Riverwoods
United States · Americas
About Riverwoods
The Northwest Suburbs are in Chicagoland, primarily in northwestern Cook, southern Lake and northern DuPage County, centered along Metra’s North Central Service, though encompassing areas well beyond the rail line. The Northwestern Suburbs constitute the largest portion of Chicagoland outside of the city.
For further-out suburbs, see Fox River Valley.
Riverwoods travel guide
Understand
Like much of Chicagoland, the Northwestern Suburbs originated from the population boom following World War II. With the influx of new residents, easy access to Chicago and boom around O'Hare International Airport, the area grew quickly and has some of the largest communities in the suburbs. Visitors will quickly note that many of these suburbs contain a mixture of 1950s style homes and modern mansions, sometimes alongside one another.
Getting there
With its close proximity to O'Hare International Airport, much of the Northwestern Suburban area is accessible via both I-90 and I-94. Other major routes include US 20 and IL 53.
1 Chicago Executive Airport (PWK IATA, formerly Palwaukee Municipal Airport) (in Wheeling). Chicago Executive Airport is a general aviation airport. It is the fourth busiest airport in Illinois, despite only operating charter flights. O'Hare International Airport (ORD IATA) (in the southern part of the region). One of the busiest airports in the world . (updated Mar 2026)
Getting around
I-90 runs east-west through the southern part of the region, while I-94 runs north-south through the eastern part of the region. The Metra North Central Service runs north-south, but it doesn’t run on weekends or holidays.
Go next
Visitors to the Northwest Suburbs can go in a variety of directions to many places, such as:
Chicago Rockford Milwaukee Kenosha Of course, there are also flights out of O'Hare International Airport.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.