Itinerary for Chicago

I%26#39;m starting to get overwhelmed with planning all details of my trip. I want to have a solid plan laid out, and then as then comes up we can just go do them..Wondering if there is any particular order I should visit these museums and tourist sites?

* Shedd Aquarium

* The Field Museum

* Adler Planetarium %26amp; Astronomy Museum

* Museum of Science and Industry

* The Hancock Observatory

I%26#39;ve got 4-5 days to spend sightseeing so I didn%26#39;t want to get too burned out sightseeing. I know sometimes there a discounts and free days.

Any other places I shouldn%26#39;t miss?

Itinerary for Chicago

The Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, and Adler Planetarium are all located on the Museum Campus. In my opinion, the Field Museum would probably take the longest to go through depending on whether you see any special exhibits. The planetarium and aquarium probably wouldn%26#39;t take as long since they seem to be smaller.

The Museum of Science and Industry is located farther south. It could really be an all day thing although when I went there a few months ago a lot of the exhibits were closed for renovation and many others were simply broken. The place really looked like it needed an update.

A tip that I give to people from out of town (usually families with children) that want to see the museums is to join a museum at home that has reciprocal agreements with the museums in Chicago. If you play it right, you could get into both the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum (as well as the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum) with that membership. Since I am not sure where you live, check out http://www.astc.org/ (specifically, you want to check out the Passport program).

Itinerary for Chicago

Hi there,

Yes, the Shedd, the Field Museum and the Adler are all close to each other. I believe they have a free day...maybe Tuesdays?

You definitely shouldn%26#39;t miss the Art Institute! It%26#39;s free on Thursdays after 5PM.

And, if you%26#39;re traveling with any baseball fans, a trip to Wrigley Field and catching a Cubs game should definitely be on your agenda.

To avoid paying the admission fee to the Hancock Observatory, have a drink at the Signature Lounge on the 94th floor. It has an incredible view, especially at sunset...the city%26#39;s lights are really beautiful!

Have a wonderful visit!

Hi stef26,

The Nature Museum is free on Thursdays and is up near Lincoln Park zoo, which is free all the time.

I recently said this on another post, but be careful about scheduling museum visits on the same day as it%26#39;s hard on the body (and the mind) having to stand around and take in a lot of information all day. In my opinion, better to mix it up a little and do a museum then say a visit to Millenium Park, or shopping etc. Nothing is too far away from anything else downtown.

I would definitely put the Museum of S %26amp; I further down your list in case you are museum%26#39;d out; its further to get to for s start.

Most of the museums have their own web sites, and you can also read about them on www.metromix.com.