In search of the best, most modern, entertaining and culinary American destination, you’ll find Chicago, the favorite city to see the urban, the well planned. It also has an excellent avant-garde infrastructure that makes you feel like you’re in a real metropolis. Among so many skyscrapers and historical buildings our Chicago tourist map is dedicated to reveal you those places that have made this city open to all kinds of public, that millions of tourists are coming and going every year. A big city, one of the most visited. It has many charming places, so it will not be easy to have enough time to visit them. This city hosts many meetings and celebrations. It’s not all about seeing, we will tell you which places to visit so you can stumble upon your favorite spots in the culinary arts, as well as shopping, nightlife and accommodation. We’ll make you feel like the main character on this trip to “The Windy City”.
Chicago Tourist Map
Chicago establishes the image of a model of advanced urban society, with high skyscrapers of modern designs and beautiful urban areas in constant change. This generates the curiosity to admire the day to day, even if it is only for an instant, letting oneself be dragged by the current of millions of people who give it life, dynamism and progress. With almost 3 million inhabitants, it is positioned as the third most populated city, concentrated in just 600 kilometers from the city. You can get an idea of how busy Chicago is. The magnificent thing about it is that it harmonizes with beautiful green areas and wide zones to spread out and diminish the pressure caused by the noise and the hustle and bustle. In addition, its strong winds and proximity to Lake Michigan are the inspiration for excellent recreational activities. Sports, architecture, and the arts are their forte.
When we talk about architecture, we talk about the beauty of its institutional buildings, but nowadays we talk a lot about its skyscrapers, some of them competing with the highest in the world. Beyond the dimensions, they strive to be jewels of modern architecture by renowned architects. In fact, you can go on architectural routes where you can get to know the inside of them. The development of its society would not be complete without its magnificent natural spaces such as Garfield Park Conservatory, with its innumerable species of plants under one roof and the animal conservation programs provided by the Lincoln Park Zoo. Recently, the Riverwalk was opened on the banks of the Chicago River, where you can spend a pleasant time and try excellent dishes from its culinary establishments. Science and nature merge to provide an experience for all ages at Planetarium Addler and Sheed Aquarium.
Chicago Tourist Guide
A city to be active, pending the change of pace marked by its squares, street events, theaters and public places deserves complete information. Try this Chicago tourist guide to explore our routes to the places of interest. We summarize what you need to know, curiosities, history and beauty is what their most popular places to visit. See what a city with amazing architecture looks like, as long as you get the most out of your Chicago CityPass. You will have the opportunity to have your picture taken with the sign that marks the beginning of Route 66. A walk on Lake Michigan would not be bad if you want to enter an open and peaceful environment. Our recommendations connect all that charm mentioned. You don’t have to think about it, you already have the place to visit on your next vacation.
What to see in Chicago
Millennium Park
Among the many outdoor spaces to choose from in Chicago, Millennium Park represents one of the most outstanding places in the image that the city projects to the world. And to earn our appreciation and recommendation, in this post we review the sites that we left as a task to explore in person, being these; the Crown Fountain with its 15 meter towers with animation on its vertical screens, the Lurien Garden, Wrigley Square, also the Jay Pritzker outdoor concert hall made of stainless steel and with capacity for about 4,000 people. One of the emblems of the square and of the city itself is the Cloud Gate, which illustrates a drop of water made of stainless steel and whose reflection is an asymmetrical image of the plane on which the square is built and the panorama itself.
Garfield Park Conservatory
This botanical garden or conservatory is one of the largest in the United States. With over 8,000 square meters, a huge glass dome covers it. Thousands of species of plants are air-conditioned and cared for here. Because of its style it is considered as “landscape art under glass”. It is ideal to break with the hustle and bustle that the city shows in its daily life. The tranquility is breathed with subtlety in its external gardens. Something you will like will be to appreciate the purity that emanates from its ferns and vegetation that sprouts from the humidity of the rocks. The marshy environment provides the ideal humidity for these plants to emerge without problems. There are rotating and permanent exhibits, such as the Sugar From the Sun, where you will be able to appreciate how the plants generate energy and floral varieties. It will be perfect to take the children to learn about the plant kingdom.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Besides being one of the first zoos installed in the United States, its 14 hectares are used for shelter, research and conservation. It is home to numerous species that have been rescued and donated by former owners. It currently fulfills the mission of educating visitors about the conservation of these species. It is an excellent refuge for these noble creatures and a means of recreation for those who wish to have close contact with these species. Its variety includes lions, tigers, penguins, bears, bison, apes of different sizes, reptiles, birds among other species that add up to more than a thousand specimens. There are even centennial trees. Some tours offered by tourist bus to this zoo are part of the repertoire. The best thing is that the free entrance will allow you to add it to your list any day of the year. But the important thing is that you adapt your itinerary between 9 am and 6 pm.
Chicago Riverwalk
The city is famous for having avant-garde buildings by renowned architects as architectural references. Chicago Riverwalk is pleased to complement the city’s style on the banks of the Chicago River. With a boulevard that is projected to attract a sophisticated trade and tourist magnet can be given pleasant walks. Even use the river routes with boats or kayaks, and appreciate the city from any angle. The project has just been completed, and it has shown to be very popular with tourists. Now it is ready for you to give its stylized sections, which are called “the last creative frontier”. Among the options you will have at hand are fishing activities on its docks, beautiful garden fountains and establishments that are in line with the innovative design of the riverside promenade.
Shedd Aquarium
Places like this in the world are few. Aquariums are very important to appreciate and achieve awareness about the life that houses the most important resource of the planet, water. They allow beautiful and symbiotic life forms to add variety and balance to this home called earth. In this aquarium the different ecosystems of both salt and fresh water are shown. Here you will be able to learn and admire a great variety of species that cover more than 25 thousand specimens. Since 1930 it has been awakening a passion for aquatic life in the hearts of Chicago’s citizens. Now it welcomes the thousands of tourists that pass through the city every day.
Adler Planetarium
For astronomy lovers Chicago offers its planetarium for an educational and exploratory experience. Since 1930 it has offered the public the most advanced technology to get closer to the heavenly bodies, always being at the forefront of advances in exploration and discovery. Famous for the amount of visual material and interactive elements with state-of-the-art technology. And the fact is that having the perspective of scientists and astronauts on the astronomical subject is not wasted in our touristic itinerary around the city. This planetarium is the oldest in the United States. The theme “Mission Moon” takes you back to the experience of the first explorers to the moon. While the Doanete Telescope invites your pupils to observe various bodies that make life in outer space. Discover more in their laboratories and interactive space resources.
Route 66 Chicago
Chicago is part of the famous Route 66 that crosses several states, in fact here marks the beginning. Famous for the many curiosities, to have fun and admire beautiful landscapes. And since we promised to advise you on the city’s gastronomic routes, what better place than the beginning of this famous tourist stretch to start. It is the perfect place to try a variety of menus. The best American street food can be seen along this route. Succulent pizzas and hot dogs in the best American style are sold like hot cakes. No matter if you are just passing through, you will get the best street food in town. Chicago has several gastronomic routes that involve highly rated restaurants, some with Michelin stars you can find along Route 66.
Navy Pier
On the shores of Lake Michigan is this dock. If you don’t visit it, you can’t consider your mission accomplished in Chicago, the Navy Pier, or Navy Pier. With more than a hundred years of history, today it is enhanced as a complex of attractions for recreation. The inhabitants usually go there to release tension, or to set some special moment. They could not miss the avalanche of tourists, which are counted by millions annually. People always take away a good reference of this dock, more than attractions, the happy atmosphere that develops. As a gastronomic city, its excellent restaurants could not be missed. The place is decorated with sculptures and gardens that add an artistic touch. It would be great to try Amazing Chicago’s Funhouse Maze or ride its huge 25-meter Ferris wheel; you would have a different perspective of the city.
360º Chicago Observatory
For view hunters, the privilege of a panoramic view in all the angles of the city is obtained in this observatory located in the middle of the Hancock Tower. In the heart of Chicago’s financial center, one of its tallest buildings offers the wonder of witnessing beautiful sunsets. Appreciates in miniature what happens in the corners of Chicago to about 300 meters high. And surely at this height you will be able to see beyond this city; important cities like Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana do not escape the range of vision of this observatory. As in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, the Skykalk gives you that feeling of vertigo, but this time towards an artificial and very colorful environment of the city. The visit to the place is done with audio guides and touch screens where you can access to your whim the history of the city.
Chicago hotel map
If you plan to come soon, we recommend using our Chicago hotel map, where you will see the best areas to arrive. There are neighborhoods where you will find economical options, although you would miss having everything just a few steps away from the city. That’s why the Chicago Loop is the most centrally located place you’ll ever have. Even by the river, you can choose a room that gives you all the charm of the lake at night. The James Chicago is located on the Magnificent Mile, one of the best areas to get there. It’s a hotel that embodies elegance, but also new design trends. It retains classic elements such as marble in its rooms. It has a cocktail shaker and spa, and lounges in its rooms.