Location: South Side
Top Things to do in South Side
What to do and see in South Side, Illinois (IL): The Best Things to do
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. S.R. Crown Hall
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 12 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
I first saw S.R. Crown Hall when covering a high school football game near the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1975. And I first saw Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, when my mother was serving as a docent in 1995. So which steel and glass-constructed landmark of famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe came first? Farnsworth House, a one-room country retreat on the Fox River, was completed in 1951. Crown Hall, home of the Illinois Tech's College of Architecture and widely considered one of van der Rohe's masterpieces, was completed in 1956. Located at 3360 South State Street, it is regarded as one of the most architecturally significant buildings of the 20th century Modernist movement. Steel frame, no interior columns, floor to ceiling glass, suspended roof, a single classroom on the upper level. lots of light and open space. "Almost nothing" is how van der Rohe described it. The two-level building is a pure rectangle, 220 feet by 120 feet by 18 feet tall. Crown Hall was named a Chicago Landmark in 1997 and added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
2. Palmisano Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8 reviews
Reviewed By Toyota1994 - Chicago, United States
Palmisano Nature Park is a delight in the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago. The Chicago Park District has done a commendable job in transforming a quarry & landfill to a very enjoyable nature park. The Park comprises a variety of features including fishing piers, quarry pond, trails, prairie vegetation, and an exhilarating hill. The trails are a combination of boardwalks, concrete paths, a crushed stone path, grating walkways and stepped rocks. These trails provide dramatic overviews of the pond and the city. The stone monument and the fountain at each end of the park are great for pictures. One thing missing was an introductory map of the park showing trail paths. But, it is a relatively small park, so map absence is not a big concern. In sum, Palmisano Nature Park is a lovely place for a short workout visit or for a leisurely picnic.
3. Jackson Bark - Dog Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 36 reviews
Jackson Bark is a community dog park. The only dog park on the southside of Chicago and the largest 100% enclosed dog park in the city. Over 50 agility features and amenities, plus free parking, water and toys. Voted "Best of Chicago: Dog Park", Chicago Reader 2016.
Reviewed By joelp297
This was such a diamond in the Ruff! Thanks to the volunteers that keep this fun packed dog park safe, entertaining for the dogs and their humans - even had a DJ with some great music for all to enjoy. Was looking for a dog park that had structure, not the run-of-the-mill open area park. Well we found it. This dog park had fun obstacles for the dogs, safety items and lots of bags to help keep it clean. A Must Go!
4. Promontory Point
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
Promontory Point on Chicago's South Side has been known in recent years as the site of Barack and Michelle Obama's first kiss. But it's much more than that. Its view of Lake Michigan and Chicago's skyline may not be as scenic as the view from North Avenue Beach but it is an attractive piece of landscape. Located at 55th Street in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, Promontory Point or The Point is a man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan that was opened to the public in 1937. It was constructed from landfill and by the late 1930s was protected by a seawall or revetment that consists of limestone blocks arranged in a series of four steps leading to a promenade. The 12-acre peninsula, which contains a fieldhouse and was a popular destination for swimmers, sunbathers and windsurfers in the pre-pandemic period, can be accessed by the Lakefront Trail and a tunnel which passes under South Lake Shore Drive at the east end of 55th street, in the shadow of the Museum of Science and Industry. With its view of Navy Pier and Chicago's skyline and Lake Michigan, and the presence of stone sitting rings or fire pits that date to 1938, Promontory Point is a popular wedding and corporate event location and an area for family picnics. And first kisses.
5. St, Mary of Perpetual Help Roman catholic church
6. Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 808 reviews
To ensure the health and safety of our guests, tours at Robie House return on June 11 and are limited to nine guests per time slot. (Updated 6/2/20) The Frederick C. Robie House on the University of Chicago campus is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture. This Prairie style masterpiece is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright List. Discover the residence Wright described as “a cornerstone of modern architecture” on guided tours that take in both the exterior and interior of the building. Inspired by the expansive landscape of the Midwest prairie, Wright’s Robie House is the most famous of the architect’s groundbreaking Prairie houses. Public tours are available Thursday - Monday. The museum is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Visit flwright.org to learn more.
Reviewed By reneeu435
We enjoyed the tour and wished we had been able to take the in-depth tour. I have toured a couple FLW houses and this one is beautifully restored.
7. Oriental Institute Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 552 reviews
The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a leading research center for the ancient Middle East. The museum houses some 350,000 artifacts—around 5,000 of which are on display—excavated mainly by OI archaeologists. Founded in 1919, at a time when the Middle East was called the Orient, the OI has pioneered innovative excavations and comprehensive dictionary projects that chronicle ancient civilizations. The Oriental Institute Museum aims to understand, reveal, and protect ancient Middle Eastern civilizations.
Reviewed By 515rauld - Chicago, United States
An Oasis you can explore Hyde Park and Univ. Of Chicago close to downtown by Bus and yet a different world.
8. Museum of Science and Industry
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 10,973 reviews
The largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere! Housed in the only remaining building from the 1893 World’s Fair, MSI is a Chicago must-see. You’ll experience 14 acres of hands-on exhibits and have the chance to stand before a 40-foot tornado; climb aboard a World War II German submarine; take a run in a human-sized hamster wheel; descend into an Illinois coal mine; tour a fully functioning eco-friendly home; board a 727 hanging from the ceiling; transmit your pulse to a 13-foot, 3-D beating heart; and much more! MSI is not a place where you walk around quietly and observe. No way! You get involved in the fun—and learn—by doing. Just a few miles from downtown with convenient underground parking.
Reviewed By 667lisay
This is my favorite Chicago museum because there are so many hands on exhibits! So many favorite things: Christmas around the World exhibit, the Omnimax theatre, the submarine tour, the chicks, the bicycle exhibit, the African American artwork, the circus exhibit, the Fairy Castle, the Mirror Maze, and more! We always have a fun time when we go!
9. Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 123 reviews
Rockefeller Chapel is the spiritual and ceremonial center of the University of Chicago, and a major performing arts producer, offering music, theatre, and visual arts events to citywide audiences. A leading venue for the choral arts, it is a prized event location for major speakers and international artists. It is the home of two world class instruments, the carillon and organ. Resembling a medieval cathedral in appearance and size, it hosts festivals and ceremonies of many world religious traditions, as well as Sunday services where the soaring architecture is matched with the poetry and theatre of grand liturgy of diverse origins, and with the beautiful voices of its choristers.
10. DuSable Museum of African American History
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 93 reviews
A museum dedicated to African-American history, art and culture.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
As a historian of the Civil War, I believe it is important for every American to learn about white, Latino and African-American history, culture and art. And I believe there is no better place to learn and explore African-American history than the DuSable Museum of African-American History. Located at 740 East 56th Place, in Washington Park, on Chicago's South Side, it was founded in 1961 by noted activists Margaret and Charles Burroughs and moved to its current location in 1973. It is the oldest and, before the founding of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington D.C., the largest caretaker of African-American culture in the United States. The museum has a collection of 13,000 artifacts, books, photographs, art objects and memorabilia, including slavery-era relics, 19th and 20th century artifacts, the works of scholar W.E.B. DuBois, author James Baldwin, poet Langston Hughes and sociologist St. Clair Drake, the artwork of Charles White, Gus Nall, Marion Perkins and Archibald Motley Jr., and prints and drawings by Henry O. Tanner, Richmond Barthe and Romare Bearden. The museum serves as Chicago's primary memorial to Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first non-Native American permanent settler in the city. The collection also includes the desk of activist Ida B. Wells, the violin of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Charles Dawson Papers. The museum is designated as a Chicago Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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