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 downtown. Check out the Regenstein African Journey, polar-bear-stocked Arctic Tundra and dragonfly-dappled Nature Boardwalk for the cream of the crop. The Gateway Pavilion...

Maggie Daley Park

Chicago

　　Families love this park’s fanciful, free playgrounds in all their enchanted-forest and pirate-themed glory. There’s also a rock-climbing wall, an 18-hole mini-golf course, a winding, in-line skating track called the Skating Ribbon (used for ice-skating in winter) and tennis courts; these features have various fees. Multiple picnic tables make the...

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 fascinating African American cultural center and gallery. Staff give tours of the hodgepodge collections, including the 5000-album vinyl trove of local DJ Frankie Knuckles (the Godfather of House Music)...

Signature Lounge

Chicago

　　Take the elevator to the 96th floor of the building formerly called the John Hancock Center and order a (pricey) beverage while looking out over the city from some 1000ft up in the sky. It’s especially gape-worthy at night. There's a particularly good southern view from the women's bathroom (sorry,...

theMart

Chicago

　　TheMart, as the Merchandise Mart is now called, is the world’s largest commercial building. Spanning two city blocks, the 1931 behemoth has its own zip code and gives most of its copious space to wholesale showrooms for home furnishing and design professionals. Many are on floors 6, 14, 15 and...

Charnley-Persky House

Chicago

　　While he was still working for Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright (who was 19 at the time) designed the 11-room Charnley-Persky House, which sparked a new era in architectural design. Why? Because it did away with Victorian gaudiness in favor of plain, abstract forms that went on to become the...

Pritzker Pavilion

Chicago

　　Pritzker Pavilion is Millennium Park's acoustically awesome band shell. Architect Frank Gehry designed it and gave it his trademark swooping silver exterior. The pavilion hosts free concerts at 6:30pm several nights a week from June to August. ...

Buddy Guy's Legends

Chicago

　　Top local and national acts wail on the stage of local icon Buddy Guy. The man himself usually plays a series of shows in January; tickets go on sale in October. Free, all-ages acoustic shows are staged at lunch and dinner (the place doubles as a Cajun restaurant); note that...

Palmer House Hilton

Chicago

　　Palmer House has been around since 1875 and the lobby still has an awe-inspiring opulence – Tiffany chandeliers, marble pillars, ceiling frescoes – that makes a look-see imperative. The 1600-plus guest rooms give off a more updated vibe: most are spacious, done up with playful chartreuse touches and geometric-print drapes...

Green Door Tavern

Chicago

　　The Green Door, tucked in an 1872 building, is your place to mingle with locals over a beer and well-made burger amid old photos and memorabilia. During Prohibition, a door painted green meant there was a speakeasy in the basement. It's still there and now holds a small cocktail bar...

Next

Chicago

　　Grant Achatz' West Loop restaurant remains one of the hottest tickets in town. And we mean it literally – you need a ticket to dine at Next, which operates like a time machine. It started by serving an eight-course French meal from 1906 Paris, but every three months the whole...

Violet Hour

Chicago

　　This nouveau speakeasy isn’t marked, so look for the wood-paneled building with a full mural and a yellow light over the door. Inside, high-backed booths, chandeliers and long velvet drapes provide the backdrop to elaborately engineered, award-winning seasonal cocktails with droll names. As highbrow as it sounds, friendly staff make...

Rosa’s Lounge

Chicago

　　Rosa’s is an unadorned, real-deal blues club that brings in top local talent and dedicated fans to a somewhat derelict Logan Square block. Get ready to dance. At night a taxi or rideshare is probably the best way to get here. ...

Beatrix

Chicago

　　Beatrix buzzes with business types, ladies who lunch and tourists staying at the attached hotel. Light-wood tables and mason jars full of seeds form the rustic decor. The all-encompassing menu spans shakshuka (poached eggs in tomato sauce) to pot-roast sandwiches to chili-and-chocolate-glazed salmon. With lots of gluten-free and vegetarian options...

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 narrows along the lake and continues on until the end of Lake Shore Dr. On sunny days locals come out to play in...

Steppenwolf Theatre

Chicago

　　Steppenwolf is Chicago’s top stage for quality, provocative theater productions. The Hollywood-heavy ensemble includes Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Martha Plimpton, Gary Cole, Joan Allen and Tracy Letts. A money-saving tip: the box office releases 20 tickets for $20 for each day’s shows; they go on sale at 11am Tuesday to...

Second City

Chicago

　　Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and more honed their wit at this slick venue with nightly shows. The Mainstage and ETC stage host sketch revues (with an improv scene thrown in); they're similar in price and quality. If you turn up around 10pm Monday through Thursday (or 1am Saturday...

Chicago Magic Lounge

Chicago

　　Hidden behind a wall of laundry machines is the secret entrance to Chicago's only purpose-built magic lounge. See amazing feats of prestidigitation seven days a week in two theater spaces and a 1930s-style bar (where you can drink without a show ticket). On Monday and Tuesday a jazz band plays...

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 sums up 1000 years of Mexican art and culture through classical paintings, shining gold altars, skeleton-rich folk art, beadwork and much more. 　　The...

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 theater, a beer garden and lots of chain restaurants. A renovation added public plazas, performance spaces and free cultural programming. Locals still groan over its commercialization,...

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 – all tended by a slew of PhD-wielding scientists, as the Field remains an active research institution. The collection's rock star is Sue, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex...

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-floor Skydeck, then stride to one of the glass-enclosed ledges that jut out in midair for a knee-buckling perspective straight down some 1400ft. 　　A bit of history: it was the...

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 it hosts a mixture of free and ticketed activities and events. From the band shell to the artworks on display, here are the top things to see in...

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 postimpressionist paintings is second only to those in France, and the number of surrealist works is tremendous. 　　Wander the endless marble and glass corridors, and rooms stuffed...

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 underground display, the life-size shaft of a coal mine, and the Science Storms exhibit with a mock tornado and tsunami. The museum's main building...

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 filled with legendary traditions and curses, including a team that didn't win a championship for 108 years. But a World Series victory coupled...