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Chicago Attractions

Museums: With terraced gardens and broad walkways, the Museum Campus at the southern end of Grant Park makes it easy for pedestrians to visit three of the city's most beloved institutions: the natural history museum, aquarium, and planetarium. The campus is about a 15- to 20-minute walk from the Loop and is easy to reach by bus or subway (a free trolley runs from the Roosevelt Rd. El stop). To get to the Museum Campus from the Loop, head east across Grant Park on East Balbo Drive from South Michigan Avenue, and then trek south along the lakeshore path to the museums. Or, approach on the path that begins at 11th Street from South Michigan Avenue. Follow 11th to the walkway that spans the

The Loop Tour Train: For a distinctive downtown view at an unbeatable price - free! - hop aboard the Loop Tour Train, a special elevated train that runs on Saturday from May through September. Docents from the Chicago Architecture Foundation point out notable buildings along the way and explain how the El shaped the city. Riders must pick up tickets at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., beginning at 10am on the day of the tour; tours leave at 11am, 11:40am, 12:20pm, and 1pm from the Randolph/Wabash El station. Metra tracks. Cross Columbus Drive, and then pick up the path that will take you under Lake Shore Drive and into the Museum Campus. The CTA no. 146 bus will take you from downtown to all three of these attractions.

The Loop Sculpture Tour: Monuments, statues, and contemporary sculptures are on view throughout Chicago, but the concentration of public art within the Loop and nearby Grant Park is worth noting. The best known of these works are by 20th-century artists including Picasso, Chagall, Miró, Calder, Moore, and Oldenburg. The newest addition is the massive elliptical sculpture Cloud Gate (known as "The Bean" because it looks like a giant silver kidney bean) by British artist Anish Kapoor. The sculpture, in Millennium Park, was Kapoor's first public commission in the U.S.

Content provided by Frommer's Unlimited© 2012, Whatsonwhen Limited and Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Chicago Activities

Bronze lions welcome visitors to the Art Institute of Chicago, known for its immense collection of French Impressionist paintings. The original colonnaded limestone building was joined by the glittering glass-and-steel Modern Wing in 2009. But when temperatures soar Chicagoans prefer to relax in Millennium Park. A Lake Michigan breeze keeps park visitors cool while they take in outdoor concerts, splash in the fountains and sip cocktails at open-air cafés.

Shopping
If it's designer labels and mass market favorites you're after, head to Chicago's Michigan Avenue where 460 storefronts line the city's Magnificent Mile. For adding some one-of-a-kind pieces to your wardrobe, head to Chicago's neighborhoods. Sassy jackets, clunky boots and art jewelry fill shops at Wicker Park and Bucktown -- items you won't necessarily find in the pages of a fashion magazine.

Active Pursuits: Perhaps because winters can be brutal, Chicagoans take their summers seriously. In the warmer months, with the wide blue lake and the ample green parks, it's easy to think that the city is one big grown-up playground. Whether you prefer your activity in the water or on dry ground, you'll probably find it here.

Beaches: Public beaches line Lake Michigan all the way up north into the suburbs and Wisconsin, and southeast through Indiana and into Michigan. The best known is Oak Street Beach. Its location, at the northern tip of the Magnificent Mile, creates some interesting sights as sun worshippers sporting swimsuits and carting coolers make their way down Michigan Avenue. The most popular is North Avenue Beach, about 6 blocks farther north, which has developed into a volleyball hot spot and recently rebuilt its landmark steamship-shaped beach house and added a Venice Beach-style outdoor gym; this is where the Lincoln Park singles come to play, check each other out, and fly by on bikes and in-line skates. Hollywood-Ardmore Beach (officially Kathy Osterman Beach), at the northern end of Lake Shore Drive, is a lovely crescent that's less congested and has steadily become more popular with gays who've moved up the lakefront from the Belmont Rocks, a longtime hangout. For more seclusion, try Ohio Street Beach, an intimate sliver of sand in tiny Olive Park, just north of Navy Pier, which, incredibly enough, remains largely ignored despite its central location. If you have a car, head up to Montrose Beach, a beautiful unsung treasure about midway between North Avenue Beach and Hollywood-Ardmore Beach (with plenty of free parking).

Content provided by Frommer's Unlimited© 2012, Whatsonwhen Limited and Wiley Publishing, Inc.