Wichita

Wichita is the largest city in Kansas — since Kansas City is divided between the states of Kansas and Missouri. It is not the biggest or flashiest city in the US, but it is a medium-sized city with a small-town feel. It offers much to tourists from both near and far with its variety of attractions.

Tourist information

 * Visit Wichita website

Understand
Wichita is a city in the heart of the great plains in Central Kansas. The city is home to large aircraft manufacturers which make up a large portion of the local economy. In 2021, it had almost 400,000 residents.

By car
Wichita is at the junction of Interstates 135 and 35 (Kansas Turnpike) and approximately 3 hours' drive from Kansas City or Oklahoma City. It's 1½ hours from I-70.

By plane

 * Alaska Airlines. Service from Seattle.
 * Allegiant Air. Service from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
 * American Airlines. Service from Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth.
 * Delta Air Lines. Service from Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul
 * Southwest Airlines Service from Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love, and Las Vegas.
 * United Airlines. Service from Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, and Houston.
 * United Airlines. Service from Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, and Houston.

By train
While Amtrak doesn't serve the city directly with any passenger trains, there is a shuttle service to the Wichita Transit Center at 214 S Topeka St from Newton for the Southwest Chief and also from Oklahoma City for the Heartland Flyer.

Get around

 * City Bus. As the only form of public transit serving the city, bus service may cover the areas near some sights you'd want to see, but not nearly all. Routes are long and the wait for the next bus can stretch to an hour. In general, this is not a good way to get around.
 * Taxi Hailable only at the airport, they don't even queue at downtown hotels. Points of interest are far enough apart that a rental car quickly becomes cost-effective.  Unlike other cities of its size, you can't even find any at the bus station.
 * Rental car If you didn't drive to Wichita, you'll likely want to rent a car when you arrive.
 * Navigating Wichita Wichita is almost exclusively a driving town. Even so, traffic is generally lighter than most larger cities, and parking is almost always free and plentiful, even downtown. Wichita's streets are laid out in a fairly easy-to-navigate grid system.
 * Ridesharing Uber and Lyft both operate ridesharing services in the city.
 * No trip to Wichita is complete without an excursion through the nearby Flint Hills, and that's only possible in a car (preferably a convertible).