A campus is always best experienced by walking, but we're a big place, and our driving tour provides a great overview in a much shorter amount of time. We’ll begin our tour at the intersection of Neil Street and Green Street, so add it to your GPS to get here, throw on our accompanying playlist, and let the fun begin!
Head east on Green Street, toward the underpass that says "Campustown." You're entering one of the top-ranked college towns in the nation (Best College Reviews), and Green Street cuts right through the heart of it of all. Currently, you're in Champaign, but our campus is located in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. Continue to travel down Green Street, taking note of the luxury apartment buildings, diverse dining selection, and shopping options.
When you come to the corner of Green and Wright, you'll notice our beloved Alma Mater statue on your right. She’s the most photographed spot on campus, welcoming students with open arms. The building just south of the statue is Altgeld Hall. It’s home to our math department and one of two bell towers on campus. Roll down your windows and you might just hear the chimes mark the time!
As you pass Alma, you'll see the Illini Union on your right and our Grainger Engineering campus—bookended by Engineering Hall and, behind it, the Bardeen Quad and Boneyard Creek—on your left. The Union is the hub of student activity on campus. Look just past it for a quintessential college scene: our Main Quad.
Continue on Green Street past Goodwin Avenue. You’ll notice the Illinois Street Residence Halls (ISR) on your right. Home to University Housing’s Innovation Living-Learning Community, this newly remodeled living space has one of the most impressive dining halls on campus.
Turn right once you reach Lincoln Avenue and head south. You're now on the eastern edge of campus in Urbana. As you pass Illinois Street, you'll see the Hallene Gateway, the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, Spurlock Museum, and the Office of Admissions and Records on your right. If it's warm out, you may also spot the picturesque fountain running between these landmarks.
Nevada Street is coming up next. Our School of Social Work building is just down Nevada to your right, followed by a small pocket of restaurants and shops, and the Salaam Middle East and North Africa Cultural Center.
As you travel farther south, you'll see some fraternities and sororities on your left and Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls (LAR) on your right. One of many University Housing options, LAR even has its own sustainability garden! Just past LAR is our student health center, McKinley.
Continue past Pennsylvania Avenue, where you'll see even more University Housing units, Pennsylvania and Florida Avenue Residence Halls (PAR and FAR), on your right.
After Florida Avenue, you'll come upon some of our Campus Recreation fields on your right. On your left will be our Idea Garden and larger Arboretum, a beautiful place to connect with nature and recharge. Tucked away among its landscape is the Japan House, which celebrates traditional Japanese arts and culture through tea ceremonies and special events.
Keep an eye out for St. Mary's Road and turn right. Immediately to your left is our College of Vet Med, where graduate students study veterinary medicine. You’re in the south part of campus, but not the southern edge. Campus actually continues for miles with what we refer to as the South Farms—over 1,000 acres of land devoted to agricultural research and learning.
As you continue on, you’ll see historic round barns on your left and athletic facilities on your right. As you approach First Street, you're certain to notice the State Farm Center, home to Illini basketball and many other entertainment events throughout the year, on your right.
Turn right on First Street. When doing so, you might be able to catch a glimpse of Research Park beyond the southwest corner of the intersection. A leading hub of innovation and technology, it houses more than 120 companies, including over 50 startups. As you approach Kirby Avenue, Memorial Stadium will be on your right. This is home to Fighting Illini Football. I-L-L!
Continue straight on First Street and you'll find the Activities and Recreation Center, or ARC for short. At 340,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest on-campus recreation centers in the country.
Farther north on your left, you’ll see more recreational fields. On your right is Ikenberry Commons. The largest University Housing complex on campus, it includes some of our newest residence halls.
Turn right on Gregory Drive. You’re still looking at Ikenberry Commons on your right; it continues until your next turn on Fourth Street. Student apartments, fraternities, and sororities are located on the left.
Turn right on Fourth Street. The Armory is on the northeast corner of the intersection. The Armory is home to our ROTC and Marine Corp units, and its indoor track is used by our Fighting Illini track team. Once you turn, you'll see Huff Hall on your left. Huff Hall is home to our volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics teams, as well as our College of Applied Health Sciences.
Next you’ll see our new Siebel Center for Design, a cross-disciplinary hub for design-based learning, followed by our School of Art and Design Building.
Turn left on Peabody Drive, noting our world-class Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center on the southwest corner of the intersection as you do. On your right will then be the College of Law, where graduate students study (you guessed it!) law. On your left, just past the School of Art and Design Building, will be the Krannert Art Museum. This museum is free for students and houses both permanent collections and temporary exhibitions for all of your art-viewing needs.
Turn left on Sixth Street. You’ll now have a better view of the Krannert Art Museum on your left. On your right will be the Education Building, home to our College of Education and its cutting-edge O’Leary Learning Center.
Farther north, on your left, is the Business Instructional Facility. This state-of-the-art building serves as the home base for our Gies College of Business. It includes both the Illinois MakerLab, the world’s first business school 3D printing lab, and the Margolis Market Information Lab, which provides exposure to real-time financial and alternative data.
As you cross Gregory, you'll see the Armory again to the left and our Main Library on your right. The Main Library is home to a breathtaking reading room, the stacks, and The Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Turn right on Armory Avenue. Straight ahead is Gregory Hall. It houses the College of Media, Department of History, and Communications Library, among other things. Behind Gregory Hall you’ll glimpse our Main Quad once more, along with Foellinger Auditorium. Foellinger houses some of our largest lectures—you’ll likely have at least one class here at some point!
Turn left on Wright Street. Gregory Hall will be on your right, followed by Lincoln Hall. A bust of Abraham Lincoln can be found inside this building’s entrance; it’s tradition for students to rub his nose for good luck before a big test! Lincoln Hall is also home to our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Turn left on Chalmers Street. As you approach Fifth Street, our International Studies Building will be on your right. This building is home to our study abroad office. After passing Fifth Street, you'll see an apartment complex, Illini Tower, on your left. This living unit is one of many Private Certified Housing options approved by the university for incoming students.
Continue until you get to Fourth Street, then turn right. Here you'll see more student apartments, fraternities, and sororities.
Continue until you arrive at Springfield Avenue, then turn right. Once you pass Wright Street, you're in the heart of our Engineering campus. Grainger Engineering Library is on your right. It sits on the north side of the Bardeen Quad opposite Engineering Hall, which we passed earlier. The Digital Computer Lab, which houses Engineering Career Services, is on your left.
Turn left on Mathews Avenue. Once you cross Stoughton Street, you'll see Siebel Center for Computer Science (home to our computer science department) on your right, and Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory (home to our civil and environmental engineering department) on your left.
Continue north on Mathews. The National Center for Supercomputing Applications, a hub of transdisciplinary research and digital scholarship, is next on your right. On the left is our Hydro-Systems Lab, an 11,000 square-foot hydraulic research laboratory.
Turn right onto University Avenue, then turn right onto Goodwin Avenue. To your left will soon be Campbell Hall, home of Illinois Public Media—a not-for-profit public media service of the College of Media. Siebel Center for Computer Science will again be on your right, followed by additional engineering buildings until you reach Green Street.
Keep heading south on Goodwin. When you pass Illinois Street, you'll see the Krannert Center for Performing Arts on your left. This impressive performance facility has five stories, most of which is underground. It serves as home for many College of Fine and Applied Arts students. On your right is our Chemical and Life Sciences Laboratory; students studying chemistry, biochemistry, and biology will become very familiar with this building!
You'll see our Music Building, the heart of our School of Music, on your left as you approach Nevada Street. Nevada Street itself is home to our cultural houses; the Asian American Cultural Center, the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural Latina, and the Native American House will all be to your right. Just past Nevada Street you'll see University Housing’s Busey-Evans residence halls on your left.
Continue on, and Bevier Hall (home to multiple College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences departments and Bevier Cafe, a tasty student-operated restaurant) will be on your right and Freer Hall (home to our kinesiology department) on your left. The Edward R. Madigan Laboratory, which provides space for research in areas such as nutrition and biotechnology, will be straight ahead, across Gregory Drive.
Turn left on Gregory Drive. Straight ahead you’ll see Allen Hall, a creative, arts-immersive University Housing option. On your left you’ll see Campus Recreation Center East, or CRCE for short. Smaller than the ARC, yet still an impressive recreation facility!
Turn right on Dormer Drive. On your right you’ll see the Plant Sciences Laboratory, a large greenhouse complex, and part of our College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (beyond lies the South Quad and McFarland Bell Tower). Just past Peabody Drive you’ll see the National Soybean Research Laboratory on your right.
Turn left on Pennsylvania Avenue. On your right will be University Housing’s Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls once more. On your left is Illini Grove, part of Campus Recreation and a great place to enjoy the outdoors!
Turn right on Lincoln Avenue, then take another right on Florida Avenue. As you continue to head west on Florida Avenue, it will eventually turn into Kirby Avenue. You’ll get another view of many of our sports facilities as you travel along this strip, including ball diamonds and tennis courts on your left, Memorial Stadium on your right, and State Farm Center on your left.
Eventually, you’ll run into Neil Street (Route 45), where you’ll turn right. This will bring you back to Neil and Green, where you began your tour. (If your stomach is now rumbling and you choose to continue north, you’ll arrive in Downtown Champaign, a charming area with a wide variety of delicious restaurants.)
We hope you enjoyed your drive around campus and that you get to experience all of it (sans car) soon enough. Go Illini!