Chicago is a city that’ll captivate you with a skyline filled with avant-garde skyscrapers. From these heights, you’ll also be able to enjoy unparalleled views of the urban surroundings. The city’s loftiest attraction is the Skydeck at the world-famous Willis Tower. It promises some thrills as you whiz up to this observation deck on the 103rd floor and take a heart-stopping step into a glass box that extends out 4 ft – all while taking in jaw-dropping views across 4 states.
Other unmissable sights include the magnificent Cloud Gate sculpture in the heart of Chicago. You can also take in the cityscape from a different perspective by taking a riverboat cruise. For cool discoveries, head to Chicago’s cultural institutions such as the Field Museum of Natural History and The Art Institute of Chicago before checking out what the stores on Magnificent Mile have to offer. You can also spend a day cheering with baseball fans at Wrigley Field and a night munching on deep-dish pizza or a Chicago-style hotdog.
Take a Chicago vacation to find a potpourri of world-class museums, parks and beaches, rocking blues clubs and scenic streets. Book a Chicago hotel and discover the richness of this diverse city on Lake Michigan’s sandy shores.
Get your bearings
In Chicago, downtown means the Loop, which refers to the skyscrapers and museums encircled by the rumbling elevated train tracks of the urban transport system. North across the river, designer shops and multi-story department stores line the shopping stretch of Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile. A few blocks west, River North is home to sleek clubs, art galleries, and loft dwellings. To the north, the tree-lined streets of residential Gold Coast and Old Town make for scenic strolling. Lincoln Park mixes blues clubs, trendy restaurants, and the famed Steppenwolf Theatre.
Miles of shopping
The fashion fan’s first stop in Chicago should be the Magnificent Mile, the first mile north of the loop on Michigan Avenue. Sophisticated shopping dominates here, with upscale chains, multi-story malls and chic boutiques. Fans of yesterday’s styles come to Lakeview, where shops stocked with funky antiques, collectables and vintage clothing line Lincoln Avenue. In Lincoln Park, Halstead Avenue and Clark Street draw the young professional set to designer homeware shops like CB2 and Tabula Tua, and stylish kidswear at Stinky Pants.
Dining around town
No visit to Chicago is complete without a signature tomato sauce- and cheese-filled deep dish pizza. But don’t stop there: a world of culinary flavours unfolds beneath Chicago’s crust. Hearty eaters can dig into a juicy steak in a mahogany-walled downtown steakhouse, or twirl spaghetti in a Little Italy trattoria. Splurge on a star chef’s innovative take on seafood in an elegant Lincoln Park bistro, or electrify your taste buds with fusion delicacies at a sushi counter.
Museums and culture
Impressionist canvases and contemporary sculptures adorn the Art Institute of Chicago, while multicoloured quilts and graffiti decorate the walls of Intuit: The Center of Intuitive and Outsider Art. Take a virtual reality tour into space at the Adler Planetarium or watch exhibits come to life at the Museum of Science and Industry. At night, join in a performance of the Blue Man Group at Briar State Theatre or groove to blues in the roadhouse ambience of Buddy Guy’s Legends.
Living history
Chicago’s history is imprinted in its wide array of architecture. Grand skyscrapers line the Loop’s streets, anchored by the mighty, geometric Sears Tower. An architectural tour sweeps through the 20th century, from the Gothic 1925 Tribune Tower to the 1980s NBC Tower, layered like a wedding cake. A walk down the leafy streets of Old Town takes you past some of the best-preserved 19th-century homes in the city. For a more comprehensive taste of the past, the Chicago History Museum covers everything from the 19th-century dresses of immigrants to memorabilia of Chicago Bulls' basketball megastar, Michael Jordan.
