Top 6 Things to do in Chicago, IL
Chicago has also got interesting architecture like the Sears Tower, many museums, and many loyal sports fans.
Chicago means different things to different people. For some, it’s all about sports – the NFL’s Bears and MLB’s Cubs have outsized reputations that extend well beyond northern Illinois.
For still others, Chicago’s seamy side – its long history of political corruption and Mob activity – hold sway. And for many, Chicago’s massive central business district (the country’s second-largest, after Midtown Manhattan) and countless suburban office parks marquee by a “who’s who” of prominent American corporations means it’s primarily a city for doing business.1. Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile, a stretch of Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street, is Chicago’s grandest street. It’s also the best place in town to see 100-plus years of urban architecture on display.
Many of Chicago’s tallest structures, including Donald Trump’s gaudy Trump International Hotel & Tower and the beloved, much more tasteful Hancock Center, sit on or near the street. So do many of the city’s oldest buildings, including several from the late 19th century.
2. Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio
Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio preserves one of the famed architect’s signature Prairie School structures and doubles as an homage to his life and times. Interior tours cost $17 per adult ($14 for students) and last 60 minutes. Neighborhood walking tours, which hit several other Prairie School structures, cost $15 for adults ($12 for students) and last 45 minutes.
3. Millennium Park
Millennium Park is Chicago’s second-most-popular tourist attraction, after Navy Pier, and is the centerpiece of the city’s park system. Free interactive art installations, including otherworldly Cloud Gate, abound here. Summer brings the Grant Park Music Festival, a free, 10-show series performed by the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
One of the most popular sites in Chicago at the moment is “the Bean,” a stainless-steel mirrored art sculpture by Anish Kapoor (its official name is “Cloud Gate”). The park hosts free concerts in the summer months; and Crown Fountain, a reflecting pool bookended by two towers that screen video images.
4. Grant Park
Dubbed “Chicago’s front yard,” Grant Park is a 319-acre park between Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue in the South Loop area of the city. Much of it is meticulously landscaped with native and climate-appropriate plants, and several of the city’s top museums lie within or around it. Higher areas within the park afford boundless Lake Michigan views.
5. Oak Street Beach
Now a popular, mile-long stretch of beach along the Near North neighborhood’s lakefront, Oak Street Beach has a fascinating early history. It involves a squatter (who claimed a floating trash island as his offshore domain) who persuaded the city through protracted legal action to fill in the surrounding waters and create a new neighborhood. This area eventually developed a natural beach thanks to favorable lake currents depositing fine-grained sand from the bottom of the lake. Oak Street Beach offers stunning lake and skyline views, though it’s quite narrow and becomes uncomfortably crowded on hot summer days.
6. Willis Tower Skydeck
Take an amazing ride to the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower (née the Sears Tower) to get to Skydeck Chicago, where on a clear day you can see as far as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Kids love Knee-High Chicago, a four-foot-high exhibit that has cut-outs of Chicago sports, history, and cultural icons at a child’s eye-level. Fearless folks can step out onto the Ledge, twin glass boxes extending 4.3 feet from the Skydeck and suspended a dizzying 1,353 feet above the city. Security is very persistent, so keep in a little extra time in your hand for your visit.
In addition to these top sights, don’t forget to add the following to your list.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Active since the early 20th century, the Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the nation’s few remaining free zoos. Despite a compact layout, LPZ has spacious habitats for sea lions, bears, big cats, and large herbivores, plus various reptiles, birds, and small mammals. It opens directly into Lincoln Park, a green space that’s famous as an on-again, off-again habitat for wild beavers.
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Not far from the zoo, Lincoln Park Conservatory is a giant glass dome with thousands of tropical plant and tree species – a particularly welcome sight during bitter Chicago winters. Orchids and ferns are the stars of the show, but amateur gardeners are sure to find something appealing here.
Not far from the zoo, Lincoln Park Conservatory is a giant glass dome with thousands of tropical plant and tree species – a particularly welcome sight during bitter Chicago winters. Orchids and ferns are the stars of the show, but amateur gardeners are sure to find something appealing here.
See a Shakespeare Play at Navy Pier
To avoid the tourist traps at Navy Pier—but still say you’ve been there because it really is neat to be on a pier that juts out into Lake Michigan—gets tickets to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Performances are at the pier. Recently the theater disclosed The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, an add on performing-arts space and also at the pier.
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