Map view
Art Institute of Chicago
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Museum founded in 1879, and one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world
- Its collection includes iconic works such as Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, and Grant Wood's American Gothic
- Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly
Navy Pier Chicago
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in Chicago
- Navy Pier encompasses parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, family attractions and exhibition facilities and is one of the top destinations in the Midwestern United States
Six Flags Great America
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Amusement park located in Gurnee, within Chicago, originally opened in 1976, and featuring twelve themed areas
- Some of the themes include a Southern themed area closely based on the French Quarter, a DC Comics area, and a Klondike Gold Rush area
#14 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
Cloud Gate
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Public sculpture that is the centerpiece of AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park in the Loop of Chicago
- Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed "The Bean" because of its shape
- Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams, and is inspired by liquid mercury
#42 in Best Landmarks in the World
#43 in Best Landmarks in the USA
Field Museum of Natural History
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Natural history museum in Chicago, and one of the largest such museums in the world
- The permanent exhibitions include fossils, current cultures from around the world, and interactive programming demonstrating today's urgent conservation needs
- The museum and its collections originated from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the artifacts displayed at the fair
#13 in Best Museums in the USA
Ulysses S. Grant Home, Galena
Best time to visit: May-Nov
Cost: $
- Former home of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general and later 18th President of the United States
- The home was constructed from 1859 - 1860
- The home was given to Grant by residents of Galena in 1865 as thanks for his war service, and has been maintained as a memorial to Grant since 1904
Route 66
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- U.S. Route 66 was a United States numbered Highway in Illinois that connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois
- The historic Route 66, the Mother Road or Main Street of America, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California
- The road has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55
First Division Museum, Cantigny Park
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- The museum that has exhibits and artifacts chronicling the First Division's service history, not only in World War I, but also in World War II and later U.S. wars
- On display outside the museum is the area's largest collection of tanks and artillery pieces, known as "Tank Park"
- The collection includes tanks and armored vehicles from the First World War up to the present day
Krannert Art Museum, Champaign
Best time to visit: May-Aug
Cost: $
- Fine art museum located at the University of Illinois, in Champaign,
- The museum is devoted to all periods of art, dating from ancient Egypt to contemporary photography
- The museum's collection of more than 11,000 objects includes specializations in 20th-century art, Asian art, and pre-Columbian art, particularly works from the Andes
Chicago River
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- System of rivers and canals that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center
- The river is notable because it is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chicago Portage is a link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico
Millennium Park Trail
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Public park located in Chicago, opened in 2004, and intended to celebrate the third millennium
- Millennium Park has four major artistic highlights: the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and the Lurie Garden
- Millennium Park is successful as a public art venue in part due to the grand scale of each piece and the open spaces for display
Oak Street Beach
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Sandy city beach located in Chicago, on the shore of Lake Michigan
#41 in Best Beaches in the USA
Oz Park Loop
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Public park in Chicago that features many statues fashioned after characters in The Wizard of Oz, a book which was authored by Chicago reporter L. Frank Baum
- Some of the characters featured include The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, Dorothy, and Toto
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Science museum located in Chicago, housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
- Among the museum's exhibits are a full-size replica coal mine, German submarine U-505 captured during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) model railroad, the command module of Apollo 8, and the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr)
Willis Tower
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) skyscraper in Chicago
- It opened in 1973 as the world's tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years
- It is the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world
- Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States