From the city guide, checked October 28, 2026.
Most of the big sights sit downtown and along the lake, close enough to walk or ride the CTA between them. Prices and hours were checked on October 28, 2026 on each place's own site.
Millennium Park and Cloud Gate
The downtown park at 201 E. Randolph St. is open daily from 6 am to 11 pm, and admission is free. In the 1990s this corner was rail lines and parking lots; the city sued the Illinois Central Railroad in 1996, won the land back and turned it into a 24.5-acre park. Its icon is Anish Kapoor's mirrored sculpture Cloud Gate, known locally as "The Bean." Nearby are Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain and Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which hosts free concerts and festivals; the city tree lighting is on November 20, 2026 at 6 pm.
Art Institute of Chicago
The art museum next to Millennium Park: main entrance at 111 South Michigan Avenue, Modern Wing entrance at 159 East Monroe Street. Open 11 to 5, Thursdays until 8, closed Tuesdays. Adult admission is $32, $20 for Chicago residents and $27 for Illinois residents with proof of address. Children under 14 and Chicago teens under 18 get in free, and free English tours run daily at 1:00 and 3:00.
Chicago Riverwalk
A 1.25-mile path along the Chicago River from Lake Street to the lakefront, free and open 6 am to 11 pm. It runs through four districts (The Confluence, The Arcade, The Civic and the Esplanade) and connects Upper Wacker Drive with the water level. The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum on the path is about the city's movable bridges.
Architecture river cruise
Chicago's best-known tour is the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise aboard First Lady boats. It takes 90 minutes and is led by the center's certified volunteer docents. Boats leave from the southeast corner of the Michigan Avenue Bridge at 112 E. Wacker Drive; look for the black awning over the stairs. The 2026 season runs from March 15 to November 22.
Willis Tower Skydeck
Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, is 1,451 feet tall; it was finished in 1974 and was the world's tallest building until 1998. The Skydeck entrance is at 233 S Wacker Dr. On the 103rd floor, The Ledge glass boxes stick out 4.3 feet from the wall at 1,353 feet up. The Skydeck is open 365 days a year, with last entry 30 minutes before closing.
Navy Pier
A pier on Lake Michigan at 600 E. Grand Avenue, more than six city blocks long and over 50 acres. It opened in 1916 as a shipping and recreation facility and reopened in 1995. Expect the Centennial Wheel (2016), free fireworks through the year and docks for sightseeing cruises. Water taxis run from May through September.
Field Museum
The natural history museum at 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive is open daily 9 to 5, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. It grew out of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and moved into its current building in 1921. The star is SUE, which the museum calls the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton of its kind. Illinois residents get in free on Wednesdays; general admission starts at $30, or $21 for Chicago residents.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
The science museum at 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive sits in a rebuilt building from the same 1893 exposition. Its best-known exhibits are the German submarine U-505, with on-board tours, and the Coal Mine Tour. Illinois free days for 2026 are used up, and the museum says 2027 dates will be announced. Check its hours page before you go.
Lincoln Park Zoo
A free zoo on 49 acres at 2400 N. Cannon Drive, with more than 170 species. It is open every day of the year: gates 8 am to 5 pm, buildings 10 am to 4:30 pm. Parking costs $35 to $45 a day, so the bus is the better way in.
Lake Michigan beaches
The Chicago Park District manages 26 miles of open, free lakefront, and its beach list has 27 facilities. Swim season runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day, with lifeguards from 11 am to 7 pm. Among them are Montrose Beach (4400 N. Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive) and North Avenue Beach (1601 N. Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive). Up north near Rogers Park are Rogers, Leone and Loyola beaches.
Ukrainian Village and Holy Trinity Cathedral
The neighborhood that was called "Little Russia" in the early 1900s. Holy Trinity Cathedral at 1121 North Leavitt Street opened in 1903; it is now the cathedral of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America and a Chicago Landmark. Tours can be scheduled through the cathedral's website. St. Nicholas and St. Volodymyr cathedrals are in the same neighborhood.