This Fire Museum is something to behold. What a fabulous place to learn the history of our Fire…read moreFighters whether volunteer or full time. Incredible history in the exhibits and the building itself. Very well done. Megan was an amazing host and welcoming party. Make sure to ask for the stories around the wood water main! Highly recommended.

Great place for those who love firemen and fire trucks. There were even some things that the kids…read morecould touch and interact with. The employee was very friendly and helpful.

Cantigny Park is basically therapy with better landscaping…read more One of my favorite things about this place is that it somehow manages to be both incredibly family friendly and peaceful at the same time. There's tons of space for kids to run around, explore, and burn off energy without feeling crowded or chaotic. And if you need a little reset yourself, there's always a quiet corner waiting for you. Whether it's a walking path, a bench, or just a peaceful stretch of the gardens, it's one of those rare places where you can step away, clear your head, and just breathe for a while. Beautiful grounds, relaxing atmosphere, and something for everyone. I came for a walk and left feeling lighter. Cantigny really is a little escape hiding in plain sight.

A nice short trip from the city with family friendly atmosphere. Walking grounds, gardens and…read moremuseum to check out.

My husband and I went to the Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden with some friends. This is…read morelocated in a forest preserve in Geneva along the Fox River. This entire land used to be owned by George Fabyan and his family. It was given to the town of Geneva and the Cook County Forest Preserve after his death. Tours of the mansion are available only on certain days and certain times. The home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is very interesting to see. I recommend going on the guide lead tour to learn more about the history and the family that lived there. There are a lot of artifacts to be seen throughout the mansion. The Japanese garden is definitely worth the visit. The grounds are well maintained with many varieties of flowers and trees to see. There are a couple of different paths you can take and a challenging bridge to traverse. For a fun afternoon out, I highly recommend Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden!

Very underwhelming. If you do not live nearby, it's not worth the drive. Took only about 5 to 10…read moreminutes to walk through the garden. The positives are that garden and parking is free.

While this says "museum", it is two train cars sitting on a small train track. There are signs…read moreshowing fun facts about the area and a small parking lot. Overall it's a great little side quest to visit if you're in the area. Since it is all outside, there is no actual opening or closing time.

I really wouldn't call this a museum, it's more like looking at preserved history. Off of the minor…read moreroute 66 alignment you'll find this caboose and this very rare train station (it was originally placed a mile and a half from this site) and you can read all of the history that's has been beautifully preserved here. It has parking and it's welcomed for patrons too if you're going to eat at the place next door. Highly recommend for history buffs like myself!

IAM is a great introduction for anyone to military and civilian aviation from years gone by to…read moreplanes and stories of today. They have a fantastic open house and flying exhibitions every year. Check their website for next years open house (2026)! Great job IAM! Also, for high school aged teens , please check out their CAP Civil Air Patrol squadron! It is an official civilian branch of the USAF!!!

Very knowledgeable volunteer and interesting exhibits. Dont…read moreforget to to donate they depend on donations to stay afloa.

No where does it say it's closed to the public on the website. When we pulled up asking to see the…read morebison the security guard very rudely said "nope. We're closed. Turn around".

The weird building where all these lectures tend to occur needs an update IMO…read more The topics and speakers get me there... adding a 45min trek to the boonies after work... But the chairs in the lecture hall... who knew dwarves and hobbits liked going to Fermi? I mean, if you are over 5' tall its like hell... or economy on Spirit with 12" legroom. Dunno about you, but I am NOT a FAN to have 2" distance between your knees and someone's scalp. And VV for my scalp. BONUS: You get cookies and milk/juice after each lecture. AND there is free WiFi (2x) access!

Museum is great for kids younger than 5 years Water table…read morefeature is fantastic! However the cafe can use some improvement We orders macaroni and cheese it was a small bowl about 4 " with bunch of noodles & cheese thrown on top and as a side a dried up mandarin for close to $ 7 you can do better Ended up not eating

We visited here on first night when driving to Chicago last week. Parking was fine since a few…read morehours before closing. The cafe in basement was closed. The first floor looked like tornado went through. Honestly earlier time of 4pm closing is probably when staff does cleaning and sorting. It is too bad there isn't cleaning and sorting throughout the day. A lot of exhibits are for older kids so my son didn't find much interested in it. Outdoors was tinker lab with bubbles which closed early at 3pm. 2nd floor was quieter and not as crowded. There were a few places for baby play area. Overall we were underwhelmed with this. Kohl children museum had outdoor play area which looked better which we visited the next day. This is closer to our hotel but not much for our son's interest. This is better probably when he is older.

Not a huge museum but this spot does a great job of packing as much as they possibly can both…read moreinside of, and outside of the museum. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in extremely high quality displays with very attractive panels that provide detailed stories and videos to supplement some of the items. This museum also uses the wall space very efficiently, packing plenty of artifacts and information without much space between each item. Though most of the information is in one room, it takes quite a while to read through everything which provides a great sense of important people and buildings throughout St. Charles' history.

This is a small one room museum on the history of St. Charles. They really need some more space;…read morethey're set up in an old gas station. One enters through the gift shop; there is a timeline set up that one follows through the room, with several standalone glass cases, and a few cases shoved up against the walls behind the railing showing the timeline. A few costumes (half a dozen) are featured, including a reproduction Civil War uniform and some authentic World War 1 uniforms, a flapper dress and a dress Miss USA 1977 wore during her reign. Standout pieces include an old dentist's chair with various items from a dental office and a beautiful woven cane baby carriage with beautiful lace trim on the canopy. Do spend a minute to stop at the tiny pickle display to read about how St. Charles was the Pickle Capital of the World, even though no pickles were ever made there. There's also some very nice cut glass in a small display. A couple of pianos and a traveling trunk are jammed into the foyer. When there are visitors they turn on several different documentaries; one, from WTTW, includes a fairly interesting bit on Garfield Farm down the road on the 38. There's a lot of information jammed in here, and I came away with an appreciation for all the various industries that once called St. Charles home, but not a good overall picture. They just need more space. Still, donations are voluntary only,they're not getting any support from the city, and they're only asking for two bucks.