By plane
Dubuque is served by the Dubuque Regional Airport IATA: DBQ (http://www.flydbq.com/ind...), located 7 mi 11 km south of downtown. Air service is provided by American Eagle (http://www.aa.com), connecting to and from Chicago O'Hare. American Eagle has 3 flights per day to and from the city. To get downtown, just stay on U.S. Hwy 61 all the way in a 15 min trip. There are 2 car rental agencies Avis and National with offices in the airport terminal.
By train
Currently, there is no passenger rail service to Dubuque. However, the proposed Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque passenger line recently received funding to proceed with plans from the Illinois state government. With upgrades to the existing line, a high-speed rail connection may exist within the next several years.
By bus
Dubuque is 183 mi 295 km west of Chicago via I-90 and US 20, 90 mi 145 km southwest of Madison, Wisconsin, via US 151, 70 mi 113 km north of the Quad Cities via US 61, and 189 mi 304 km northeast of Des Moines via US 65, US 30, and US 151.
By car
Dubuque is connected to most of the surrounding cities by 4-lane highways.
From the north Twin Cities: Take US Hwy 52 2-lane
From the northeastMadison/Milwaukee: Take US Hwy 151 4-lane
EastRockford/Chicago: Take US Hwy 20 mostly 4-lane, some 2-lane
South Quad Cities: Take U.S. Highway 61 4-lane
Southwest Cedar Rapids: Take US Hwy 151 4-lane
West Waterloo: Take US Hwy 20 4-lane