Chicago Attractions
Chicago reversed a river, invented the skyscraper, survived a fire that killed three hundred people, and came back meaner. There's a reason people have been telling stories about this city for a hundred and fifty years.
Must-See in Chicago
Adler Planetarium
First planetarium in the Americas. Best skyline view in Chicago.
Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
A hidden prairie in the middle of a city of three million people.
Art Institute Lions
The iconic lions that get dressed up when Chicago wins championships.
Chicago Cultural Center
A hidden $35 million Tiffany dome that nobody knew existed for decades.
Cloud Gate (The Bean)
The Bean. The artist hates that you call it that. Keep calling it that.
Couch Tomb
A tomb in a public park. And it's not empty.
Landmarks
Adler Planetarium
First planetarium in the Americas. Best skyline view in Chicago.
Art Institute Lions
The iconic lions that get dressed up when Chicago wins championships.
Chicago Cultural Center
A hidden $35 million Tiffany dome that nobody knew existed for decades.
Couch Tomb
A tomb in a public park. And it's not empty.
Field Museum
Built on garbage. Filled with dinosaurs. Welcome to the Field Museum.
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Therapy with ferns. A Victorian glass house in Chicago.
Marina City
The "corn cob" towers—the architect really wishes you'd call them flower petals.
Shedd Aquarium
They built a train to haul seawater from Florida. For the fish.
Standing Lincoln
The greatest Lincoln sculpture ever made — by a sculptor who basically traced.
The Biograph Theater
Where John Dillinger watched his last movie before being gunned down by the FBI.
The Chicago Theatre
Neutral ground during Prohibition—where rival gangsters watched the same shows.
The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
A real 1920s speakeasy where you can sit in Al Capone's actual booth.
Water Tower
The tiny Gothic castle that survived while all of Chicago burned around it.
Café Brauer
The most beautiful building in a public park that was also, for decades, a storage shed.
Holy Name Cathedral
A gorgeous cathedral with bullet holes from a 1926 gangland assassination still visible.
Merchandise Mart
The Kennedy family's best investment—$12.5M in, $625M out.
Monadnock Building
The before and after of the skyscraper, side by side in one building.
Riverwalk — Big Flush
You're standing next to a river that flows the wrong direction.
Riverwalk — Modern
For most of Chicago's history, this river was a dumpster.
Soldier Field
The only building to ever LOSE National Historic Landmark status.
Sullivan Center
The masterpiece of the father of skyscrapers—who died broke and alone.
The Rookery
A Romanesque fortress outside, light-filled atrium inside—renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Tribune Tower
Gothic skyscraper decorated with 150+ stolen stones from the Parthenon, Great Wall, and more.
Wrigley Building
The gum magnate's glowing white tower—designed so you'd think about chewing.
Parks
Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
A hidden prairie in the middle of a city of three million people.
Cloud Gate (The Bean)
The Bean. The artist hates that you call it that. Keep calling it that.
Crown Fountain
Giant faces that spit water at you. This is public art.
Lincoln Park Zoo
One of the last free zoos in America. Started with two swans.
Nature Boardwalk
You're walking on milk jugs. The skyline view is the money shot.
Northerly Island
Made from garbage. Destroyed by bulldozers at midnight. Now a nature sanctuary.
Historic Sites
St. Valentine's Day Massacre Site
Where seven men were executed on Valentine's Day 1929—the crime that shocked America.
The Site of the Lexington Hotel
Al Capone's infamous headquarters—the most dangerous address in 1920s America.
The Palmer House Hotel
Where corrupt politicians collected bribes while gangsters ran the city.
The Site of the Metropole Hotel
Capone's first headquarters—where the empire began before it all fell apart.
Explore Chicago with audio tours
Get the stories behind these places. Self-guided audio tours that are actually entertaining.