare demand on St. Mary's Road is a known bottleneck.
Charter bus drop-off uses the First Street main entrance approach; the bus waits in coordinated lots nearby during events. For any high-demand concert or Big Ten rivalry game, book transportation well ahead — these nights draw capacity crowds and the venue's lots close early. Address: 1800 South First Street, Champaign, IL 61820.
Phone: (217) 333-5000.
Twenty-five miles west of Champaign on IL-105, Allerton Park & Retreat Center (515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, IL 61856) is one of the most photographed wedding and event venues in east-central Illinois. The estate — a 1900 Georgian Revival mansion set on 1,500 acres of formally landscaped grounds, including the famous Sun Singer sculpture garden — draws wedding groups, corporate retreats, and photography tours year-round. The approach via IL-105 from Monticello is a two-lane rural road with no public transit option.
Groups driving separately from Champaign routinely underestimate the 30-minute drive and arrive in waves. A charter bus or minibus rental keeps your entire group on a single timeline — departs together, arrives together, leaves together — and cuts out the navigational confusion on the final stretch of road leading to the estate entrance. For visit hours and event availability, check the Allerton Park visitor page.
Address: 515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, IL 61856. Phone: (217) 333-3287.
The Krannert Art Museum (500 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820) is one of the largest art museums in Illinois outside of Chicago, holding a permanent collection of more than 10,000 works spanning ancient Egyptian artifacts, European Old Masters, and contemporary American photography. Admission is free and the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, making it a natural anchor for school field trips, university alumni tours, and group cultural outings. The museum sits on the University of Illinois campus just south of the main Quad, where campus parking permits are required in most adjacent lots during weekday business hours.
A minibus rental keeps a school or church group together without requiring individual parking passes or multiple vehicles navigating the campus grid. For current hours, exhibition schedules, and group visit guidelines, check the Krannert Art Museum visit page. Address: 500 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820.
Phone: (217) 333-1861.
Meadowbrook Park (2808 South Race Street, Urbana, IL 61802) is a 130-acre public park and sculpture garden operated by the Urbana Park District, featuring rotating large-scale public art installations, restored prairie trails, and a native plant garden that peaks in mid-summer. The park is a popular spot for Champaign-Urbana group events — outdoor graduation celebrations, family reunion picnics, and pre-prom photo sessions all happen here regularly. Parking on Race Street fills during the busiest spring and summer weekends, particularly when multiple groups have the same idea about the golden hour before a prom.
A minibus or party bus drops your group at the Race Street entrance and the bus waits nearby, keeping the photo session focused rather than fragmented across three different arrival times. The park is open daily from dawn to dusk at no cost. Address: 2808 South Race Street, Urbana, IL 61802.
Phone: (217) 367-1544.
Built in 1921 and fully restored, the Virginia Theatre (203 West Park Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820) is a 1,583-seat historic movie palace in downtown Champaign that serves as the primary venue for the Ebertfest film festival — the Roger Ebert Film Festival held each April — as well as a year-round program of live performances, touring acts, and classic film screenings. The theater anchors a block of downtown Champaign that includes bars and restaurants within a five-minute walk, making it a natural centerpiece for an evening group itinerary that starts with dinner on Neil Street and ends with a late-night show. Downtown Champaign street parking on Park Avenue and Neil Street operates on a two-hour meter limit that expires well before most evening performances end.
A bus rental drops your group at the Park Avenue entrance and the bus waits nearby for post-show pickup, so nobody is feeding a meter during the second act. Address: 203 West Park Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820. Phone: (217) 356-9063.