What to do in Chicago?

[aggieamy]

All this talk about traveling by trains has led me to do some research and my family can get to Chicago fairly reasonably. The only problem is I've never been there or looked at taking a vacation there. I'm looking at mid-April as a timeline. What are the must see and do things for Chicago with two kids? I'd prefer things that are economical but if there's something amazing to do there I'm willing to spring the money for it. Thanks.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute. They are just wonderful. When I was a kid we used to take the opportunity to go to the theater in Chicago-more reasonably priced than NY.

 

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

 

http://www.artic.edu/aic/

 

http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

[mommaduck]

Museum of Science and Industry.

[Harriet Vane]

Ditto on the museums the others have suggested. Our family's favorite is the Shedd Aquarium.

 

Another nice idea is to go to the Art Institute and play in Millenium Park for lunch and afterward.

 

Also Chinatown is really fun. Plan to have dim sum for lunch at the Phoenix. (Dim sum is the ONLY thing served for lunch in Chinatown unless you get soup and noodles or fast food. Little Chinese ladies who don't speak ANY English wheel around carts with appetizer plates. You point to what you want and they tally it on your receipt. It's delicious! And really fun trying lots of nifty new things.) Or if you're not feeling adventurous with food, find a soup and noodle shop instead. Everyone likes plain soup and noodles. Stroll up the strip, see the little shops, and make sure you enjoy something from a bakery and something from a tea shop. At the end of the strip is the library--take a break with a couple stories, then stroll back down the strip.

 

I love performances at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra--there are hour-long concerts scheduled sometimes for folks just leaving work. (If you were to come later, in the summer, you could catch a free concert at Millenium Park.)

 

Another fun thing to do is take a river tour. We prefer the ones that swing out into the lake, but have enjoyed both those as well as the ones that head west down the river.

[radiobrain]

The Lincoln Park Zoo is free.

[bettyandbob]

My mil used to live there. When we visited years ago, each of the big museum had a free admission weekday. You could get the schedules and plan your trip around the free admission days. You can look at this two ways 1. free admission saves you money or 2. avoid free admission days to avoid crowds of kids. The Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum are great. The Lincoln Park zoo is a nice small zoo in the city and there's a big zoo just outside the city that we liked too.

[OnTheBrink]

Get a Citypass! http://www.citypass.com/chicago

 

Definitely worth the money if you want to visit all these sites.

[cmarango]

Check your museum membership to see if you get the passport benefit. The Field museum and the Adler planetarium are included. We got into the aquarium for free on a bank of America day. Our family was not too impressed with the aquarium...if you have been to good aquariums before and you have to pay for the Chicago aquarium, then you may want to think about skipping it.

 

They also have a nice art museum if your dc are so inclined.

 

My dd's favorite was the Field museum...we went there twice. She loved the children's area. And riding the subway was great fun for her as well since she is a huge fan of trains.

[mcconnellboys]

The art institute is free one evening a week. If you have museum passes, you may have reciprocal membership to get in free or at reduced prices to the museums there, too....

[unity]

We loved the Field museum and the Museum of Science of Industry. I hadn't seen those since I was a child and I was impressed with how they had updated the Field museum. The Museum of Science and Industry did not strike me as being as updated. Still fun, though.

 

Also, if you like Indian food there are a ton of great restaurants on Devon Avenue. Also Sari shops, etc.

 

I also had to make a pilgrimage to the American Girl store when I last visited with my daughter.

[Sugarfoot]

We loved the Field museum and the Museum of Science of Industry.

I also had to make a pilgrimage to the American Girl store when I last visited with my daughter.

 

These are our 2 favorite museums, too, and IIRC, it was worth it for us to get a CityPass for these plus the Hancock Bldg. tower.

 

American Girl is awesome, if you like that kind of thing!

[annlaura]

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Musem is free on Thursdays. It is across the street from the Lincoln Park Zoo, also free as pp said. Also right beside the zoo and across from the Notebaert is the Lincoln Park Conservatory - free too. If you and your family like architecture, a river tour or walking tour are wonderful. Millenium Park is a fun stop. Check with the city's events site - sometimes there are free concerts and whatnot at Daley Plaza or the parks. If you like art, obviously the Art Institute is amazing, but there is also a good bit of outdoor art such as the Chagall wall and the Picasso at Daley Plaza. The Chicago Cultural Center has a small gallery which is free. If you go there, you absolutely must go upstairs and look at the ceiling. If you like classical music, the Cultural Center and the Fourth Presbyterian Church have lots of free concerts. If I think of something else, I'll post again.

[Laurie in Life]

The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute. They are just wonderful. When I was a kid we used to take the opportunity to go to the theater in Chicago-more reasonably priced than NY.

 

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

 

http://www.artic.edu/aic/

 

http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

 

:iagree:And, as another poster mentioned, the Museum of Science and Industry.

 

If I recall correctly, all of these have at least one day each month where general admission is free.

[ELaurie]

Get a Citypass! http://www.citypass.com/chicago

 

Definitely worth the money if you want to visit all these sites.

 

:iagree: You can also check out his site before you travel - I assume it will be updated for 2011. We visit Chicago museums on free days all of ht etime :)

 

The Art Institute will offer you free admission as a homeschooler if you have an ID that identifies you as such. I think the Museum of Science and Industry will too, but I haven't tried that yet.

[laundrycrisis]

If you can get out to Naperville, the DuPage Children's Museum is wonderful for young kids ! The Metra BNSF Aurora line runs out of Union Station and has a stop right at the museum. The downside is there is no cafe in the museum for lunch, so I would give them a call and ask about any walking-distance places to eat or figure out a way to pack a lunch. There are lockers to use and a lunch room to eat in.

[annabanana1992]

We are in KC too, but I never thought of taking the train to Chicago... Would you mind sharing what you have discovered about train travel from here to there? What will you be using for transportation once you get there?