Chicago - 10 recommendations

Chicago really got me! The incredible architecture and the fact that everything is really close to each other made it really enjoyable for me. I prefer cities that are ``walkable`` and where you don´t always have to uber or take a bus or metro.

To get to the city from the airport was very easy, too. You just follow the sign trains (cta) to the city and you will take the blue line for $5 to go to downtown.

Our accommodation was the HI Hostel which I really liked for its design and the fact that it was pretty central. For a Hostel it was kind of expensive but totally worth the money. As I said we could walk from our Hostel to the main attractions and we had a breakfast included.

But now let´s start with my ten favs for Chicago!

1. Walk around Grant Park and the Buckingham Fountain

With a view on the skyline in the back and the lake Michigan on the other side, the Buckingham Fountain has a perfect location. Next to it you will find some green space where you can take a picnic or just sit down and enjoy the vibe of the city and the lake, which btw looks like an ocean!

2. Walk the magnificent mile (aka Michigan Avenue)

On the magnificent mile you will basically find everything you need including the Millenium Park with the famous cloud gate (aka the bean) or many deep dish pizza shops (more at another point!), the Nutella Cafe or Garett Popcorn shops. Definitely look up to the buildings and appreciate the nice architecture as well. You can even walk up to Navy Pier and never far the lake Michigan. Look in the side roads to find the route 66 sign!

3. Take a picture at the bean

Basic but cool! Stroll through the Millenium Park, maybe have a look at the food trucks, maybe there will be a festival or something else going on but for sure go and see the bean. If you want to get a good picture without thousands of tourists on it you should come early in the morning which we tried but failed because 10 am was on a weekend not early enough. Anyways it´s fun and you will get some good views. Definitely also check it out by night, it will have a total other vibe!

4. Try deep dish pizza!

Seriously, it was one of the best pizzas I´ve ever tried so far! We tried it at one of Chicagos´ most famous places for it called Giordano´s. That it is very popular you can tell from the waiting time for a table to sit. If you wanted a table inside you would have to wait up to 1 hour and for outside up to 2! Instead we were smart and ordered take out. It still took them 45 minutes to prepare but it was totally worth the wait. In the meantime we just walked around Navy Pier since we chose that for our place to eat but they have other locations all over the city. We found a good spot near the ferris wheel and with a view on downtown and the lake Michigan and when they called us we picked it up and enjoyed it with the most beautiful sunset vibes over downtown. We had the vegetarian pizza which was filled with all kind of veggies like peppers and broccoli and it was sooo good! I could eat like 2 and a half slices and then I was super full so definitely share it with others.

5. Take a walk on Lake Michigan

Would you believe that the lake Michigan is bigger than Switzerland? Sounds crazy but it´s true! Lake Michigan is one of the 5 great lakes in America and it really does not look like a lake, more like an ocean with less waves. So definitely go to the beach and play volleyball or just relax or swim or take a boat ride or go on a run next to the lake...so many things to do.

On Saturday nights in the summer you can also watch a firework above the lake. We watched it from the navy pier and it was just perfect.

6. Walk the riverwalk

As you can see I like to explore cities by walking but seriously Chicago is made for that and you can always stop along the way and take pictures. As you walk by you will see lots of nice buildings and the color of the water in the river will make you wonder because it is super green (gets colored green every year for St Patricks Day). You can also rent kayaks which we didn´t do but I´m sure it´s fun! When you walk the riverwalk till the end you will end at the lake michigan again and you will find a park which is perfect to hang out!

7. Navy Pier (watch the firework)

You cannot miss out on going to the Navy pier and if you visit Chicago in the summer time you should see the fireworks on Saturday night from there. You will get a nice view on downtown and the lake and especially around sunset time it is super beautiful. As I mentioned before we also tried the deep dish pizza there and they have a ferris wheel there as well.

8. The Skydeck (aka willis tower)

Waiting was worth it! Yes, you will have to wait some time if you want to have that view over Chicago at least on the weekend but it was so worth it. Just one tip: go a little before sunset so you can have the view by daylight and then sunset and then just stay up there until it´s dark. Since we did not expect the waiting time to be that long we did not do it like that and we got the day and night pass instead so we went up there when it opened but waited like 2 hours (and you also have to wait when you are up to get on the ledge) and then we did not even have that much time since other people were waiting in line also to have that view and to take pictures. But in the end it´s a breathtaking view and memory which you won´t forget that quickly. So when we came back at night and we didn´t have to wait that crazy long to get inside and up but to get on the ledge we still had to wait quite a lot but I can´t put in words how amazing it was to see the city from above like that!

9. Wabash arts corridor

Not as much streetart as in Miami for example but still some good paintings!

Just walk around and look on the walls of buildings and you will find some cool paintings.

Also just a few streets away from the magnificent mile and the rest.

10. Lincoln Park and Lincoln Park Zoo

You could take a nice walk up the lake michigan to Lincoln Park or drive a bit up with the metro and walk the rest like we did. You will pass lots of peole hanging out at the beach or going on a run and when you get to the park, check out the zoo because it´s for free and take a walk through the park. Not as big as central park but still a really nice spot!

That was it! Chicago was definitely worth the trip and the 3 days we spent there were really nice and enough time to see the main things on our lists. I can imagine that in the winter it is a total other feeling because it can get frrrreezing cold in Chicago so I enjoyed going in spring/summer and would totally recommend that.