Chicago For The Day
 

Hi everyone,

I am coming to Chicago for the day in early May. I arrive at Midway at 07:50 and depart again at 19:20pm. I would be grateful if you could help answer my questions and give some tips.

1) I assume from research that the easiest way to get downtown (apart from taxi) is on the Orangeline and it takes roughly 30mins. Which station is the best to get off at, Roosevelt, or somewhere on the loop? (considering its early morning, Il probably start around the lake front)

2) I would appreciate any guidance and tips on where to go/what to visit. at the moment I plan to consider:
-Willis Tower
-Navy pier
-Lake front trail (Some parts)
-Millenium Park
-Chicago River Walk
-Chicago Cultural Center
-Aquarium
-Magnificent Mile


Thanks for any help, and I would love to hear any suggestions on where to go/not to go.

If you have a smart phone download the CTA app. That helped me a lot to see where I wanted to go,it even let's you place the location instead of the address.

The loop is a nice place to start, then work your way around the places you mentioned.

Taxi will be expensive from the airport,get yourself a one day CTA pass and use it up since you will only have under 12 hours to enjoy Chicago,it's possible.

You might want to start at Navy Pier and work your way to Wills since you are returning to Midway.

I'm not a expert but was in Chicago a few days and experienced most of your list and did it in two days,but very possible in a few hours.

Enjoy it,eat deep dish and Italain beef while you are there,if you are into those two foods,and try Garret's Popcorn (so good).

Have a wonderful trip!

Some ideas can be found in these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chica...enior-mom.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chica...light=day+trip
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chica...hlight=layover
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chica...hlight=layover
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chica...%26quot%3Bwhat
http://travel.usnews.com/Chicago_IL/Things_To_Do/

Thanks Salmontes for your response and tips!

Thanks jerry a. laska for taking the time to link me to those threads, I will spend some time reading them.

Hello - just wanted to add that the CTA one day pass is the way to go. The only problem I can think of is I'm not sure they sell them at the Midway Orange line station. [CTA website says you can buy a one-day pass there. http://www.transitchicago.com/travel...ines.aspx#pass ]

It is probably about 30 mins to downtown, and if you were to get off at Adams/Wabash, you'd be one block from the Art Institute, a few more blocks to Millennium Park, and very close to the Lake Front trail.

If it's a niceish day, I highly recommend the Wendella Boat architecture tours. You can see all the important buildings, and there's tours that go on the river or into Lake Michigan. There's also a combined one, but that takes a few hours, I think.

Also, in no way do I want to belittle it, but I don't think Navy Pier is anything too special. It's expensive and mostly chain restaurants. The Ferris Wheel is nice, though.

Those are some of my recommendations off the top of my head - hope you have fun!

The machine in O'Hare only sells 3- and 7-day passes, despite what CTA web site says. Not sure about Midway. In any case, it's an extra $2.25 then for a one-way ticket to the city, and then you can get a one-day pass - if needed - at Adams/Wabash.

Note, that one-way fare includes up to two transfers within 2 hours for only $0.25 (in essence, $2.50 for up to 3 trips). Given the amount of time you have and that much of downtown is walkable, perhaps $12 for one day pass ($10 + one-way from Midway) is not a great bargain.

Looking at your schedule assume you'll have about 8 hours to hit your list. If you want to do Willis I'd suggest you hit that first. The reason is that it's a little away from the other places on your list and if you save it for last and there's a long line you'll end up skipping it and having wasted time on your hands. An alternative is the John Hancock which is on the Mag Mile.

Navy Pier is touristy, but the view of the city from the far end is very nice. Alternatively, if you do go to the Shedd Aquarium make sure you walk out to the Adler Planetarium for another nice view of the city.

Those two comments aside here's what I'd do to check off everything on your list (and not add anything at first). This assumes you really like to walk, also. Start at Willis Tower then walk north on Wacker to the river where it bends east and continue on the north side of the street to Michigan Avenue (this sort of checks off the river walk). Take a right on Michigan and you'll be on your way to the Chicago Cultural Center. Across the street is the north end of Millennium Park. Meander south towards the Art Institute then south-easternly towards Buckingham Fountain. Look for a place to crossover Lake Shore Drive to get to the lakefront path and then head south towards museum campus. After your museum visits you may wish to take a bus or cab north to Navy Pier. When done, walk west on Grand to Michigan (Mag Mile) and then head north which will take you past shopping and to the John Hancock Building (if you didn't do Willis) and Chicago Water Tower. Head back south towards the Orange Line (Randolph / Wabash station) and you've done your list. I would construct this on Google maps to see what the walking time is to determine how much museum time you have and adjust accordingly.

The River & Lake cruise is an excellent suggestion. This would cut down on walking and be a proxy for the river walk and you can bail on Navy Pier as you'll see it from the water and you will have all the photo ops you need.

Oh, and I guess you'll have to find time to eat.

I'd skip the walking and take a water taxi. @:-)

I would recommend the Chicago Architecture Foundation's river cruise over all others. The person talking about the buildings will be an actual docent who knows about the buildings, where the others will just be some dope screwing up reading a script.

That hits some good sites, but it's a LOT of walking.

I'd toss a cab or two in there and use the time saved to see at least the Art Institute, one of the great museums of the world. It's infinitely more worthwhile than Navy Pier (and the Willis/Sears Tower, for that matter).

unless one has kids, just skip Navy Pier. City view from Adler is stellar.
AGREED !
shame on me, I never used the water taxi for years, but have been using more and more.

I agree that it is a lot of walking. I have walked a similar route a few times -- Union Station to Soldier Field to watch the Packers beat the Bears, then to River North for dinner, then back to Union Station. My purpose was to try to string together everything on their list, which included the River Walk & Lakefront path. In reality I'd do more of what has been suggested here -- including the Art Institute and boat tour. Since they are limited to about 8 hours I'd suggest starting at Millennium since it's near the Orange Line, hitting the Art Institute as you mentioned (which probably means bailing on the museum campus in order to spend any meaningful time here), a 15 minute walk to the Architecture Boat Tour dock for the boat tour (http://www.architecture.org/tours/boat-tours) which will take a couple of hours, leaving some time to stroll north on Michigan Avenue and getting something to eat, then back to the Orange line. A lot less walking without trying to do too much, but still getting a solid feel for the city.

To the OP: Bring a jacket and gloves as the weather can range from the 40s to the high 70s that time of year, and will be cooler on the water. If the weather is bad, plan more time at the museums.

haha,you just had to let Da Bears fans feel bad. :)

Dress in layers,I was in Chicago in early March and those 40's are not nice.

I went to the museum (Fields Museum) and I enjoyed it,pretty cool to meet Sue.

IMHO the Chicago Cultural Center isn't worth a stop if you only have a day. Just not that much to see.

agreed, of course unless there is a specific event/exhibit that might be of interest. (to be honest, I've never gone to the center unless attending an event or specific exhibit)

Very cool Tiffany stained-glass dome, said to be the largest in the world. Otherwise, forget it.

Thank you very much for all your replies and tips, it is greatly appreciated, gives me a good idea how to construct the day.

From Advice given here I will skip Navy Pier, it is a bit out of the way and doesn't seem worth it.

Which tower is better Willis or John Hancock?

Have yet to try the JH Tower but I enjoyed the Sears (willis) Tower,some mentioned JH has less visitors and a possible more enjoyable experience.

And eat the food,I'm already missing that Italian beef & deep dish pizza.

Thanks for the advice, Gino's East Pizza best spot for Deep Dish pizza?

That is the only deep dish pizza place I tried and it was great,but I'm sure it's open to debate. I hope to try a different pizza place next time I'm there.

Might as well add to this thread.

How long does it take to do a reasonably nice tour of the Art Institute? Pretty much 5-10 minutes at the major art pieces, and then a leisurely stroll through the rest of the museum with the occasional hey-that's-nice stop. Mrs. Swede and I plan on being there when it opens (on a Saturday).

Can someone recommend a good deep-dish pizza place near Second City (on Wells)? Most likely will be attending an 8pm show on Friday. Nevermind: just saw that Lou Malnati's has a store nearby. ^

For a first timer, I'm guessing most would spend 2-4 hours, though you could easily spend much more time there.

I'd say give yourself 2-3 hours. There's a lot of stuff there, and even though I love art museums I find that personally I get overloaded and my brain starts to shut down after about that much time.

They periodically do guided tours of some of the highlights, so if you get there early you could check out the schedule and see if anything appeals.

The Impressionists and early 20th Century painting collection is great, as are the Chagall windows, and they've got a pretty nice amount of El Greco and Spanish Renaissance as well.

Agreed with the above advice. Picasso and Chicago exhibit is currently on display; be sure to allow 30 - 40 min or more if you are interested in Picasso.

Hancock has a bar on the 96th floor. If you're not interested in paying for an observation deck ticket, you can go there and pay for an overpriced drink instead, while enjoying the same views.

IMHO, Sears...er...Willis Tower observation deck is better. You can walk out on the Ledge and enjoy the view through the glass floor.

Thanks to the three replies above. I've been to Chicago many times, but I don't recall ever going to the Art Institute. Will make for a nice Saturday day adventure (along with a stroll in Millennium Park if it's not too hot*) before heading back to the suburbs for an evening wedding. :)

* - Going in late June, so it will probably be sweltering. :p

In late June, the weather can be anything from 40 and rainy to 105 with tropical humidity.

It'll probably be fine, though :cool:

there are 2 types of deep dish, pan and stuffed/pie.

Gino's, Pizzeria Uno (& Due), Lou Malnati: all make deep dish pan pizza (dough is in bottom of pan then ingredients go on top of dough).

Eduardo's, Giordano's: make stuffed pizza where dough is on bottom & top & ingredients are in middle like a pie.

Pan is much better than stuffed IMO.

Yup Pan is the way to go

Thanks for everyone's tips and input I had a very successful day trip this past week in Chicago.

I managed to cover a lot of ground and all of it on foot! I really loved Chicago, such an amazing city, and I was so impressed with the layout, planning and beautiful buildings. I must visit again for longer.