Chicago
The Ace Hotel's rooftop bar wins praise for several reasons. It provides terrific skyline views. It draws a superstylish crowd, but there's no velvet rope attitude. And it makes lovely cocktails with seasonal juices, vermouths and mezcals that aren't that pricey considering the neighborhood. Bands or DJs provide the soundtrack most nights.
On weekdays, enter via the hotel lobby and take the elevator up. On weekends enter through the door on the building's north side in the loading dock area.
4.17 MILES
Built in 1914, Wrigley Field – aka the Friendly Confines – is the second-oldest baseball park in the major leagues. It’s home to the Chicago Cubs and…
7.59 MILES
The MSI is the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere and a place to completely geek out. Highlights include a WWII German U-boat nestled in an…
1.57 MILES
The second-largest art museum in the country, the Art Institute houses a treasure trove from around the globe. The collection of impressionist and…
1.6 MILES
There's free admission to Millennium Park, the playful heart of the city. It shines with whimsical public art, both permanent and temporary exhibits, and…
1.04 MILES
Willis Tower is Chicago's tallest building (and one of the world's loftiest). Breathe deeply during the ear-popping, 70-second elevator ride to the 103rd…
Field Museum of Natural History
2.33 MILES
The Field Museum houses some 30 million artifacts and includes everything but the kitchen sink – beetles, mummies, gemstones, Bushman the stuffed ape –…
2.19 MILES
Half-mile-long Navy Pier is one of Chicago's most-visited attractions, sporting a 196ft Ferris wheel and other carnival rides ($9 to $18 each), an IMAX…
National Museum of Mexican Art
2.43 MILES
Founded in 1982, this vibrant museum – the largest Latinx arts institution in the US – has become one of the city’s best. The vivid permanent collection…
0.23 MILES
This pop-art gallery is pure fun, from the colorful, cartoony prints and paintings to the building's offbeat history (it was an egg factory and then a…
0.36 MILES
Gupta represents contemporary, mid-career artists who work in various mediums, including painting, sculpture, collage and film. Intriguing new exhibitions…
0.36 MILES
Secrist's contemporary gallery has been around for more than a quarter century. The big, open space hosts about six different exhibitions per year, both…
0.46 MILES
The odd bronze statue of guys on a wagon marks the spot where the world’s labor movement began. So the next time you take a lunch break or go home after…
5. Intuit: The Center for Intuitive & Outsider Art
0.55 MILES
Behold this small museum's collection of naive and outsider art from Chicago artists, including rotating mixed-media exhibits and watercolors by famed…
0.57 MILES
The neighborhood's stroller-pushing families and dog-walking hipsters get their exercise in Mary Bartelme Park. Five off-kilter stainless-steel arches…
0.61 MILES
Artist Claes Oldenburg – known for his gigantic shuttlecocks in Kansas City and oversized cherry spoon in Minneapolis – delivered this 96ft, baseball-bat…
0.68 MILES
Art Works is a nonprofit organization that uses the arts to educate about human rights issues. The group's small office does double duty as a makeshift…