Travel: Chicago Sights

Chicago sights – what to see and a few tips and tricks! We of course visited some of the big places which I’ve already blogged about – be sure to check those out.

Check out these other Chicago Sights

Chicago Street Art
Art Institute of Chicago
Shedd Aquarium
Adler Planetarium

We did use the Chicago City Pass – such a great value, especially if you’re going to see some of the big museums and other tourist spots. In this post I’ll share everything else we did – some free, some not. Okay, let’s get to it!

Chicago Sights

Field Museum
Chicago Theatre
Skydeck Chicago
Cloud Gate – the Bean
Millennium Park
Buckingham Fountain
Chicago 360
Navy Pier
Riverwalk

Field Museum

First up, the Field Museum. This is included with the City Pass and I’ll be honest, I could have done without. It’s not very interactive and requires a lot of reading. I did love the Mummies exhibition, okay, not love – more like I found it very interesting.

Chicago Theatre

Chicago Theatre – they give tours, yet it’s totally free to just swing by and check out this iconic sign. The shows, however, do cost a pretty penny.

Chicago Skydeck

The Skydeck. This place is wild. A fully glass bump-out over Chicago? Just a tad scary for those with a fear of heights. I think the admission is overpriced, yet it was included in our City Pass, so it was worth it.

The Bean

Cloud Gate, or better known as the Bean.

It’s free and if you want a couple of good shots, go early. Get some photos from the Northwest side and you’ll get a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline in the background. I have one framed in my bathroom (yes, it’s a tastefully themed travel bathroom).

Millennium Park

Millennium Park is a great place to enjoy a coffee on a bench and then take a little walk and people watch. It’s flat out energetic.

One thing to note, the public bathrooms open at 9am – there are some to the west of the Bean and also near Buckingham Fountain, to the north. I was in a panic and couldn’t find a restroom around 8:30am – the Starbucks barista totally understood my dilemma and gave me the code: 1972. Think they’ve changed it?

Buckingham Fountain

The Buckingham Fountain. We sat here and took in the fresh air while being relaxed by the gushing sound of the fountain. It’s pretty cool and totally free.

Chicago 360

Chicago 360 – okay, for some the foggy night might have sucked for some. For us, it was so awesome to see how fast the fog moved in from Lake Michigan. It was such a neat experience.

Navy Pier

Navy Pier – this place is crowded! We people watched and saw a celebrity chef – Fabio from Top Chef. He looks taller on TV.

Chicago Riverwalk

The Riverwalk – a great place to just sit and hang out. Some little shops and some river cruises. We walked along here a few times moving from one place to the next.

Ah – this is the photo in my bathroom, black and white and I upped the shadows. This one is good, the edited one is better…silly me for not sharing it.