Things to do in Chicago

[Patrick425]

My Wife, my 15 yr old son, and I have decided to take the train down to Chicago next week and spend the day. We are not looking for anything that would be a "commitment" of time like the Museum or anything like that. Some of our initial thoughts are to go to the observation deck in Willis Tower, maybe Navy Pier. Any other suggestions of things we should do or see?

 

Lived in Milwaukee my entire life and I should really know more about what there is to do in Chicago, but the only time I ever really spent in Chicago was shortly after I graduated from college and had a friend that was going to grad school down there. However, most of the time when we went down to visit him it was just to hit the Chicago Bars, and not really do any sight seeing.

 

edit: We are not staying the night. Probably getting there around 8 and leaving at around 5.

edit 2: Reading about Willis tower skydeck, sounds like the lines can be as long as 2 hours. There is the option to buy a speed pass for $40 per person, but not sure I want to do that. If anyone has any experience with this, could you tell me if the lines would be a bit shorter if we got there first thing in the morning (like right when it opens?).

[Outlander]

8-5 isn't that much time to see stuff in Chicago but if you really want to see the Sears Tower it is only a couple of blocks from the train station so maybe check out the wait time. Since you have limited time maybe take a cab down Michigan Ave and the Pier and walk along there. There are a lot of great museums but like you said there are time restrictions. Basically I would recommend more time if you really want to experience Chicago, not what you want to hear but just being honest.

 

Edit: There are a lot of sight seeing trolleys kind of like what Vince Vaughn does in the Break Up which would give you ideas if you go again.

[rwa12]

It's not a terrible time commitment, but the architectural tours on the Chicago River are really cool, maybe take an hour or two. There are lots of little cruises on the Navy Pier too. I would recommend hitting Lou Malnatti's or Geno's East for pizza, the pizza is 80% of the reason to visit Chicago, and much easier and quicker at lunch than at dinner time. Walk Michigan Ave if you want to window shop. Tough to do Chicago in a day. I don't like the Willis Tower, waste of time and money to me (much like the arch in STL).

[homer]

There's a walking architecture tour as well. You could go on one of those double decker tour buses. You could go on a boat tour down the river. You could rent Segways and cruise around Grant Park. There's a Segway place on Jackson - not sure what it's called. You can also head out to the planetarium and check out the view of the skyline. It's the most impressive view, IMO. Will you be there on a weekend? I assume so. There's a massive farmer's market in Lincoln Park you might look into. Just walking around Millenium Park is neat - lots of free art to check out (i.e. the Giant Bean, the reflecting pool, the crazy band shell, etc.). You could take a water taxi to Chinatown (picks you up on the river under the Tribune Building I think).

 

As far as pizza, you will still wait at lunch time for Geno's or Lou Malnatti's - especially during high tourist season and especially downtown. Plus deep-dish takes a long time to make which cuts into your already short stay. Not sure if they're open on weekends, but there's a sub pace called Fontano's on Michigan that is outstanding. http://www.fontanosonmichigan.com/

 

If I think of anything else, I'll edit my post.

[Patrick425]

Thanks!! Actually we are planning on going some day during the week next week (on a weekday).

 

I know that 8-5 is not a ton of time, but we only have the ability to take one day off of work and we did not want to go on a weekend (and there was not an available weekend for us in the near future).

[jerichoholicninja]

Navy pier is pretty interesting. Maybe take one of the river ferries. Centenniel Park.

[homer]

Garrett's Popcorn is a big thing for visitors. They have multiple locations around downtown.

[rondoman]

Navy Pier is so overhyped IMO. It's pretty much a glorified shopping mall.

 

Now, if you have any amount of time hit up the Shedd Aquarium, absolutely awesome. Also, the Museum and Science and Industry is very cool as well, and you might actually learn something.

 

Have fun.

[adamb100]

I would recommend going up the John Hancock tower over the Willis tower. They have a porch area where you can sort of go outside on top of the building.

 

I would check out Wrigley Field (its a dump but it's a historic dump), millennium park, the magnificent mile on Michigan ave.

[NeedMoreFans]

I know you said you don't want to tie up a lot of time at a museum, but I know the Field Museum (and perhaps the others) used to have free admission days in the summer. The last time I went we did the Field on one of those days. The nice part about it is you can spend as little time as you want to there, and you won't feel like it was a waste. You could check that out to see if they still do it.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

During the week next weeks things shouldnt be too crowded. CPS starts back on Monday and most of the suburbs seem to be starting this week or early next. I agree with some of the others that Navy Pier is WAY WAY WAY over-rated. I go to a client that has their office there a few times for work a year and it amazes me the number of people there to see cheesy souvenir stores and overpriced attractions. The boat rides/architecture boat are really nice. Otherwise the parks and shopping are good/cheap ways to spend some time.

[thebruce44]

Take a water taxi from Union Station over to the Hancock (get to see everything you would see on the Arch Tour). Go up to the Signature Room and enjoy the view without the lines. Walk up and down Michigan Ave if shopping is your thing (the Hancock is on Mich Ave). Head south and enjoy the parks and lakefront. You can rent some bikes (Divvy) or do a walking or Segway tour. Take the El (not the red or blue line if you don't enjoy the smell of urine) for the experience. Get some deep dish pizza.

 

EDIT: Just went to the lunch room (I work across from the Sears) and realized there is no line. Maybe worth checking out how bad it is at some point during the day.

[bani1717]

I did a food tour on a Saturday back in June. It was a good way to experience a variety of foods in Chicago as well as walk around the city a bit. We did ours through Taste Bud Tours, but I'm sure there are others as well. The one we did was bacially lunchtime (lasted from 11 to 2:30 or so) with food at the different stops included in the price.

 

I also would second the John Hancock building... you can have lunch up on the 95th floor. (As an interesting side note, visiting MLB teams generally stay right across the street from the Hancock building at the Westin.) I agree that Navy Pier is overrated. If nothing else, I generally enjoy just walking around downtown there.

[Patrick425]

EDIT: Just went to the lunch room (I work across from the Sears) and realized there is no line. Maybe worth checking out how bad it is at some point during the day.

 

One of the things I read about the lines for the Sears (Willis..whatever) is that you can't see the line until after you buy your tickets. So, you sure you were seeing the lines for the elevator that goes to the observation deck and not the ticket line?

 

Anyways, something has come up and we will not be going this week, but we are now planing on going at the end of September on a day that my son has off of school.

 

Thanks for all the advice!!!

[thebruce44]

EDIT: Just went to the lunch room (I work across from the Sears) and realized there is no line. Maybe worth checking out how bad it is at some point during the day.

 

One of the things I read about the lines for the Sears (Willis..whatever) is that you can't see the line until after you buy your tickets. So, you sure you were seeing the lines for the elevator that goes to the observation deck and not the ticket line?

 

Anyways, something has come up and we will not be going this week, but we are now planing on going at the end of September on a day that my son has off of school.

 

Thanks for all the advice!!!

 

The line usually starts at the Jackson entrance and snakes over to the Wacker entrance. I see it every day. There may be more waiting inside, but that's what I meant by no line.

[FVBrewerFan]

Not in blue, I'm serious. Whenever I visit Chicago, I stop at the original Billy Goat for lunch and thank them for the curse.

[Patrick425]

EDIT: Just went to the lunch room (I work across from the Sears) and realized there is no line. Maybe worth checking out how bad it is at some point during the day.

 

One of the things I read about the lines for the Sears (Willis..whatever) is that you can't see the line until after you buy your tickets. So, you sure you were seeing the lines for the elevator that goes to the observation deck and not the ticket line?

 

Anyways, something has come up and we will not be going this week, but we are now planing on going at the end of September on a day that my son has off of school.

 

Thanks for all the advice!!!

 

The line usually starts at the Jackson entrance and snakes over to the Wacker entrance. I see it every day. There may be more waiting inside, but that's what I meant by no line.

 

Ok..great. Good to know that you can actually see the line before you buy the tix.

[thebruce44]

Well there is probably another line inside, haha.

[Patrick425]

Ok, so we are finally doing this trip on Monday and I believe my son has decided he wants to bring a friend along. I was looking at the Grey line "hop on, hop off" option as far as getting around, but I just realized that this does not operate on Mondays and Tuesdays. So, if we may need to take a cab to certain locations. I never rode a cab with more than 3 people...and so this may sound like a dumb question...but is it acceptable to have one rider in the front passenger seat? Or..does anyone know of any other transportation in Chicago that is similar to the Grey line that runs on Mondays? It's not like we will be going to Wrigley or anything like that. I just know that my wife is not really fond of walking distances of more than a mile or so.

 

Also, trying to decide if it would just be worth it to get the "Chicago Go" card. This would have seemed to make a lot of sense if the grey line was running on Monday, but not so sure now.

[thebruce44]

Ok, so we are finally doing this trip on Monday and I believe my son has decided he wants to bring a friend along. I was looking at the Grey line "hop on, hop off" option as far as getting around, but I just realized that this does not operate on Mondays and Tuesdays. So, if we may need to take a cab to certain locations. I never rode a cab with more than 3 people...and so this may sound like a dumb question...but is it acceptable to have one rider in the front passenger seat? Or..does anyone know of any other transportation in Chicago that is similar to the Grey line that runs on Mondays? It's not like we will be going to Wrigley or anything like that. I just know that my wife is not really fond of walking distances of more than a mile or so.

 

Also, trying to decide if it would just be worth it to get the "Chicago Go" card. This would have seemed to make a lot of sense if the grey line was running on Monday, but not so sure now.

 

Its perfectly fine to have someone sit in the passenger seat. Some cabbies will have a few things sitting there and might look annoyed that they have to move their stuff, but they are driving you and they are making more money having a 4th so just open the door and sit down, no big deal.

 

The other transportation options would be the water taxi, buses, or the el. If you have Google Maps its easy to get transit directions to wherever you want to go, but it can still be a little overwhelming to out of towners. The water taxi though is really easy and geared towards tourists. They will have people at the stops whose job it is to answer questions. So if you want to go anywhere near the river that may be a great option.

 

Not sure about the Chicago Go card. I think you can get unlimited 24 hr passes though.

[thebruce44]

Ok, so we are finally doing this trip on Monday and I believe my son has decided he wants to bring a friend along. I was looking at the Grey line "hop on, hop off" option as far as getting around, but I just realized that this does not operate on Mondays and Tuesdays. So, if we may need to take a cab to certain locations. I never rode a cab with more than 3 people...and so this may sound like a dumb question...but is it acceptable to have one rider in the front passenger seat? Or..does anyone know of any other transportation in Chicago that is similar to the Grey line that runs on Mondays? It's not like we will be going to Wrigley or anything like that. I just know that my wife is not really fond of walking distances of more than a mile or so.

 

Also, trying to decide if it would just be worth it to get the "Chicago Go" card. This would have seemed to make a lot of sense if the grey line was running on Monday, but not so sure now.

 

Its perfectly fine to have someone sit in the passenger seat. Some cabbies will have a few things sitting there and might look annoyed that they have to move their stuff, but they are driving you and they are making more money having a 4th so just open the door and sit down, no big deal.

 

The other transportation options would be the water taxi, buses, or the el. If you have Google Maps its easy to get transit directions to wherever you want to go, but it can still be a little overwhelming to out of towners. The water taxi though is really easy and geared towards tourists. They will have people at the stops whose job it is to answer questions. So if you want to go anywhere near the river that may be a great option.

 

Not sure about the Chicago Go card. I think you can get unlimited 24 hr passes though.

[Patrick425]

Yeah..I have just been looking at the CTA website and through that discovered on my phone how fairly simple it would be to use google maps to figure out how utilize public transportation to get from place to place.

 

I was not looking at the Chicago Go card to necessarily use for paying for transportation. I was more thinking that it might be more economical to use it if we decide to go to 2 or 3 attractions (Willis Tower, Shed Aquarium, boat tour, etc). A one day pass that includes 25 different attractions is about $75. It also looks like it allows us to get "express" access to some of the attractions. Still debating on whether or not it's worth it to buy this card though.

[Bikeage77]

Just saw this now but we like stopping at Hot Doug's. It's a great hot dog place. Great music playing, and all sorts of different dogs on their menu. Duck fat fries!

 

Al's Hot Beef. Geno's Pizza (very touristy, but I still like their za a lot).

 

Reckless Records is great for music fans.

[Patrick425]

So, went yesterday, had a great time. My son brought a friend so there was 4 of us. Did Willis Tower, Shed Aquarium, Navy Pier, and the Architecture boat river tour. Had perfect weather for it. If anyone else out there might be thinking about doing this and needs some thoughts, these were my observations:

 

- If you decide to take the train down there, take it from Milwaukee (especially on a weekday). We took it from the Airport and it was so crowded that none of us could sit together. My son sat across the aisle from his friend and I sat across the aisle from my wife (we were all in the same car, but the 4 of us were not all together). So many single riders who put there stuff on the seats next to them as if to say "don't sit next to me". Also made the mistake of not getting to our gate at Union Station early enough and had the same situation on the way home. It actually would have probably made more sense just to drive down there. Other than the hassle of traffic and finding parking it would have been cheaper. For some reason I was thinking the train was cheaper.

 

- If you want to go to the Willis tower and avoid lines, go on a weekday and get there 15 or 20 minutes before the doors open. We were the first in line and pretty much took the elevator's right up to the top. Had one of the glass "boxes" all to ourselves for a good 10 minutes or so.

 

- Using public transportation in Chicago can be a little tricky. Buy your card well ahead of time online. I waited until the night before (thinking I could just print it at home - but they have to mail you a card), and realized that I was unable to do this, then had to find a kiosk at one of the stations. Wanted to get a one day pass. The kiosk we were at did not have this option so we just purchased fare for one trip and then realized if we went up one more flight of stairs, there was a kiosk with a 1-day fare option.

 

- The Chicago Go card was worth it for the flexibility it offered us. I'm not sure if we got "value" out of it (maybe a little..or possibly "broke even"), but it was nice to have options.

 

- Shed aquarium is nice...but there are only so many fish I can look at before it gets a bit "boring".

 

I'm sure we'll do it again sometime. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

[Outlander]

I agree that the train can be a pain if going with a group of people and you go on one of the first trains when it is very busy and going back to Milwaukee at 5. I have taken it before when I knew I was staying over a couple of nights and left midday when it isn't bad. Parking is very expensive and you have the tolls and traffic but if you are going one day you do have more flexibility going by car.