Chicago Travel Guide

Chicago, Illinois — Where to Go

Chicago Sightseeing Overview

To appreciate the city's arts, architecture and American life, start at the Chicago Cultural Center. The Center at 77 East Randolph occupies an entire block and contains the Chicago Office of Tourism. Originally built as a library, the grand structure was completed in 1897. Inside is 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 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.

The Art Institute is world-class. Find more art at the galleries clustered on both the Magnificent Mile and at River North. Search for the latest information on art exhibits in Chicago Gallery News (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.

Experience the ‘City of Big Shoulders' (Carl Sandburg) skyline, from the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier or travel south down North Lake Shore Drive and 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 Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) Skydeck or the John Hancock Observatory.

Chicago Tourist Information

ChicagoOfficeofTourism
Chicago Cultural Center
77 East Randolph
Tel: (312) 744 2400 or 1 877 244 2246/CHICAGO.
Website: www.explorechicago.org or www.choosechicago.com

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 0800-1900, Fri- Sat 0800-1800, Sun 1000-1800, holidays 1000-1600.

Additional location: Chicago Waterworks, 163 East Pearson Street, opening hours same as above.

More visitor information is available from Illinois Tourism (tel: 1 800 406 6418; www.enjoyillinois.com), at the airports and Union Station.

Chicago Sightseeing

CityPass (www.citypass.com) offers free admission to six Chicago attractions. It lasts for nine days and can be purchased from the attractions on the day or online in advance. GoChicago Card (tel: 1 866 628 9031; www.gochicagocard.com) offers a one to multi-day card for free admissions to over 25 attractions, plus shopping, restaurant and lodging discounts.

Chicago Sightseeing

Key Attractions in Chicago, Illinois

ArtInstituteofChicago
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 the present, including two icons of 20th century American art: AmericanGothic 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 the 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. The Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing, which opened in May 2009, has increased gallery space by 33% and displays 20- and 21st- century art. A bridge links the museum to Millennium Park.

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 1700-2000.

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
Millennium Park, one of the city's most popular attractions, is a collage of exceptional art and architecture. The 10-hectare (25-acre) recreational area 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 pays 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.

Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower)
Third only in height to Taipei 101 and the Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers, this famous 110-floor city landmark stands 443m (1,454ft) high. Willis 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. When the day is cloudless, the views reach to Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and up to 80k (50 miles) away. The queues in the waiting rooms for the 103rd floor can be quite long. Every year, 1.5 million visitors come to take the 70-second lift ride to the top. The Skydeck is a multimedia experience aimed at both adults and children. Its new vertigo-challenging attraction, ‘The Ledge', is a five-sided glass box - with transparent walls, floor and ceiling - which juts out 1.2m (4ft) from the tower and allows visitors to experience being suspended more than 400m (1,300ft) above the ground. Also, 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 Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center is still very high, 344m (1,127ft). It is usually less crowded and gives a more scenic view of the city's shoreline. There is an excellent, newly renovated 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 1000-1600 (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: Mon-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1100-1700.
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 deep 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: Various. Check website.
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. Ride through the coal mine, explore the WW2 German submarine, the U-505, walk through the six meter (20-foot) human heart or try 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 attractions, with 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 exhibits instruct and entertaining.

600 East Grand Avenue
Tel: (312) 595 7437/PIER or 1 800 595 7437/PIER.
Website: www.navypier.com
Opening hours: Check website.
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. Thurs 1700-2000 free for everyone.

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 TropicalWorld, while sharks, seals and jellyfish inhabit the LivingCoast. There are daily dolphin shows and HamillFamilyZoo, 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.

DuSableMuseumofAfricanAmericanHistory
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 store 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.

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.

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 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 4000BC to 1300AD 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 Peggy 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.

Spertus Museum
Since 1924, the museum has given visitors a chance to explore the multi-faceted Jewish experience. Exhibitions are not just limited to the Jewish objects, but its newest exhibition includes part of philanthropist Julius Rosenwald's collection of African art. The new interactive Children's Center includes a video area, Walls of Drawers and Doors, a Skydome and a rope tube that kids can climb.

618 South Michigan Avenue
Tel: (312) 322 1700.
Website: www.spertus.edu
Opening hours: Sun and Wed 1000-1700, Thurs 1000-1800.
Admission charge.