What do you want to know? I have been 3 times and am going again in April and September this year.

Great City, Great people.

Downtown you have some really good museums all close together. The Adler is a Space museum, the Field Natural History and the Shedd aquarium. The Art Institute is not far away on Michigan Avenue.

Shopping on the Magnificent Mile for all the designer stuff and the Water Tower mall as well. Don't blink when you see the prices! Marshell Field just a block or two away.

Sports. September is the end of the Baseball season so you may find White Sox or Cubs games to see. The football (American variety) is starting up but tickets are very expensive for the Bears. Hockey (Blackhawks and Wolves) season it about to start so there may be a game or two to watch if you are lucky. Basketball (Bulls) is on I think as well so Bulls tickets.

Getting around on public transport couldn't be easier. Get a pass which costs about $22 for a week and covers most buses and all subway and L trains.

Eating out is easy. From simple stuff like Subway and Dairy Queen to full on haut cuisine. Sunday Brunch at the Signature restaurant at the top of the Hancock Tower is good. Last time I checked it was about $60 a head all in.

Things to see. Navy Pier, take a cruise on the river or lake. Millennium Park and the 'bean' (Cloudgate). Sears Tower (103 floors).

There is more but I'll have to think.

Thank you so much for this information.

we are going 20th September any idea what the weather will be also can you recomend any enertainment places we like all kinds.

we are staying at doubletree hotel.

Good to hear from you

Hi Nancy,

We were over in Chicago a few years ago and the weather in September was lovely, so hopefully this September will be the same, we were also there a few weeks ago and had a great time again.
Chicago is a great city to walk about, and like most cities, if you look up to the tops of the buildings instead of just looking about at eye level you will see some fantastic architecture, the Chicago Tribune building being a point in case.
Once you get to ChiTown get to the tourist information centre at the Water Tower, and they will give you loads of information about everything going on in the city.
I won't repeat what hi de hi said apart from get your CTA pass at O'Hare when you arrive, our 7 day unlimited pass was $22 and it is superb value for travel on the L and the buses, but it doesn't cover the Metra system.
As for eating you have a great selection of places which won't bust the bank to places that will certainly will, try the Grand Lux Cafe just off the Magnificant Mile, it's the sister place to the Cheesecake Factory.
One wee point of warning, if you plan on buying some duty free on your return from O'Hare you will be severely disappointed, they have taken away the duty free shops and have replaced them with big rolling cupboards situated after the TSA security point in terminal 5, which have a pretty poor selection of alcohol, perfumes, and tobacco. The same goes for eating places, replaced by smaller cupboards with sandwiches, I bought a small turkey sandwich and a bottle of water and it cost about $12.
Hope you have a great time in a great city, if you need any more info, you know where to find me.

Did the end of Sept in 2009 and 2008. It can be changable. Last year it was T shirts and shorts for three days then went cooler. In fact on one Sunday we went to a Baseball game and got sunburn!

On the same day as the Sunburn we got caught out in the mother of all thunderstorms!

I was there in November one year and it went from 25 degrees one day to -5 the next and snow!
I second what was said about the duty free at the airport if you fly out of Terminal 5. I understand this is not the case in other terminals. If you want duty free buy it before you go though securty, likewise if you need to eat do so before security.

The blue line takes you from the airport right into Downtown Chicago.

Thank you so much for all the information,this will be the first time we have been on this type of holiday and cant wait.
We are just back from Goa for the third time so this will be so different it is my husbands choice for our 35th wedding anniversary.

If you can think of anything more to make it a great success I will be here waiting

Hi De Hi wrote:

What do you want to know? I have been 3 times and am going again in April and September this year.

Great City, Great people.

Downtown you have some really good museums all close together. The Adler is a Space museum, the Field Natural History and the Shedd aquarium. The Art Institute is not far away on Michigan Avenue.

Shopping on the Magnificent Mile for all the designer stuff and the Water Tower mall as well. Don't blink when you see the prices! Marshell Field just a block or two away.

Sports. September is the end of the Baseball season so you may find White Sox or Cubs games to see. The football (American variety) is starting up but tickets are very expensive for the Bears. Hockey (Blackhawks and Wolves) season it about to start so there may be a game or two to watch if you are lucky. Basketball (Bulls) is on I think as well so Bulls tickets.

Getting around on public transport couldn't be easier. Get a pass which costs about $22 for a week and covers most buses and all subway and L trains.

Eating out is easy. From simple stuff like Subway and Dairy Queen to full on haut cuisine. Sunday Brunch at the Signature restaurant at the top of the Hancock Tower is good. Last time I checked it was about $60 a head all in.

Things to see. Navy Pier, take a cruise on the river or lake. Millennium Park and the 'bean' (Cloudgate). Sears Tower (103 floors).

There is more but I'll have to think.

a minor observation, it's no longer called the Sears Tower, now called the Willis Tower

STEWIEG wrote:

Hi De Hi wrote:

What do you want to know? I have been 3 times and am going again in April and September this year.

Great City, Great people.

Downtown you have some really good museums all close together. The Adler is a Space museum, the Field Natural History and the Shedd aquarium. The Art Institute is not far away on Michigan Avenue.

Shopping on the Magnificent Mile for all the designer stuff and the Water Tower mall as well. Don't blink when you see the prices! Marshell Field just a block or two away.

Sports. September is the end of the Baseball season so you may find White Sox or Cubs games to see. The football (American variety) is starting up but tickets are very expensive for the Bears. Hockey (Blackhawks and Wolves) season it about to start so there may be a game or two to watch if you are lucky. Basketball (Bulls) is on I think as well so Bulls tickets.

Getting around on public transport couldn't be easier. Get a pass which costs about $22 for a week and covers most buses and all subway and L trains.

Eating out is easy. From simple stuff like Subway and Dairy Queen to full on haut cuisine. Sunday Brunch at the Signature restaurant at the top of the Hancock Tower is good. Last time I checked it was about $60 a head all in.

Things to see. Navy Pier, take a cruise on the river or lake. Millennium Park and the 'bean' (Cloudgate). Sears Tower (103 floors).

There is more but I'll have to think.

a minor observation, it's no longer called the Sears Tower, now called the Willis Tower

Or as it is known to the locals 'The Big Willy'! I kid you not.

Giordanos Pizza place on the other side of the street do a Tower and Dinner combo which you book in advance. Big discount off the entry to the Tower then a blow out pizza after. Last year when we took the kids up we times it to be there about an hour and a half before dusk. By the time you have got in, watched the video presentation and gone up in the lift you get to see the City in daylight then can watch as the sun sets and the lights come on.

fancy nancy wrote:

Thank you so much for this information.

we are going 20th September any idea what the weather will be also can you recomend any enertainment places we like all kinds.

we are staying at doubletree hotel.

Good to hear from you

We shall be there at the same time then, we fly in on the 25th Sept and leave on the 2nd Oct. If you see a few frazzled teachers trying to sheepdog a group of British teenagers round the City that will be us!

Made a great discovery about the City of Chicago.

They have a Chicago Greeter service that is absolutly free, they don't even ask for a tip. Local people are recruited and allocated to visitors to take them on walking and public transport tours. You can ask for specific types of tour (shopping, history, architecture etc).

Website is here

http://chicagogreeter.com

You have to apply at least 7 days before you want the tour.

We have booked one for next week and the guy has already emailed us to check on what we want to see and do. According to their site the public transport is also free! We meet our guy on the 12th at 10.00am and the tour last between 2 and 4 hours.

Just got back from a great week in Chicago.

Firstly check out the Chicago Greeter service.

http://www.chicagogreeter.com

This is a totally free service (not even needing a tip). They link you up with a citizen volunteer who takes you on a tour of the city. You can select different types of tour (History, architecture, shopping etc) and their person meets you and takes you round. They provide public transport passes for free as well! Our chap took us on a 3 hour walking tour downtown explaining about all the buildings and taking us inside quite a few to see the lobbies, art deco work and other stuff. He also explained about all the public art we passed. He then took us on the train to see the Biograph theatre where the FBI shot Dillinger and then took us to Wrigley Field to experience the baseball atmosphere. Altogether a really enjoyable 4 hours. Not only that but before we even went to Chicago the greeter got in touch with us by email and answered questions that we had that enables my wife to buy an outfit for our older son's upcoming wedding and also found us a great place to buy loads of cheap ice hockey equipment for our younger son.

Places that we discovered this time round.

Ed Dubevic's 50s and 60s diner! Go and be insulted by the staff, they are so rude! Then suddenly they jump up on the tables and dance!

Coco Pazzo Tuscan restaurant. Great food, a little pricey but worth it.

Wildfire restaurants (good food and large portions for little money).

Al's Beef Sandwiches. (Don't be put off by the neighbourhood or the state of the building!

Had to make a second post as the last one was playing up!

Take the red line North to Bryn Mawr, walk to the lakeshore then walk back downtown (about 8 miles) along the beach front.

The Museum of Science and Industry. Take the 10 bus south. You can spend a whole day here. Go down a coal mine, walk through a real German U boat and loads of other stuff. Lots of interactive stuff for the kids.

Hackneys on Printers Row. Good food and an amazing list of real beers. I've been here before but managed to move my way a bit further down the list (well a lot further actually) . Opposite is a really nice bookshop (Sandymeyers) worth a look.

Take the elevator to the 95th floor of the John Hancock Tower in the evening and have a cocktail at the signature bar. The drinks are expensive (3 glasses of wine and a Long Island Iced tea £40) but worth it for the views plus when we were there a fight broke out between two guys! Our American friends were stunned with disbelief when we told them next day!

We went to 3 hockey games, 2 Blackhawks' and one Wolves' game, all 3 were terrific.

Shopping, mrs Hi De Hi got her outfit for our son's wedding at Nordstrom

There was loads more but we were lucky that on several occasions friends picked us up and took us places. We would have needed a car to get to some of them. Al's Char House at La Grange did 64oz steaks! I only managed a 20oz! The Mexican Cafe at Evanston does great food and even greater Margaritas! Plus a visit to the Bahia Temple is not to be missed.

Taxi to the airport cost us $40 (plus tip) but if your flights are at reasonable times then take the Blue line.

On arrival we bought a 7 day CTA pass ($28 dollars for all buses and trains) and took the blue line Downtown. We then hopped on and off the buses and 'L' trains all week. We only took the taxi on the last day because our flight was early and we needed to be at the airport for 6am and it was the 8th day of the holiday and the passes had expired.

We stayed at the Essex Inn which is just outside the 'loop' and close to everything. I will do a separate review.

Bar Louis (Dearborn) does good food. They also do a Sunday Brunch from 11am to 2pm I had Steak and eggs with a pint of Sam Adams. Just the job before heading off to the Blackhawks vs Detriot Redwings hockey game.