Start from 118 curated places around Chicago, IL, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Bavette's Bar & Boeuf
A River North steakhouse done in dark wood and red leather like a 1940s movie set, with prime cuts cooked over wood and a French-inflected raw bar to anchor the room.
Frontera Grill
Rick Bayless's 1987 River North dining room serving regional Mexican plates that pre-dated most of America's interest in them. Casual in the best way - busy, loud, and consistently great after almost 40 years.
Trails & outdoors
Chicago Lakefront Trail
An 18.5-mile paved path along Lake Michigan that's the spine of every Chicago summer. Pedestrian and bike paths are separated, so a Sunday walk doesn't end with a Lycra near-miss.
Chicago Riverwalk
A 1.25-mile public path along the south bank of the Chicago River downtown, knit together over the past decade with cafes, kayak docks, and architecture-tour boat launches. Flat, paved, and the easiest way to see Loop bridges from below.
Things to do
Field Museum
The natural-history anchor on the Museum Campus, with Sue the T-Rex, Maximo the titanosaur, and an Inside Ancient Egypt walk-through small kids talk about for a week. Reliable rainy-afternoon move.
Shedd Aquarium
A Beaux-Arts aquarium on a lakefront peninsula, with a 90,000-gallon Caribbean Reef tank as the centerpiece and a beluga pool that runs scheduled feedings. Pure kid magnet, even on a stormy day.
Landmarks & sights
Cloud Gate
Anish Kapoor's mirrored stainless-steel sculpture in Millennium Park, locally just called the Bean. Quick stop, but worth doing once with the skyline reflected over your shoulder.
Skydeck Chicago
The 103rd-floor observation level inside Willis Tower, with glass-floored boxes hanging over Wacker Drive. View stretches into four states on a clear day and across the lake on a windy one.