Chicago Lakefront, IL
Illinois · Midwest
Entry
Free to visit
Scale
2.7M residents
Est.
1833
Season
May-Jun, Sep-Oct
Architecture tours by boat, deep-dish debates, and twenty-six miles of public lakefront.
Getting there
O'Hare (ORD) is about 45 minutes from the Loop on the Blue Line, which runs all night. The city counts 77 community areas and 26 miles of open lakefront.
Don't miss
- Millennium Park - 25 acres in the Loop, and the Bean
- Chicago Riverwalk - a 1.25-mile promenade along the river
- Lincoln Park Zoo - the city's free, oldest-in-the-nation zoo
Best time to go
May to June and September to October. The lake keeps July bearable and the riverwalk stays open late.
Nearby
Evanston
Oak Park
Milwaukee
Costs and seasons change
Fees and visitor figures are taken from the National Park Service pages for this park; re-check nps.gov before you book. The planning copy is ours.
