We can imagine that some of you object to Champaign being a drink, not a destination. Well, you probably know that the name of the sparkling wine comes from a certain geographical region in France. Still, we don’t mean you can book a limo to the Champagne area in Europe. Obviously, it’s impossible. Yet, going less than 150 miles south of downtown Chicago, we find another place named Champaign. And it is the center of one of the most prominent counties in the state of Illinois.
Would you need an Executive Car Service to get there starting from Windy City? Champaign is actually one of the main locations of a bustling business area called the Silicon Prairie in analogy to the Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even if you had never heard about the town before stumbling on this small article, we surely got you interested in continuing to read.
What is Champaign (IL) famous for?
It’s definitely not the wine. The town was founded in the mid-19th century next to the already-existing small urban area known as Urbana. Champaign is not named after the French region, globally famous for its sparkling wines, but after the eponymous county in Ohio. Champaign (IL) is an essential educational and entrepreneurial hub not only for the state alone but for the Midwest as a whole.
The town is home to one of Illinois’s leading postsecondary education institutions – the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It is far from being an overstatement – UIUC is the largest university by enrollment in the state, with more than 56 thousand students in 2021-22. For comparison, the number of people studying at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is twenty thousand fewer. UIUC is the public university with the highest total of need-based financial aid to students – about $380 million a year! So, Champaign University is reasonably attractive to many young people not only in Illinois but around the United States as a whole as a great option to continue their education after high school.
The heart of Silicon Prairie
But Champaign–Urbana Metropolitan Area is more than a highly important educational area in the state. In the late 90s, it was already recognized as among the top ten tech cities beyond Silicon Valley. The area dubbed Silicon Prairie is spread between Chicago and Champaign–Urbana. So, the town, which sounds like sparkling wine, underwent immense development in the past three decades. Champaign, Illinois, houses the offices of several Fortune 500 companies like Abbott, IBM, ADM, Caterpillar, John Deere, Dow Chemical Company, etc.
So, many business people and entrepreneurs travel to Champaign, Illinois, from all over the USA. If you head to the heart of Silicon Prairie, you will probably land at some of the Chicago airports. We can offer Midway or O’Hare limo service to enjoy seamless rides while on a work journey. You can get from the airport to Champaign (IL) in about an hour, relaxing in a limousine—you can even have a glass of true Champaign if you want to treat yourself.
Visiting the area for a holiday? You’re welcome!
There are plenty of reasons to visit Champaign outside the education and business. The area has all the pros of the big city, but it spares you the cons of a megapolis. You can enjoy various outdoor activities and immerse yourself in the intriguing art life. The cuisine is worth mentioning, and it is worth tasting, too. So, you can use the Chicago van service in a group if you come to this place – it will be more convenient and pleasant than taking an intercity bus.