• Places to Explore
• Sights
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Travel Tips
• Features

Sights Overview

Every great city has great buildings, but Chicago is its great buildings. Art, culture, food, and diversion are all part of the picture here, but everything Chicagoans do is framed by some of the most remarkable architecture to be found anywhere. From the sky-scraping of its tall towers to the horizontal sweep of the Prairie School, Chicago's built environment is second to none.

Decisions, Decisions

Even if you're pressed for time, you can't leave town without seeing a few of the city's important buildings. The lovely Reliance Building on State Street (home to trendy Hotel Burnham) is steps away from Carson Pirie Scott and just blocks from the Art Institute and Millennium Park. Mies van der Rohe's 860-880 North Lake Shore Drive buildings are right on the lake and not too far from high-end shopping on the Magnificent Mile.

With so many significant skyscrapers packed into the Loop, it's tough to elevate any one above the rest. When it comes to early buildings, the Rookery is hard to beat. Looking like an impenetrable terra-cotta mass from the street, its heart is a graceful, covered court done up by Frank Lloyd Wright. And no matter how much you may dislike modern architecture, the Inland Steel Building is a beauty. Also worth a visit is the dizzying atrium of the squat James R. Thompson Center, a bold interpretation of a public building. Finally, for a swanky art deco number, stop by the Carbide & Carbon Building, home to the Hard Rock Hotel.

A Tall Order

If you came looking for tall buildings, Chicago certainly won't let you down. Among the tallest are the famous Sears Tower, with its 103rd-floor observatory (on clear days you can see four states); the instantly recognizable John Hancock Center, with its crisscross braces and two huge antennae (not to mention cocktail hour on the 95th floor); and the formidable Aon Center, which towers over Millennium Park. And no building proclaims its skyscraping ambition quite like 311 South Wacker Drive, whose Gothic crown is ablaze with light at night.

It's Worth the Trip…

Nearby Oak Park is Frank Lloyd Wright's old stomping ground. The leafy community is chock-full of his work, from early examples of Prairie Style to a fascinating church.

A visit to Glessner House -- H. H. Richardson's masterpiece in the Prairie Avenue Historic District -- offers the voyeuristic appeal of poking through a great home. It's enough to motivate even those who don't know an I beam from a flying buttress.