Visiting Chicago?

[Pembo]

We are considering a visit to Chicago in April. We want to go to Shedd Aquarium, the American Girl store and the Lego store (outside of the city). We are budget people. I don't want to pay a fortune to stay in the city...any areas we should look at to stay in that would be an easy commute in?

Thanks BB'ers.........

 

[Baloosgirl23]

Hey fellow buckeye! DH and I moved to Ohio 3 years ago from Chicago where we were born and raised. You'll have a blast going to all of those locations. The Shedd is amazing, I still love it and am in my 30's My suggestion would be the North side of the city and/or Northwest suburbs. Will you have a car or are you planning to take cabs/train? It would make a difference on location that's why I'm asking. Feel free to PM me with any questions. Have fun in the windy city

 

[bonoriffic]

When you say the Lego Store outside of the city, are you talking about the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg? If so, consider something else. I live in the suburb where it is located and everyone I know who has gone has felt it was extremely overpriced and not worth it. There are plenty of coupons out there to lower the cost, but even then it certainly isn't worth a trip from Ohio. The Field Museum is easily the best attraction Chicago has to offer. You might also consider the new observation center at the Willis (Sears) Tower. It is an all glass enclosure cantilevered over the city 100+ stories up.

It might be easier for you to post some of the places you are considering staying at, as there are tons of deals to be found for all parts of the city. People could steer you away from any suggestions you may be looking at that are in the middle of war zones.

 

[bettymae1121]

If you have a car....

The Shedd and all the other museums on Museum Campus is easily accessable from either 90 or 290 (expressways). Parking is $19 and is underground. I was just at the Shedd on Monday and it was a breeze to get there and back again (just be careful to avoid rush hour if you can). If you want to stay in the burbs I'd suggest Schaumburg. The have a bunch of hotels near both 90 and 290 and the rates are reasonable, even for the nicer hotels like Marriott (though there are budget chains a plenty as well). It's a safe area and the nearby mall (Woodfield) is a shoppers paradise, plus all the usual restaurants. I grew up in Schaumburg so I can totally vouch for the area. In fact I can recomend some local restaurants if you want to get away from the chains and the higher prices in the city.

If you don't have a car, I recomend Rosemont near O'Hare airport. You can take the Blue Line into the city and then take the el or bus to where ever you need to be. You can buy cheap multi-day visitor CTA passes at Union Station, and maybe some other locations as well (but I've seen them at Union for sure).

One tip...stay away from the Shedd (or any other museum) on free admision days unless you REALLY enjoy crowds. The Monday we visited was a free day and it was packed to the point we really couldn't enjoy it. I know staying on budget is important, but honestly next time I'll go on a day when I have to pay for the admission and can enjoy it with fewer crowds.

Also, the Shedd is small as far as museums go, you may find that you've seen everything with still a good part of the day to go yet. Adler planetarium is also nearby, you may want to try and see both if time allows.

 

[Tinker Pam]

I second the vote for the Field Museum both my kids love it and keep asking to go back.
Avoid staying at Best Western Grant Park. We were there a couple years ago and the noise level was awful. It is right across the street from a music studio and they would start at 10 and go all night long.

 

[LeahA]

I would personally just stay in a hotel downtown Chicago, you can get some good deals on all the travel websites. I've never been to Legoland, but I really wouldn't want the hassle of having car in a new city and trying to navigate between downtown and the Schaumburg area. It's very congested in that area on the weekends especially.

Downtown Chicago has a Lego store, just not Legoland. You can also visit, the Shedd, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium. Michigan Avenue alone hosts the American Girl Store, Disney Store and the Lego store is in a mall which is on Michigan Avenue. Head over to Navy Pier for an IMAX theatre as well as a firework show. You can also head over to the Willis Tower (formally the Sears Tower) and head out to their observation deck and stand on the Ledge. It is a piece of glass 1-1/2 inches thick that is 103 floors off the ground and you can walk out on it and look straight down, it's freaky, check out their website. You can also head over to Millenium Park and check out the "Bean", it's a really cool sculpture.

Have fun, it's a great city!

 

[Danemom]

We are planning a trip in March. We got a great rate at the Best Western River North on their website through a winter promo rate - $79/night and they have free parking. Can anyone tell me how this hotel is?

Also, if you decide to visit any of the museums, check out membership to your local museum. We found that for the $75 membership fee at our local museum, we get free admission to the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry, plus a couple of others. A great deal for a family of 4.

 

[tinkercat]

We stayed at the Best Western River North last May and it was actually pretty nice. The rooms were VERY spacious and the pool was decent. It is conveniently located across the street from a McDonald's which was great for a quick breakfast before we headed out for the day. I'd definitely stay there again, and $79 a night is an awesome price!

 

[deerhart]

Check the deals!

We went last year (hit the field museum and the museum of science and industry, couldn't get Shedd in again *sigh*). We also went on memorial day and there were some downtown places that had rates in the low to mid $100.00's (but parking is outrageous like $40/night). We ended up staying over at a nice Holiday Inn near Midway for about $75.00 a night. Our other option was O'Hare but the places I wanted were booked already..

Midway was about a 15 minute drive from the campus.

Also if your going to be hitting a lot of different places (and not doing the special events) you may want to get a citi card. For like $50 (kids) and $65 (adults) you get admission to about 10 different activities. It didn't work for us because we would end up spending more with the card then without (since it didn't cover admission to Harry Potter exhibit)

 

[Danemom]

We stayed at the Best Western River North last May and it was actually pretty nice. The rooms were VERY spacious and the pool was decent. It is conveniently located across the street from a McDonald's which was great for a quick breakfast before we headed out for the day. I'd definitely stay there again, and $79 a night is an awesome price!

Thanks!

 

[natashag76]

Hi - Chicagoan here....just thought I'd make suggestions.
If you're looking for hands-on, you may want to try the Children's Museum in Navy Pier since you seem to want to focus on the city. They offer a military discount if you can get that and you can go for days in a row and keep the kids happy doing something every day.
If you will not have a car, look into using the Metra. It has lines to all of the immediate (and some outer) suburbs. You may even get lucky and find a hotel/motel that offers free rides to the station.
Have fun!

 

[PatMcDuck]

DD and I stayed in Chicago a few times in the last year. I was able to get rooms thru Priceline, right in the Loop. I bid $99, but according to internet research I have seen since, we might have been successful bidding less. We did not rent a car, we took the train from the airport right to our hotel (Midway airport). We used trains and busses to go everywhere, it was easy! (used HopStop.com for directions using mass transit).

Yes,agree with suggestions to see the Aquarium, museum of science and industry. (the Shedd to me is similar to other museums, we have been to the NYC Museum of Natural History many times). We were lucky to see a show at the Chicago theatre, it was around the corner from our hotel. I had a teen with me, so we did older kid stuff, like eating at the Hard Rock and Dick's Last Resort.

 

[Inigo]

Last fall, I was able to get very nice rooms in the Marriott and in the Westin very near to the Navy Pier through Priceline for about $50 a night, staying on a Friday and Saturday night each time.

I'm bidding on an April trip right now, but haven't gotten an accepted offer for less than $60 yet, but it's almost 2 months before my next trip. Hopefully, as the date gets closer, I'll be able to get a good rate.

DH got a little ticked at me, but I googled a site (can't remember the URL, sorry) and found places to park cheaper than the hotel parking. We had to walk a couple blocks to the hotels, but we saved half the parking costs each stay. We rode the bus and El while we were there, and just left the car parked the entire trip, so we didn't need in/out privileges.

Here's a tip if you are going to be visiting mostly places on the CTA El and bus lines: Get a 1, 2, or 3 day unlimited pass before you go. At http://www.transitchicago.com/ you can see their routes and order the passes, free shipping, or you can buy your passes at the Dominick's grocery store chain or at the Currency Exchange.

I like the Shedd, but I prefer the Field Museum or the Adler Planetarium.

Another tip to save is to see if you have a local museum that has reciprocal entry benefits through the ASTC program. I bought a membership to our local children's science museum even though I never go there now that my kids are grown. I wanted the membership just to go to museums elsewhere, and I have gotten my money's worth. Check at http://www.astc.org/passport/ to see if you could join a museum near you.

Have fun. (We'll be back up there the weekend of April 9-11.)

 

[GMS]

My DD and SIL live right downtown and we now stay with them but when SIL was at school there we stayed at the Best Western River North a couple times and loved it. Great location. Parking lot right there included. We also have bid 4 star on priceline and got a hotel right on Michigan Ave for $99 a night but they only valet park and you pay more daily for that so beware of that. It was really nice though We love Shedd's, Sci. Museum, Field museum, navy pier (the children's museum there is awesome and free Thursday nights). I love staying right downtown when we are visiting the museums. Really, the places out of the city will be almost as much as right downtown.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We stayed at Hotel Sax a year ago for a long weekend and loved it! The room was about $150 through Expedia (but you can certainly find much cheaper places as PP have mentioned). My bf lives about an hour away from Chicago so he knew his way around the city which helped. Most hotels charge ridiculous rates for parking (Hotel Sax was either $25 or $28 a day) but we found a lot two blocks away that charged $25 for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday total. We walked A LOT and took a taxi a few times (like when we went to see Blue Man Group). We also took a bus to Shedd Aquarium. We actually walked to Navy Pier, Hancock Tower, and many other places. Navy Pier was probably one of the cheapest things we did as we got some snacks inside of the mall/food court part and went outside to sit on a bench overlooking the lake for awhile. Also a fairly cheap thing to do is we went to a White Sox game (took the train there which wasn't expensive) and got cheap tickets (he's a HUGE Red Sox fan so I think he just wanted to wear all of his Red Sox crap there ). It was a fun way to spend the night. We were supposed to go on a boat tour but it was too cold and I wish we had had the time to do the bus tour as that looked really fun!

Also, we went to House of Blues one night for dinner (as it was right across from the hotel) and they had a live band playing so that was a nice surprise!

Oh, and this church was giving out "free" hugs (can't get much more "budget" than that! ) :

I LOVED Chicago and can't wait to go back someday!!!

 

[BellaBaby]

Another tip to save is to see if you have a local museum that has reciprocal entry benefits through the ASTC program. I bought a membership to our local children's science museum even though I never go there now that my kids are grown. I wanted the membership just to go to museums elsewhere, and I have gotten my money's worth. Check at http://www.astc.org/passport/ to see if you could join a museum near you.

Have fun. (We'll be back up there the weekend of April 9-11.)[/QUOTE]

So can you only use the passport until 4/30/10 or will they allow it during the summer months?

 

[Inigo]

Another tip to save is to see if you have a local museum that has reciprocal entry benefits through the ASTC program. I bought a membership to our local children's science museum even though I never go there now that my kids are grown. I wanted the membership just to go to museums elsewhere, and I have gotten my money's worth. Check at http://www.astc.org/passport/ to see if you could join a museum near you.

Have fun. (We'll be back up there the weekend of April 9-11.)

So can you only use the passport until 4/30/10 or will they allow it during the summer months?[/QUOTE]

The reciprocal passport entry is good all year round. I love being able to support my local science museum, and love getting into other museums all year round.

 

[PebblesMK]

I am taking some kids to Chicago this coming weekend and when I was on the website for the planetarium, if you scroll down, there are links to hotels and there are a couple of different offers. One of them included room stay and 2 tickets to the Shedd and 2 tickets to the planetarium. Rooms were 140 for what I looked at, but I don't need to stay down there. Also, as PP's have stated, priceline and the likes can get you good deals. In November I stayed at the Hilton (can't remember which road) for 45 a night, it also included free vouchers for breakfast at Webers Grill. Not too shabby.
If you're looking for things to do cheaply, google the week/weekend you'll be there and a list of activities will come up. I have been able to escape to Chicago for less than 25 dollars for myself and two girls almost every time. Then again, we only go for the day-it's cheaper than taking them to a movie!

 

[BellaBaby]

So can you only use the passport until 4/30/10 or will they allow it during the summer months?

The reciprocal passport entry is good all year round. I love being able to support my local science museum, and love getting into other museums all year round.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. We recently purchased a family membership to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Its nice to know we can use it in Chicago when we visit this summer.