Chicago Travel Guide
Travel guide to Chicago, USA with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Chicago sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Chicago Overview
Known as the windy city, Chicago lies on the western shores of Lake Michigan in America's mid-west. A city of almost 3 million people, Chicago is home to the tallest office building in America - The Sears Tower, as well as being the birthplace of the blues music, and is an exciting city that attracts millions of visitors annually, who come to see the local scenery, and of course, Chicago's legendary shopping.
Overall, Chicago is a place that is cheap to visit, offers cheap hotel accommodation throughout the year, and has enough going on to keep you very busy during your stay: you can watch Oprah being filmed in the morning, go shopping and have lunch before spending the afternoon watching the famous Chicago Bulls play basketball, before spending the evening in some of the best bars and clubs in the USA.
In Summer there are excellent beaches and lakeside resorts less than an hour from the city centre, and in Winter, you can travel for around 2 hours and find yourself in resorts with good skiing and snowboarding.
Chicago is a year round destination and has a plenty for visitors to do, whether they're coming to the city for a short break in order to shop, or stopping off for a few days as they travel to somewhere else.
Top Chicago Attractions
Overlooking Chicago's downtown area, "The Loop", three of America's tallest buildings offer visitors to the city the chance to see some incredible views over Lake Michigan and Chicago itself. Sears Tower is the tallest, but the John Hancock building and the Amoco Tower both boast great observation decks too.
The Lincoln Park Zoo is on of America's oldest and has an impressive collection of great apes, and perennial crowd pleasers in the form of elephants.
If you register a month in advance, you may well be able to get a place in the audience of the Oprah Winfrey Show at Harpo Studios, where topics for discussion include many things that really ought to be kept quiet.
Shopping in Chicago
The main shopping area in Chicago can be found on North Michigan Street - known locally as the Magnificent Mile - where you can shop in Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Nordstrom's. The best-known shop in Chicago is Marshall Fields - a bit like Harrods' in London, an old school department store that sells everything.
For bargains, head for Filenes Basement on Michigan Avenue - the largest discount outlet in the city, while Tower Records on Clark Street is one of the biggest music stores in the world, and the only place to go for rarities.
Chicago Sporting Events
For fans of traditional American Sports, a visit to Chicago provides a chance to see some of the biggest teams n the world. Chicago Bears play NFL American Football, Chicago Cubs and WhiteSox play baseball, and the Chicago Bulls play in the NBA basketball championships.
If you are feeling particularly energetic, why not consider running in the annual La Salle Chicago Marathon. It takes place every October, and provides an excellent opportunity to see the sights of this large city while running.
