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Chicago Attractions
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
1300 South Lake Shore Drive
312-922-STAR (7827)
The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, Adler has hands-on and historical exhibits as well as sky shows.
Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
312-443-3600
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Admission charged.
Masterpieces from Monet and Degas are housed in a vast, world-class collection that also features African, American-Indian and Asian works, decorative arts and sculpture, photography, prints, textiles, and contemporary American painting. Free lectures are open to the public on Tuesday evenings.
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
6500 South Pulaski Road
582-6500
Dedicated to the preservation of Lithuanian art, history, customs, and traditions, Balzekas also has a Children's Museum of Immigrant History.
Brookfield Zoo
First Avenue and 31st Street
Brookfield
708-485-2200
Admission charged.
Located 14 miles west of the Loop, it is accessible by Metra. A number of large exhibits. Includes dolphin shows.
Buckingham Fountain, Chicago
Chicago's landmark is considered one of America's finest fountains due to its Beaux-Arts-style design, finely wrought bronze sculpture, and innovative use of technology.
Burnham Skate Park
31st Street and Lake Shore Drive
312-742-PLAY
Admission is free; the park is closed in winter.
This 20,000-square-foot park for skateboarders and in-line skaters features benches, curbs, rails, and smooth, curved metal surfacing for protection.
Chicago Children's Museum
700 East Grand Avenue
312-527-1000
Located on Navy Pier.
The exhibits encourage children to look, touch, and explore.
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Address: 224 South Michigan Avenue
Phone: 312-922-3432
Free admission to enter
More than 40 different architectural tours, varying in price.
Clarke House Museum
Address: 1827 South Indiana Avenue
Phone: 312-326-1480
Chicago's oldest surviving building, and the only place to see how an early Chicago family lived.
Chicago Botanical Gardens
100 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe
847-835-5440
Admission charged per car.
Hours: 8 a.m. to sunset daily
Whatever your taste in gardens, you will find it here. The 385-acre property includes a suitably romantic English Garden, a thoughtful Japanese paradise, and indoor greenhouses that duplicate the atmosphere of the desert as well as the rainforest. A 45-foot waterfall cascades through the Waterfall Garden and the pools in quiet areas. A visit to the Chicago Botanical Gardens is a learning experience as well. Courses and lectures are almost always available, and a walk through the Endangered Species Garden teaches about preservation of plant species.
Chicago Public Library
Harold Washington Library Center
400 South State Street
The world's largest public library has more than two million shelved volumes available to the public.
Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St., Chicago
Phone: 312/346-3278 or 312/744-6630
The Loop
Elegant, ornamental details abound in this building, including sparkling mosaic tiles, sculptured ceilings, inscribed literary quotations, and a sweeping white Carrara marble staircase.
The Preston Bradley Hall, on the third floor has the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome. Another magnificent stained-glass dome is on the second floor in the GAR rotunda. The structure was constructed in 1897 to serve a dual purpose. The Randolph Street and Washington Street sides are different for this reason One was the entrance to the city's central library, and the other to the Grand Army of the Republic museum. The Cultural Center houses public spaces, with free concerts and performances of all kinds, including live music every weekday at 1 in the Randolph Café.
Citicorp Center
500 W. Madison St., Chicago
Near West Side
Across the Chicago River from the Civic Opera House, the functions of commuter train station and office building unite. The center combines a boxlike office tower with glass half-cylinders rising from the lower levels. Horizontal and vertical bands of mirrored and smoked glass alternate up the building for a ribbon effect. It looks very much like the grand old European railroad stations. The gates to the tracks are elevated above street level to allow traffic to proceed east and west via underpasses.
Daley Center
Bounded by Washington, Randolph, Dearborn, and Clark Sts., Chicago
Named for the late mayor Richard J. Daley, the father of the current holder of the office, this boldly plain high-rise is the headquarters of the Cook County court system, but it also draws visitors' attention because of what stands outside: a sculpture by Picasso. Known simply as "The Picasso."DuSable Museum of African-American History"
740 East 56th Place
947-0600
The DuSable Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of the history and culture of Africans and Americans of African descent. The museum sponsors a film series, jazz and blues concerts, and film and theater events geared to children.
The Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
312-922-9410
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Admission charged.
The Field is Chicago's crowning museum of natural history, with exhibits on everything from dinosaurs to African culture to gems and minerals. Visitors can observe as geologists work on a million-year-old fossilized dinosaur, painstakingly removing its bones from the rock and assembling them for display. The "Life Over Time" display documents the changing weather patterns that contributed to the formation of the earth's environment, and other exhibits explore the various cultures of the world's population.
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation
Address: 951 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park
Phone: 708-848-1976
Admission charged.
This building served as both the Wright family residence and Wright's studio around the turn of the century.
Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
931 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park 60302
708-848-1976
The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust operates two historic house museums: The Robie House in Hyde Park and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio was the architectural laboratory for the architect. The Preservation Trust offers guided architectural tours of these buildings daily, along with special educational programs for youth and adults.
Robie House
5757 S. Woodlawn St., Chicago 60637
773-834-1847
Robie House represents the culmination of Wright's renowned work in the revolutionary architectural genre known as the Prairie Style. This spectacular structure features 174 exquisite art glass windows and doors. Tours offered daily, as well as public programs and special events-all of which focus on Wright's legendary creativity.
Glessner House Museum
1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago 60616
312-326-1480
Glessner House Museum is a National Historic Landmark, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and built in 1887. Guided tours of Glessner House and the neighboring Clarke House Museum are available, Wednesday-Sunday at noon, 1 and 2pm. Museum programming examines the architecture, art, history and culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through lectures, discussions, performance events and exhibits.
Grant Park, Chicago
Dedicated in 1844, this park covers 319 acres along Lake Michigan and is home to the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum and the Art Institute.
Attraction type: Park
The Hancock Observatory
875 N. Michigan Avenue
John Hancock Center, Chicago
888-875-8439
Admission charged.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily
It's not the tallest building in Chicago, but the 100-story Hancock Tower is worth a visit for its magnificent cityscapes and the interesting interactive exhibits on its 94th floor. Visitors take a speedy elevator ride to the observation level, where "Soundscope" viewers give a narrated account (in one of four languages) of what you're seeing through the telescope. Adults will enjoy the Signature Lounge, a 96th-floor watering hole with a lakeside view.
Harold Washington Library Center
400 S. State St., Chicago
Phone: 312/747-4300
The Loop
The center's holdings include the Chicago Blues Archives, the Jazz/Blues/Gospel Hall of Fame, and the Balaban and Katz Theater.
Hull House Museum
800 S. Halsted Street, Chicago
312-413-5353
Cost: Free
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, Jane Addams did what no one before her had thought to do. She moved into one of Chicago's tenement neighborhoods and opened a "settlement house" to help meet the economic and social needs of her neighbors and to encourage their involvement in improving their own community. During the height of its activity, Hull House included a library, gymnasium, theater and an art gallery. The museum, snuggled in the heart of the University of Illinois-Chicago, consists of two of the original 13 buildings, one an Arts and Crafts-style dining hall built in 1905.
Hyde Park, Chicago
This neighborhood, located south of the downtown area, is best known for being the home to the University of Chicago.
John G. Shedd Aquarium
1200 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
312-939-2438
Hours: June-August, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; September through May, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Admission charged.
Visitors to the Shedd Aquarium should be sure to stop by around feeding time to watch divers distribute dinner to the various eels, rays, sea turtles and fish that make its Tropical Coral Reef home. Nearly 8,000 aquatic animals - fresh and salt-water alike - are part of the Shedd's collection, and nearly 2 million visitors make the journey to the world's largest indoor aquarium each year.
Kohl Children's Museum
165 Green Bay Road
Wilmette
847-512-1300
Admission charged.
Children ages 1--8 can touch and explore the exhibits and participate in planned daily activities.
Lincoln Park Zoo
2001 N. Clark Street, Chicago
312-742-2000
Admission charged per car.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
The oldest zoo in the country, Lincoln Park Zoo is still free to visitors. But its greatest asset is its vast collection - 1,200 animals - and its dedication to teaching conservation and protection of wildlife. The zoo's Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House is considered one of the finest gorilla exhibits in the world. Other visitor favorites include the Sea Lion Pool, the Bird House (where feathered friends surround their homo sapiens visitors) and the Penguin and Seabird House. And of course, there are plenty of elephants, giraffes and rhinos.
Magnificent Mile
North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
800-232-5558
A mecca for shoppers, Magnificent Mile runs along North Michigan Avenue to Lincoln Park and rivals Rodeo Drive and Worth Avenue for world-class shopping and restaurants. Comforting names like The Gap accompany upscale Armani on the list of 60 well-known retail establishments to line this spending paradise. Three shopping malls are also nearby, and each is worthy of the Magnificent Mile's high-class shopping reputation, and magnificent restaurants and five-star hotels.
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