Chicago
The Board of Trade is a 1930 art deco gem. Inside, manic traders swap futures and options – or, at least, they used to. Most trading is done these days by…
Must-see attractions in Illinois
Chicago
What the Castro is to San Francisco, Boystown is to the Windy City. The mecca of queer Chicago (especially for men), the streets of Boystown are full of…
Illinois
Moline is the home of John Deere, the international farm machinery manufacturer. Downtown holds the John Deere Pavilion, a kiddie-beloved museum/showroom…
Chicago
The entrance gate to Chicago’s largest cemetery is worth the trip alone. Designed by WW Boyington (the architect who created the Water Tower on Michigan…
Chicago
The 1887 John J Glessner House is the premier survivor of the Prairie Avenue Historic District. Much of the interior is reminiscent of an English manor…
Chicago
Who knew? Ben Franklin liked to be flogged, and Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut had a foot fetish. The museum reveals this and more in its displays of leather,…
Chicago
Ping Tom stretches along the Chicago River and offers dramatic, bridge-strewn views of the skyline. Rent a kayak from the boathouse, or bring a picnic to…
Chicago
Named after the founders of Esquire magazine, who contributed the start-up money, this is the official fine-arts museum of the University of Chicago. The…
Chicago
What’s that giant phallic thing in the middle of the road, causing traffic to swerve every which way? Excellent question. Most locals have no idea. Turns…
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…
Chicago
Curious about Chicago’s storied past? Multimedia displays at this museum cover it all, from the Great Fire to the 1968 Democratic Convention. President…
Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
Illinois
You certainly don't expect to find a Southern-style swampland, complete with moss-draped cypress trees and croaking bullfrogs in Illinois. But it's here,…
Chicago
No discussion of famed Loop architecture is complete without mentioning the boxy, metal-and-glass style of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose functional,…
Chicago
Winding along the Chicago River’s southern side next to Wacker Dr, this 1.25-mile-long promenade is a fine spot to escape the crowds and watch boats glide…
Chicago
Louis Sullivan designed this ornate building in 1899. For a century it was home to the Carson Pirie Scott & Co department store. Check out the superb…
Chicago
With its 16 stories of shimmering glass, framed by brilliant white terra-cotta details, Burnham & Root's 1895 Reliance Building is a breath of fresh air…
Illinois
Floating in the Mississippi River, Rock Island once held a Civil War–era arsenal and POW camp. It's now the site of the impressive Rock Island Arsenal…
Chicago
Among the handsome manors lining S Greenwood Ave is the redbrick Georgian-style home at number 5046, where Barack Obama and his family lived from 2005…
Chicago
Gupta represents contemporary, mid-career artists who work in various mediums, including painting, sculpture, collage and film. Intriguing new exhibitions…
Chicago
This building has been an artists' haven for more than a century. You'll still hear opera voices and trumpet music drift out of the music studios, which…
Chicago
Pilsen's art galleries are known collectively as the Chicago Arts District. There are 20 or so studios, and they tend to be small, artist-run spaces with…
Illinois
It's a quintessential stop on Route 66, located in Wilmington. Here the Gemini Giant – a 28ft fiberglass spaceman – stands guard outside the Launching Pad…
Chicago
This 1893 neoclassical home designed by NYC architect Stanford White is a Gold Coast standout. Originally built for Elinor Patterson (who would later…
Chicago
Spanning N Michigan Ave between the river and Oak St, the 'Mag Mile' is Chicago's much-touted upscale shopping strip, where Bloomingdale's, Apple,…
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Illinois
An entire four-block neighborhood has been preserved as part of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Visits begin at the National Park Service visitor…
Chicago
The Wrigley Building glows as white as the Doublemint Twins’ teeth, day or night. Chewing-gum guy William Wrigley built it that way on purpose, because he…
Illinois
In case you're wondering, a Toby jug is a ceramic pitcher shaped like a chubby old guy wearing a tri-cornered hat and 18th-century garb. Or at least that…
Chicago
DePaul University's compact art museum hosts changing exhibits of 20th-century works by Chicago-based artists. Pieces from the permanent collection – by…
Illinois
Senior citizen volunteers staff the tchotchke-filled museum, located in an old fire station. They tend relics like the first Steak 'n Shake milkshake…
Wicker Park, Bucktown & Ukrainian Village
Galleries, studios and workshops fill the landmark Flat Iron Building, with contemporary painters, realist photographers, digital animators, pop-art…
Illinois
After his assassination, Lincoln's body was returned to Springfield, where it lies in an impressive tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1.5 miles north of…
Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site
Illinois
When Abraham Lincoln first arrived in Illinois in 1831, he worked variously as a clerk, a storekeeper and a postmaster in the frontier village of New…
Chicago
Runners, cyclists, swimmers, dog walkers and Hyde Park residents of all stripes rub shoulders on the Point, a 12-acre artificial peninsula that juts into…
Chicago
This beach at the edge of downtown packs in bodies beautiful to play volleyball or sunbathe in the shadow of skyscrapers. Swimming is permitted in summer…
Chicago
The star of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s undisputed masterpiece is SR Crown Hall, appropriately home to the…
Illinois
During Wright’s 20 years in Oak Park, he designed a whole heap of houses. Moore House (closed to the public) is particularly noteworthy. First built in…
Illinois
This architectural wonder from Frank Lloyd Wright was built in 1909 and reopened in 2018 after a five-year restoration. Explore at your leisure on a 30…
Wicker Park, Bucktown & Ukrainian Village
Document organizes exhibitions of contemporary photography, film and media-based works by emerging national and international artists. It shares its large…
Illinois
The 1860 abode was a gift from local Republicans to the victorious general at the Civil War’s end. Grant lived here until he became the country’s 18th…
Chicago
Weep all you want over the old Marshall Field’s becoming Macy’s, but the building remains a classic no matter who’s in it. The iconic bronze corner clocks…
