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Chicago Attractions

Sears Tower

Chicago, the world's second tallest building. Until the opening of the 1,483-ft (452-m) Petronas Towers (1997) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it was the world's tallest building. Constructed from 1970 to 1974 for Sears, Roebuck and Co., it rises 110 stories to a height of 1,450 ft (442 m); the 253 ft (77 m) television antenna topping it makes it the world's third largest freestanding structure at 1,703 ft (519 m). Designed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the Sears Tower is supported structurally by square tubes of welded steel with floors suspended within the tubes, a technological innovation that was developed specifically for the mammoth skyscraper by architectural engineer Fazlur Kahn. The Sears Tower has an exterior of black aluminum and bronze-toned glass cut by black bands.

Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute, on the eastern side of the Loop, provides reason alone to visit Chicago. One of the world's premier galleries, the Art Institute has found generous patronage among Chicago's wealthy. Their contributions have funded a magnificent collection that spans 5000 years of art. The bronze lions flanking the steps are Chicago icons.

Magnificent Mile

This grandly named stretch of Michigan Avenue runs from the Chicago River north to Lincoln Park. 'Mag Mile,' as it's widely known, is a shopper's paradise: you can find everything from the swankiest upscale boutiques to chainstores. Its most famous landmark is the Tribune Tower, a 1925 gothic masterpiece that's home to the Pulitzer-prize winning Chicago Tribune. Eccentric owner Col Robert McCormick had his overworked reporters send rocks from famous buildings and monuments around the world and then embedded them around the base of the building. The Magnificent Mile lies northeast of the Loop.

Chicago Cultural Center

Located on the southwest corner of Randolph and Michigan, the Cultural Center was completed in 1897 as the city's first permanent main library. Today this magnificent building, cleaned and restored to its original splendor, is the civic venue that links the arts community and the general public. The Claudia Cassidy Theater is on the second floor, Randolph Street side.

Lincoln Park

The Lincoln Park area is found along the Lake, with Old Town to the south and Lakeview to the north. Lincoln Park itself has a lot to offer, including an excellent zoo (the oldest free zoo in the country), botanical conservatory, a brand-new nature museum, and four of the city's beaches.

Besides seemingly countless bars frequented by young, upwardly-mobile professionals and DePaul University students, Lincoln Park provides many theatres and cinemas, trendy boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants, and SUV dealerships. Lincoln Park is also home to the popular concert venue "Park West," as well as the world-famous Steppenwolf Theatre. Today, it is considered the city's shining star of the lakefront neighborhoods (especially by its inhabitants) and is undeniably the current yuppie Mecca of Chicago.

Shedd Aquarium

The world's largest assortment of finned, gilled, amphibious and other aquatic creatures swim within the marble-clad confines of the Shedd Aquarium. The original 1929 building houses 200 tanks. The attached multilevel Oceanarium is a spectacular space where huge mammal pools seem to blend into the lake outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. The centrally located tank is home to 500 tropical fish from placid nurse sharks to less neighborly moray eels. Also on hand are Beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, harbor seals, sea otters and penguins.