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The Art Institute of ChicagoCity/Region: Chicago
An impressive pair of bronze lions guards the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago in South Michigan Avenue, housing one of the greatest art collections in the world. Works on show date from 3,000 BC through to the present, including a renowned collection of Impressionist art featuring numerous Monet paintings. The Institute has it all, from Japanese ukiyo-e prints and ancient Egyptian bronzes to masterpieces of 20th century sculpture. Exhibits include paintings and drawings,
photographs, textiles, sculpture and architectural works. The Institute has two restaurants, one set in a garden, as well as a gift shop.
Address: 111 South Michigan Avenue
Phone Number: (312) 443 3600
Website: www.artic.edu
Hours: Monday to Friday 10.30am to 5pm (until 8pm on Thursdays), weekends 10am to 5pm
Admission: $12 (adults), $7 (children, free for under 12). Entrance is free on Thursdays 5pm to 8pm
The Field MuseumCity/Region: Chicago
Chicago's awesome Field Museum of Natural History in Lake Shore Drive is home to 'Sue', the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found. The dinosaur came to rest here after being unearthed in South Dakota when the Museum bought her remains for more than $8-million. Sue is just one of the drawcards at the museum which offers other marvels like getting a bug's eye view in an underground adventure; descending into an Egyptian tomb; watching a glowing lava flow; and getting up close and personal with the man-eating lions of Tsavo. The museum specializes in interactive and diorama-type exhibits across its nine acres of exhibition space.
Address: 1400 S. Lakeshore Drive
Phone Number: (312) 922 9410
Website: www.fmnh.org
Transport: From downtown, take CTA bus #146, which stops along Michigan Avenue north of the river and on State Street south of the river. This will drop you off right across the street from the Museum. The free trolley system connects the Museum Campus with many downtown tourist destinations and train stations
Hours: Daily 9am to 5pm; last admission at 4pm
Admission: General admission: $12 (adults), $7 (children 4-11). Various ticket packages and concessions are available
Frank Lloyd Wright's HomeCity/Region: Chicago
America's most renowned architect lived and worked in the complex, which served as private residence, studio and architectural laboratory for the first twenty years of his career, between 1889 (when he was 22) and 1909. Wright's haven started out as a simple cottage and was continually added on to by the architect resulting in unusual features such as a balcony suspended on chains. The complex is administered by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust which offers guided tours. The neighborhood of Oak Park contains the world's largest concentration of Wright-designed buildings and self-guided exterior audio tours of the 26 structures in the area are available.
Address: 951 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park
Phone Number: (708) 848 1976
Email Address: info@wrightplus.org
Website: www.wrightplus.org
Hours: Guided interior tours: weekdays at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, and during weekends between 11am and 3.30pm; self-guided exterior audio tours between 10am and 3.30pm daily
Admission: Guided interior tour and self-guided exterior audio tour: $12 (adults), $10 (children 7-18) for each one; a combination ticket is $20 (adults), $16 (children 7-18)
Lincoln ParkCity/Region: Chicago
Lincoln Park, beginning at North Avenue and following the shore of Lake Michigan northwards for several miles, is Chicago's largest park. It contains several attractions, bathing beaches, a botanical conservatory, golf course, grassy meadows, formal gardens and sports fields. Pride of place is held by the standing statue of Abraham Lincoln, sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. His sitting Lincoln is in Chicago's other famous park, Grant Park. The most popular attraction within the park is the Lincoln Park Zoo, which not only houses hundreds of exotic animals in natural habitats, but offers experiences like paddle boat rides, a virtual safari trip, and the Endangered Species Carousel with 48 artisan-crafted wooden animals that accommodates up to 50 riders at a time.
Address: 2001 N. Clark Street (zoo)
Phone Number: (312) 742 2000 (zoo)
Website: www.lpzoo.com
Transport: CTA bus routes 151 or 156 both serve the zoo. A free trolley service is available linking the different Park attractions
Hours: Daily 9am to 6pm, weekends until 7pm (summer); daily 9am to 5pm (November to March)
Admission: There is no admission charge to the zoo
The Museum of Science and IndustryCity/Region: Chicago
Explore everything from monster trucks to genetic codes at Chicago's most popular tourist attraction, the massive Museum of Science and Industry. Described as 'the granddaddy of interactive museums', the museum is located a few minutes from downtown Chicago. It takes at least a day to do justice to the more than 2,000 exhibits housed in 75 halls in this museum, including climbing inside a World War II German submarine, experiencing a simulated trip into a 1930s coal mine, or walking through a giant model of the human heart.
Address: 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Phone Number: (773) 684 1414
Website: www.msichicago.org
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 4pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm. Late closing at 5.30pm at certain periods during the year (check website for details)
Admission: $11 (adults), $7 (children 3-11). Tickets are $17 (adults), $12 (children) including an Omnimax show. Check the website for details of free days
The Shedd AquariumCity/Region: Chicago
One of Chicago's best known attractions the Shedd, which opened in 1930, remains the world's largest indoor aquarium. The octagonal marble building houses more than 8,000 river, lake and sea creatures. The main attraction is the Caribbean Coral Reef exhibit and other marine habitat exhibits like a recreation of the Amazon basin and a 'Seahorse Symphony'. The aquarium also features an indoor saltwater Oceanarium housing marine mammals where dolphin shows are scheduled daily.
Address: 1200 South Lake Shore Drive
Phone Number: (312) 939 2438
Email Address: contactus@sheddaquarium.org
Website: www.sheddaquarium.org
Hours: Weekdays 9am to 5pm, weekends 9am to 6pm (1 September to 28 May); daily 9am to 6pm (29 May to 3 September); Thursdays closing at 10pm (22 June to 31 August)
Admission: $23 (adults), $16 (children 3-11)
RockfordCity/Region: Chicago
Illinois' second city, Rockford, is just a hop and skip to the northwest of Chicago, set in rolling hills. It is worth a visit for culture vultures and golfers, in particular. The city is known for its 'cultural corridor' of which the highlight is the Rockford Art Museum's stunning permanent collection focusing on 19th and 20th century works. There is also a wealth of private galleries and historical museums in the city center. Rockford is also known for its many antique shops and markets, and the many golf courses in the city and vicinity that have earned it the title of Illinois' 'holey' city.
Website: www.ci.rockford.il.us
Lincoln's HomeCity/Region: Springfield
The pretty two-story home of Abraham and Mary Lincoln was the only home the lawyer/president ever owned. He and his wife lived in the house between 1844 and 1861 when he was elected President. The home has been restored and stands as it was in 1860 in the midst of a four-block historic neighborhood, which the National Park Service is restoring. The neighborhood, like the house, will also soon appear much as Lincoln would have remembered it.
Address: 413 South Eighth Street
Phone Number: (217) 492 4241, ext. 221
Website: www.nps.gov/liho
Hours: Daily 8.30am to 5pm
Admission: Free
Old State CapitolCity/Region: Springfield
The Capitol building in the Downtown Mall, Springfield, was where Abraham Lincoln tried several hundred cases in the Supreme Court, borrowed books from the state library, and read and swapped stories with other lawyers and politicians in the law library. On May 3 and 4 in 1865 Lincoln's body laid in state in the Capitol's Representatives Hall as a crowd of more than 75,000 people filed past to pay their final respects to this beloved historic figure.
Address: 5th and Adams Streets
Phone Number: (217) 785 7960
Website: www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/old_capitol.htm
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm (November to 15 April); open daily between 16 April and 4 September
Admission: Free
Oak Ridge CemeteryCity/Region: Springfield
Abraham Lincoln was buried in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery after his assassination in 1865. Today it is the second most visited cemetery in the United States, being the resting place not only of Lincoln but several other notable historic figures as well. Lincoln's tomb monument was designed by Larkin Mead and is one of the highlights of the Historic Monument Tour by guided audio cassette, obtainable from the Oak Ridge Cemetery office. A Civil War Retreat Ceremony is held at Lincoln's tomb each Tuesday evening during the summer.
Phone Number: (217) 782 2717
Website: www.state.il.us/HPA/hs/Tomb.htm
Hours: Daily 9am to 4pm; closed on public holidays
Lincoln Library and MuseumCity/Region: Springfield
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library opened in October 2004, with the Museum opening on 19 April 2005. They are part of a $115 million complex dedicated to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln and form the largest presidential library complex in the nation. The Library houses the world's largest collection of Lincoln material, with more than 46,000 items. Included in this collection are nearly 1,500 documents written or signed by Lincoln, including handwritten copies of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address. The collection also contains important family documents and artifacts, including the Lincoln's marriage license, a tablecloth from their wedding reception, the nameplate from their front door, and Mr. Lincoln's shaving mirror. The museum has been designed to be an amazing experience, using creative 'immersive' exhibits taking visitors through phases of the president's life from his boyhood cabin in Indiana to his 'homecoming' funeral in Springfield.
Address: 212 North Sixth Street
Phone Number: (217) 558 8844
Website: www.alplm.org
Hours: Library: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9am to 4.30pm, Wednesday 9am to 8.30pm, Saturday 8.30am to 3.30pm. Museum: daily 9am to 5pm, Wednesday 9am to 8.30pm
Admission: Library: free. Presidential Museum: $7.50 (adults), $3.50 (children 5-15)
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