Purdue and Illinois in 2 Days: A Fly-In Visit to West Lafayette and Champaign-Urbana
A parent-first plan for flying into Indianapolis to see Purdue in West Lafayette and the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana: official sign-ups, airports and shuttles, visitor parking, a hotel inside each campus union, meals, things for siblings and a time-zone heads-up.
Engineering Fountain, Bell Tower and Hovde Hall, Purdue (Sep 2016). Photo: Julian Herzog · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
Last checked Oct 26, 2026. The small [S#] links open the page each fact comes from. Some hotel and tour links are affiliate links (disclosure).
Check before you go. Tour times, sign-up rules, parking and seasonal closures change often, sometimes weekly. Every campus section below links to that school's official visit page and shows when we last checked it. Confirm there before you book or drive. College Visit Guides is not affiliated with or endorsed by any college or university. Names are used only to identify them.
The short version
Trip at a glance
Schools
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Days
2: Purdue one day, drive west, Illinois the next. Fly in the day before.
Fly into
Indianapolis (IND), 65 miles south of West Lafayette. Purdue's own airport (LAF) has daily service to and from Chicago O'Hare.
Best bases
The Union Club Hotel inside Purdue Memorial Union, then the Illini Union Hotel on the Illinois Quad.
Car or transit
Plan on a car: the two campuses are about 91 miles apart by road.
Registration
Both schools take registration online; Illinois asks you to register for each experience separately.
1. Who this guide is for
This plan is for parents flying in with a high schooler, and maybe younger siblings, to see two Big Ten universities about 90 miles apart: Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.[S3][S24]
Both campuses have a hotel inside the student union, so you can sleep steps from where your visit begins and skip the morning parking hunt.[S9][S13][S19]
Why this order
Arrival day: Purdue says it's about one hour north of Indianapolis, and shuttles run between IND and campus.[S3]
Day 1: Purdue's Daily Visit pairs a 30-minute admissions information session with a 90-minute student-led walking tour, 2.5 to 3 hours in all.[S1]
Day 2: The Illinois Experience + Campus Tour combines an admissions presentation, Q&A with current students and a student-led walking tour, about 2.5 hours.[S15]
The Union Club Hotel and the Illini Union Hotel are about 91 miles apart by road.[S24]
Two time zones
Purdue lists all its visit times in Eastern Time; Illinois' tour registration lists all event times in Central Time. You gain an hour driving west, so check which clock each confirmation uses.[S4][S16]
Tour availability varies by season.
Purdue offers Daily Visits most weekdays at multiple times and on some Saturdays; check the calendar on its sign-up page before you book flights.[S1][S2]
The Illini Union Hotel says football weekends and special events sell out, so book early if your dates fall on one.[S19]
2. The suggested 2-day plan
Drive and walk times are no-traffic estimates from OpenStreetMap routing, using addresses geocoded with OpenStreetMap Nominatim; they can differ from what map apps show. Purdue itself says it is about an hour from Indianapolis.[S24][S25][S26][S3]
Nominatim placed Purdue's Office of Admissions (128 Memorial Mall) at Stewart Center, so Purdue walk times are to Stewart Center.[S26][S1]
Arrival day: fly into IND and drive to West Lafayette
IND → Union Club Hotel (Purdue Memorial Union)
Driving (no traffic)
~1 hr 35 min, 70 mi (routing estimate)
Walking
Drive, or a Lafayette Limo or Reindeer Shuttle airport shuttle[S24][S3]
Purdue University Airport (LAF) → Union Club Hotel
Daily Visit: a 30-minute Admissions Information Session, then a 90-minute campus walking tour with a current student. Plan on 2.5 to 3 hours.[S1]
Office of Admissions: 128 Memorial Mall, West Lafayette. Purdue sends check-in and navigation details by email after you register.[S1][S2]
Engineering and Agriculture offer their own visit options; see Purdue Engineering's visit page and Purdue Agriculture's custom visit request.[S11][S29]
Visitor parking
Grant Street Parking Garage, 120 N. Grant St., across from Purdue Memorial Union; also the Harrison Street Garage, 719 Clinic Dr.[S5]
Garage rates from July 1, 2026: $2 for the first 30 minutes, $5 up to an hour, then $2 for each additional hour, up to $20 for 24 hours. Cards only, no cash; a lost ticket is $50.[S5]
A visitor daily permit ($8, bought online through the Purdue Parking Portal) is valid in A, B and C spaces, but not in garages or overnight. ParkMobile pay-by-phone areas are also available.[S5]
Getting there
IND is 65 miles south; O'Hare is 140 miles north. Purdue University Airport (LAF) is on campus with daily service to and from O'Hare.[S3]
What to know
Purdue Memorial Union: the Atlas Family Marketplace on the ground floor has several places to eat, and the Boilermaker Station Welcome Center is inside. The Purdue Team Store is in Stewart Center, room 110.[S7]
The Illinois Experience + Campus Tour: an admissions presentation, Q&A with current students and a student-led walking tour, about 2.5 hours. It includes a brief housing tour.[S15][S17]
Register separately for each experience you want: campus tours, college visits, housing tours and special events.[S14]
Programs meet in different places across campus; check your visit's location. Illinois doesn't schedule overnight visits.[S17]
The Office of Student Financial Aid has walk-in hours; no appointment is needed.[S17]
Visitor parking
There's no free visitor parking on weekdays. Unless told otherwise, park at a meter and pay electronically, for example with the MobileMeter app.[S13][S17]
Illini Union Hotel guests get one complimentary space per reservation in Lot D11, with a permit issued at check-in.[S20]
Getting there
I-72, I-74 and I-57 all lead to Champaign-Urbana. Illinois Terminal (train and bus) is about 2 miles from campus, and Willard Airport (CMI) about 5 miles.[S13]
What to know
Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Dr., is free; open Tuesday–Friday 10–5 and Saturday 10–4, and Thursdays until 8 pm when classes are in session.[S23]
A hands-on children's museum about 4 minutes by car from the Union Club. $10 ages 2 and up, free under 2. Open Wed–Thu 10 am–1 pm, Fri–Sat 10–5, Sun 11–5; closed Mon–Tue.[S12][S24]
At Purdue, the Grant Street Garage is across from the union; garages take cards only. The $8 visitor daily permit doesn't work in garages.[S5]
At Illinois, there's no free parking on weekdays; meters are enforced Monday–Saturday, 6 am–1 am.[S17][S20]
Union Club self-parking is $25 a day; the Illini Union Hotel includes one space in Lot D11.[S9][S20]
Without a car
Lafayette Limo and Reindeer Shuttle connect IND and O'Hare with Purdue; reservations are recommended.[S3]
Illinois Terminal handles trains and buses about 2 miles from campus, and Willard Airport is about 5 miles away.[S13]
We haven't confirmed public transit between West Lafayette and Champaign-Urbana; plan on a car for the middle leg.
Weather by season (1991–2020 NOAA normals: Lafayette and Champaign airports)
Spring: April averages about 62°F/40°F in Lafayette and 65°F/41°F in Champaign.[S27][S28]
Summer: July averages 84°F/63°F in Lafayette and 85°F/64°F in Champaign.[S27][S28]
Fall: October averages 65°F/43°F in Lafayette and 67°F/43°F in Champaign; November averages 50°F/33°F in Lafayette and 52°F/32°F in Champaign.[S27][S28]
Winter: January averages 33°F/18°F in Lafayette and 34°F/18°F in Champaign. Tours are outdoors, so dress in layers.[S27][S28]
Parent checklist
Register for a Purdue Daily Visit, and for each Illinois experience separately.[S2][S14]
Note the time zones: Purdue times are Eastern, Illinois times are Central.[S4][S16]
Book both union hotels early, especially on Illinois football weekends.[S19]
Reserve an IND shuttle or a rental car; you'll want a car between campuses.[S3]
Pack comfortable walking shoes and weather layers for two outdoor tours.[S1][S27]
After each visit, take five minutes to jot down what stood out to your student.
8. Student-athlete recruiting visits
For families whose student hopes to play a college sport. Rules below are the NCAA's; each school's links were checked Oct 26, 2026.
Coaches arrange the recruiting part of a visit, not the admissions office. The tour sign-ups in this guide are for the regular family visit. An official (school-paid) visit is offered by the school, and contact with coaches follows NCAA rules that vary by division, sport and grade level.[A1][A2]
Start with your sport's questionnaire, then email the coaches. The NCAA suggests emailing coaches with your achievements, highlight videos and interest in their program, including your name, position, NCAA ID and graduation year.[A1]
RecruitingWe found no department-wide recruiting page. Look for a questionnaire on your sport's team page at the athletics site ↗, or email the coaches.[A5]
Unofficial visit: any campus visit you or your family pay for. You can take as many as you like; in Divisions I and II each one has to come after the first permissible date for your sport.[A1]
Official visit: a visit paid for by the school. Each school can offer your student only one. Before a Division I official visit, your student must be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center, be on the school's institutional request list, and the school must have their high school transcripts.[A1]
Division I (Purdue University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign): on an official visit the school can pay for travel for the student and up to two family members, lodging, up to three meals a day for the student and up to four family members, and up to $60 a person in entertainment, including five home-game tickets. On an unofficial visit there are no free meals, but the school can give up to three home-game tickets. Division I uses recruiting calendars with contact, evaluation, quiet and dead periods; in a dead period, no in-person contact and no visits.[A1][A3]
Rules change. Confirm with the coach, or check the NCAA's recruiting page and recruiting calendars, before you plan dates.[A2][A3]
Planning around the season
Check each school's athletics schedule (linked above) before you pick dates, so a coach meeting doesn't land on a road trip or game day for your sport.
Our recommendation, not a school rule: ask the coach whether they can line up an admissions session or tour around your meeting. If not, book the regular family tour yourself through the official sign-up links in this guide, and leave time between the two.
Add your dates and how you're getting there, and we'll pull this guide into one plan: tour sign-up links, the hotel base, parking or airport notes, the route and meals.
Coming soon
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Sources
All checked Oct 26, 2026. Tour schedules change constantly, so always confirm on each school's official sign-up page. Photo credits are under each photo and on our About page.
