Must-see attractions in Illinois

  • CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 30: The Chicago Cubs defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks during a Friday afternoon game at Wrigley Field on April 30, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois

    Wrigley Field

    Chicago

    Built in 1914, Wrigley Field – aka the Friendly Confines – is the second-oldest baseball park in the major leagues. It’s home to the Chicago Cubs and…

  • July 7, 2012: Crowd gathered at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

    Millennium Park

    Chicago

    There's free admission to Millennium Park, the playful heart of the city. It shines with whimsical public art, both permanent and temporary exhibits, and…

  • JUNE 24, 2018: Planes hanging from the ceiling inside the Museum of Science and Industry.

    Museum of Science & Industry

    Chicago

    The MSI is the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere and a place to completely geek out. Highlights include a WWII German U-boat nestled in an…

  • JUL 15, 2018: Exterior of the Art Institute of Chicago museum.

    Art Institute of Chicago

    Chicago

    The second-largest art museum in the country, the Art Institute houses a treasure trove from around the globe. The collection of impressionist and…

  • Chicago skyline at dusk.

    Willis Tower

    Chicago

    Willis Tower is Chicago's tallest building (and one of the world's loftiest). Breathe deeply during the ear-popping, 70-second elevator ride to the 103rd…

  • Navy Pier on Lake Michigan

    Navy Pier

    Chicago

    Half-mile-long Navy Pier is one of Chicago's most-visited attractions, sporting a 196ft Ferris wheel and other carnival rides ($9 to $18 each), an IMAX…

  • Dead of the Dead Art at Mexican Heritage Museum.

    National Museum of Mexican Art

    Chicago

    Founded in 1982, this vibrant museum – the largest Latinx arts institution in the US – has become one of the city’s best. The vivid permanent collection…

  • Model of Dinosaur Skeleton

    Field Museum of Natural History

    Chicago

    The Field Museum houses some 30 million artifacts and includes everything but the kitchen sink – beetles, mummies, gemstones, Bushman the stuffed ape –…

  • Leadlight window detail from Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

    Robie House

    Chicago

    Of the numerous buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed around Chicago, none is more famous or influential than Robie House. Because its horizontal…

  • Hancock Building and Water Tower

    360° Chicago

    Chicago

    The views from the 94th-floor observatory of this iconic building (formerly known as the John Hancock Center) in many ways surpass those at the Willis…

  • View of Chicago from Lincoln Park

    Lincoln Park

    Chicago

    The park that gave the neighborhood its name is Chicago’s largest. Its 1200 acres stretch for 6 miles from North Ave north to Diversey Pkwy, where it…

  • Museum of Contemporary Art

    Chicago

    Consider it the Art Institute’s brash, rebellious sibling, with especially strong minimalist, surrealist and conceptual photography collections, and…

  • Stony Island Arts Bank

    Chicago

    Artist-activist Theaster Gates bought a tumbledown bank building for $1 in Chicago's neglected South Shore neighborhood, and transformed it into a…

  • Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio

    Illinois

    This is where Wright lived and worked from 1889 to 1909 and it's the first home he ever designed. Tour frequency varies, from every 20 minutes on summer…

  • Busy Beaver Button Museum

    Chicago

    Even George Washington gave out campaign buttons, though in his era they were the sew-on kind. Pin-back buttons came along in 1896. Badge-making company…

  • Dana Thomas House

    Illinois

    The third-largest home Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed, this remarkably preserved Prairie School icon dating to 1902–04 is – dare we say it – more…

  • Driehaus Museum

    Chicago

    Set in the exquisite Nickerson Mansion, the Driehaus immerses visitors in Gilded Age decorative arts and architecture. You'll feel like a Great Gatsby…

  • Illinois Holocaust Museum

    Illinois

    This is the third-largest holocaust museum in the world, after those in Jerusalem and Washington, DC. Besides its haunting Nazi-era rail car and its…

  • Galerie F

    Chicago

    Galerie F is exactly the type of laid-back, ubercool gallery you'd expect to find in Logan Square. It specializes in rock-and-roll gig posters,…

  • 500px Photo ID: 89361423 - The Puertorican flag is the center of attraction at Paseo Boricua on Division Street in Chicago, Il. The section known as Humboldt Park has a large concentration of Puertorican families living in it.

    Humboldt Park

    Chicago

    This 207-acre park, which lends its name to the surrounding neighborhood, comes out of nowhere and gobsmacks you with Mother Nature. A lagoon brushed by…

  • 500px Photo ID: 123458731 - Northerly Island Wildflowers, Chicago

    Northerly Island

    Chicago

    This hilly, prairie-grassed park has a walking and cycling trail, bird-watching, fishing and an outdoor venue for big-name concerts. It's actually a…

  • Japanese bridge at Osaka Garden in Jackson Park. The Museum of Science and Industry is in the background.

    Jackson Park

    Chicago

    This 550-acre, lakefront green space is a gem. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, renowned creator of New York City's Central Park, it comprises bird-rich…

  • Display of blues artifacts and memorabilia including dresses and sound equipment at Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven, South Loop.

    Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven

    Chicago

    From 1957 to 1967, this humble building was Chess Records, the seminal electric blues label. It's now named for the bassist who wrote most of Chess' hits…

  • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 9: Fern Room of the Garfield Park Conservatory on December 9, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois; Shutterstock ID 166759727; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Garfield Park Conservatory

    Chicago

    Built in 1907, these two acres under glass are a lovely spot to while away a few hours sauntering around rooms of palms, ferns, orchids and koi-filled…

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    Rookery

    Chicago

    The famed firm of Burnham and Root built the Rookery – named for the site's previous building, a temporary city hall that was popular with roosting…

  • Title page of De Humani Corporis Fabrica

    International Museum of Surgical Science

    Chicago

    This small but fascinating museum, set inside a former residential mansion facing the lake, is dedicated to the world of surgery and medicine. Exhibits…

  • CHICAGO - JULY 21:  Front door of the original Playboy Mansion in Chicago's Gold Coast, in Chicago, Illinois on JULY 21, 2013.  (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)...

    Original Playboy Mansion

    Chicago

    The sexual revolution partied hearty for 15 years in the basement ‘grotto’ of this 1899 mansion. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner bought it in 1959 and hung a…

  • Shedd Aquarium

    Chicago

    Top draws at the kiddie-mobbed Shedd Aquarium include the Wild Reef exhibit, where there's just 5in of Plexiglas between you and two-dozen fierce-looking…

  • Union Station

    Chicago

    This wonderfully restored 1925 train station looks like it stepped right out of a gangster movie. In fact, it has been used to great effect in exactly…

  • St Louis, U.S.A. - May 18 2011: Route 66, an old firefighters car on the old Chain of Rocks bridge on the Mississippi river

    Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

    Illinois

    Open only to pedestrians and cyclists these days, this mile-long span over the Mississippi River opened in 1929 and was a vital link in Route 66. It has a…

  • Gallagher Way

    Chicago

    It's impossible to get any closer to Wrigley Field without actually crossing the stadium's threshold, making this newly developed plaza (formerly a…

  • July 29, 2014: Two women check their phones next to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool in Lincoln Park Conservatory.

    Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

    Chicago

    The enchanting Lily Pool hides in a plot northeast of the Lincoln Park Conservatory, at the corner of Fullerton and Cannon Drs. Built in 1938 by landscape…

  • Buckingham Fountain at Night

    Buckingham Fountain

    Chicago

    Grant Park's centerpiece is one of the world's largest fountains, with a 1.5-million-gallon capacity and a 15-story-high spray. It lets loose on the hour…

  • The Puertorican flag is the center of attraction at Paseo Boricua on Division Street in Chicago, Il. The section known as Humboldt Park has a large concentration of Puertorican families living in it.

    Paseo Boricua

    Chicago

    The Paseo Boricua, aka Puerto Rican Promenade, is a half-mile-long stretch of Division St where many Puerto Rican shops and restaurants do business. It’s…

  • Green City Market has been supplying Lincoln Park with responsibly-produced foods since 1998.

    Green City Market

    Chicago

    Stands of purple cabbages, red radishes, green asparagus and other bright-hued produce sprawl through Lincoln Park at Chicago's biggest farmers market…

  • American Writers Museum

    Chicago

    Bibliophiles will have a grand time in this museum, where American writers spanning the ages – from Edgar Allen Poe to Elie Wiesel, James Baldwin to Edith…

  • Lincoln Park Zoo

    Chicago

    The zoo has been around since 1868 and is a local freebie favorite, filled with lions, zebras, snow monkeys and other exotic creatures in the shadow of…

  • 500px Photo ID: 4734917 - Argyle Street, Chicago, IL

    Argyle Street

    Chicago

    Many residents of this area, also known as ‘Little Saigon,’ arrived as refugees from the Vietnam War and subsequently filled the storefronts with lunch…

  • Street signs commemorating the start of the famous U.S. Route 66, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Route 66 Sign

    Chicago

    Attention Route 66 buffs: the Mother Road begins in downtown Chicago. Look for the 'Historic 66 Begin' sign at the northwestern corner of Adams St and…

  • August 11, 2021 - HIllside, Illinois, USA: The final resting place of Chicago mobster, Alphonse Capone at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.; Mount Carmel Cemetery

Shutterstock ID 2030326451; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Mt Carmel Cemetery

    Chicago

    Al Capone is now buried in this cemetery in Hillside, west of Chicago. He and his relatives were moved here in 1950. Al’s simple gray gravestone, which…

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