Chicago - Windy City: What you should see! (Part 1)

In the first part of our travel tips for "Chicago - Windy City: What you should see!" we will take a ride on "The Loop", visit Buckingham Fountain, walk along the Magnificent Mile and marvel at the view from the John Hancock Centre.

Only half shaken by jet lag, we wake up at around 6am. A good time to start the day. From our hotel room at the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago O'Hare, we have a fantastic view of downtown Chicago and the sunrise.

We slowly get ready and first have a relaxed breakfast. The buffet is okay and the service is very friendly. The fresh preparation of omelettes, pancakes, waffles and much more is a nice touch.

With "The Loop" to downtown Chicago

Well fortified, we let the hotel shuttle take us to the train in Rosemont. We get a day ticket for $10 and then it's a 40-minute journey on an old, rickety train to the Loop. The Loop is how residents refer to the downtown district of Chicago. The first destination we choose is Buckingham Fountain.

Chicago - Windy City: You should see this! - Buckingham Fountain

The famous fountain in Grant Park, directly on Lake Michigan, was inaugurated in 1927 and is one of the largest fountains in the world. Unfortunately, as was to be expected, it is inactive during the winter. The fountain is only in operation from mid-April to mid-October from 8 am to 11 pm. With over 800 permanently installed lights, the play of colours at dusk is particularly worth seeing. This begins at dusk and lasts for approx. 20 minutes (more information).

Chicago - Windy City: You should see this! - Cloud Gate

We walk north along Columbus Dr. past the Art Institute to Millennium Park. Our destination is the famous "Cloud Gate", which looks like an oversized, chrome-plated bean. I am very surprised that it is very clean despite the weather. In any case, there are a lot of people here and it's not easy to take a few decent pictures. Millennium Park is well worth a visit, as the neighbouring skyscrapers and the low-flying planes are very impressive.

Michigan Avenue Chicago - Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile is the shopping and promenade street in Chicago. A large part of it runs along Michigan Avenue. We stroll northwards along the wide boulevard with its exclusive shops, museums, restaurants and hotels until we reach the Peninsula Hotel had reached. We had arranged a meeting here for lunchtime.

The Peninsula Hotel Chicago

We have an appointment in the lobby and are invited to lunch first. We are served a perfectly prepared burger. The atmosphere is really good. At the neighbouring tables, wealthy ladies are enjoying themselves in a convivial atmosphere with champagne. We have a delicious salted caramel ice cream for dessert. The only thing they don't have is good coffee, unfortunately they only serve filter coffee. Afterwards, we are given a tour of the hotel by two of the hotel managers and given an insight into the rooms and The Peninsula Chicago. A really nice hotel, for $350 USD per night.

We walk further north along Michigan Ave. and make a short detour to the Apple Store. You can find the iPad Pro where there is the biggest crowd of people. A nice thing, especially in combination with the stylus.

Chicago 360 - John Hancock Centre

Chicago - a city of skyscrapers. A visit to the John Hancock Centre is a must. We buy a ticket to get to the visitor platform on the 94th floor. A mega view awaits us there! If you want a special thrill, you can "lean out of the window" on the TILT and enjoy a different view of the Magnificent Mile from a height of 330 metres. We stay until the sun goes down. Seeing downtown from up here is quite something.

Chicago - Windy City: What you should see! - Chicago by night

Before we head back to the hotel, we make another detour to Millennium Park. But this time by bus. In the evening, everything is beautifully lit up and, to our surprise, a large crowd has gathered around the Cloud Gate to listen to the Christmas choir singing.

We made our way to the next underground station and witnessed a large-scale roadblock. People gathered in a circle and demonstrated against racism. The reason was that a policeman had shot another "black man" the day before. There is a strange atmosphere in the air and we hurry to get to the next station. The Blue Line takes us back towards O'Hare. From our station we took an Uber (How does Uber work?) to the nearest Target to buy beer and water. For dinner we have something delicious from Panda Express. We have summarised what else there is to experience in Chicago in a extra contribution summarised for you.

Travel Guide Chicago

For the perfect city trip to Chicago, we recommend this travel guide. Here you will not only find a detailed city map, but also lots of information about all the important sights. You will also find great suggestions for excursions to the outlying districts.

Did you like the article? Then why not share it on social media? You'll be supporting our work. Have you perhaps already been to Chicago? Then I look forward to your opinion and tips in the Comments.