Chicago's sights are concentrated in two areas that are easy to combine. In the Loop, the Art Institute of Chicago and Millennium Park sit next to each other on Michigan Avenue, linked by the Nichols Bridgeway, so a morning in the galleries can end with a walk to Cloud Gate and the Crown Fountain. A short ride south, the Museum Campus brings together the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium on the lakefront, close enough to visit two in a day.
Planning ahead pays off. Shedd sells timed tickets and recommends booking, the Art Institute is closed on Tuesday, and the Adler opens late on Wednesday evenings. Chicago CityPASS covers several major sights, including the Art Institute and Skydeck Chicago, and Illinois residents have free days at some museums. For views, choose Skydeck Chicago in Willis Tower for The Ledge or head to Navy Pier for the Centennial Wheel. Lincoln Park Zoo is free and open every day, and Garfield Park Conservatory on the West Side is a warm escape in winter. The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, further south, deserves most of a day on its own.
10 places · Updated October 27, 2026
Our top 3 attractions in Chicago
Attraction
The Art Institute of Chicago is a major encyclopaedic art museum on Michigan Avenue, with collections spanning thousands of years and a separate Modern Wing entrance on Monroe Street.
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Millennium Park is a free public park in the Loop, home to Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the Lurie Garden.
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The Field Museum on the Museum Campus is a natural history museum founded in 1893, known for Sue the T. rex and its galleries on ancient Egypt and the Americas.
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Opened in 1930 on the lakefront, Shedd Aquarium houses aquatic life from around the world in galleries such as Amazon Rising, Wild Reef and the Abbott Oceanarium.
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Housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Fair, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is known for its U-505 submarine and re-created coal mine.
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Skydeck Chicago is the 103rd-floor observation deck of Willis Tower, around 412 metres up, where glass boxes called The Ledge project out over Wacker Drive.
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Navy Pier stretches 3,300 feet into Lake Michigan from Streeterville, with the Centennial Wheel, a children's museum, a theatre, cruises and free events throughout the year.
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Founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is a free zoo on the North Side lakefront, open every day of the year, with lions, gorillas, penguins, giraffes and snow leopards.
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The Adler Planetarium, opened in 1930 on the Museum Campus lakefront, mixes dome theatre sky shows with space exhibitions, historic instruments and a public observatory.
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Designed by Jens Jensen in the early 1900s, Garfield Park Conservatory is a large glasshouse on the West Side with a Palm House, Fern Room and seasonal flower shows.
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