Art Institute of Chicago
111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603
The Art Institute of Chicago has been rated the best museum in the world by TripAdvisor multiple years running, and that ranking is not hyperbole — this is a collection that holds Seurat's 'A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,' Hopper's 'Nighthawks,' Wood's 'American Gothic,' and the finest Impressionist collection outside Paris, all under one roof with free admission on certain days.
Buckingham Fountain
301 S Columbus Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
Buckingham Fountain is one of the largest fountains in the world — 280 feet across, holding 1.
Chicago Theatre
175 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601
The Chicago Theatre's vertical 'C-H-I-C-A-G-O' marquee sign is arguably the most photographed sign in the city — six stories of neon and incandescent bulbs that have been spelling out the city's name on State Street since 1921.
Cloud Gate (The Bean)
201 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60602
Cloud Gate is a 110-ton drop of liquid mercury that someone forgot to clean up in Millennium Park — at least that's what it looks like.
Field Museum of Natural History
1400 S DuSable Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
The Field Museum is home to SUE — the largest, most complete, and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered — and 40 million other artifacts spanning 4.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House
5757 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
The Robie House is Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the building that defined the Prairie School of architecture with such authority that it's been called one of the ten most significant structures of the 20th century.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
439 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60654
The deep-dish pizza argument in Chicago has two sides: Giordano's and Lou Malnati's.
Marina City
300 N State St, River North, Chicago, 60654, United States
Marina City's twin cylindrical towers — universally known as the 'corn cobs' — are the buildings that made Chicago's riverfront into a postcard.
Millennium Park
201 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601
Millennium Park is a 24-acre rooftop garden built on top of a parking garage and railroad tracks — one of the most ambitious pieces of urban infrastructure in American history, delivered four years late and $325 million over budget, and worth every dollar and every delay.
Museum of Science and Industry
5700 S DuSable Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60637
The Museum of Science and Industry is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere, housed in the only surviving building from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition — the Palace of Fine Arts, a Beaux-Arts behemoth that was rebuilt in permanent materials after the original plaster-and-staff structure began to crumble.
Navy Pier
600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Navy Pier is Chicago's most-visited attraction — over 9 million people a year walk the 3,300-foot pier that extends into Lake Michigan from the mouth of the Chicago River.
Old Water Tower
806 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
The Old Water Tower is the building that refused to burn.
Portillo's
100 W Ontario St, River North, Chicago, 60654, United States
Portillo's is Chicago's definitive fast-food institution — a place where Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs, and chocolate cake shakes have been served to a devoted following since Dick Portillo opened the first stand (called 'The Dog House') from a small trailer in 1963.
Shedd Aquarium
1200 S DuSable Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
The Shedd Aquarium sits on Lake Michigan's shore and houses 32,000 animals — which makes it one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world and creates the slightly surreal experience of watching beluga whales swim with the Chicago skyline visible through the windows behind them.
Tribune Tower
435 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
Tribune Tower is a Gothic skyscraper with a secret that most visitors walk past without noticing — embedded in the limestone walls at street level are 149 fragments of famous buildings and landmarks from around the world, collected by Chicago Tribune correspondents over decades: pieces of the Parthenon, the Great Wall of China, Notre-Dame de Paris, the Taj Mahal, the Berlin Wall, the Great Pyramid, Westminster Abbey, and Fort Sumter, among others.
Willis Tower Skydeck
233 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606
Willis Tower — which every Chicagoan over 30 still calls Sears Tower — held the title of tallest building in the world for 25 years after its completion in 1973, and at 1,450 feet it remains the tallest building in Chicago and one of the most recognisable skyscrapers on Earth.
Wrigley Building
400-410 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611
The Wrigley Building is Chicago's white knight — a gleaming terra-cotta twin tower complex that anchors the Magnificent Mile at the Michigan Avenue Bridge and looks like someone dropped a Seville cathedral bell tower into the middle of a business district.
Explore iconic in Chicago
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