# Best things to do in Chicago

Architecture, lakefront and world-class museums: the Chicago experiences that top U.S. News, AAA and TripAdvisor.

- 125 votes · 19 items
- Jul 29, 2025 · forkful_detroit
- https://even.best/en/l/161/best-things-to-do-in-chicago

## Top 15

1. **Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise** (15 · ▲15 ▼0) — 90-minute boat tour along the Chicago River explaining over 50 landmark buildings. <https://www.architecture.org/>
2. **Millennium Park and Cloud Gate** (12 · ▲12 ▼0) — Lakefront park with Anish Kapoor's 'Bean', the Crown Fountain and Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion.
3. **Shedd Aquarium** (9 · ▲11 ▼2) — Lakefront aquarium opened in 1930 with beluga whales and a Caribbean reef. <https://www.sheddaquarium.org/>
4. **Art Institute of Chicago** (8 · ▲12 ▼4) — Home of Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Hopper's Nighthawks and Grant Wood's American Gothic. <https://www.artic.edu/>
5. **Field Museum** (8 · ▲9 ▼1) — Natural history museum home to SUE, one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found. <https://www.fieldmuseum.org/>
6. **360 Chicago** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Observation deck on the 94th floor of the John Hancock building with the tilting TILT window. <https://360chicago.com/>
7. **Chicago Riverwalk** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — 1.25-mile walkway along the river's main branch lined with bars, kayak rental and public art.
8. **Second City** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Improv comedy theatre where Bill Murray, Tina Fey and Steve Carell started out. <https://www.secondcity.com/>
9. **Skydeck Chicago** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Glass-floored Ledge boxes on the 103rd floor of Willis Tower. <https://theskydeck.com/>
10. **Wrigley Field** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — The Cubs' ivy-walled ballpark from 1914, the second-oldest in Major League Baseball.
11. **Lakefront Trail** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 18-mile path along Lake Michigan for cycling and running past the city beaches.
12. **Garfield Park Conservatory** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — One of the largest greenhouse conservatories in the US, free, on the West Side. <https://garfieldconservatory.org/>
13. **Museum of Science and Industry** (2 · ▲5 ▼3) — Huge museum in Hyde Park with a captured German U-505 submarine and a coal mine replica. <https://www.msichicago.org/>
14. **Chicago deep-dish pizza** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Try the city's deep-dish at classics such as Lou Malnati's, Giordano's or Pequod's.
15. **Chicago Cultural Center** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Free cultural venue in the former public library, with the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome.
16. **Navy Pier** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Lakefront pier with the Centennial Wheel, boat tours and summer fireworks. <https://navypier.org/>
17. **Lincoln Park Zoo** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — One of the oldest zoos in North America (1868), free to visit. <https://www.lpzoo.org/>
18. **National Museum of Mexican Art** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Free museum in Pilsen with one of the largest collections of Mexican art in the United States.
19. **The 606** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Elevated park and trail built on the old Bloomingdale railway line, 2.7 miles across four neighborhoods.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.