Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park and Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois

No trip to the windy city Chicago is ever complete without a picture with the big shiny bean in the Millennium Park. We chose a Thursday to cover Millennium Park, Grant Park and the Art Institute of Chicago as the Art institute has free entry on Thursdays. Parking is very expensive and any discounts on entry fee is always welcome. 

Art museum has an amazing collections from across the world. It has a wide array of collections and prepare for miles of walking if you are visiting all locations at once.

Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois

NavyPier is an iconic Chicago landmark. in July 2016, the pier got a facelift for its 100th year celebration of the its commencement. Navy pier is opens at for visitors through out the year except on Christmas and Thanksgiving. Admission to the pier is free but individual attractions have tickets that can be purchased on site.

Navy Pier hosts several activities for kids and adults. It is home for the Chicago Children's Museum, several restaurants, movie theaters, beer garden, shops and many more. We deliberately skipped the children's museum so we can cover more activities in the limited time we have. Several dinner cruises, sight seeing cruises fireworks cruise and many other speciality cruises start from the pier as well. Architectural cruise took us through the canal covering Chicago's history and the architecture of the buildings but I like sailing the tall ship windy Chicago skyline tour. A spectacular view of the Chicago's sky line from lake Michigan.

Fireworks at the pier is scheduled for every Wednesday and Saturday through out summer and on some special holidays. Parking at the pier is available but several public transportation options are available to reach the pier.

360 Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

360 Chicago, previously known as John Hancock Observatory, has the best views of Chicago downtown and Lake Michigan compared to Willis tower (Sears Tower). Definitely buy tickets online or buy a CityPass since it is hard to predict the wait times in line for tickets. Parking is a pain in the downtown. Instead of shelling hundreds of dollars on parking, it is better to get a day pass from CTA or buy a hop on hop off bus rides or better yet walk if you can :) 

Conveniently located in Magnificent mile, the observatory deck is in 94th floor of John Hancock Tower. And a ride in the elevator takes about a minute to the top and you can definitely feel your ears pop. Plenty of space to accommodate people at the top but wait for elevators is a bottle neck. A small cafe & bar at the observatory floor servers coffee, sandwiches, ice-cream and drinks. Gift shops are located at the top and the bottom floors.

The observatory deck is enclosed by glass walls on all sides. East, West, North and South views of Chicago and Lake Michigan are absolutely beautiful. East and South views covers downtown Chicago skyline and Navy Pier. West covers downtown Chicago and Chicago West side. North views cover the beaches, lakefront and beachside drive.

South side views has a new feature Tilt added to enhance the visitor's experience. A 7$ ticket purchased at the observatory deck, gets you access to the Tilt. This can accommodate 8 guests at a time and is around 10 minutes activity. The enclosure tilts forward by 30 degrees over Magnificent mile. 

A 24$ ticket gets you Sun and Stars package where you can visit the observatory deck twice in 48 hrs. This is a great deal to view Chicago's night skyline and Navy Pier fire works every Wednesday and Saturday during Summer.