Chicago Attractions

Neighborhoods
The Loop
Downtown in Chicago is synonymous with the Loop. The Loop refers to a core of primarily commercial, governmental, and cultural buildings contained within a looping of elevated train tracks in the center city,
Downtown
Greater downtown Chicago extends beyond the Loop and is bounded by the Chicago River to the north and west, by Michigan Avenue to the east, and by Roosevelt Avenue to the south.
The North Side
North Michigan Avenue is known as the Magnificent Mile, from the bridge spanning the Chicago River to its northern tip at Oak Street. Many of the city's best hotels, shops, and restaurants are to be found on and around elegant North Michigan Avenue.
Old Town West of LaSalle Street, principally on North Wells Street between Division Street and North Avenue, is the residential district of Old Town, with some of the city's best-preserved historic homes.
Chinatown, Chicago
Chicago's large Chinese neighborhood is full of popular restaurants, nightclubs, and shops displaying Asian wares.
Lincoln Park
Chicago's most popular residential neighborhood is home to two major museums and one of the nation's oldest zoos. The area also contains many of Chicago's most popular nightclubs, restaurants, retail stores, and off-Loop theaters, including the nationally acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Wrigleyville is the name given to the neighborhood in the vicinity of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.
The South Side
South Loop was Chicago's original "Gold Coast" in the late 19th century, with Prairie Avenue (now an historic district) as its most exclusive address. Cermak Road (where Chinatown begins), and from Lake Shore Drive west to the south branch of the Chicago River is one of the fast-growing residential neighborhoods in the city.

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.