Chicago, one of the most populated city in the U.S. is famous for its incredible skyscrapers. It should not come as a surprise that parking is limited especially at downtown and near the tourist attractions along with outrageous high parking fee; for that, we opted for public transportation. Plan it wisely, it would make commuting affordable and fun as its large network covers a lot of the local and tourist destinations. Our experience has shown that when choosing public transportation, it could be inefficient resulting in a lot of unnecessary walking when we don't do the homework.
Do you know that the train system and the bus system belong to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)? With that in mind and do you know that if you buy a one day pass ($10) unlimited ride, it gives you access to both the train and the bus rides? Glad we did on our second day at Chicago.
(Photo courtesy of Transit Chicago)
We were not aware of the one pass benefit for both transportation systems on our first day. We walked 1.8 miles from Grant Park to the Planetarium. This is in our plan and worth the walk as we enjoy Chicago beautiful shore view. However, walking from Planetarium to Roosevelt train station (1.1 miles) and from Grand station to Navy Pier (1.1 miles), not too much fun there; had we knew, the latter two walking routes could have been replaced by bus ride instead. Keep that in mind, next time you go public in Chicago.
In addition to train and bus, there is another affordable way to get around Chicago with Chicago bike share program, Divvy. With ~$10, visitor can pick up a bike and enjoy unlimited 30 minutes rides in 24 hours period. There are tons of bike station available. This works fantastically for family without small kids.
Don't like land transportation? Try water taxi! There are multiple companies that offer water taxi to different locations. For example, the Shoreline Sightseeing offers water taxis connecting between navy pier and Shedd Aquarium; or take the Chicago water taxi for $10 day pass to visit locations like Riverwalk, Michigan avenue, Chinatown and others.
(Photo courtesy of Shoreline Sightseeing)
Now, bet you don't know about the free trolley service to navy pier. It is one of the trolley services offered in Chicago. Just keep in mind that not all trolley is free. But, the navy pier trolley is great, where it connects CTA grand station, art institute and navy pier itself. Make sure to checkout their schedule as it varies on different season. Now, you just have to make a decision of walking miles or take this free trolley.
(Photo courtesy of Navy Pier)
Last, but not least, there are always taxi, Uber or Lyft if you just want to get right to the destination without worry about parking.
Exiting the station safely.
Grand park is located in the Chicago's business district, which consists of the most notable Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, Maggie Daley Park, Art Institute of Chicago museum and the Museum Campus, where Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium are located at.
Millenium Park
Cloud Gate, the famous iconic bean of Chicago. There are other area worth checking out while you're at the park like Lurie Garden and Crown Fountain.
Beware of that crown..
Across the Millennium Park via the BP Pedestrian Bridge is the Maggie Daley Park with climbing wall, skating ribbon and large playgrounds.
On the other side of Millennium Park is where the enormous Art Institute of Chicago is located. It is one of the premier art museums and art schools in the U.S.. Easily few hours to be expected to visit this place. There are multiple ticket options, include with Chicago CityPass, Skydeck combination, Navy Pier combination or just the general admission. The price is also varied if you are out-of-state or student. Children age 13 and under is free. Be sure to checkout their website to see which options suit you best.
Further south, you will see the beautiful Buckingham Fountain, one of the world's largest fountain.
Adler Planetarium
After an enjoyable shore walk from the Buckingham Fountain, we arrived at the Planetarium. At first, we were debating between the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, then we came to a conclusion that we will spend it at the planetarium. Reasons being that the we haven't really visited a star galaxy planetarium, and we have been to a ton of aquarium. Glad we made that choice. Mommy was hesitant in the beginning because she thought it would not be interesting for the kids. Once you get to the upper level, there is a whole section devoted to kids. Even our little one was occupied with things to play with at the planetarium.
Chicago Architectural Tour
We normally do not take group tour when we go on trips, but this time we did. Our friend has recommended along with great reviews online, we wanted to check it out. We bought our tickets from Chase Ultimate Rewards and it was with the Shoreline Sightseeing tour company. There are 2 ports where the tour starts; either at Michigan Avenue or the Navy Pier. We chose Navy Pier departure because it has the latest departure time and closer to our scheduled activities.
According to our tour guy, Chicago is the only city in the U.S. that has an architectural tour. That should not come in surprise as you can see each skyscraper as its own uniqueness designed by different artist around the world. You will get more details on that when you sit on one of the tour.
Our tour was about 90 minutes long, the tour guy explained the history of some popular buildings in the Chicago skyline. We took an evening tour at 8:15 P.M. In our opinion, to avoid hot Summer heat, night time tour is the best time to see Chicago skyline with beautiful buildings light up. You will enjoy the boat tour for a different perspective of the city. It is probably more worth while after all the walking during the day to sit back and relax. We recommend this attraction over the Chicago Skydeck and 360 Chicago observation as it is simply views from the top of a building.
Lincoln Park
Further north is Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo. The city does a great job in keeping the zoo nice and clean. Best of all, it is FREE! This zoo is pretty big and is also home to the penguins and polar bear! We don't see too often of those animals so definitely worth checking out.
With all the walking, let's try the thick crusted Chicago-Style delicious deep dish pizza at Uno Pizzeria. A medium size could feed four hungry people.
Lastly, stop by Garrett Popcorn Shops for some handcrafted gourmet popcorn as souvenir.
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