Must-see attractions in The Great Lakes

  • CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 30: The Chicago Cubs defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks during a Friday afternoon game at Wrigley Field on April 30, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois

    Wrigley Field

    Chicago

    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…

  • JUNE 24, 2018: Planes hanging from the ceiling inside the Museum of Science and Industry.

    Museum of Science & Industry

    Chicago

    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…

  • JUL 15, 2018: Exterior of the Art Institute of Chicago museum.

    Art Institute of Chicago

    Chicago

    The second-largest art museum in the country, the Art Institute houses a treasure trove from around the globe. The collection of impressionist and…

  • The exhibits at the Henry Ford Museum feature all makes of automobiles and tell the reader how they affected American culture.

    Henry Ford Museum

    Michigan

    The Henry Ford Museum contains a fascinating wealth of American culture. It’s comprised of two parts: the indoor Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation,…

  • Eastern Market entrance in Detroit.

    Eastern Market

    Detroit

    One of the oldest and largest year-round bazaars in the United States, Eastern Market draws Detroiters of all types to its six-block spread of wares…

  • July 7, 2012: Crowd gathered at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

    Millennium Park

    Chicago

    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…

  • Chicago skyline at dusk.

    Willis Tower

    Chicago

    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…

  • Model of Dinosaur Skeleton

    Field Museum of Natural History

    Chicago

    The Field Museum houses some 30 million artifacts and includes everything but the kitchen sink – beetles, mummies, gemstones, Bushman the stuffed ape –…

  • Indianapolis, Indiana, USA August 1, 2019  Indianapolis Children’s museum with models of dinosaurs

    Children's Museum of Indianapolis

    Indianapolis

    It's the world's largest kids' museum, sprawled over five floors holding incredible exhibitions on dinosaurs, space stations and so much more. The museum…

  • Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.

    Cedar Point Amusement Park

    Ohio

    Cedar Point is one of the world's top amusement parks, known for its 18 adrenaline-pumping roller coasters. Stomach-droppers include the Top Thrill…

  • Navy Pier on Lake Michigan

    Navy Pier

    Chicago

    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…

  • Dead of the Dead Art at Mexican Heritage Museum.

    National Museum of Mexican Art

    Chicago

    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…

  • Leadlight window detail from Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

    Robie House

    Chicago

    Of the numerous buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright designed around Chicago, none is more famous or influential than Robie House. Because its horizontal…

  • May 24, 2019 Indianapolis, IN: FELIX ROSENQVIST (R) (10) of Sweden prepares to practice for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    Indianapolis Motor Speedway

    Indianapolis

    The Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500 motor race, is Indy's super-sight. The Speedway Museum features some 75 racing cars (including former winners)…

  • The North Wall of the Detroit Industry Murals, a series of frescoes by Mexican artist Diego Rivera at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, October 1988. (Photo by Barbara Alper/Getty Images)

    Detroit Institute of Arts

    Detroit

    The DIA holds one of the world's finest art collections. The centerpiece is Diego Rivera's mural Detroit Industry, which fills an entire room and reflects…

  • The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum

    Cleveland

    Cleveland's top attraction is like an overstuffed attic bursting with groovy finds: Jimi Hendrix's Stratocaster, Keith Moon's platform shoes, John Lennon…

  • Interior of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

    Cleveland Museum of Art

    Cleveland

    Cleveland's whopping art museum houses an excellent collection of European paintings, as well as African, Asian and American art. Head to the 2nd floor…

  • Aircraft at the National Museum of the Unites States Air Force.

    National Museum of the US Air Force

    Ohio

    Located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 6 miles northeast of Dayton, this huuuuge museum has everything from a Wright Brothers 1909 Flyer to a Sopwith…

  • Milwaukee, USA - September 11, 2013: The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Owned by the motorcycle manufacturer, the museum opened in 2008 to celebrate and showcase more than a century of Harley-Davidson motorcycle history.

    Harley-Davidson Museum

    Milwaukee

    Hundreds of motorcycles show the styles through the decades, including the flashy rides of Elvis and Evel Knievel. You can sit in the saddle of various…

  • Hancock Building and Water Tower

    360° Chicago

    Chicago

    The views from the 94th-floor observatory of this iconic building (formerly known as the John Hancock Center) in many ways surpass those at the Willis…

  • A ceiling painting in the Fisher Building in Detroit.

    Fisher Building

    Detroit

    This 1928 masterpiece from the man who built Detroit, Albert Kahn, has an imposing art deco exterior made from Minnesota granite and Maryland marble, and…

  • Architectural details of Calatrava's  Art Museum at Milwaukee

    Milwaukee Art Museum

    Milwaukee

    You have to see this lakeside institution, which features a stunning winglike addition by Santiago Calatrava. It soars open and closed every day at 10am,…

  • Baby goat at Young’s Jersey Dairy.

    Young's Jersey Dairy

    Ohio

    Young's is a working dairy farm with a famous ice-cream shop, the Dairy Store, which many say whips up Ohio's best milkshakes. There are also lots of fun…

  • View of Chicago from Lincoln Park

    Lincoln Park

    Chicago

    The park that gave the neighborhood its name is Chicago’s largest. Its 1200 acres stretch for 6 miles from North Ave north to Diversey Pkwy, where it…

  • Walker Art Center.

    Walker Art Center

    Minneapolis

    The first-class art center has a strong permanent collection of 20th-century art and photography, including big-name US painters and great US pop art. On…

  • Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers, Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

    Minneapolis

    This 19-acre green space, studded with contemporary works such as the oft-photographed Spoonbridge & Cherry by Claes Oldenburg, sits beside the Walker Art…

  • Main entrance to Minneapolis Institute of Arts, fine arts museum in Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Midwest, USA

    Minneapolis Institute of Art

    Minneapolis

    This museum is a huge trove housing a veritable history of art. The modern and contemporary collections will astonish, while the Asian galleries (2nd…

  • The Frederick Weisman Art Museum, the stainless steel structure by architect Frank Gehry, on the University of Minnesota campus - Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota

    Weisman Art Museum

    Minneapolis

    The Weisman, which occupies a swooping silver structure by architect Frank Gehry, is a university (and city) highlight. The airy main galleries hold cool…

  • Museum of Contemporary Art

    Chicago

    Consider it the Art Institute’s brash, rebellious sibling, with especially strong minimalist, surrealist and conceptual photography collections, and…

  • Stony Island Arts Bank

    Chicago

    Artist-activist Theaster Gates bought a tumbledown bank building for $1 in Chicago's neglected South Shore neighborhood, and transformed it into a…

  • Miller House & Garden

    Indiana

    A dream team is responsible for the design of the former private home of hero industrialist, architectural visionary and former Cummins President/Chairman…

  • Indiana University

    Indiana

    Indiana University (not University of Indiana!) routinely ranks with the cream of the crop of America's most beautiful college campuses. Founded in 1820…

  • Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio

    Illinois

    This is where Wright lived and worked from 1889 to 1909 and it's the first home he ever designed. Tour frequency varies, from every 20 minutes on summer…

  • COSI

    Ohio

    The acronym stands for Center of Science and Industry, and it ranks high in the pantheon of children’s museums around the country. Of the 300-plus hands…

  • Driehaus Museum

    Chicago

    Set in the exquisite Nickerson Mansion, the Driehaus immerses visitors in Gilded Age decorative arts and architecture. You'll feel like a Great Gatsby…

  • Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum

    Indiana

    This museum has a wonderful display of early roadsters – some outrageously colored – in a beautiful art-deco setting that was once part of the original…

  • Illinois Holocaust Museum

    Illinois

    This is the third-largest holocaust museum in the world, after those in Jerusalem and Washington, DC. Besides its haunting Nazi-era rail car and its…

  • Endless Bridge

    Minneapolis

    Head inside the cobalt-blue Guthrie Theater and make your way up the escalator to the Endless Bridge, a far-out cantilevered walkway overlooking the…

  • Love by American artist Robert Indiana, 1970. Gift of the Friends of the Indianapolis Museum of Art in memory of Henry F. DeBoest. Restoration was made possible by Patricia J. and James E. LaCrosse. (Photo by Indianapolis Museum of Art/Getty Images)

    Newfields

    Indianapolis

    The 152-acre Newfields campus houses the Indianapolis Museum of Art, home to a terrific collection of European art (especially Turner and post…

  • Busy Beaver Button Museum

    Chicago

    Even George Washington gave out campaign buttons, though in his era they were the sew-on kind. Pin-back buttons came along in 1896. Badge-making company…

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