I%26#39;ll be in Chicago for one week in the middle of June and will be pretty much on my own while my husband attends a conference. Other than visiting the typical tourist spots, what do you recommend? Is Chicago a walking city? How is the public transportation? Are there areas to avoid? Thanks.
First time visit to ChicagoNot sure about atypical tourist spots, but we found Chicago very walkable. The public transport is very good (we actually quite enjoyed riding around on the trains to get some nice views of the city!), so I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll have no trouble getting around. Sorry I cant be of much more help to you!
First time visit to ChicagoChicago is very much a walkable city - in fact many residents don%26#39;t own cars. Go to www.transitchicago.com to see how easy it is. You can put in your intended destinations and figure out how to get there.
However, if you%26#39;re in a business trip, chances are you%26#39;ll be staying downtown where you can walk to many of the places you%26#39;ll want to visit - such as the Art Institute, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue etc.
There are free trolleys starting at the end of May (on the above web site) which can take you down to the museum campus (Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium) as well as to various points on Michigan Avenue and up to the free Lincoln Park zoo.
Taxis are also plentiful and not expensive.
There has been a thread on here about which areas to avoid but the general consensus seemed to be that most places downtown are okay, just exercise the usual caution that you would anywhere - don%26#39;t walk around late at night in quiet places on your own.
If you have specific interests, Chicago posters can tell you places to go that are not typically touristy.
Thank you all for the excellent information. Besides walking and using public transportation, would you also suggest renting a car for day trips outside the city? And if so, any suggestions on where to go?
Elle, Chicago is an exceedingly walkable town - and biking ain%26#39;t bad neither! :)
Why not rent a bike from Millennium Park or Navy Pier for the day - or go on a guided bike tour such as Bobby%26#39;s Bike Hike. In fact, if your husband is antsy after sitting in conference all day, Bobby%26#39;s has a nighttime bike tour as well. (Photo ops abound!)
(Apologizing for the length of this portion in advance, but there is a lot of information here for you.) But about the walking...
A) If you are looking for a walking tour - suggest going north on Astor Street (generally voted the most beautiful street in Chicago) in the Gold Coast neighborhood from Division up to North Avenue (photo op!), then west past the Cardinal%26#39;s mansion (red brick mansion with many chimneys) (photo op!) over to State Street and south.
B) If you wanted to extend this more: Instead of turning west at North Avenue, continue north under the underpass, which is to the east of the Chicago History Museum, into Lincoln Park* (both the park itself and the neighborhood). The Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory are a little less than a mile away, but it%26#39;s a lovely walk. When you come out of the underpass, you will be facing the softball diamonds and have a choice of which path to take. I%26#39;d recommend going north on the large center path; it will take you right behind Cafe Brauer (lovely building in its own right ) to where the swan paddle boats are docked on the lagoon (great photo op!). There is an entrance to the Lincoln Park Zoo just north of the docking area - or go in front of Cafe Brauer (photo op!) and continue north a couple of blocks to the main entrance of the Zoo. Just north of Lincoln Park Zoo is the Lincoln Park Conservatory - you can%26#39;t miss it. Both the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Lincoln Park Conservatory are free every day.
C) If you wanted to extend this even more: Continue walking north past the Conservatory, past Fullerton (not even 1/2 block away), you%26#39;ll see the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to your right and the lagoon straight ahead. Take the path between the two (it would be to your right) and continue walking north about 3.5 blocks. You%26#39;ll come out right at North Pond (restaurant) - look back south over the lagoon at the skyline (photo op!).
D) Now, you could go back the way you came, or if you wished, just go continue north to the golden statue of Alexander Hamilton (the big grey building just to your left is the Elks Memorial) about 1.5 blocks north - then turn right and walk a couple of blocks east over to Diversey Harbor. You%26#39;ll see the sidewalk on the north side of Diversey Harbor (photo op!) going out to the Lakefront Path. From there you can walk back to North Michigan Avenue along the lake - about 2.25 miles (HUGE photo op! more the closer you get to N. Michigan Avenue).
To give you an idea of the distances of these walks: To North Avenue and back (from Division) would be somewhat less than 1.25 miles. To the Zoo and back (not including time spent walking in the Zoo): a little more than 3 miles. To Diversey Harbor and back: A little more than 5 miles. If you don%26#39;t want to walk all that distance, all you have to do is pick up the free trolley from the Lincoln Park Zoo back to N. Michigan Avenue - or take the #151 SB CTA bus at any stop on Stockton along this route.
The other walk I%26#39;d recommend is:
Starting at the Museum Campus - by the Shedd Aquarium (and what a great photo op that place is!). Walk north along Monroe Harbor (photo op!) until you get to Buckingham Fountain (great photo op!). There is no way to cross directly at the fountain anymore, but just go to the next intersection with light and backtrack a bit. Then after you have visited the Fountain, go through the Rose Garden (directly west) and then you want to go northwest to Millennium Park. I think you can just see the tops of the ribbons from the Frank Gehry Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park over the trees after you%26#39;re through the Rose Garden, but (if not) you cannot miss Millennium Park** - 5 minutes away (huge photo op!). Then after visiting MP, if you wanted to: at Michigan and Randolph on the west side is the Chicago Cultural Center - go inside and have a tour of the building. If you wanted to go on the Chicago Architecture Foundation%26#39;s River Cruise (highly recommended) (HUGE, HUGE photo op!), you need only walk three blocks north to the Chicago River - you%26#39;ll see their blue awning on the NE corner - go down the stairs.
There are several places where you can go outside the city without needing to rent a car. These are all day trips:
June is an especially beautiful month at the Chicago Botanic Garden and you can take Metra there. Take a look at the Botanic Garden%26#39;s website for details and Metra for the timetables and fares. (Huge photo ops, especially if you love gardening!)
I mentioned this to another poster recently - any interest in going to a thoroughbred race track? If so, you can take Metra to Arlington Park.
If you wanted to make a day of it at the Indiana Dunes National Park - with its dunes, walking trails, beaches and beautiful Lake Michigan (photo ops!) - then take the South Bend and South Shore Railroad to the Dune Park station. When you get off the train, just look west about 1/2 block and you%26#39;ll see the sign how to get to the park entrance. See the NICTD website for timetable and fares.
You could take a tour to see Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in Oak Park (photo ops!).
Have fun when you are here!
*The Green City Market will be close to the underpass in Lincoln Park, just in case you wanted to stop in and grab some picnic items for your adventures. If you didn%26#39;t, the grill behind Cafe Brauer is nice and North Pond is a lovely place to stop for lunch (pricey though).
**There is a free downloadable audio walking tour of Millennium Park which you can obtain from its website.
Other posters have provided you with excellent information. I%26#39;ll just add a couple of websites that might prove helpful in your planning:
www.ChooseChicago.com
www.egov.CityofChicago.org
http://chicagotips.blogs.com/chicagotips/
www.architecture.org
Thanks for the great stuff. You people are amazing. I%26#39;m excited about seeing all the places mentioned.
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