South Bend, IN by Train

The trains never run on time so give yourself time.

I got curious seems like you would have to leave NO at 1:45 on Thursday and arrive at close to midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning.

We would definitely need to leave on Thursday at latest, possibly Wednesday. However, I seem to recall more options available once dates/times for football games are announced.

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I didn’t take the train there, we flew in to Chicago and drove, but I have been to South Bend. I was there for the Kevin Faulk game in 1998 that we lost in a shootout. It is a beautiful and iconic campus worth going out of your way to visit.

I have been going to out of town games for over 50 years and ND gets my vote for having the friendliest and least obnoxious fans. Granted that bar is not set very high considering the other places around the SEC I have been to , but still.

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We did the same (flew into Chicago, rented a car and drove). I do think they have a train from Chicago to South Bend, fyi.

I'm no Notre Dame fan, and I found South Bend to be an awful town, just downright depressing and "rust belt" like. However, Notre Dame's campus is incredible. The Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus, The Library's reflecting pool, Notre Dame Stadium, The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Bascilica of the Sacred Heart, The Quad...something about it...it just "gets into you" like any other campus/game that I've visited. It's kind of hard to describe. If you catch a game on the right day (crisp day or even cold), it's incredible. Great gameday scene.

We went in 2016 to see Notre Dame play Miami - fantastic game, by the way. It was a 2:30 game and the weather was absolutely perrfect. I also found Notre Dame fans to be polite and respectful. This could also be due to the utterly obnoxious Miami fans.

Notre Dame has a different atmosphere than SEC games - The tailgating scene is good, but think more tents set up in the parking lot, grilling up brats, hamburgers, chili, beers, cigars, scotch and such.

We didn't tailgate the entire time, as there is a lot to see. Check out the Notre Dame band playing the trumpets under the Golden Dome the night before, drinks at Corby's, The Linebacker Bar and Grill, and O'Rourke's.

Thank you for the detailed recommendations. Hopefully can make it work and all goes well. If successful, will report back with the results

Providing a little update. Looks like we’re going to make the Notre Dame Vs Wake Forest game on 11/18. It’s a 2:30 kickoff. We will fly into either Midway International or O’Hare and have a rental car. Any suggestions on towns nearby to recommend for hotels? Looking ridiculously expensive within South Bend itself. Has anyone ever stayed at the Morris Inn (hotel on campus) and know typical price?

We flew straight into south bend the Saturday morning of game in 1998. I went back to a game in 2018. Beautiful campus never disappoints

You are way better off flying into Midway.

I’d check Michigan City for hotels.

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Any suggestions on towns nearby to recommend for hotels?

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Look at New Buffalo, Saint Joe, or Benton Harbor Michigan. All three are beach towns but there are no beachgoers in November. I can't speak to how many ND fans are using those hotels, but they're all about 45 minutes away.

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Providing a little update. Looks like we’re going to make the Notre Dame Vs Wake Forest game on 11/18. It’s a 2:30 kickoff. We will fly into either Midway International or O’Hare and have a rental car. Any suggestions on towns nearby to recommend for hotels? Looking ridiculously expensive within South Bend itself. Has anyone ever stayed at the Morris Inn (hotel on campus) and know typical price?

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I’m an ND grad (despite the name from when I signed up for TD way-back-when in HS before the OSU-LSU NCG, featuring an exciting OSU LB named Marcus Freeman) and currently live in Chicago and make that trip over for game days multiple times per season.

You literally might not be able to book Morris Inn on a football weekend (due to no connections), and even if you are able to, the price would be astronomical.

I’d recommend just staying in Chicago (especially since you’re flying in/out of there anyway). It’s easily drivable to/from SB and there will be a lot more to do, too, on Friday night/Saturday night/Sunday morning, if you’re inclined. Hotels that time of year should be pretty affordable/readily available in Chi too (Bears are on the road that weekend too which should help). Only potential issue I guess could be price of parking in Chi overnight, but you can probably find a hotel with a decent overnight rate in a garage, possibly even have it included complimentary, depending on the hotel.

If you stay in Chi, you can leave Chi at 8 am Central on Saturday morning. That should get you settled in SB around 11 Eastern, which should leave enough time to do the various activities/sights around campus before heading into the stadium around 2 pm. There’s a schedule of all the activities around campus on gameday.nd.edu. (I think right now, that website is mostly ticket sales, but by the start of the season, that’ll change to gameday activity information.)

You can park on the streets in the residential neighborhood directly south of campus for free as long as you’re not on one of the streets where it says you can’t park on Gameday. Otherwise, cheapest option is probably $40 in a giant grass field north of campus, then free shuttle.

Grotto/Basilica/Dome/library (TD Jesus) are the touristy stuff/“must sees” but it’s a pretty campus overall. There are also various student clubs/dorms that will sell concession items (e.g., hot dogs, brats, burgers, etc.) throughout the quads on campus before the game as a fundraiser.

After the game, if you’re Catholic (or even if you’re not) there’s Mass in the Basilica that starts 30 minutes after the game ends (Saturday evening, so Sunday readings/counts for Sunday obligation, if you’re practicing Catholic). If you wanted to grab dinner, Eddy Street just south of campus has a few restaurants (O’Rourkes or Brothers). There’s also Rocco’s pizza a bit further south than that which is great. All three possibly could be challenging to find seating though. My favorite bar is the Backer, which is just southeast of campus; you/your parents would fit in fine age-wise as it runs the gamut (especially on a game weekend) but it’s loud/high-energy, so would depend on their energy level/comfort/etc if it’d be a good choice or not.

If you don’t do dinner/bar/Mass post-game and just leave straight away and stay in Chicago, you should be back in Chi by around 7:30 pm Central. If you do any of those, it’ll obviously put you back a bit, but still should be back in Chi at a reasonable hour.

Happy to answer any questions/clarify more.

ETA: WF game is actually 3:30 eastern (South Bend time) / 2:30 Central (Chi time) so you can bump all those times mentioned above back an hour accordingly.