Chicago

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Overview

Most cities pale in comparison to this urban enclave whose stunning skyline erupts from the western shores of Lake Michigan. Chicago is host to a world of ethnic and religious diversity, world-class educational institutions and shopping, plus commerce and industry. All are enveloped within incomparable architecture. It is also a place of raging winters and seductive summers, crowded highways and tranquil parks, famous people and friendly folks. It might be called the ‘Second City', but its spectrum is second to none.

The poet Carl Sandburg called it the ‘City of the Big Shoulders' but Chicago got its most famous nickname in 1893, when, after growing exasperated with the long-winded boastings of the city's politicians, Charles Dana, editor of the New York Sun, dubbed it ‘the Windy City'. The civic pride was not misplaced. Chicago had changed from a mere village of 350 people in 1830, to the growing nation's ‘Second City' (to New York), capable of hosting the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition, which attracted 26 million visitors during its six-month run. The Exposition was the culmination of a phoenix-like recovery from the great fire of 1871, which levelled the central business district and left about 100,000 people homeless.

Because of its strategic location, Chicago became famous as a hub for roads, canals, railways and aeroplanes. In the 1920s, during Prohibition, gangsters like Al Capone and police adversaries like Eliot Ness made it infamous.

The Windy City has always prided itself on being a center for culture. All year round, there are festivals, exhibitions, parades and full programs of theater, dance, art and all types of music, including a world-class symphony. The famous Art Institute is home to an extraordinary collection of French Impressionists, as well as American artist Grant Wood's classic work, American Gothic. Works by René Magritte and Andy Warhol can be found at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Ernest Hemingway was born in the near west suburb of Oak Park, which he described ungenerously as full of ‘wide lawns and narrow minds.'

Famous architects, such as Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright and his Prairie School of Architecture, thrived here. Fittingly, with architecture being perhaps the ultimate combination of industry and art, the world's first steel-framed skyscraper, the Reliance Building (now the Hotel Burnham) was built here. The city's most recent contribution to architecture and art is Millennium Park. The park is the setting for the works of Frank Gehry, Jaume Plensa and Anish Kapoor.

The modern city focuses on the area known as the Loop, where the raised metropolitan railway (known as the ‘El' or ‘L') circles the central Downtown business and shopping district. The east side of the city edges on to Lake Michigan. Chicago is one of the most culturally diverse cities and in the world. Over 50 languages are spoken here. The city's multitude of cultures can be gauged just by checking its list of annual ethnic parades and festivals.

Today, the city's economy no longer relies upon the heavy industries of steel production or meatpacking. Instead, it leans toward communications, information technology and financial institutions as well as research and development both in commerce and in its academic faculties. For instance, the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848 for the purpose of trading in futures, commodities and options, is still one of the world's major centers for such business.

Hard-working Chicagoans love sports, both as participants and fans. Many can be seen playing along the lakeshores. In fact, this energy and the lake combine well to represent Chicago in a way quite similar to how the original American Indians thought of it. They named it Checaugou, after the River Checaugou (Chicago River), which flowed into Lake Michigan. The word translates as ‘strong' or ‘great' and modern-day Chicago certainly lives up to this heritage.

Tourist Information

Getting There

O'Hare Int'l Airport (ORD) 
Midway Airport (MDW)


WalkingTours
Chicago Architectural Foundation Tours (walking and boat)
The city is known for its architecture and there is no better way to learn about the city’s structural designs than by taking one of the many tours that the Chicago Architectural Foundation offers. Tours, which are on foot, by bus and on the water, include historic and modern skyscrapers and Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Except for the water tours, most begin at 224 South Michigan Avenue (tel: (312) 922 3432; website: http://www.architecture.org/).

Chicago Greeters
Considered a ‘themed visit’ rather than a tour, Chicago Greeters will escort small groups (up to six) to attractions, neighborhoods, explore insider’s favorite haunts, visit specific points of interest, or even take them shopping. Greeters are residents who know and love the city. Chicago Greeters is a free service of the Chicago Office of Tourism. Advance reservations are necessary (tel: (312) 744 8000; website: http://www.chicagogreeter.com/).

Millennium Park Greeter Service, a branch of Chicago Greeters, will escort groups of 10 or fewer on a free 45-minute tour to explain the park’s architecture, development and environment. Daily tours are available at 11:30 and 13:00, on a first-come, first-served basis from late May through October. Insta Greeters explores downtown and North Michigan Avenue with groups of six or less. Service is also on a first-come, first-served basis and departs from the Insta Greeter booth at the Visitor Information Center at 77 East Randolph Street.

Chicago Neighborhood Tours
Explore the city’s cultural diversity on a Chicago Neighborhood Tour. Tours include ethnic neighbourhoods like Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Bronzeville and Devon Avenue, as well as speciality excursions like The Great Chicago Fire and the Pullman neighborhood (the first industrial community). Schedules are sporadic and reservations are necessary. Departure is from the Chicago Cultural Center (tel: (312) 742 1190; website: http://www.chgocitytours.com/).

Loop Tour Train
A unique way to learn about the city’s architecture is via the Loop Tour Train. The tour, aboard the CTA ‘L’ train, circles the Loop three times, while a Chicago Architecture Foundation docent explains the beauty of the façades and windows that are hidden amid the caverns of the city. These free Saturday tours, which operate from May to September, originate at the Chicago Cultural Center on a first-come, first-served basis. Trains leave from the Randolph and Wabash CTA ‘L’ station. (tel: 1 877 244 2246/CHICAGO; website: http://www.architecture.org/).

Water Tours
One of the best ways to appreciate the beauty of the city as well as learn about it is from the water. Water excursions operate May to early November, but it is best to check with the individual sightseeing company for schedules and costs. Tours offered by the Chicago Architectural Foundation (tel: (312) 922 3432; website: http://www.architecture.org/) give a pylon prospective of Chicago’s great structures, as does Chicago’s First Lady (tel: (847) 358 1330; website: http://www.cruisechicago.com/). Chicago Line Cruises (tel: (312) 527 2002; website: http://www.chicagoline.com/) also runs both history and architectural trips. Other water cruises include Wendella boats (tel: (312) 337 1446; website: http://www.wendellaboats.com/), which depart from below the Wrigley Building and cruise the Chicago River, and Mercury (tel: (312) 332 1353; website: http://www.mercuryskylinecruiseline.com/), which offers a 90-minute lake and river cruise.

Boats departing from Navy Pier run the gamut from schooners to yachts and those that include meals and cocktails. Enjoy the Odyssey (tel: 1 866 305 2469; website: http://www.odysseycruises.com/) or Spirit of Chicago (tel:  (312) 836 7899 or 1 866 211 3804; website: www.spiritcitycruises.com). Windy I or Windy II set sail around Lake Michigan (tel: (312) 595 5555; website: http://www.tallshipwindy.com/).

Paddle a kayak down the Chicago River with Wateriders (tel: (312) 953 9287; website: http://www.wateriders.com/) and explore history, architecture or gangster history.

Bus Tours
There are plenty of road-based options for touring the city. Gray Line Tours (tel: (312) 251 3100 or 1 800 621 4153; website: http://www.grayline.com/) runs a variety of city excursions including ‘North’ and ‘South’ side city tours, which cover all the major sights in those parts of the city. Buses leave from 55 East Monroe Street. The Chicago Double Decker Co. (tel: (773) 648 5000; website: http://www.chicagotrolley.com/), based at the Sears Tower, offers double-decker service, using London-style double-decker buses to tour 21km (13 miles) of Chicago’s main sights. A hop-on hop-off service (explore a site and catch another bus to resume the tour) stops at a number of points, including Navy Pier, Sears Tower, the Art Institute and Field Museum.

Untouchable Tours
The Untouchables Gangster Tour (tel: (773) 881 1195; website: http://www.gangstertour.com/) takes a step back to the days of prohibition. It traces the paths of some of the city’s most infamous 1920s and 1930s residents, like Al Capone and John Dillinger. Wisecracking guides relate gangster lore on the way to famous hoodlum haunts like Little Italy and the St. Valentine’s Massacre. All tours depart from 600 North Clark Street, and reservations are necessary.

Bronzeville
Tours of Bronzeville, a particularly significant neighbourhood for Chicago’s African-American history, are conducted by Black Metropolis Conventionand Tourism Council (tel: (773) 373 2842; website: http://www.bronzevilleonline.com/).

Chicago Hauntings
Chicago Hauntings (tel: 1 888 446 7891; website: http://www.chicagohauntings.com/) visits paranormal and supernatural locations around the city. A 2-hour 45-minute bus ride explores such haunts as the Biograph Theater, Graceland Cemetery, and the site of the Fort Dearborn massacre. Reservations are necessary.

City Segway Tours
Roll through Grant Park to the Museum Campus via a narrated, three-hour, motorized, three-wheeled scooter tour. Before the tour gets underway there is a 40-minute training session on how to use the vehicles. It’s one of those things that you can say, been there, done that (tel: 1 877 734 8687; website: www.citysegwaytours.com/chicago).

Chicago Culinary Tours
Get a real taste of the city while learning about history and architecture. Chicago Food Planet’s (tel: 1 800 979 3370; website: http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/) seasonal walking tour and tastings include visits to a pizzeria, Jewish deli, tea merchant, a chocolate lounge, a fudge speciality shop and a bakery. The tours are seasonal and begin in April.