These are some words of advice for people visiting Chicago for the first time as a tourist. This information has been used by some of my friends when they visited Chicago over last 5 years that I have been staying here.
Go through this guide:
http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/brochures/Downtown_Sightseeing_Guide_Sep_10.pdf
I would suggest purchasing this City Pass. Its worth the money and time.
http://www.citypass.com/chicago
This pass is valid for 9 days. So, once you purchase it, you can see those five destinations over the entire long weekend you are here for.
This city pass covers all the important and must see destinations in Chicago. Plus, you avoid standing in ticket queue at most of the locations if you have this pass. You will save a lot of time and energy. Especially, in sears tower on a long weekend, you have to stand in the queue for about 3 hours before you get to go to the top. If you have this pass, you get to go directly inside without having to stand in the queue. The first three locations mentioned in this city pass are
1. Adler Planetarium,
2. Field Museum and
3. Shedd Aquarium.
These three are at the same location. So, once you reach there, you can cover all of them depending on how fast you move through. I would suggest, take your time and enjoy wherever you are. Even if you cover only one or two of these three, your money and time is well spent. I did not find Shedd Aquarium that interesting, you may skip it OR just attend the 4-D show in there and come out. To me, it did not make much sense to waste time watching the fishes and penguins. Even the dolphin show in Shedd Aquarium is not that good. You can skip that.
Go to the Sears(Willis) Tower in the morning at around 10 AM. Less rush. Check the weather and go only if it is sunny. It does not make sense to go on top of the tower on a cloudy day, you won't enjoy it. Sears Tower is around 1 mile away from Millenium Park. Take a bus, cab or walk. You will see good scenic views and buildings on the way. Same applies for John Hancock Observatory. John Hancock tower has a restaurant on 95th floor named "Signature Room". People usually reserve a lunch table in this restaurant. The glass windows of this restaurant offer a magnificent view of Lake Michigan, the marina, the boats, the beaches beside the lake, Lakeshore Drive and millenium park. The view is worth watching and clicking. The restaurant is a little bit costly though. So, you can decide based on your budget. Otherwise, the John Hancock tower has its own observatory accessible by paying some entry fee. This is covered in the city pass if you purchase it.
Apart from the locations offered by CityPass, do not miss the location called "Millenium Park". It is open to all for free. It is a must see destination in Chicago. It is right by the Michigan Avenue in downtown. Also, you should not miss walking on the 2 miles stretch north of Millenium Park, along the Michigan Avenue. That is the main downtown of Chicago. There you will find most tourists spending their time taking photographs and looking at Chicago's magnificent planned city architecture.
Right on michigan avenue near millenium park is the Art Institute of Chicago.
You may also go to "Navy Pier". Frankly, I do not like that location much, but most of the tourists make it a point to go there. This is good to visit with kids. There is also a Children's museum at Navy Pier. At Navy Pier, you can get on few short(1 hour) cruises which take you around in the Lake Michigan. (I have been on one such cruise, it gives a nice view of the skyline but apart from that I did not find much value in it. They are so costly.) At Navy Pier, there is a "Giant Wheel" in which you can take a ride for about $12 per person. That also gives a good view of the skyline. Apart from these two, this is like a "to hang around" place, buzz with restaurants, small shops and crowd. There is a museum(free entry) called Smith Museum which has a collection of glass paintings by different artists. It is nice. It takes just 20-30 minutes to pass through that museum. Also, check the timetable of fireworks at Navy Pier. I know they have one every wednesday at around 8PM. Check it online if you want to see the fireworks.
If you are staying just for 3 days, then above locations should keep you occupied. If you want to go for more, you can purchase the card called "Go Chicago Card". The cost is same as the City pass that I mentioned above. But, this card does not give you direct entry to locations like Sears Tower and John Hancock Observatory without going through queues, so it does not add much value. It covers a lot of destinations though, but they are not must-see.
For all the people from India, there are some more locations to visit:
1. Swaminarayan Temple
2. Swami Ramkrishna Universal Temple: Recently the "Vivekanand Vedanta Society" moved the temple from Hyde Park Chicago to "14630 S. Lemont Road, Homer Glen, IL 60491". This is a universal temple, in the sense that no matter which religion you belong to, you can come to this temple to worship the real ideals of humanity. It is a very simple temple, it has a book store and a library inside, they also run Yoga and Sanskrit classes here on Saturdays and Sundays and also have spiritual discourses with visiting Gurus from all over the world. See the calendar on their website if you want to attend any such event. There is no canteen facility at this temple (at least as of today).
I will keep updating this page as I find time to update minute details of each place.
Go through this guide:
http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/brochures/Downtown_Sightseeing_Guide_Sep_10.pdf
I would suggest purchasing this City Pass. Its worth the money and time.
http://www.citypass.com/chicago
This pass is valid for 9 days. So, once you purchase it, you can see those five destinations over the entire long weekend you are here for.
This city pass covers all the important and must see destinations in Chicago. Plus, you avoid standing in ticket queue at most of the locations if you have this pass. You will save a lot of time and energy. Especially, in sears tower on a long weekend, you have to stand in the queue for about 3 hours before you get to go to the top. If you have this pass, you get to go directly inside without having to stand in the queue. The first three locations mentioned in this city pass are
1. Adler Planetarium,
2. Field Museum and
3. Shedd Aquarium.
These three are at the same location. So, once you reach there, you can cover all of them depending on how fast you move through. I would suggest, take your time and enjoy wherever you are. Even if you cover only one or two of these three, your money and time is well spent. I did not find Shedd Aquarium that interesting, you may skip it OR just attend the 4-D show in there and come out. To me, it did not make much sense to waste time watching the fishes and penguins. Even the dolphin show in Shedd Aquarium is not that good. You can skip that.
Go to the Sears(Willis) Tower in the morning at around 10 AM. Less rush. Check the weather and go only if it is sunny. It does not make sense to go on top of the tower on a cloudy day, you won't enjoy it. Sears Tower is around 1 mile away from Millenium Park. Take a bus, cab or walk. You will see good scenic views and buildings on the way. Same applies for John Hancock Observatory. John Hancock tower has a restaurant on 95th floor named "Signature Room". People usually reserve a lunch table in this restaurant. The glass windows of this restaurant offer a magnificent view of Lake Michigan, the marina, the boats, the beaches beside the lake, Lakeshore Drive and millenium park. The view is worth watching and clicking. The restaurant is a little bit costly though. So, you can decide based on your budget. Otherwise, the John Hancock tower has its own observatory accessible by paying some entry fee. This is covered in the city pass if you purchase it.
Apart from the locations offered by CityPass, do not miss the location called "Millenium Park". It is open to all for free. It is a must see destination in Chicago. It is right by the Michigan Avenue in downtown. Also, you should not miss walking on the 2 miles stretch north of Millenium Park, along the Michigan Avenue. That is the main downtown of Chicago. There you will find most tourists spending their time taking photographs and looking at Chicago's magnificent planned city architecture.
Right on michigan avenue near millenium park is the Art Institute of Chicago.
You may also go to "Navy Pier". Frankly, I do not like that location much, but most of the tourists make it a point to go there. This is good to visit with kids. There is also a Children's museum at Navy Pier. At Navy Pier, you can get on few short(1 hour) cruises which take you around in the Lake Michigan. (I have been on one such cruise, it gives a nice view of the skyline but apart from that I did not find much value in it. They are so costly.) At Navy Pier, there is a "Giant Wheel" in which you can take a ride for about $12 per person. That also gives a good view of the skyline. Apart from these two, this is like a "to hang around" place, buzz with restaurants, small shops and crowd. There is a museum(free entry) called Smith Museum which has a collection of glass paintings by different artists. It is nice. It takes just 20-30 minutes to pass through that museum. Also, check the timetable of fireworks at Navy Pier. I know they have one every wednesday at around 8PM. Check it online if you want to see the fireworks.
If you are staying just for 3 days, then above locations should keep you occupied. If you want to go for more, you can purchase the card called "Go Chicago Card". The cost is same as the City pass that I mentioned above. But, this card does not give you direct entry to locations like Sears Tower and John Hancock Observatory without going through queues, so it does not add much value. It covers a lot of destinations though, but they are not must-see.
For all the people from India, there are some more locations to visit:
1. Swaminarayan Temple
2. Swami Ramkrishna Universal Temple: Recently the "Vivekanand Vedanta Society" moved the temple from Hyde Park Chicago to "14630 S. Lemont Road, Homer Glen, IL 60491". This is a universal temple, in the sense that no matter which religion you belong to, you can come to this temple to worship the real ideals of humanity. It is a very simple temple, it has a book store and a library inside, they also run Yoga and Sanskrit classes here on Saturdays and Sundays and also have spiritual discourses with visiting Gurus from all over the world. See the calendar on their website if you want to attend any such event. There is no canteen facility at this temple (at least as of today).
3. Art Institute of Chicago - This is where Swami Vivekanand gave all his historic talks on Hinduism in front of the Parliament of Religions in 1893. The road in front of the Art institute is also named after him as "Swami Vivekanand Road". (This building is easy to locate right by the Millenium Park on Michigan Avenue, it has two lion statues in front of the main door)
4. Devon Avenue - This is located far away from downtown, around 15 miles. You will need a car to reach this place. There is ample metered parking available on the roadside at Devon Avenue. Frankly, there is nothing special here. But, all the Indians like to go to Indian kind of shops and restaurants to get those things which they don't get in a typical American shop/restaurant. This is one of such places. A stretch of around 1 mile on Devon avenue is full of Indian shops and restaurants on both sides of the road. Even the style of arranging things in the shops is Indian. You will see big mannequins from the glass windows of the clothes shops wearing Indian clothes like Saari, Salvaar, Kurtaa, Dhoti, Shervaani etc. etc. Everything that you get in India is available here including but not limited to clothes, food, utensils, electronics, devotional stuff, music, paanipuri, bhelpuri, chaat masala etc. etc. Almost all the people from Chicago and vicinity go to Devon Avenue for buying grocery items as well because you get all the Indian vegetables, herbs, spices in the shops here. So, it is as good as a major shopping and grocery road in any big city in India. Go to this place only if you want to see this. If not, then skip this place, it is not a must see.
I will keep updating this page as I find time to update minute details of each place.
