27 awesome things to do in Chicago

For many years I have declared my undying love for Chicago over New York City.

I’ve been four times and that is my verdict. My husband doesn’t agree, he’s New York all the way, but there are so many reasons why Chicago is a great place for a weekend getaway or even longer.

Most visitors spend their time in what they call the Chicago Loop, four square km of downtown where you’ll find theatres, museums, parks, eateries, shopping and pretty much everything you’re coming here for!

Let me tell you all the reasons I love Chicago…

The river, the wide streets edged in flowers, the lake. That amazing lake! The parks filled with sculptures and free concerts in summer. The museums, the shopping, the skyscrapers. Chicago is the home of the skyscraper and has nearly 1400 massive buildimgs soaring up to the clouds.

And that’s before you get to the deep dish pizzas, the live sport events at stadiums like Wrigley Park, Soldier Field, United Center and the 77 neighborhoods all with their own vibe.

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Twice we’ve visted to watch the rugby at Soldier Field. One time we came the Cubs had just won the World Series and five million people had been celebrating on Grant Park the day we arrived (directly opposite our Hilton hotel). Fortunately they had dispersed by the time we taxied in. Five million people in one park! That’s nearly the entire population of New Zealand!!

Chicago v New York City:

Chicago seems to breathe more than its congested cousin on the east coast – with its busy rooftop restaurants and bars, all the action of Times Square, and the shenanigans of New Year’s Eve in NYC which is filled with events.

Chicago is lavishly planted with trees and flowers along the main street, Michigan Avenue (aka Magnificent Mile) and of course it sits on the edge of Lake Michigan with the Chicago River flowing from the lake through the city. In 1900, the city’s pollution was flowing down the river and into the lake, so they reversed the river!

The streets of Chicago’s CBD are wide and the architecture is totally worth taking a river boat tour of. (You can see some of my favorite Chicago building pics here.)

I wrote this post to use as a sort of Chicago itinerary, but it is really just a collection of the best things to do, focusing mainly on Downtown Chicago – where the best way to get around is on your feet (or taxi/Uber when your feet just won’t move any more!)

Pro tip: check out the rates for a taxi before you automatically just book an Uber. Taxis are often cheaper as Uber pays a surcharge, especially when driving in the downtown area.

Here are my top picks for the best things to do in Chicago:

1 Hop On Hop Off Bus City Tour

I always suggest to start in a new city with a Hop On Hop Off Bus tour. This way you can get a quick and easy overview, get your bearings and the lay of the land. It’s even a good idea to get a 2-day ticket, that way you can use the bus tour as your taxi to get around the main sights too.

2  Shop Magnificent Mile

Mag Mile (as the locals call it) is actually part of the main street called Michigan Avenue and runs parallel to the lake. There are lots of office buildings along here so the best shopping is on the north side of the Chicago River.

I found myself wandering into The Shops at North Bridge (twice). There is a Nordstrom in there, and while I intended to just grab a coffee from one of the cafes, the grilled cheese aroma coming from the cafe at the door had me at ‘soup and toasted sandwich’.

3 Check out Maggie Daley Park

This beautiful green space is connected to Millennium Park via a bridge. It’s an awesome spot for some recreation. Visit the Skating Ribbon in winter, play an 18-hole miniature golf course, climb the rock climbing wall, and set the kids loose in the magical Play Garden which has been thoughtfully designed for children of all ages and abilities.

4 Get to a free summer concert

Between June and August head to Millennium Park for free concerts. Grab a spot on the lawn in front of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and enjoy all genres of music from emerging and accomplished artists.

See the full summer music schedule here. Admission is free.

5 Stand on The Ledge at Skydeck

Head up 103 floors of the Willis Tower (formerly Sears) the tallest building in Chicago at 1451 ft (442m) and walk through the interesting and immersive history of Chicago to the Ledge, where you’ll be able step off the side of the tower on a glass floor and get a photo.

It’s so fun to watch the brave and the terrified, navigate this. You can have a professional photo done by the staff photographer to purchase, but you also get time to take your own selfies before you’re moved along.

Get your Skydeck and Ledge ticket here >

6 TILT at 360 Chicago

If you enjoyed standing over the road at 103 floors up, then the next thing you’ll want to do is Tilt over the city. At a mere 94 floors up, the difference is you lean out over the glass.

If that’s too freaky, you can visit Cloud Bar for a drink in a glass and a drink of the fabulous Chicago view over the lake and down the shoreline.

7 Take a Helicopter Tour over the city

FlyHeli Tours offers short flights : 10 minutes, 16 minutes or 30 minute flights over the city providing the most amazing way to get a birds’ eye view of the city, the skyscrapers, the stadiums and follow the river to the monstrous lake! They also do fireworks flights on July 4th.

I had a quick flight when I last visted and learned that FlyHeli Tours do these tourism flights so they can transport medical patients, babies, and organs for donation free of charge. How cool is that?

8  Visit American Girl Store!

If you have girls aged 3 to about 10 years old in your world, they will turn in awed circles at the American Girl Store. Trust me, go there!

Two levels of dolls and their accessories including a hair salon where your overly loved dolls can have new hair dos after sitting in a salon chair draped in a cape. Then you and the dolls can have cupcakes in the cafe.

9  Have lunch at Eataly

But leave room for deep-dish pizza for dinner! This is two floors of Italian inspired food outlets, but seating is dining style on the second floor – you choose which of the open plan restaurants you want. Loads of accessories to buy too like oils and preserves, accessories and cookbooks.

10 Try Garrett Popcorn

You MUST buy their sensational and signature Garrett Mix (known locally as Chicago Mix) real cheese and caramel popcorn. Seriously, it’s so good. Sweet and savoury all in one. I’m a two-cheese/one caramel girl per ideal mouthful. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

There are outlets all over the city (including the airport). But I got to tour behind the scenes at Garrett, off Michigan Avenue, and went into the kitchen to see how they make this popped goodness. You can read my Garrett post here >

11  Take an Architecture Cruise

Since the great fire of 1871, Chicago was rebuilt with steel and is the home of the skyscraper. There are nearly 1400 in the city!

One of the best ways to see this architecture is on an architectural river cruise on the Chicago River where you’ll hear the history of the city plus see some unique angles on an architectural tour that glides past the magnificent buildings and skyscrapers.

The tour starts at the Michigan Avenue (DuSable) bridge and goes up the main branch of the Chicago River past Wolf Point. You’ll cruise along the north and south branches of the river, before heading back past the Chicago Riverwalk towards Lake Michigan.

You’ll learn about historic skyscrapers like the Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower, the art deco Merchandise Mart, and mid-century skyscrapers like the Mies Van der Rohe AMA Building. This is a fascinating boat tour, perfect for photography lovers too.

12  Kayak on the Chicago River

An entirely different way to see the amazing buildings that line Chicago River is down on the water itself in a kayak. I took a tour with Urban Kayaks along this busy river for an hour or so. It was really great fun, and I surprised myself by not having sore arms the next day!

13 Take a Gangster Tour

This is fun! Starting in the CBD and stopping at scenes of former gun battles and massacres as the Mob ruled Chicago during the prohibition of the 1920s, you’ll hear all about gangsters like Al Capone and bootlegging and all the skulduggery that went along with it!

Book a Mob Tour here >

14  Get a photo of the Bean

One of the most popular tourist attractions, walk through Millennium Park and take selfies in front of the Bean (Cloud Gate), then head south past the spitting murals and into Grant Park to enjoy the fresh air.

The Bean was designed by Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor, inspired by liquid mercury, and sits in AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park. It’s made of 168 stainless steel plates welded together and on a beautiful day it reflects the surrounding buildings and makes for quirky photos.

15  Visit Field Museum

The kids will love the Field Museum of Natural History which is next to Soldier Field. You’ll be greeted by the biggest tyranosaurus named Sue (who is usually inside), the most photographed item here. But there is a lot more to take a selfie with at the Field Museum!

16  The Art Institute of Chicago

This incredible museum is home to some of the best art and exhibitions in the world. It is located next to the Bean, but try and nip in before the hundreds of school kids that turned up by the bus load when we were there!

Or better yet, get a skip-the-line fast pass ticket here >

Or if you really want to know all about the wonderful works here, you can book a skip-the-line tour with a guide >

17  Eat deep dish pizza!

Yes Deep Dish pizza is a Chicago institution but I’m reliably informed Chicago residents only eat it when they have out of town visitors, or maybe a few times a year. Shock, horror, many prefer thin crust New York style!

There are several different deep dish pizza restaurants here, and whomever you ask which is the best, you’ll get a different answer.

I like them. But they’re more of a pie than the traditional pizza with a topping! These things have a crust, which needs to be crispy, then they’re filled with tomato – often squeezed the proper Italian way, and gooey cheese. Then you can add other toppings as you wish.

Two slices is probably enough for one person, and you can also buy by the single slice. But hey, if you’ve got a bigger appetite, go all in!

I’ve tried Lou Malnati’s, Giordano’s and Piquod’s, which I enjoyed. But Uno also comes highly recommended for great deep dish pizzas.

18 Visit Navy Pier

This is one of Chicago’s top attractions with loads of great restaurants, bars, live music, amusement park rides with a Ferris wheel, shopping, hotel accommodation and fantastic views of the lake and looking back at this beautiful city.

One of the attractions is the Flyover, an immersive fly-over Chicago. If you don’t do a helicopter ride, this is the next best thing 😉 You’ll be “flying” in front of a 65-foot screen and feel the breeze and even mist and scents, diving over neighborhoods and getting a wonderful unique perspective of the city.

19  Have a rooftop cocktail

The largest rooftop bar in the whole country is here at Navy Pier. So after you’ve had a wander and some fun, head to Offshore Rooftop for a cocktail in the sun and snap the amazing views of Lake Michigan and the city.

It’s a 36,000 sq ft all-weather venue, and the 20,000 sq ft terrace has seven fire pits for the chilly Chicago days.

20 Take the kids to Shedd Aquarium

They will love the giant octopus, beluga whales and sharks, seahorses and sea dragons (what?), jellyfish, frogs and a whole lot more.

21 Visit the Chicago Children’s Museum

Located at Navy Pier, the kids will love building things in the Tinkering Lab, digging for dinosaurs in a recreation of a Saharan expedition. If it’s hot out and you need some respite, there are lots of things that splash and squirt. There’s an enchanted forest and I would have loved this so much: Michael’s Museum: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures. I love miniatures!

22 Visit Lincoln Park Zoo – for free!

Founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the few zoos to offer free admission – 365 days a year. Lincoln Park Zoo is actively involved in speaking out against primates being kept as pets. Over 15,000 are said to be kept as pets in the US, and most are in unsuitable or inhumane conditions, kept to perform. I’m not a zoo fan, except for animal rescue, rehabilitation or breeding programs to save a species.

23 See a game at Wrigley Field

Located on Chicago’s North Side, Wrigley Field is an iconic baseball park, home of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs played their first home game here in 1916. The name comes from Wrigley Gum, who acquired the Cubs in 1921 and named the park in 1927.

24 Take your stargazers to Adler Planetarium

This museum is all about astronomy and astrophysics.

It was founded in 1930 by Chicago business leader Max Adler and is located on the northeast tip of Northerly Island at the shore of Lake Michigan. It boasts one of the largest collections of astrolabes in the world, including the most sophisticated scientific instrument of the Middle Ages which could be used to find the time and directions.

25 Visit the Museum of Science and Industry

MSI is filled with science exhibits for kids as well as adults. It’s mandate is to “inspire the next generation of innovators” and is rated as the best museum in Chicago by some.

26 Stroll along Chicago Riverwalk

In fact you could spend a whole day just eating and playing along this 1.25 mile stretch of the Chicago Riverbank. It’s open from 6am to 11pm and boat trips happen May to October.

This multi-award-winning, pedestrian-friendly attraction is filled with intimate coves, waterfront cafes and bars. Lovers of art and culture will enjoy the public art pieces, monuments and you’re close to museums, as well as excursions on the water.

27 Run the Chicago Marathon

Of course one of the most famous marathons in the world is the Chicago Marathon. It takes place in October each year. I’ve covered all the top marathons in the world in this post, as well as some epic and quirky ones, like through Africa, over the Great Wall of China and more.

I’ve also created some unique souvenir gifts for the Chicago marathon which you’ll find in my Etsy store. I designed a T-shirt and mug that has all the place names on it, as well as some funny ones just for giggles.

If you want to do Chicago on a budget, there are loads of free things to do in Chicago too. In fact 207 of them, which will keep you busy for at least a week!