Cheap flights to Chicago

Quick summary

Identity

Third-largest city in the US, and its architectural laboratory

Chicago counts roughly 2.7 million residents within city limits and close to 9.9 million across its metro area, making it the third-largest city in the United States and the economic anchor of the Midwest, home to more than 400 corporate headquarters, 31 of them Fortune 500 companies. Built on the shore of Lake Michigan, it combines one of the densest vertical business districts in the country, an architecture that wrote a good part of the history of the skyscraper, and strongly marked neighborhoods, each with its own community and its own cooking.

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Chicago's airports

Two airports: O'Hare to the northwest, Midway to the southwest

Distances and times are indicative, cross-checked on Wikivoyage (EN, FR); they vary with traffic. Fares are not quoted because they change.

Getting around

The "L" trains, buses and commuter rail

The "L" (short for "elevated", though much of it also runs at street level or underground) is the simplest and cheapest way to get downtown from the airport: the Blue Line serves O'Hare and the Loop directly, around the clock. Once in town, the Loop and its colored lines (Red, Brown, Green and others) cover the main tourist neighborhoods without a car.

Fares and buses

CTA trains and buses work with a Ventra card or, in general, with a contactless bank card or mobile wallet; foreign cards are not always accepted, so check before you travel. Metra commuter trains, which serve the outer neighborhoods and suburbs, use a separate ticketing system.

Car, taxi and bike

Driving downtown is not recommended: heavy traffic, scarce and expensive parking, strict rules. Taxis and ride-hailing are easy to find, and a bike-share service complements the network along the lake.

History

A city rebuilt after the Great Fire, birthplace of the skyscraper

On October 8, 1871, a fire that started in a barn destroyed about a third of the city and left much of the population homeless. The rebuilding brought stricter building codes and pushed architects toward steel and masonry instead of wood, and in 1885 the Home Insurance Building went up downtown, widely credited as the first skyscraper built on a metal frame. Chicago has been treated as the world's open-air textbook of vertical architecture ever since.

The Loop, financial core and open-air museum

Named after the loop the elevated train tracks trace around it, the Loop packs in the city's tallest towers, the Chicago Board of Trade and the Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 during the reconstruction years and settled since 1893 into its Michigan Avenue building, guarded by its famous bronze lions.

Not to be missed

Millennium Park and the Bean

Opened in 2004, Millennium Park has become one of the most visited public spaces in the country. Its centerpiece is Cloud Gate, nicknamed "The Bean" for its shape: a 20-meter-long, 10-meter-high sculpture by Anish Kapoor made of 168 polished stainless steel plates fused into a single seamless, mirror-like surface that bends the skyline back at anyone standing beneath it. The park also holds Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an open-air concert venue whose ribboned steel bandshell is a landmark in its own right.

Views

The Willis Tower Skydeck, 412 meters above the street

Completed in 1973 as the Sears Tower, the Willis Tower rises 442 meters over 110 floors and held the title of world's tallest building for nearly 25 years. The Skydeck, on floor 103, is the highest observation deck in the country at roughly 412 meters above ground, and its glass-floored balconies, The Ledge, jut out more than a meter over open air for a straight-down view of the street below.

Museums

Museum Campus: Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium

Three major institutions sit within walking distance of each other on roughly 23 hectares of lakefront parkland. The Field Museum's most famous resident is SUE, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found. The Shedd Aquarium, one of the first large indoor aquariums in the world when it opened in 1930, is now home to more than 32,000 aquatic animals, including belugas in an Oceanarium built to mirror the Pacific Northwest coast. Next door, the Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, also from 1930, pairs dome shows with one of the best free skyline views in the city, from the sloped lawn just outside.

Other museums

The Art Institute of Chicago, in the Loop, is the big stop for fine art. In Hyde Park, the Museum of Science and Industry fills a building left over from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and in Pilsen the National Museum of Mexican Art is devoted to Mexican art. Check opening hours, closing days and any booking requirement; we do not quote fares, which change.

Shopping

The Magnificent Mile

This 13-block stretch of Michigan Avenue, between the Chicago River and Oak Street, lines up more than 450 stores, department stores like Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus alongside luxury boutiques, all against a backdrop of skyscrapers and lake views. The nickname dates to the 1940s, when the corridor emerged as Chicago's retail spine in the years after the Great Depression. Water Tower Place and The Shops at North Bridge are its two big vertical malls.

To discover

Lake Michigan, Navy Pier and the Riverwalk

Lake Michigan, an inland sea beside the city

Chicago stretches for close to 42 kilometers along Lake Michigan, with public beaches and the Lakefront Trail running the length of it, a direct, uninterrupted relationship with open freshwater that few American cities of this size can match.

Navy Pier

A nearly one-kilometer-long pier opened in 1916, it adds a Ferris wheel, restaurants, a children's museum and lake and river cruises to the mix.

The Riverwalk and architecture cruises

Laid out along the Chicago River right downtown, this promenade strings together cafes, terraces and boarding docks. The narrated architecture cruises, among the city's best-reviewed tours, let you pick out from the water the buildings that made Chicago's name for skyscrapers.

To discover

The skyline from the lake, between beaches and breakwaters

South of Navy Pier, Oak Street Beach and North Avenue Beach give direct access to sand in the middle of downtown, with the wall of Gold Coast towers behind. The best way to grasp the scale of the skyline is still a sunset cruise: from the water, the Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center and the lakeshore towers stand out together against the horizon, a view you cannot get from the street.

Neighborhoods

Beyond the Loop: the neighborhoods that make Chicago tick

Wicker Park

A former working-class district turned one of the city's trendiest pockets, with vintage shops, record stores, independent breweries and a strong local music scene.

Hyde Park

South of downtown, this university neighborhood is home to the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry, housed in one of the last surviving buildings from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

Chinatown

South of the Loop, one of the country's oldest Chinatowns organizes itself around Wentworth Avenue, marked by its red-and-gold ceremonial gate, traditional bakeries and dim sum restaurants, an easy detour by train from downtown.

German heritage

Lincoln Square and the Christkindlmarket, a reminder of Germany

A large share of Chicagoans report German ancestry, one of the biggest ancestry groups in the city. In the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the north side, that heritage still shows in a few facades, brewpubs and the DANK Haus German American Cultural Center.

The Christkindlmarket

Every winter, from late November into December, a Christmas market inspired by Nuremberg's sets up at Daley Plaza in the Loop: wooden stalls, mulled wine, pretzels and crafts at the foot of the skyscrapers.

Latin American culture

Pilsen and Little Village, the Mexican heart of Chicago

Founded by Central European immigrants (its name comes from the Czech city of Plzeň), Pilsen became from the 1960s onward one of the major Mexican neighborhoods in the United States. Its walls are covered in murals telling the story of the community, and the National Museum of Mexican Art is its cultural anchor. A little further west, Little Village lines 26th Street with restaurants, bakeries and shops under a large welcome arch. It is a way to see Chicago far from the downtown skyscrapers.

Sport & music

Wrigley Field and the sound of Chicago blues

Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs

Built in 1914 and home to the Cubs since 1916, Wrigley Field is the second-oldest ballpark still in use in Major League Baseball, nicknamed the "Friendly Confines." Its ivy-covered outfield walls and hand-turned scoreboard, in use since the 1930s, make it one of the most recognizable stadiums in American sport; it was also the last MLB park to install lights, in 1988. The surrounding Wrigleyville neighborhood fills with bars on game nights.

Chicago blues

Chicago is where Delta blues plugged in and went electric in the 1940s and '50s, through artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Historic clubs on the South Side and near the Loop keep that live tradition going most nights of the week, a very different way to hear the city than its downtown attractions.

Food

Deep-dish pizza and the Chicago dog

Chicago has invented or claimed several dishes that are now inseparable from its identity, and locals still argue, in earnest, about the "correct" way to make each one.

Day trip

Indiana Dunes, a national park within day-trip range

About 80 km southeast of downtown, Indiana Dunes National Park protects nearly 24 km of Lake Michigan shoreline, with sand dunes rising more than 60 meters above the water amid over 1,100 plant species. Reachable in a little over an hour by car or on the South Shore Line train, it's a solid nature break between hiking, beach time and summer swimming.

Budget and entry

A mid-to-high price level for a major US city

Price level

Accommodation is the biggest item, and quoted room rates do not always include hotel taxes, which are added to the bill. Neighborhood meals, hot dogs, pizza by the slice and public transport help keep costs down. We give no figures, because prices vary with the season, events and exchange rate.

Flights

The long-haul flight remains the most variable cost. SniperAir tracks prices to ORD and MDW and compares them with the route's history.

Entry and precautions

The United States generally requires an electronic authorization (ESTA) or a visa depending on nationality: check the official US government websites well before departure. Also consult your home country's official travel advice. As in any big city, usual common sense is enough: stay alert at night, especially on transit and in quiet areas. Tipping is customary in restaurants and for many services because service is generally not included in the bill, and taxes are added to displayed prices.

By length of stay

What to do in Chicago depending on how long you stay

When to go

When to visit Chicago?

Chicago has a continental climate: hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. September, May and June suit a first visit well; in winter, pack properly warm clothes.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions about flights to Chicago