WHAT TO DO IN CHICAGO
Chicago Air and Water Show 2018
North Ave. Beach
Featuring military and civilian flight aerobatics, historic aircraft, simulated water rescues and parachute teams, the Chicago Air and Water Show is one of the largest and longest-running free admission events of its kind. Expected to attract 1 million people to North Avenue Beach, the 2018 show will feature the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds as well as the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights and the U.S. Navy Leapfrogs
Wendella Boat Tours
400 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Wendella Sightseeing Boats is Chicago's Original Architecture Tour, offering a variety of distinctive narrated tours, all focusing on Chicago's rich architectural heritage and history. Whether you're looking for an in-depth tour or a brief overview of Chicago, Wendella has many tour options to choose from.
Tours depart from the Wendella Dock at 400 N Michigan Avenue and from the Wendella Dock at Trump Tower, located West of the Wrigley Building at the lower level of Kinzie and Rush.
Cloud Gate in Millennium Park
201 E. Randolph St., Millenium Park, Chicago, IL 60601
Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.
Crown Fountain in Millennium Park
201 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60602
The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out.
Crown Fountain in Millennium Park was designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, one of the world's foremost sculptors working in the public space. The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool.
Navy Pier
600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The Pier was originally built in 1916, but in 1995 a major renovation was completed and now includes a Ferris wheel, IMAX theatre, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Amazing Chicago's Funhouse Maze, the Chicago Children's Museum, and much more.
Shedd Aquarium
1200 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
An indoor public aquarium that opened on May 30, 1930, with 32,000 animals. For some time this was the largest indoor aquarium in the world with 5,000,000 US gallons of water. The aquarium is surrounded by the Museum Campus Chicago.
The Field Museum
1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605, United States
With a range of the earliest fossils to past and current cultures from around the world to interactive programming demonstrating today's urgent conservation needs, the Field Museum is one of the largest natural history museums in the world.
The Field Museum also houses Sue, which is the most complete and best preserved Tyrannosauras Rex fossil discovered at 42 feet long, 13 feet high and 67 million years old.
Lincoln Park Zoo
2001 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
The Lincoln Park Zoo is a free 35-acre zoo located in Lincoln Park. It was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest zoos in the U.S. It is also one of the few free admission zoos in the United States.
The zoo is home to a wide variety of animals. The zoo's exhibits include big cats, polar bears, penguins, gorilla, reptiles, monkeys and other species totalling about 1,100 animals from some 200 species.