How to spend 4 days in Chicago with kids
How to spend 4 days in Chicago with kids
Chicago is an incredible destination for families, offering a perfect mix of family friendly attractions, hands-on museums, outdoor adventures, and delicious food. Whether your kids love animals, science, or simply exploring new places, the Windy City has something for everyone. In this four-day itinerary, we’ll guide you through the best kid-friendly experiences in Chicago. Get ready for an unforgettable trip packed with adventure, learning, and plenty of deep-dish pizza!
Getting there
We drove to Chicago, but it’s a huge city with lots of direct flights available. O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Midway International Airport (MDW) offer numerous flights from across the country. From the airport, you can take the CTA Blue or Orange Line, rideshare, or a shuttle to downtown. If you’re driving, major highways like I-90, I-94, and I-55 make Chicago accessible from all directions, though parking downtown can be pricey. For a stress-free option, Amtrak provides comfortable train service to Chicago Union Station, and regional travelers can hop on Metra trains for easy access to the city.
Where to stay
We stayed at Hyatt Regency Chicago during our trip. While it does have a bit of a business-like feel to it, we loved the central location, and found many attractions and restaurants within walking distance. It has an onsite restaurant as well as a Starbucks and marketplace. Read about how we stayed for for $0 here.
If you are staying at any of the hotels in downtown Chicago, I recommend downloading the app Spot Hero to find affordable parking nearby. The hotel we stayed at charged nearly $90 a day, but on Spot Hero we were able to find a spot less than a quarter mile away for around $20 a day.
Getting around
We took the buses and L-train everywhere in Chicago. Download the Ventra app before your trip to help navigate public transit.
City Pass
If you are planning to do several of the museums, tours or sightseeing experiences, definitely check out the City Pass. It offers admission to a bundle of attractions around the city at a discounted price. It’s definitely worth the price, and offers some great savings!
Day 1
Lincoln Park boardwalk
We started our first day in Chicago by wandering around the Lincoln Park boardwalk. We took the bus, and arrived at the Farm Gate around 9:30. The rest of the zoo didn’t open until 10, but the farm area opened earlier, so we explored that before hopping onto the nature boardwalk.
The nature boardwalk is an accessible path that takes you around a pond and through an entire prairie ecosystem. There are tons of birds, turtles, fish and insects to spot, and you will almost forget you are in the heart of one of the largest cities in the country.
Lincoln Park zoo
After you are done wandering around the boardwalk, head right next door to the Lincoln Park zoo. Admission is free, and it is a lovely place to explore! You can rent strollers in the gift shop, and they have a downloadable map available.
We got lucky to see them feeding the lions during our visit, which was really cool to watch! And don’t miss a sea lion show- they are so entertaining! We had lunch at the Park Place cafe, but you could definitely pack a lunch if you wanted to.
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
After spending a few hours at the zoo, we walked over to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. We got free admission with our local ASTC membership card.
They do a butterfly release every day at 2:00 in the Butterfly Haven, and it is definitely worth checking out! There were butterflies everywhere, and they were landing on us and just hanging out.
The rest of the museum is so much fun, and perfect for kids. We spent a couple of hours here, and then wandered around outside to explore the trails and check out the butterfly garden.
Lincoln Park Conservatory
We walked across the street to explore the Lincoln Park Conservatory and grounds. Admission is free, but you do need to make reservations ahead of time. We spent about 30 minutes in the conservatory, and then another half hour wandering around the grounds. The conservatory and grounds are lovely, and definitely worth a stop!
After we finished at the conservatory, we took the bus back to our hotel. We grabbed a deep dish pizza from Giordano’s (SO GOOD), and ate it in our hotel lobby before calling it a night.
Day 2
Field Museum
We started our morning by taking the bus to the Museum Campus. We used our ASTC reciprocal membership to get in free to the Field Museum. This museum is huge. Like, enormous. We wandered around for about 2 hours before my kids got bored here.
There is a lot to see here, but not a lot of hands on displays, which make it harder for younger kids to enjoy. In hindsight, I would probably skip this museum if you have kiddos under 6. But if you have older kids, this museum will be a hit for them!
We did really enjoy seeing the most complete T-Rex skeleton, Sue!
Shedd Aquarium
After we finished at the Field Museum, we stopped for lunch at one of the food trucks parked next to the museum, then we headed into the Shedd Aquarium. We originally had planned on visiting Shedd first, but I waited until the morning of to buy tickets, and they were sold out until 1:00 pm. So, make sure to buy your tickets ahead of time so you can enter at the time you want.
The Shedd Aquarium is such a cool place! We loved watching the belugas perform, and there were some other really amazing exhibits to explore.
Lake Shore Drive and Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park
After we finished at the aquarium, we headed towards Lake Shore drive. There were some food trucks parked, and we grabbed a Chicago style hot dog and a famous rainbow cone (both were yum!). Then we walked along Lake Shore drive to take in the views on Lake Michigan and the Chicago Skyline.
We stopped at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, and then found the nearest bus stop to get us back to our hotel.
Day 3
Architectural Boat Tour
We started our morning on an architectural tour taking in the views of the Chicago skyline! The loading dock was right across from our hotel, which was super convenient. We did a 1 hour tour, which was the perfect amount of time for our kids. The tour guide was great, and we learned a ton about the history of this unique city. I highly recommend this activity on any trip to Chicago!
Check out the tour we did here.
Water Tower Place
After our boat tour, we took the bus a couple of blocks to the Water Tower Place for some shopping. My daughter was so excited to visit the American Girl store and personalized her very own doll. We also hit up the Lego store and created our own custom Lego minifigures.
Ohio Street Beach
After we finished shopping, we headed back to our hotel to drop off our bags and change into our swimming suits. We took the bus to the Ohio Street beach, where we spent the afternoon playing in Lake Michigan and building sand castles. This beach had amazing views of the Chicago skyline, and had lifeguards on duty, too.
It was rather crowded when we arrived, but by late afternoon had cleared out. We ate dinner at Caffe Olivia right on the beach. After dinner, we rented a quad bike and took a bike ride along the northern part of Lakeshore Trail. It was beautiful scenery, but man was it hard to pedal! I would recommend waiting on this experience until you have kids old enough to reach the pedals and help.
Day 4
Museum of Ice Cream
We started our last morning in Chicago at the Museum of Ice Cream. This is such a quirky and fun museum, and our kids LOVED it. You get unlimited ice cream samples, and some of the flavors are so unique {think hot dog flavored ice cream}. End your time at the museum by playing in the huge swimming pool of sprinkles.
Check out ticket prices and hours of admission here.
Maggie Daley Park
This epic park cannot be missed on your visit to Chicago! Such a fun spot to spend several hours and burn some energy. If you visit in the summer months, there are a few spots here you can get wet at.
Museum of Science and Industry
We needed an indoor activity in the afternoon to cool off, so we jumped on the bus and headed to the Museum of Science and Industry. Admission was free using our ASTC reciprocal membership.
This was such a fun place to explore! There were so many hands-on exhibits, and it is perfect for kids of all ages. We spent several hours here, and our kids would have loved to spend even longer!
Millennium Park and The Bean
No trip to Chicago would be complete without a visit to the iconic Bean statue, so we headed to Millenium Park after we finished at the museum. There are several restaurants you can eat at, as well as some shopping. There is a huge splash pad area as well.
Please note that Millennium Park is within walking distance from Maggie Daley park, and would make the most sense to visit these two together. However, it was hot the day we visited, and we opted for some indoor time in the afternoon, and we came back to Millennium Park in the evening when it was cooler and more enjoyable.
While we definitely didn’t see and do everything that this amazing city has to offer, we felt like we got a great feel for it! We can’t wait to come back and experience even more of the Windy City someday!
