Notre Dame trip question

[ratking17]

Looking to go to ND for the first time ever. Kick off is 330 on NBC that saturday.

I was hoping for a few insights for those that have made the trip before. I am planning on taking Friday off and visiting their campus, staying nearby overnight, and then driving home after the game.

Is same day parking available or do you need to get it in advance?
What was the cost if you recall?
How long did it take to get out of the stadium? Roughly speaking...

If the game is over by 7:30, I can make pittsburgh after midnight or stop well outside of south bend and grab a cheap hotel.

Thank for anyone that can provide insight here...

 

[OriginalEther]

I’m sure others will give better insight, but when I went back in 2004, we stayed at a hotel right off the interstate. They provided a shuttle to the game. We actually walked back after; think it took about 30 minutes

 

[Swervin27]

I went to the '04 game and drove home after, it was miserable. Side of the road woke me up about 8 times and that was before I was even at Toledo. You know how depressing it is when you are driving, you literally cant keep your eyes open and you aren't even passed Toledo? Very miserable, that's how much.

Get a hotel in Chicago, make a weekend out of it. South bend is dreadfully boring. Very worst, get a hotel and pound beers post game at a chain bar/restaurant. im telling you, that drive home is brutal, especially if you've been tailgating.

 

[joeydavid]

Stay in Chicago and travel to South Bend in the morning. Parking isn't a problem.

This is one of my favorite road trips to make.

 

[Las Panteras]

I echo the suggestion of Chicago

Train from the loop to south bend is 2 hours

From train depot you can shuttle....cab or even walk but it's a haul

Make a weekend of it. Chicago is awesome and drive home Sunday in daylight.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Has anyone ever taken the South Shore Line from Chicago to South Bend? I like traveling by train, not sure if it'd be a huge pain or just fun.

 

[wbrpanther]

I went to the '04 game and drove home after, it was miserable. Side of the road woke me up about 8 times and that was before I was even at Toledo. You know how depressing it is when you are driving, you literally cant keep your eyes open and you aren't even passed Toledo? Very miserable, that's how much.

Get a hotel in Chicago, make a weekend out of it. South bend is dreadfully boring. Very worst, get a hotel and pound beers post game at a chain bar/restaurant. im telling you, that drive home is brutal, especially if you've been tailgating.

So that's where you got the name "Swervin".

 

[Las Panteras]

I have Marshall....

I enjoyed it. But I have a vivid imagination and went back in time.

The worst part is from the depot in South bend to the stadium. Shuttle busses....but crowded.

 

[JSSTartan]

I’ve been to South Bend many times for games. Re Chicago it depends what you are looking for on staying. South Bend is very expensive for hotels rooms. Before moving and living in Indy, I would stay in Elkhart.

There are also places in Toledo (about 80 miles east).

Re parking there are plenty of places to try to find parking. Depending upon what time you are planning on arriving on game day, check out the following cross street Bulla and Palmer. It is very near TD Jesus and there are homes there that have their yards for parking. (They are the last holdouts against UND buying them out).

A little south of ND there is a brand new Tribal Casino too.

Hope this helps. H2P

 

[ratking17]

I am not paying 400 bucks a night. I travel back home in eastern pa after every pitt game so driving at 3am isn't a big issue. I figure get close to Pittsburgh close to midnightish and then find a 100 buck place and then drive home Sunday morning.

 

[PittMiamiRivalry]

I went to the '04 game and drove home after, it was miserable. Side of the road woke me up about 8 times and that was before I was even at Toledo. You know how depressing it is when you are driving, you literally cant keep your eyes open and you aren't even passed Toledo? Very miserable, that's how much.

Get a hotel in Chicago, make a weekend out of it. South bend is dreadfully boring. Very worst, get a hotel and pound beers post game at a chain bar/restaurant. im telling you, that drive home is brutal, especially if you've been tailgating.

If you stay in Chicago leave very early for South Bend. Chicago traffic is the worst. I went to South Bend in 2008 and didn't have a lot of time. I made it to ND Stadium...at halftime. Of course we won in 4 OTs so it was worth it.

 

[Las Panteras]

If you stay in Chicago leave very early for South Bend. Chicago traffic is the worst. I went to South Bend in 2008 and didn't have a lot of time. I made it to ND Stadium...at halftime. Of course we won in 4 OTs so it was worth it.

Uhhhh.....the way to go from Chicago is the train.

Why drive all the way to Chicago and turn around and drive to south bend?

You will waste far more time in your car than the two hours to get to the south bend train depot

 

[ninetime]

We’ve stayed a couple of times in Bryan, OH. About 6 hrs from Pittsburgh, 2 hrs from ND. An easy drive after the game.

 

[pitt-girl]

Has anyone ever taken the South Shore Line from Chicago to South Bend? I like traveling by train, not sure if it'd be a huge pain or just fun.

It's a pain. It's a solid 2 hours and you lose an hour. JMO.

 

[pitt-girl]

From Pgh it’s turnpikr all the way I think it was under 8 HRs

We had to stay in Michigan.....just north of the line at a Marriott.

Been awhile, Can’t remember all the particulars but I can tell you one thing......

Do it.

It is a College FB experience like no other.
Try to get to the Pep rally Friday night....
And a couple local spots around campus for beverages.

My son is in Law School now at ND and lives in downtown South Bend. Couple of thoughts:

1. Downtown South Bend is MUCH nicer that it has ever been. Not very large but it has definitely been gentrified. We were expecting the worst when we moved him into an apartment in a converted turn of the century high school (super cool place), but were shocked at how nice everything is. A decent collection of bars/restaurants. One of our favorites is Fiddler's Hearth. Great food.

2. There is a Doubletree downtown and a new Aloft opened in September. I believe there will be a new Hyatt (?) opened by the summer. Mishawaka is literally right next to South Bend and also has a bunch of cheaper hotels.

3. From the North Hills I can get to South Bend in a little over 5 hours. There has been a ton of construction on the Ohio Turnpike during warm weather months, so it all depends on when/where. But it's a super easy drive.

4. I don't have much insight into cheap hotels but instead of trying to find parking around the stadium, I'd park downtown, have some drinks and then get an Uber. It's a really short drive.

5. If you get a chance pick up some goodies from the South Bend Chocolate Factory. Yummy.

 

[IH8JOPA]

Just booked two rooms Queen beds in Sturgis, Mich. about 45 min to an hr drive. Travelodge for two rooms and two nights only $342

 

[Swervin27]

So that's where you got the name "Swervin".

thinking about that drive, im still surprised im not dead. You know when you are driving and you're so tired, your eyes cant focus and go blurry? That's where I was at.

Crazy thing is, our plan was to stop in Cleveland, sleep in parking lot, and wake up and go to steeler game. I was so tired, I forgot and just drove home. My buddy is sleeping, wakes up and starts yelling at me. I tell him, dude, we aren't getting tickets anyways so it would have been a waste. I kid you not, 15 minutes later, our other buddies call us, asking where we are, they have free tickets for us and the beer is flowin.

I still haven't lived that one down.

 

[Rockyhound]

Looking to go to ND for the first time ever. Kick off is 330 on NBC that saturday.

I was hoping for a few insights for those that have made the trip before. I am planning on taking Friday off and visiting their campus, staying nearby overnight, and then driving home after the game.

Is same day parking available or do you need to get it in advance?
What was the cost if you recall?
How long did it take to get out of the stadium? Roughly speaking...

If the game is over by 7:30, I can make pittsburgh after midnight or stop well outside of south bend and grab a cheap hotel.

Thank for anyone that can provide insight here...

We stayed in Elkhart for two nights and I found that very reasonable. We parked in a boys club lot that was perfect for tailgating. The only other suggestion I would make is try to grab a burger at CJ's.

 

[President Stache]

Last time I went I stayed in Warsaw, IN, which is even more boring than South Bend. Id have to agree on the Chicago idea, although it is out of the way from Pittsburgh.
Campus is nice, small, but nice. Certainly worth the look around.

 

[goalieman]

I went to the 2004 game ..... what a game (Pitt 41-38) !! ...... went with my best friend and former college roommate (who was a football manager when we were in college) .... we met another great college friend at the game who drove in with his wife from Illinois (we drove from Pittsburgh)..... it was a 3:30 game then also.

My friend and I both had to work on Friday and couldn't leave Pittsburgh until about 7:30 Friday evening ..... we wanted to tour the ND campus on Saturday so we ended up driving to Toledo, Ohio Friday night and stayed at a Holiday Inn just off the turnpike, got there about 11 PM ...... left Saturday AM for ND and got there about 10:30 AM (about two and a half hours Toledo to ND) ..... toured the campus and went to tailgate up until game time..... one of my partners went to ND and a good friend of his is a big ND donor and got me a parking pass in the lot across from the Touchdown Jesus building (that's the ND Library) a couple blocks from the stadium ..... I think the lots near the stadium require a parking pass but you can check that out ..... my friend from Illinois had to park in some grass lot a long walk from the stadium but they shuttle bus you back and forth from that lot (I suspect they still do), he didn't need a pass .... not sure how much it cost.

After the game we wanted to go to dinner and talk among friends and decided to eat at the ND North/South Dining Hall on campus believe it or not ..... they have Candlelight dinners after most home games and it was all you could eat and the food was great (NOT cafeteria food).... cost $14/person then, I looked and it is $21/person now ..... we ate and talked for over 2 hours and when we left the parking lots were empty and we drove right out without delay (it is congested right after the game) ..... there were only a few other Pitt fans in the dining hall but the ND students were really great and the Pitt girls volleyball team had a game at ND the same day and sat with us at our table for dinner (they saw us with our Pitt gear).

It was after 9PM when we left and we drove back to Toledo and stayed the 2nd night in our room then got up Sunday AM checked out off the hotel and got back to Pittsburgh before noon.

We had a GREAT time and everyone at ND was really nice to us .... it was a lot better then going to PSU or WVU.

The link below is about their Dining Hall post game candlelight dinners if you are interested ....

https://dining.nd.edu/whats-happening/events/2017/11/18/game-day-dining-hall-dining/

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I wish I could be more help. The two times I went to the ND games at South Bend I was young enough to have friends going to school there and stayed with them.

For business, I am in South Bend once or twice a year. I stay at the downtown Doubletree in town because you can walk to bars and restaurants (but probably a bit too far to walk to the stadium). You can stay north of South Bend towards Niles. But man, I imagine hotels are booked pretty far in advance for ND home games and I imagine the room rates are doubled or tripled.

Driving home at night after the game is doable provided you aren't drunk. But man, between South Bend and Toledo all it is darkness and farms.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

We have done that trip a million times and we’ve done it every which way. It is always a great experience. The Notre Dame fans are fantastic – a dramatic departure from the subway alumni you are likely to meet here.

Chicago is a great city, but I think it’s too much time in the car.

Places like Sturgis, Michigan and Elkhart, Indiana are basically highway hotels. There’s like a few Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s nearby, — maybe a Walmart, and that’s it.

We’ve done that too and that’s definitely closer but again it’s not great.

The best way we’ve done it, and we’ve done it for several years now, is we rent a house in South Bend. Now, you need to go with a group of 8–12 people for it to be worth it, but that’s not a problem with my crew. We always travel in a large numbers and usually have to rent two or sometimes even three houses.

If you can cobble together a big group of people that’s definitely the way to go. You can wake up really anytime you want and walk over to the campus or drive a brief distance and really enjoy it. It’s absolutely spectacular!

 

[Rickey]

Having been to Notre Dame many times, Elkhart is probably the most convenient and reasonably priced place to stay. Good selection of motels and eating places. They especially have one no frills Italian restaurant I go to when I'm there that that is great and very reasonable.

It's also the RV capital of the world!

 

[PittPanther44]

Chicago would seem like a great idea if you are coming from the west or flying.

If you are driving from here, not so much because I wouldn’t want to drive beyond my destination and add antother 3 or 4 hours total round trip just to stay a night in Chicago.

Route 80 is incredibly easy too. I think the time flies. It’s definitely drivable even for just a weekend.