THE OFFICIAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM WEBSITE OF THE UNITED STATES
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Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau
2301 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60616
001 312 567 8500
www.choosechicago.com
Title: Lakefront
Posted by: Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, Inc.
Posted by: Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, Inc.
Introduction
The thriving commercial and financial "City of Broad Shoulders" is spiked with gorgeous architecture and set with cultural and recreational gems, including the Art Institute, Millennium Park, 250 theater companies, and 31 mi of shoreline. Three million residents live within city limits. The current Mayor Daley gave downtown a makeover, adding wrought-iron street furniture, regular fireworks, and planters of flowers. Spectacular lights brighten buildings along Michigan Avenue after dark. There are always controversies, but most Chicagoans are proud to call the city home.
The Loop is a living architectural museum, where shimmering modern towers stand side-by-side with 19th-century buildings. Striking sculptures by Picasso, Miró, and Chagall watch over plazas alive with music and farmers' markets in summer. There are noisy, mesmerizing trading centers, gigantic department stores, internationally known landmarks like the Sears Tower and the Art Institute, and the city's newest playground, Millennium Park. Rattling overhead, encircling it all, is the train system Chicagoans call the El.
Lake View is a massive North Side neighborhood made up of smaller enclaves that each have their own distinct personalities. There's the beer-swilling, Cubby-blue-'til-we-die sports bar fanaticism of Wrigleyville, home of the esteemed Wrigley Field; the out-and-proud colors of the gay bars, shops, and clubs along Halsted Street in Boys Town; and an air of urban chicness along Southport Avenue (a street that's really a bit too far west to enjoy any lake views, but part of the neighborhood still the same), where young families stroll amid the trendy boutiques and ice-cream shops. It's a mix that means that a few blocks' walk in one direction or another will surely lead to some interesting finds.
The city's greatest tourist magnet reads like a to-do checklist: Navy Pier, the John Hancock Building, art museums and galleries, lakefront activities, and countless shops where you could spend a few dollars or thousands. The Magnificent Mile, a stretch of Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street, owes its name to the swanky shops that line both sides of the street. Shoppers cram the sidewalks in summer and keep the street bustling even in winter, when the trees are twined with thousands of white fairy lights and the buildings are lighted with colored flood lights.
The Loop is a living architectural museum, where shimmering modern towers stand side-by-side with 19th-century buildings. Striking sculptures by Picasso, Miró, and Chagall watch over plazas alive with music and farmers' markets in summer. There are noisy, mesmerizing trading centers, gigantic department stores, internationally known landmarks like the Sears Tower and the Art Institute, and the city's newest playground, Millennium Park. Rattling overhead, encircling it all, is the train system Chicagoans call the El.
Lake View is a massive North Side neighborhood made up of smaller enclaves that each have their own distinct personalities. There's the beer-swilling, Cubby-blue-'til-we-die sports bar fanaticism of Wrigleyville, home of the esteemed Wrigley Field; the out-and-proud colors of the gay bars, shops, and clubs along Halsted Street in Boys Town; and an air of urban chicness along Southport Avenue (a street that's really a bit too far west to enjoy any lake views, but part of the neighborhood still the same), where young families stroll amid the trendy boutiques and ice-cream shops. It's a mix that means that a few blocks' walk in one direction or another will surely lead to some interesting finds.
The city's greatest tourist magnet reads like a to-do checklist: Navy Pier, the John Hancock Building, art museums and galleries, lakefront activities, and countless shops where you could spend a few dollars or thousands. The Magnificent Mile, a stretch of Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street, owes its name to the swanky shops that line both sides of the street. Shoppers cram the sidewalks in summer and keep the street bustling even in winter, when the trees are twined with thousands of white fairy lights and the buildings are lighted with colored flood lights.
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