Things to do in Chicago

Step onto The Ledge, a glass box 1,353 feet up, for knee-wobbling views over four states.

Chicago's lakefront playground: the Centennial Wheel, boat cruises, fireworks, and nonstop family fun.

Home of American Gothic and a world-famous Impressionist collection, guarded by two bronze lions.

Belugas, dolphins, and 32,000 aquatic animals on the Museum Campus lakefront.

Meet SUE the T. rex and roam ancient Egypt in one of the world's great natural history museums.

Descend into a coal mine, board a captured WWII U-boat, and geek out in the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere.

Snap your reflection in The Bean, splash at Crown Fountain, and catch free concerts downtown.

Expert docents narrate the skyline's greatest hits on the beloved river cruise aboard First Lady.

Lake-and-skyline views from 1,000 feet up, plus TILT, the glass ledge that leans you over Michigan Avenue.

One of America's last free zoos, lions, gorillas, and gardens minutes from downtown.

A 1.25-mile waterfront promenade of patios, wine bars, and skyline views along the Chicago River.

The marquee that means Chicago, catch a show or tour the gilded 1921 movie palace.

Family-run since 1935, classic river and lakefront cruises from the Michigan Avenue dock.

America's first planetarium, perched on Northerly Island with dome sky shows and the best skyline view in Chicago.

Go behind the ivy at the Cubs' 1914 ballpark, dugout, press box, bleachers, and a walk on the field itself.

The legendary Old Town comedy theater that launched Bill Murray, Tina Fey, and Stephen Colbert. Sketch and improv nightly.

Grant Park's grand 1927 fountain fires its center jet skyward every hour, with music-and-lights shows after dusk.

"Landscape art under glass", two acres of palms, ferns, and desert plants inside one of the nation's largest conservatories.

Tour the Oak Park house where Wright lived, worked, and invented the Prairie style, steps from the world's largest cluster of his buildings.

One of the world's largest contemporary art museums, steps off the Mag Mile, bold exhibitions, free for under-18s.

Chicago's iconic stretch of Michigan Avenue: 400+ stores, landmark towers, and the historic Water Tower, river to Oak Street.

The food hall and retail collection filling the reimagined base of Willis Tower, a natural stop before or after the Skydeck.

Fox River city west of Chicago with a historic Paramount Theatre, outlet shopping, and a large waterpark.

Open-top, hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus tours looping past Chicago's downtown landmarks.

Guided bus tours through Chicago's Prohibition-era mob history and notorious crime landmarks.

Narrated bus tours covering Chicago's true crime, gangster history, and general sightseeing highlights.

Illinois' lakefront metropolis, home to world-class museums, architecture, and neighborhoods along Lake Michigan.

Interactive, colorful art experience inside Willis Tower with 14 playful installations, including a giant ball pit.

Free exhibit on money and the U.S. economy inside the Chicago Fed's Loop headquarters.

Full-scale casino resort on Lake Michigan in New Buffalo, Michigan, with a hotel, dining, and an event center.

A historic Route 66 and canal town on the Des Plaines River, anchor of Illinois' Heritage Corridor.

A Chicago museum devoted to the history of American radio and television broadcasting.

A 13-acre outdoor living-history village in Naperville with restored 19th-century buildings.

A historic Fox River town west of Chicago known for its walkable downtown and riverside dining.

A sprawling car museum and family attraction in Volo, Illinois, with classic, celebrity, and movie cars.

Illinois farm country home to Northern Illinois University, historic Sycamore and the Egyptian Theatre.

Destination marketing region covering 62 south and southwest Chicago suburbs and their attractions.

Ninety minute Chicago River cruise narrated by Chicago Architecture Center docents past the city's landmark buildings.

One of the Midwest's largest pinball arcades, with more than 130 machines near Chicago.

A combination amusement park and small zoo in East Dundee dating to 1959, with 19 rides and 200-plus animals.

Wisconsin lake resort town with a historic downtown, lakefront path, and summer estate architecture.

Historic 1897 astronomical observatory offering guided tours of its restored telescopes, architecture and archives.

A suspended flying-theater ride that soars over Chicago landmarks with wind, mist and motion effects.

South Loop seafood and steak restaurant near McCormick Place known for fresh oysters and prime steaks.

Illinois county along Lake Michigan with lakefront towns, Great America and Chicago area day trips.

Observation deck atop Willis Tower with glass Ledge boxes and panoramic views over four states.

Presenter of national Broadway touring productions across five historic theatres in Chicago's Loop.

The only North American museum devoted to the history of surgery, set in a Gold Coast mansion on Lake Shore Drive.

Family ski, tubing and golf destination in Bartlett with a quad chairlift, six rope tows and an 18-hole golf course.

Tourism marketing office for Chicago's northwest suburbs, covering Schaumburg, Arlington Heights and more.

You walk the terraced gardens and sit in the white domed auditorium of the oldest Baháʼí House of Worship still standing.

See bears, primates, big cats and dolphins across a 235-acre zoo in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Hear live Chicago blues in Buddy Guy's own South Loop club, where guitars given by blues and rock greats hang behind the bar.

Stroll 385 acres of display gardens spread over nine islands, including a Japanese Garden.

You look up at a Tiffany stained-glass dome and catch free art shows, concerts and tours in the Loop's 1897 People's Palace.

You trace Chicago's story through restored dioramas, a vintage L car and hands-on galleries at Clark Street and North Avenue in Lincoln Park.

See the castle-like limestone tower that survived the 1871 fire, now a small city art gallery.

You walk under the Wentworth Avenue gate to dim sum houses, tea and ceramics shops, zodiac statues and the Nine Dragon Wall.

Browse Chicago's long-running Black history museum, with art, artifacts and a wing devoted to Mayor Harold Washington.

Tour Mies van der Rohe's glass-walled weekend house, raised on steel columns above the Fox River floodplain.

Tour Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style house in Hyde Park, with its cantilevered roofs and art glass.

Snap a photo with a fiberglass astronaut holding a rocket, a Route 66 landmark standing at a Wilmington park entrance.

Walk Chicago's lakefront front yard, home to Buckingham Fountain, gardens, the Art Institute and the city's biggest festivals.

Catch live jazz in a 1930s Uptown lounge with a curved booth tied to Al Capone lore and a long-running Sunday poetry slam.

Swim, hike and climb sand dunes along 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, with trails through forest and wetland.

Catch a Chicago White Sox game on the South Side, with a center field Fan Deck, a Kids Zone and a 2005 World Series sculpture.

Ride roller coasters like Goliath and Maxx Force at a theme park between Chicago and Milwaukee, with a water park next door.

See the lakefront stadium with Doric colonnades where the Chicago Bears play, on game day or on a behind-the-scenes tour.

See concerts, dance and touring shows in Adler and Sullivan's 1889 theatre, a National Historic Landmark in the Loop.

Catch a Bulls or Blackhawks game and see the bronze Michael Jordan statue inside the arena's atrium.

A smaller Rosemont hotel six minutes by car from O'Hare Airport, with two restaurants, banquet rooms and a fitness center.

A historic Michigan Avenue hotel built for the 1893 World's Fair, with lakeview rooms facing Grant Park and Lake Michigan.

A 503-room hotel across from the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center with a free shuttle to O'Hare and an indoor pool.

An all-suite Streeterville hotel with a 16-story atrium, cooked-to-order breakfast and an indoor pool near Navy Pier.

A large Loop hostel with dorms and private rooms, a guest kitchen and free tours, a short walk from Millennium Park.

An airport hotel a mile from O'Hare, linked by indoor skybridge to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

A large hotel of two towers beside the Chicago River, with river views and BIG Bar, a long free-standing bar on the mezzanine.

A Loop hotel at One S. Franklin in Chicago's Financial District, close to Willis Tower and the Riverwalk.

An airport hotel under two miles from O'Hare, with a free shuttle and Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse on site.

A South Loop economy hotel in the 1928 Harrison Hotel building, one block from Millennium Park, with two on-site eateries.