UA to La Crosse, WI
 

Any thoughts on where to fly into - and drive I'm guessing? Trains in the US, likely a terrible idea?

Fly into Minneapolis (MSP) or Milwaukee(MKE).

Also, you may be able to get slightly closer at Eau Claire (EAU) or Wausau (CWA)


Then rent a car.
We don't do trains. 'Murica

If you would consider American Airlines, they have a direct flight from Chicago (ORD) direct to La Crosse (LSE) for about $209 round trip.

UA just announced service to Rochester, MN (RST), which is probably the closest airport with UA service. Madison (MSN) is quite a bit closer than Milwaukee.

Amtrak does have a train that serves Chicago, Milwaukee, La Crosse, and then on to Minneapolis. Intermodal connections tend to be complicated in the US; it's unusual to be able to exit the airport and get right onto a train. Renting a car will be easiest.

On June 8th United starts 3x daily service to Rochester, MN (from ORD). It's about an hour drive to Lacrosse from there. Really easy airport too.

Great point, forgot about that one.

Here's the route if you want to stick to the train from Chicago (ORD) to La Crosse, WI. La Crosse is one of the few cities in Wisconsin that has Amtrak service.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/O'Ha...013556!3e3!5i3

Where are you originating from?
and
What is important to you? First Class or just getting to your final destination?


Closet UA served airport would be EAU (via CRJ 200) followed by MSP, MSN, and CWA.


If you want a nice drive fly into MSP then drive down highway 61 along the river.

There's direct access to Amtrak at MKE as well.

RST is definitely closer than all of those (assuming OP is flying after June 8 and then assuming that the route isn't abandoned by United, so probably a 3 months safety net? RIP DTW-RST on DAL).

MSP to La Crosse on Hwy 61 is a beautiful drive. At least one respectable winery along the way too.

It sounds like OP is traveling from outside the US. If you arrive in Chicago, the transfer from ORD to Union Station (Amtrak) is a trial -- very difficult by public transport. Best to fly up to Rochester or even La Crosse itself (on AA or DL, not UA). If you can arrange to arrive in Minneapolis (via DL most likely), it's easiest to forget about the connecting flight to La Crosse, hire a car at MSP, and drive. Pretty countryside, less than three hours.

Much easier to fly to the city itself. I would do one of two things.

1) Fly into ORD or MSP on UA and then buy a separate ticket from MSP-LSE (on DL) or ORD-LSE (on AA). RT prices vary from $150-$250, so pick whichever airline is cheaper for the day you want to travel and then fly to that airport.

2) Fly into RST on UA and drive from there. UA starts service to RST on June 8 and it is about 1hr 15min drive. If you are flying before then, fly to EAU on UA and drive 1hr 45min.

Option 1 is more convenient, but if you have a ton of bags and don't want the hassle of making two reservations and having to check in again, then go with option 2.

Indeed, it's a beautiful drive once you get beyond the Metro area with (as someone pointed out above) some wineries. Google Great River Road Wine Trail. You can drive with on either side of the river, with a few bridges along the way.

If you want to try the train, If you fly into MSP, there's light rail service from the airport to the train station in St Paul, although you must switch trains once, on the same platform, on the edge of Minneapolis. The light rail stop for the train station is right in front of the building, so that the total walk would be about one block on that end, although it's a somewhat longer walk to the light rail at MSP. [There's no train station in Minneapolis.] The train station is a beautifully restored historic building along the river. When I've been there, it's been empty.

From Milwaukee airport to the train station, you would probably want to take a taxi although there might be some public buses. Many trains from Chicago require a change in Milwaukee IITC.

The drive from Madison isn't bad either, although there's a lot of road construction there as well as lots of traffic. It's also a beautiful drive

MSN is close, modern and very reasonable.

RST is the most convenient UA airport to La Crosse.


Don't try this unless you want to overnight in MSP.

The daily train is scheduled to leave Saint Paul at 8AM, you would need to be departing MSP by taxi/uber no later than 7:30AM, I don't believe UA has an arrival prior to 7AM. From Chicago the train is a 2:15PM departure, if attempting this skip the public transit option if carrying heavy bags. Blue Line to Clinton is easy but stairs and three block walk isn't.

My neck of the woods. I agree if you can get into Rochester MN that is an easy drive over to LaCrosse.

There is also a large private bus option, "Trailways" that has a stop at RST airport and a couple stops in LaCrosse (or La Crosse)

use this link and with "Rochester Arpt, MN" and "La Crosse, WI" with the space for the search...
https://webstore.trailways.com/