Location: Downtown / The Loop
Top Things to do in Downtown / The Loop
The 10 Best Sights & Landmarks in Downtown / The Loop, Illinois (IL)
The windy city is a cornucopia of modern art, fine dining, cutting edge comedy, and die-hard sports fans. Snap a photo of your reflection in the silver Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium Park before heading to Grant Park to get hit with the refreshing spray of Buckingham Fountain. There are dozens of museums and theater companies in Chicago, so a cultural experience is never hard to find. You’re sure to laugh your head off at the Second City Theater, the professional launch pad of many famous comedians.
Restaurants in Chicago
1. St Peter's Church
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 40 reviews
Reviewed By Kittygal - Los Angeles, United States
I stopped by for Saturday afternoon mass during a recent layover. The church is modern and beautiful, with clean lines and gorgeous artwork. It's run by the Franciscan order and serves a growing Loop population. Was very glad I happened by. Lovely organ music, too.
2. Chicago Skyline
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 687 reviews
Reviewed By AlexB10499 - Providence, United States
Not only is the Chicago skyline one of the most recognizable in the United States – it’s also frequently ranked as one of the most impressive. The tallest landmark, of course, is the Sears Tower, one of the nation’s tallest buildings at around 1,450 feet. Trump Tower is the city’s second-tallest building and has a distinctly modern look to it – as well as a great location on the Chicago River. A few good spots to view the skyline include Navy Pier, Grant Park, the Nature Boardwalk in Lincoln Park, some of the skyscraper observation decks, and even from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, if you want to take a quick cruise. One other anecdote about the Chicago skyline: you can see it on the horizon across Lake Michigan from the Indiana Dunes National Park, more than 50 miles away. That’s how tall those buildings are.
3. Skydeck Chicago - Willis Tower
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 17,474 reviews
No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and The Ledge at Skydeck Chicago! Treat yourself to a "one stop Chicago" experience on your journey to the 103rd floor. Enjoy 360-degree views spanning up to 50 miles and 4 states and our most spectacular view - 1,353 feet straight down! "Dare to Stand Out" on The Ledge - glass balconies extending 4.3 Feet outside the building provide a thrilling, once in a lifetime experience!
Reviewed By manjushap1907 - Visakhapatnam, India
A must visit place when u visit Chicago.. A unique experience when you stand in the glass box and have unparalleled views of Chicago city.. Advise don’t visit this place during long weekends as the waiting time is too long and you cannot have a good experience due to the rush of the crowds.. You are given 1-2mins to just take pics and you cannot really enjoy the experience..
4. Chicago Cultural Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,992 reviews
The Chicago Cultural Center is the nation's first free municipal cultural center and one of the most visited attractions in Chicago. The stunning landmark building, opened in 1897 as the city's first public library, is home to two magnificent stained-glass domes, and annually presents hundreds of free cultural exhibits and performances. Admission is free.
Reviewed By pookala - Philadelphia, United States
Aside from being a beautiful building filled with finely executed mosaic work, a lovely marble staircase and an always interesting array of changing exhibits; the Cultural Center also has a free weekly recital under the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world. The 45 minute Wednesday concerts take place in the Preston Bradley Hall at 12:15 pm. Be sure to get there early (20-30 minutes) if you want to sit up front. The space fills up quickly. If you have nothing planned afterwards go to the Randolph St entrance after the concert and go on a tour of the building. Space is limited for this tour and they start at 1:15 pm daily. Check out their calendar of events before planning your Chicago itinerary to take advantage of this excellent cultural institution.
5. Michigan Avenue Bridge
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 969 reviews
The view from the bridge is one of the best vistas the city has to offer.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Michigan Avenue Bridge, which was renamed the Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Bridge in 2010 in honor of the Founder of Chicago and the city's first permanent non-Indigenous settler, is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. Opened in 1920, it provides passage for vehicles and pedestrians on two levels and carries more traffic per day than any other bridge in Chicago. The location is significant in the early history of Chicago, connecting on the north side near the 1780s homesite of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable and on the south the early 19th century site of Fort Dearborn. Officially, it is a double-leaf, double-deck, fixed counterweight, trunnion bascule bridge, the first of its type ever constructed. The steel structure can carry about 30,000 people daily. The southwest bridgehouse has been converted into a museum, the five-floor, 1,613-square-foot McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, with its entrance off the Chicago Riverwalk. It includes exhibits on the history of the Chicago River and the bridge. Visitors are allowed to access the bridge's gear room in the spring and fall to see the bridge's lifting gears in operation. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a Chicago Landmark in 1991.
6. Chicago Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 48 reviews
The Chicago Temple includes a ground floor sanctuary, leased office space and a small Sky Chapel that is located 400 feet above ground level.
7. Chicago Board of Trade Building
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 118 reviews
An art deco masterpiece, this is the home of many of the city's financial movers and shakers.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Remember the frenzied trading operations scene in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the bustling streetscape in the La Salle Street canyon in the movie The Untouchables? It all had to do with the Chicago Board of Trade Building, the primary trading venue for the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a popular sightseeing attraction and location for filming motion pictures. Located at 141 West Jackson Boulevard, at the south end of La Salle Street, in a veritable canyon surrounded by other iconic buildings, the CBOT is known for its art deco architecture, sculptures, large-scale stone carvings and large trading floors. It is clad in gray Indiana limestone and topped with a copper pyramid roof and features black and white marble interiors, an open three-story lobby that once housed the world's largest light fixture and 12 Otis elevators. Built in 1929-1930, the 45-story, 605-foot-tall structure presides over Chicago's financial district. It was the city's tallest building from 1930 to 1965. Notable sculptures include John H. Storrs' aluminum, three-story art deco statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain, which caps the building and is a nod to the exchange's heritage as a commodities market, and John W. Norton's three-story mural of Ceres, which is displayed in the atrium. Today, in the wake of two extensive expansion projects in 1980 and 1997, the trading floors, including the corn pit, the wheat pit and the soybean pit, now encompass 115,150 square feet. In addition to the CBOT and the Mercantile Exchange, the three-building complex is occupied by other financial and trading concerns, the Ceres cafe on the first floor in the lobby, and other businesses such as banking, travel, insurance, beauty, health, commodities speculators and the U.S. Futures Exchange. The CBOT building was named a Chicago Landmark in 1977 and designated as a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
8. Millennium Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 24,640 reviews
Three square blocks of open lakefront complete with a Ferris Wheel, outdoor music pavillion and ice skating rink; expected to become one of the city's most popular sites.
Reviewed By 314LH - Chicago, United States
Cloud Gate (the bean to locals) is a 12-ft high stainless steel sculpture chosen in competition as the winning design (by Brit Anish Kapoor), inspired by liquid mercury. Begun in 2004, finished in 2006, it's become a Chicago icon that provides unique photo opportunities. Enjoy great views of downtown (and the skating rink in winter) from its platform, stroll the area to view regularly-changing public art exhibits, the Pritzker Pavilion, Lurie Garden, and fabulous Frank Gehry designed BP bridge.
9. The Loop
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,238 reviews
Downtown section of Chicago defined by the loop of elevated train that encircles it.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
As a native Chicagoan--I actually grew up in south suburban Blue Island but have lived in downtown Chicago since 1976--I have learned there is so much to love about the city. Who would want to live anywhere else? Visitors gravitate to the most popular tourist attractions such as Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the Magnificent Mile and Wrigley Field. But old-timers still cling to The Loop, where it all began, where Chicago began. Bounded by the Chicago River on the north and west, by Lake Michigan on the east and by Roosevelt Road on the south, encircled by the prominent elevated railway system (the "El") that gives The Loop its name, the area is the first of Chicago's 77 designated communities, the central business district of the city, the main section of downtown Chicago, the second largest commercial business district in North America. Once the site of Chicago's first homestead and the site of historic Fort Dearborn, which was built in 1803, The Loop contains the headquarters and regional offices of several global and national businesses, retail establishments, restaurants, hotels and theaters. It also is the site of some of the world's earliest and tallest skyscrapers and many notable landmarks. It is home to City Hall, the seat of Cook County, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Grant Park, Millennium Park, Palmer House, Art Institute, Union Station, Thompson Center, Daley Center, Printer's Row, Chicago Theatre and Marshall Field's (now Macy's). Mostly destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, The Loop quickly was rebuilt to include such architectural wonders as the Rookery Building, Monadnock Building, Willis Tower and Aon Center. And don't forget the artwork and sculpture, including Buckingham Fountain, Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Calder and DuBuffet. There is so much to see, so many photo opportunities. And you haven't even left the heart of the city.
10. Fine Arts Building
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 35 reviews
A historic building that houses two theaters, several offices, shops and music studios.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The 10-story Fine Arts Building, also known as the Studebaker Building, houses artists' lofts, art galleries, theatre, dance and recording studios, interior and web design firms, musical instrument makers and other businesses associated with the arts. It also is home to the Studebaker Theatre and the Artists Cafe and offices of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Grant Park Conservancy, the World Federalist Associations and the Chicago Youth Symphony. Located at 410 South Michigan Avenue, across the street from Grant Park in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District, the Fine Arts Building was constructed in 1894-1895 and extensively remodeled in 1898 when the top three floors were added. The two granite columns at the main entrance, each three feet eight inches in diameter and 12 feet 10 inches tall were said to be the largest polished monolithic shafts in the country. The interior features Art Nouveau motifs and murals by artists such as Martha Susan Baker, Frederic Clay Bartlett, Olivet Dennett Grover, Frank Xavier Leyendecker and Bertha Sophia Menzler-Peyton and date from the 1898 renovation. In 1931, Paul Whiteman and his orchestra gave the first public performance of Grand Canyon Suite at the Studebaker Theatre. Since 2016, it has served as a live theater with a 740 seating capacity. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a Chicago Landmark in 1978.
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