TOP THINGS TO DO IN CHICAGO | ATTRACTION GUIDE

welcome to Chicago home of the deep dish pizza and some of the most beautiful architecture you will ever see there's a reason this is called America's Second City we recently spent 48 hours in the windy city and although it wasn't nearly enough time we managed to fit in as many Chicago sites and destinations as we could during our short stay and we have now created a list of what we consider our six must-do activities for a weekend in Chicago so without further Ado let's get into the list coming in at 1.2 miles long the Chicago Riverwalk gives you an up close view of the famous Chicago River as it slices through the rows of towering skyscrapers open from 6 a.m to 11 pm this is the perfect spot to grab some food sip on some cocktails or just take a leisurely stroll along these stunning Waterfront there's always some sort of activity going on and it's a great spot to people watch or just to have a picnic and watch the boats float by we walk through here every chance we could on our way to other destinations and particularly enjoyed getting takeout and bringing our food here to eat and hang out with the geese the best part is it's absolutely free so you will not want to pass this up on your visit to Chicago another free attraction Millennium Park and cloud gate are probably some of the most well-known and iconic Chicago landmarks but nevertheless re must do activity covering roughly 25 acres near downtown Chicago the park is home to beautiful gardens towering fountains and most famous of all the cloud gate sculpture better known as The Bean if I'm being honest I really wasn't all that excited about seeing the beans since I've seen countless pictures of it but let me tell you the pictures do not do it justice and it's way cooler in person I honestly didn't expect it to be as big as it was in seeing the Chicago skyline reflected in this work of art is an experience in itself we also found that walking under it gave a unique and trippy perspective that must be experienced in person a short walk away from the bean you'll also find the huge Crown fountains which are a sight to behold Rising 50 feet above a reflecting pool these towers are designed with light emitting diodes to display images of local Chicagoans to all who walk by we loved walking through the reflecting pool listening to the sounds of the Rushing Water and seeing the fountains randomly shoot out strings of water onto those below from here we recommend to head to the southern end of the park to check out the Serene Lurie Garden this 2.5 acre Scenic Garden gives a breathtaking view of Chicago's architecture rising up above a field of beautiful perennial flowers there were lots of birds chirping when we visited and it truly seems like an oasis amongst the concrete jungle of Chicago now these are only a few of the attractions found within Millennium Park and we could honestly make an entire video out of all the things to do here but we have to move on to the next item on our list so you'll just have to visit in person to see all it has to offer [Music] Museum lovers Rejoice because Chicago is host to over 70 different museums so you will have lots of options to choose from some of the top museums you may want to check out include the field museum the Shed Aquarium the Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Institute of Chicago we would have loved to visit all of these but with only two days in the city we decided to check out the Art Institute as you make your way towards the museum you will notice a building alone as a work of art with its giant bronze Lions guarding the grand steps to the entrance inside you will find countless Priceless and world famous paintings sculptures and historical artifacts from all over the world we particularly love both the van Gogh exhibit featuring his unique impressionist style as well as the Salvador Dali exhibit featuring Dolly's surrealist masterpieces my personal favorites though were the blue American windows by Mark Chagall and the giant painting named a Sunday on Legrand shot by George Sarat as seen in Ferris Bueller's Day Off we ended up spending about four hours in here and still didn't even see all the museum has to offer so no matter what museum you choose be sure to mark off a good chunk of time because these museums are huge or a foodie like us then Chicago is heaven on Earth there are thousands of restaurants in the city serving up every type of Cuisine imaginable Mark being vegan we mainly stuck to the plant-based offerings which were numerous but there is something for everybody here here's a few of our favorite foods that we recommend trying first up it's Penelope's vegan Taqueria where we had some amazing tacos enchiladas and a dirtier Chata which has two shots of espresso and man was it good next up is planta Queen which serves up upscale plant-based Cuisine we ordered take out eat by the Riverwalk and got chicken fried mushroom bow sliders dumplings and Sushi olowicz was incredible another delicious option to check out is fawns plant-based empanadas where we had chorizo Jackfruit and cheese and potato and bananas finally I couldn't leave Chicago without trying some deep dish pizza so I ordered a personal deep dish pie from Illuminati's Pizzeria and it was out of this world [Music] foreign so we mentioned earlier strolling along the Riverwalk but for an even cooler experience you gotta take one of the boat tours down the Chicago River now there are tons of different boat tours to choose from each offering something different we strongly consider taking one of the architecture boat tours which teaches you all about the different iconic buildings but in the end we opted for something a bit more adventurous and shows to kayak we rented these through Urban kayaks located right along the Riverwalk at forty dollars per hour per kayak these were not particularly cheap but they truly offer perspective that you can't get elsewhere they do also offer several guided kayak tours but we chose to do the self-guided rental option to explore at our own pace this ended up being one of our favorite activities we did and we would highly recommend it if you have the time [Music] thank you coming in last is our number one Chicago activity which is to visit the Navy Pier located in the streeterville neighborhood this 3300 long foot period Jets out into Lake Michigan and has something to offer for everybody along the pier you will find lots of food and drink options live music and entertainment and beautiful views of Lake Michigan it really is a feast for the senses our favorite thing here though was riding the Centennial wheel Rising nearly 200 feet above water this Ferris wheel gives you stunning views of the surrounding area while you ride through three full rotations at only 18 per adult this is money well spent and we would especially recommend riding it at sunset for the ultimate View seeing the sunset over the skyline from 200 feet up was a perfect way to end an exciting day of sightseeing well that wraps up our list but keep in mind this is only a small glimpse of what Chicago has to offer and we recommend to spend some time here to really explore it all we love just walking up and down the streets taking it all in with no particular destination in mind and we will be releasing a 4K first person view of the city shortly so if you'd like to really experience the sights and sounds of the city then be sure to check that video out as well hopefully you found this video helpful though in planning your next trip to the Wendy City and if you did please give this video a thumbs up and be sure to subscribe we will be releasing more travel guides as we venture Across America in our camper van thank you for watching though and as always stay Wild [Music] [Music]

Channel: Wild Life with Mark and Donna

Views: 55,828

Keywords: Chicago city guide, top Chicago attractions, Chicago vegan food

Id: EKJ6BepEnfE

Length: 9min 35sec (575 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 03 2023