4 child free days in Chicago - what to do?

[dinkystinky]

V excited - DH and I have got a long weekend, without DS1 and DS2, planned in Chicago in October. Been at least 6 years since I had a childfree break so looking forward to lie ins, culture, meals out and not having to check if DS2 needs the loo every 10 minutes and listen to DS1's whinging about how he wants to go to the playground we saw several hours earlier

So, any top tips on places to visit/things to do?

Go and see a show in the Chicago Broadway.
I saw Wicked there a few years ago and it was fabulous.

A boat trip tour of the city is also fun.

We visited Chicago last summer and loved it!! I second Ruthchan's suggestion of the boat trip- we did the wendella combined river and lake tour which was great. You must also do the 'skywalk' which is a glass box sticking out of the side of the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), 103 storeys up! Scary! Food wise, try out Gino's East restaurant for a traditional Chicago deep dish pizza- it's an institution in Chicago so is definitely a "must do"! The Hershey's Chocolate shop on magnificent mile is also worth a visit. Magnificent mile is amazing for shopping.... And a nice way to round off your day is to have a cocktail in the bar at the top of The John Hancock Observatory on Michigan Avenue to look at the gorgeous view of the city all lit up at night. I'm sure you will love it!

These are fantastic - thank you so much! Cant wait to go now...

I second John Hancock building, sears tower and river tour a must.

Spiaggio is a fabulous italian at the lake end of michigan avenue which I really missed. There is also a lovely italian which does little mini dishes almost like italian tapas called Quartinos which we loved which is on State and Ontario
The weather could be lovely - it could also be cold! so be prepared!
Museuem of science and industry is amazing and well worth a visit ( with or without kids!)
Go to navy pier - where you can get on the boat tours there is generally something on there one way or another.

Where are you staying?
I lived there for 2 years and miss it a LOT

Thanks Anniewoo and thekingfisher - so excited now! Love the sound of the italians you recommended thekingfisher. We havent booked accomodation yet (that's the next job on the list) - do you have any recommendation of areas to stay in?

i would try and stay as central as possible - its very easy to get around . I will have a look at where I stayed when I went back for a visit - I think it was the hilton suites on E delaware. these are just off michigan avenue. it wasn't too hideously expensive and had 2 rooms and a little kitchenette thing which is always useful.

oh and have brunch at the peninsula hotel or at the top of the hancock tower - both pretty amazing in different ways!

Oh and if you wanted to do some EXECELLENT outlet shopping you could hire a car and head out to the Chelsea Village outlet. Hiring car dead easy and you can get a sat nab. Google it - its about 45 mins out of the centre of chicago.
And you must go to a Target store - they are like an upmarket woolies but with EVERYTHING- generally out of the centre.....

How lovely - I used to live in Chicago (and DS was born there) and visit every year - it is one of my favourite places.

What do you like to do?

The open top bus tours are quite good & the architecture boat tours are interesting too - especially if you do the one with a speedboat ride along the lake.

Definitely see a show - you can get cheap last minute tickets at the HotTix office.

I'd say the Hancock tower has better views than the Sears tower - gorgoues at sunset and if you go to the bar instead of the observation deck, you can have a cocktail too.

Will think about restaurants - what do you like to eat?

Shop (and stay on) on Michigan Avenue (Magnificent mile) or State Street (the Great Street) & use the El. at least once.

These further suggestions are excellent - thank you so much.

Grockle - we like the theatre, eating out, walking around the city, architecture, museums, lovely parks - basically pretty much everything and anything a city break can entail. Love most kinds of food - especially italian (I understand the pizza is a must in Chicago), japanese and chinese.

Then go to Chinatown (on the El - take the redline) - it's not huge but there are loads of restaurants and interesting shops. I can find the name of the good restaurants if you like? I've forgotten them.

The Art Institute is good, if you like galleries- it's huge.

Architechture - other than interesting buildings downtown, Frank Lloyd Wright has several buildings in Chicago - The Robie House in Hyde Park (you could also walk past his Heller House which is close to Obama's house) and several in Oak Park. If you go to Hyde Park, you need to go to Medici on 57th Street for lunch.

The Museum of Science & Industry is also on the southside and is huge & the only remaining building from the World Exposition. The Field Museum is good too, and I love the aquarium.

Walk along Navy Pier (very touristy) and get some Chicago Mix popcorn (cheese & caramel) - there are also popcorn stores in the loop.

And you must go to Millenium park, see the fountains and google to see if there are any free concerts. The Lincoln Park Zoo is walking distance from the city and is free.

October will either be lovely or quite cool.

Those suggestions are wonderful Grockle - thank you so much! The Chicago Mix popcorn sounds pretty interesting...