Cheapest€11.18
- PARTA PA793215:452h 58m18:43Chicago Union StationMadison - Dutch Mill
Door to door 3h 42mCO2 5.3 kgChanges 0Changeable for a fee
Chicago to Madison bus
Buses from Chicago to Madison start at €11.73 and take 3h 24m at their fastest.
The Buses from Chicago to Madison starts at €11.73 and takes 3h 24m door to door, run by 1 operator over 198 km, with around 12 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 3h 24mDoor to door
- 2h 40mMoving
- €11.73From
- 5.3 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 29, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Bus operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 PARTA | €11.18 | 3h 23m | 72 km/h | Changeable | Power outlets, Restrooms, Wi-Fi |
The bus gets you into Madison. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
Where to stay in Madison
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
Search Madison on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Chicago to Madison
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €11.7390 days
- €10.0860 days
- €11.1845 days
- €11.1830 days
- €11.7321 days
- €11.7314 days
- €13.387 days
- €18.333 days
- €22.731 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €10.08.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 125 percent. The most expensive point is €22.73, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €14.48Sun
- €12.83Mon
- €12.83Tue
- €11.73Wed
- €16.13Thu
- €15.58Fri
- €15.58Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Chicago
Bus
- Chicago Union Station
- Chicago & Austin Terminal
Madison
Bus
- Madison - Dutch Mill
- UW-Madison Intercity Bus
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 198 km against 198 km in a straight line, a detour of 2 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Chicago at 06:43 and the last at 21:02, across 12 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Buses against the other ways to make this journey
The same corridor, door to door, with every mode that runs it.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | 2h 10m | 1h 26m | 44m | €24.54 | 6.5 kg | 12 |
| Coach | 3h 24m | 2h 40m | 44m | €11.73 | 5.3 kg | 12 |
| Flight | 3h 50m | 40m | 3h 10m | €31.41 | 50.2 kg | 48 |
Questions about Chicago to Madison
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does the Coach from Chicago to Madison take?
The Coach from Chicago to Madison takes 3h 24m door to door, of which 2h 40m is spent moving. The route runs 198 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.
How much does the Coach from Chicago to Madison cost?
The Coach from Chicago to Madison starts at €11.73 for one passenger, checked on September 29, 2026. A typical fare is €12.28. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Coach from Chicago to Madison?
1 operators run the Coach from Chicago to Madison: PARTA. Between them they file around 12 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.
Which terminal does the Coach from Chicago to Madison use?
The Coach from Chicago to Madison leaves from Chicago Union Station and arrives at Madison - Dutch Mill. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.
Is the Coach the best way from Chicago to Madison?
Traveling from Chicago to Madison by Train costs €24.54 and takes 2h 10m door to door, against 3h 24m by Coach. Which is better depends on whether the money or the hours matter more on this trip. The comparison table on this page shows every mode side by side.
When should I book the Coach from Chicago to Madison?
Fares for the Coach from Chicago to Madison bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €10.08. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 125 percent, measured on September 29, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Coach from Chicago to Madison produce?
The Coach from Chicago to Madison produces about 5.3 kg of CO2 per passenger over 198 km, which works out at roughly 27 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Coach from Chicago to Madison?
Operators on the Coach from Chicago to Madison publish Power outlets, Restrooms, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 3h 24m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Chicago to Madison on September 9, 2026: 198 km of route against 198 km in a straight line, 12 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €11.73, and 3h 24m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
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The bus is the simple part. What you do once you are in Madison is somebody else's catalog.
Things to do in Madison
Day trips that leave Madison in the morning and cover a good part of United States by evening.
See Madison on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
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