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Sightseeing Overview
Chicago is a wonderful combination of arts, architecture and American life. A good orientation point is the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 East Randolph, which occupies an entire block and contains the Chicago Office of Tourism. Originally built as a library and completed in 1897, it provides a good introduction to the city’s architectural heritage. The building itself is grand, with the world’s largest Tiffany dome and three floors (joined by a great staircase) of beautiful rooms with displays and information. 

Just across the street is one of the city’s newest attractions, Millennium Park. Brimming with Frank Gehry architecture and interactive art, it is a verdant oasis in the summer. In winter, ice skaters swirl around its outdoor rink. 

Art galleries are clustered on both the Magnificent Mile and at River North. Find the latest information on art exhibits in Chicago Gallery News (website: www.chicagogallerynews.com), available at any of the galleries.

If the weather is pleasant, visitors can take in the beach resort feel of the city. Monroe, Montrose and Burnham harbors are popular working and pleasure spots with yacht clubs and other services. While away a day at Lincoln Park, sunbathe and people-watch at Oak Street Beach, located on the north side of the town’s Gold Coast, or take your canine to romp at the ‘doggy beach,’ located between Montrose and Belmont. 

To experience the ‘City of Big Shoulders’ (Carl Sandburg) skyline, take a ride on the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier, travel south down North Lake Shore Drive, or look toward the city at North Avenue Beach. One of the best ground level glimpses of the Wrigley Building and the Loop is at the Chicago River Michigan Avenue Bridge. And if you still want to see more, visit one of the old reliables - the Sears Tower Skydeck or the John Hancock Observatory.

Tourist Information
Chicago Office of Tourism
Chicago Cultural Center
77 East Randolph
Tel: (312) 744 2400 or 1 877 244 2246/CHICAGO.
Website: www.choosechicago.com

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1800, Sat 1000-1700 and Sun 1100-1700. 

Other tourist information offices are located at Chicago Waterworks, 163 East Pearson Street, open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas, 0730-1900 and at

Millennium Park Welcome Center, 201 East Randolph , in the Northwest Exelon Pavilion, open Apr-Sep 0900-1900; Oct-Mar 1000-1600. There are also kiosks at Navy Pier, open Sun-Thurs 1000-2200, Fri-Sun 1000-2400, and Sears on State, 2 North State; open Mon-Sat 1000-1800, Sun 1200-1700.

Additional information is available from Illinois Tourism (tel: 1 800 226 66328; website: www.enjoyillinois.com).

Visitor information is also available at airports and Union Station.

Passes
  The CityPass (website: www.citypass.com) offers free admission to six Chicago attractions: Field Museum & Underground Adventure, Museum of Science and Industry plus OMNIMAX, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Shedd Aquarium VIP and the Hancock Observatory. It lasts for nine days and can be purchased from the attractions on the day or online in advance. Another pass, the GoChicago Card (tel: 1 800 887 9103; website: www.gochicagocard.com) offers a one to multi-day card for free admissions to over 25 attractions, plus shopping, restaurant and lodging discounts.

Key Attractions:

Art Institute of Chicago
The bronze lions guarding the main entrance of the Art Institute of Chicago have become true symbols of the city. The Institute is packed with examples of over 5,000 years of human artistry from all over the world. Of particular interest are the collections of African, Ancient American and ‘modern’ American art from the 17th century to present, including two icons of 20th century American art: American Gothic by Grant Wood (1930) and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (1942). The Institute can also claim to be the French Impressionist capital of the American Midwest. Its collection includes one of only four surviving Water Lilies paintings by Monet, as well as work by Mary Cassatt, the only American to be included in the French Impressionist Movement. Under construction is the Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing, which, at its completion, will increase gallery space by 33%. A bridge linking the museum to Millennium Park is also being built.

111 South Michigan Avenue
Tel: (312) 443 3600.
Website: www.artic.edu/aic
Opening hours: Mon, Tues, Wed and Fri 1030-1700; Thurs 1030-2000; Sat and Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge; free on Thurs after 1700.

Grant Park
In the 1890s, Grant Park was a marshy wasteland earmarked for development, until it was saved by the wealthy Montgomery Ward and transformed by the landscaping plans of the Olmstead Brothers. Its popular landmark, the Buckingham Fountain (on Congress Parkway and Columbus Drive), is modeled after a fountain at Versailles and is a fine example of Beaux Arts landscape design. Between 1 May and 1 October, a brightly-colored, illuminated water performance takes place from dusk until 2300. The fountain itself flows from 1000 onwards.

From East Randolph Street (north) to Roosevelt Road (south), Michigan Avenue (west) and the lakefront (east).
Tel: (312) 742 7529.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.

Millennium Park
The city’s newest attraction, and one of the most popular, is Millennium Park. The 10-hectare (25-acre) recreational area is a collage of exceptional art and architecture. It features Frank Gehry’s BP Bridge and the towering stainless steel ribbons of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion - an outdoor concert venue. A video of faces are displayed on the Crown Fountain, two 15m-tall (50ft) towering glass fountains by Jaume Plensa. The stainless steel, elliptical Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor (Chicagoans affectionately refer to it as ‘the Bean’) reflects fish-eye panoramas of the skyline. Grassy and lush, the Lurie Garden is a tribute to the city’s transformation from marshy flat to a beautiful metropolis.

An MP3 audio tour of the park can be downloaded from the park’s website, or an MP3 Player with the audio tour can be rented at the Chicago Shop in the Northeast Exelon Pavilion, 201 East Randolph Street. Millennium Park Greeter Service will escort groups of 10 or fewer on a free 45-minute tour to learn about the architecture, development and environment of Millennium Park. Tours are on the hour and the half hour, Wed-Sun 1000-1600 on a first-come, first-served basis from the end of May to the end of October.

Between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive and Randolph and Monroe Streets
Tel: (312) 742 1168.
Website: www.millenniumpark.org
Opening hours: Daily 0600-2300.
Free admission.

Sears Tower
Third only in height to Taipei 101 and the Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers, this famous 110-floor city landmark stands 443m (1,454 ft) high. Needless to say, the views are fantastic but so are the queues in the waiting rooms for the Skydeck on the 103rd floor. Every year, 1.5 million visitors come to take the 70-second ride in the lift. Once at the top, if the weather is clear, the views reach Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, up to 80km (50 miles) away. The Sears Tower guides are keen to inform people that, by using different criteria such as highest occupied floor (469m/1,431ft), highest roof (475m/1,450ft), and highest antenna (567m/1,730ft), this is still the world’s tallest building. The Skydeck is a multimedia experience aimed at both adults and children. Do not miss the spiralling Calder mobile, The Universe, on the ground-floor lobby of the Wacker Drive side.

233 South Wacker Drive, entrance on Jackson Boulevard
Tel: (312) 875 9696.
Website: www.theskydeck.com
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2200 (Apr-Sep); daily 1000-2000 (Oct-Mar).
Admission charge.

John Hancock Center
Not quite as tall as the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center is still very high at 344m (1,127ft). It is usually less crowded and gives a more scenic view of the city’s shoreline. There is an excellent observation gallery on the 94th floor, which also has the outside Skywalk. One floor up is the Signature Room, a good spot to sip a cocktail while enjoying the sunset views to the west and the panorama of Lake Michigan to the east. Architecturally, the building is striking because of its massive X-shaped cross-braces. It is also possible for visitors to ‘tour’ Chicago without leaving the building, by following the ‘Windows on Chicago’ virtual reality tour of 80 city sights and viewing the Chicago history wall.

875 North Michigan Avenue
Tel: (312) 751 3681 or 1 888 875 8439.
Website: www.hancock-observatory.com
Opening hours: Daily 0900-2300.
Admission charge.

Museum Campus
The Museum Campus is the park area south of Grant Park, where three museums/attractions (The Adler Planetarium, Field Museum and John G Shedd Aquarium) explore the world beyond Chicago.

Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Opened in 1930, the Adler Planetarium was the Western Hemisphere’s first public museum devoted to the stars. It still maintains the traditional in-the-round Zeiss planetarium (Sky Theater) as well as the state-of-the-art interactive Sky Rider where, with the help of armrest controls, visitors can choose how they would like to journey into space. Other interactive exhibits include 3-D computer animations of the birth of the solar system and of the Milky Way.

1300 South Lake Shore Drive
Tel: (312) 922 7827.
Website: www.adlerplanetarium.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800 (late May-early Sep); daily 0930-1630 (early Sep-late May); first Friday of every month 0930-2200 (all year).
Admission charge.

Field Museum
Home to 65-million year-old ‘Sue’, the nearest to a complete Tyrannosaurus Rex that has ever been discovered, the Field Museum explores the world’s diverse environments and cultures. The entrance leads into the Dinosaur Hall, which is filled with real and replica skeletons. The Africa exhibit experience takes visitors from the city streets into the harsh but magnificently beautiful Sahara and into the galley of a slave ship. Inside Ancient Egypt is just that, with 23 real mummies in a recreated burial chamber. Shrink to the size of a bug and burrow into the surface of the soil at the Underground Adventure. Weekends are most crowded. The Ancient Americas, the museum’s newest permanent exhibit, scans 13,000 years of pre-European, western hemisphere culture.              

1400 South Lake Shore Drive
Tel: (312) 922 9410.
Website: www.fieldmuseum.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Admission charge.

John G Shedd Aquarium
A huge variety of sea creatures dwell within the confines of the world’s largest indoor aquarium at the Shedd. Travel from the great coral reefs of the Pacific to the liquid forests of the Amazon, and visit plenty more watery destinations in-between. Watch divers feed stingrays, sharks and other denizens of the sea at the Caribbean Reef exhibit. Beluga whales and dolphins show their stuff at the Shedd’s spectacular Oceanarium.

1200 South Lake Shore Drive Tel: (312) 939 2438.
Website: www.sheddaquarium.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700, Sat-Sun 0900-1800.Admission charge.

Museum of Science and Industry
Designed by Daniel Burnham for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1892, this museum continues to charm both kids and science buffs. It is hard to visit this it without riding through the coal mine, exploring the recently restored World War II German submarine, the U-505, walking through the six meter (20-foot) human heart or trying to catch some fairy dust at Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle. Families especially enjoy the hands-on Imagination Station and the acoustically perfect Whispering Gallery. The huge screen of the Omnimax Theater features science and space-related films.

5700 South Lake Shore Drive
Tel: (773) 684 1414.
Website: www.msichicago.org
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1730, Sun 1100-1750 (late May-early Sep); Mon-Sat 0930-1600, Sun 1100-1600 (early Sep-late May).
Admission charge.

Navy Pier
The 800m-long (half-mile) pier, built in 1916, was once the city’s municipal wharf and a military pier - the only pier actually completed out of several proposed under the Burnham Plan of 1906. After an extensive refurbishment, it is now one of the city’s most popular tourist meccas and recreation complexes, with over 20 hectares (50 acres) of parkland, gardens, piers, shops and restaurants. Its outdoor facilities include an amphitheater, a 150-foot high Ferris wheel (the first one ever - not this one - was built in Chicago in 1893, for the World’s Columbia Exposition), and a carousel. Inside the complex is an IMAX film theater, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, miniature golf and The Chicago Children’s Museum, where interactive, hands-on, family, children and school-orientated exhibits are designed to instruct while entertaining.

600 East Grand Avenue
Tel: (312) 595 7437/PIER or 1 800 595 7437/PIER.
Website: www.navypier.com
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-2200, Fri-Sat 1000-0000 (late May-early Sep); Sun-Thurs 1000-2000, Fri and Sat 1000-2200 (Sep-Oct); Mon-Thurs 1000-2000, Fri and Sat 1000-2200, Sun 1000-1900 (Nov- Mar); Sun-Thurs 1000-2000, Fri- Sat 1000-2200 (Apr-May).
Free admission.

Ferris Wheel
Navy Pier Park
Opening hours: Same as Navy Pier (weather permitting).
Admission charge.

Carousel Navy Pier Park
Opening hours: Same as Navy Pier (weather permitting).
Admission charge.

IMAX
700 East Grand Avenue
Tel: (312) 595 5629.
Website: www.imax.com/chicago
Opening hours: Show schedule varies.
Admission charge.

Chicago Children’s Museum
700 East Grand Avenue
Tel: (312) 527 1000.
Website: www.chichildrensmuseum.org
Opening hours: Sun-Wed and Fri 1000-1700, Thurs and Sat 1000-2000.Admission charge; children under 15 free first Monday of each month.

Further Distractions:

Brookfield Zoo
Naturalistic settings aim to make visitors think they are in the wild, though sometimes hordes of school children make it seem otherwise. The nearly 67-hectare (200-acre) facility is home to more than 3,000 animals. Monkeys, birds and otters are found in the Tropical World, while sharks, seals and jellyfish inhabit the Living Coast. There are daily dolphin shows and Hamill Family Zoo, plus a petting zoo where kids can be zookeepers, vets and gardeners. The zoo’s latest exhibit, Stingray Bay, allows visitors to interact with stingrays and is proving extremely popular with younger children.

3300 Golf Road, Brookfield
Tel: (708) 485 0263 or 1 866 468 6966 (for out of area).
Website: www.brookfieldzoo.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (Nov-Mar); weekdays 1000-1700, weekends 1000- 1800 (Apr-late May and early Sep-Oct); Daily 0930-1800 (late May-early Sep).
Admission charge.

DuSable Museum of African American History
With the aid of artifacts, books, slave documents, civil rights memorabilia, paintings, drawings and sculpture, the DuSable Museum, the country’s oldest museum of its kind, dedicates itself to preserving and interpreting African Americans’ history and culture. Exhibits about the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights Movement and Hale Woodruff murals, illustrating the slave ship Amistad, educate visitors about the turbulent history of African Americans.

740 East 56th Place (57th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue)
Tel: (773) 947 0600.
Website: www.dusablemuseum.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700.
Admission charge.

Lincoln Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo, which sits alongside Lake Michigan, has been a favorite to both locals and visitors since 1868. Though it is noted for its Great Ape, Elephant and Lion Houses, other buildings in the nation’s first urban zoo tend to simulate natural habitats. The Regenstein Small Mammal and Reptile House has a glass dome roof that serves to replicate a jungle, river and forest environment. You will find cuddly koalas here too. While away your time amid orchids and lush greenery at the nearby Lincoln Park Conservatory (2200 North Stockton Drive).

2200 North Cannon Drive
Tel: (312) 742 2000.
Website: www.lpzoo.org
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700, buildings close 1630 (Nov-Mar); 0700-1830 (Apr-late May and early Sep-Oct); 0900-1900 (late May-early Sep).
Free admission. 

Macy’s (formerly Marshall Field’s)
One of the earliest department stores in the world, Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s) was to Chicago what Harrods is to London - much more than just a place to shop. Designed by Daniel Burnham in a neo-classical style, the State Street store opened in 1907. Its green clock at the State and Randolph entrance has become a Chicago landmark. A visit is as much an architectural experience as it is a consumer one. The building has distinct courtyards, one resembling an Italian palazzo, a striking Tiffany dome of mosaic glass, a calming fountain and gilded pillars. For lunch, try the famous Walnut Room and don’t forget to sample Frango mints, which are a specialty.

111 North State Street
Tel: (312) 781 1000.
Website: www.macys.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-2000, Sat 0900-2100, Sun 1100-2000.
Free admission. 

National Vietnam Veterans’ Art Museum
Enter to the sound of tinkling bells, then look toward the ceiling and see Above and Beyond: 58,000 imprinted dog tags of the men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. This gem of a museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving and displaying artwork done by Vietnam veterans, which includes the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese as well as the allies. Artefacts and artwork give one a more intimate look and a better understanding of a most unpopular war.

1801 South Indiana Avenue
Tel: (312) 326 0270.
Website: www.nvvam.org
Opening hours: Tues-Fri: 1100-1800, Sat: 1000-1700.
Admission charge.

The Oprah Winfrey Show
Everyone wants to see Oprah and her popular TV talk show. It is possible to do just that because programs are recorded in Chicago with a live audience. Morning and afternoon dates vary and go from Jan-Jun and Sep-Nov. Tickets, available exclusively by phone at the ticket hotline: (312) 591 9222, are at a premium and must be obtained at least one month in advance. A valid photo ID is required to enter the studio.

Harpo Studios, 1058 West Washington Boulevard
Tel: (312) 591 9222.
Website: www.oprah.com
Free admission.

Oriental Institute Museum
Having done a lot of archaeological digs and studies in the Near East, the University of Chicago uses this venue to showcase its major collections from Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Turkey. Reliefs, jewelry, pottery, bronzes, cuneiforms and mummies dating from 4000 BC to 1300 AD grace the galleries. Most impressive is the 4-ton, 16-ft human headed winged bull from an Assyrian palace. It dominates the Mesopotamian Gallery.

1155 East 58th Street
Tel: (773) 702 9514.
Website: www.oi.uchicago.edu
Opening hours: Tues, Thurs-Sat 1000-1800, Wed 1000-2030, Sun 1200-1800. Free admission, a donation of US$5 is suggested.

The Notebaert Nature Museum
Feel the tickle of a butterfly as you walk amid hundreds of Midwest species of them. The exhibits in this wonderful nature museum help kids of all ages (as well as those who are still big kids at heart) to learn about the impact of lakes and rivers. The museum’s huge windows reveal the outdoor nature of the surrounding Lincoln Park.

2430 North Cannon Drive
Tel: (773) 755 5100.
Website: www.chias.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1630, Sat-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge.

McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum
To help visitors understand, value and protect freedom, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum explores the US Constitution’s First Amendment: ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances.’ Exhibits explain influences on basic American freedoms and the struggle to preserve them. Freedom’s history and issues such as Native American, civil, immigrant and worker rights are also examined.

445 North Michigan Avenue
Tel: (312) 222 4860.
Website: www.freedommuseum.us
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1800.Admission charge.

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Sears Tower