Hi! My husband and I are from Ireland and visiting Chicago for the first time in two weeks. Can anyone give me a run-down on the best places to stay, what to do and more importantly what not to do! We're not really into museums- I particularly want to go shopping but don't want to pay the high prices that I believe are associated with the Magnificient Mile. I'm interested in maybe visiting a factory outlet and as we are staying a week, we don't mind even hiring a car and heading outside of the city. I would really appreciate any feedback anyone can give me!!!

Shopping is quite a bit more expensive downtown but its a higher class of stores than you will find in an outlet mall. There are several outlet malls in the area. The closest to Chicago would be Gurnee Mills in Gurnee, IL. It is about 45 minutes drive north of the city off of highway 94. A little further north of Gurnee in Kenosha, Wisconsin there are two more outlet malls, the names of which escape me. There is also another outlet mall called Prime Outlets (used to be the Lighthouse Place) in Michigan City, Indiana but that would be about an hour and 1/2 from Chicago (I believe you can get there by train on the South Shore line).

Chicago has a wide variety of things to do especially in the summer. Go to the Linclon Park Zoo, there are concerts and festivals in Grant Park, go to Navy Pier, go see a baseball game, go to the top of the Sears Tower for a cool view of the city (or the John Hancock). Make sure you have a stuffed (deep dish) pizza while you are here.

When I saw your post, my first thought was "Obviously these people want to see the great museums of this city." Then I saw you were more into shopping. That's fine; there's great shopping at both the Woodfield Mall and the factory outlet mall at 6170 Grand Avenue in Gurnee, not to far north of Chicago. BUT, if you're coming all the way from Ireland, why go all the way to Chicago? You could get great shopping at many places along our East Coast, so why do you want to add 1500 kilometers to your journey? Knowing this, we may be able to give more precise answers to your question.

Hi Alison, Do you like the blues? Blues on Halsted is our favorite place to see the blues. Rosas is a close second, but it is off the beaten path and not the easiest place to find. You would pay less to see someone at these places than you would at House of Blues and the acts are just as good. If you're interested and you see that Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials are playing, you must go see them. Also, the Cubs are great fun to watch, soccer (football) is available if you prefer. You can almost always find a festival during the summer. Have fun!

If you like architecture, the architure guided tours (on foot and by boat) are great.

As we are from the Midwest, have been to Chicago many times.
The above posts have given you some good ideas, would like to add a few:
Take time to walk down Michigan Ave even if you don't want to shop there.
Walk thru Grant Park and see Buckingham Fountain, especially at night.
Take a boat trip, either a lake front tour where you can see the beautiful sky-line, or a Chicago River architectural tour.
I see you are not into museums, but Chicago also has Shedd Aquarium...very nice.
Welcome to USA and have fun

I live in the Chicago area and think you'd be wasting your time shopping at the outlet malls here. I've been to both the Huntley Outlet mall and Gurnee Mills and haven't found enough bargains to make it worth the trip. Prices aren't all that great and in many stores you aren't getting the same quality merchandise that you would in the regular store. I suggest taking a day trip out to Long Grove or Richmond. These are two little towns about an hour+ drive northwest of the city. Both have quaint little shops. Richmond is mainly antiques.

Definitely go to Navy Pier where you can shop, eat, ride the huge ferris wheel and take a one hour lake cruise. There's food and entertainment on the Pier.

There are many neighborhood festivals going on throughout the summer. Check the Friday newspapers when you get here. There's a weekend section that lists all the festivals. They're alot of fun. Most usually have bands and food tents setup so you can sample some of the great foods served by local restaurants.

If you like blues music, Chicago has some great blues bars with live bands. Be sure to go to one.

There are cruises on Lake Michigan you can take. From lunch cruises to midnite dinner cruises. Some can be $$ but they're nice.

Try an outdoor concert at Ravinia. That's always a nice time.

If you feel like driving away from the city, you can go up to the Chain of Lakes area, rent a boat and spend the day boating on the Fox River or through the many connected lakes northwest of Chicago.

Or you can got to a White Sox or Cubs baseball game. You may like a Cubs game better. The ballpark is nicer. Kindof the old time baseball park feeling.