Chicago vs Washington, DC for Business Travel
Which is the easier business trip — Chicago or Washington, DC? Airports, getting around, and what’s actually there, compared.
Two very different business-travel cities. Here is the honest side-by-side — the airports, whether you can skip the rental, and how much is actually headquartered there.
| Chicago | Washington, DC |
|---|---|
| O’Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) airport rail available · 21 HQ guides | Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD), and BWI airport rail available · 20 HQ guides |
Which is easier to get around?
Chicago: Both Chicago airports are on the L (Blue from O’Hare, Orange from Midway) — train for downtown, Metra or car for the suburbs. Washington, DC: DC is a transit metro — DCA is on the Metro, the Silver Line reaches Tysons/Reston. A rental is rarely needed.
So which is the better business trip?
Neither is dramatically easier to move around — both have airport rail into the core. The real difference is where your client sits and how spread out the metro is; check the company’s guide.
For the specifics, see business travel to Chicago and business travel to Washington, DC.
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