Griffin Museum of Science and Industry : The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI)…read moreis a world-class destination located in the historic Hyde Park neighborhood. Housed in the only remaining building from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, it is the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere and focuses heavily on immersive, "hands-on" learning rather than traditional static displays. Must-See Exhibits * U-505 Submarine: A massive, authentic German U-boat captured during WWII. You can walk through the vessel (additional ticket required) or explore the surrounding high-tech gallery. * Science Storms: A two-story exhibit where you can step into a 40-foot tornado, trigger a Tesla coil "lightning" strike, and experiment with fire, water, and magnetism. * The Coal Mine: A beloved Chicago tradition that takes you down a mineshaft into a replica of an Illinois coal mine to see the machinery and history of the industry. * Transportation Gallery: Features a Boeing 727 hanging from the ceiling (which you can board), the Pioneer Zephyr train, and a massive model railroad that spans from Seattle to Chicago. * **Henry Crown Space Center: Home to the Apollo 8 Command Module and interactive displays about space exploration and the future of NASA. Overall it's an amazing experience and must do if coming with kids to Chicago.

Wonderful exhibits and location. I've been to the MSI at least ten times, and always find something…read morenew to explore. I would budget at least 4-5 hours to explore the museum. There is so much to see and do: my favourites include the U-Boat (highly recommend the tour for which you have to pay separately), the coal mines (also a separate tour), the weather exhibit, the steel exhibit and the ocean exhibit. The gift shop is also filled with the coolest souvenirs, especially for children. The staff are generally quite helpful, and the bathrooms are clean. The food at the cafeteria is relatively expensive in relation to its quality, so I would recommend finding a place near the museum to eat. Dawn, a local brunch spot a few blocks from the museum (easily within walking distance) comes to mind. If you do want to eat something at the museum, Farmer's Fridge has a vending machine with reasonably priced salads and snacks. There is also a Stan's Donuts in the museum, with free coffee for members. The museum is conveniently connected via public transport. Given that parking at the museum can be expensive, it makes sense to take a bus (there is a bus stop immediately outside the museum) or the metra (the station is a ten minute walk from the museum). Within walking distance of the museum is a beautiful and historic Japanese Garden. If the weather permits, I recommend combining a museum visit with a trip to the Gardem. Visiting the museum does not have to be an expensive affair: there are a number of free days every year for Illinois residents, subsidized rates for Chicago/Illinois residents throughout the year, discounted rates for students, and free entry for University of Chicago students. If you are a non-student and anticipate visiting the museum regularly, especially with children, I recommend getting the membership. Overall, I highly recommend the museum for both visitors and Chicago residents.

How lucky are we to live in a city that house the incredible, iconic, and historic artwork that…read morefinds a home within The Art Institute of Chicago. I've been here many-a-time throughout my years. Some highlights include: Georgia O'Keefe's NYC series and Henry Matisse's Jazz cutouts. Come here to see other classics such as American Gothic, Nighthawks, and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. You can spend a full day here, so plan accordingly. Also, if you live in Chicago or Illinois, consult your public library for free passes!

The decision to go to Chicago meant that I immediately began looking up landmarks from movies that…read moreI love, so obviously we had to make a trip to The Art Institute of Chicago. And was it incredible to stand in front of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte after watching Ferris Bueller for decades? Of course. It was an awe-inspiring experience that gave me literal goosebumps and even got me a little emotional. But the rest of The Art Institute is incredible, too. We barely scratched the surface and yet managed to see several iconic paintings -- including American Gothic and that famous Van Gogh self-portrait. Obviously we should've planned more than a couple of hours in the place. I feel like you could spend a week wandering around the place and you'd still feel like you hadn't seen everything. I really can't wait to go back someday.

I took my four year old here. We spent about 3 hours looking at the exhibits. He really enjoyed it!…read more The closest lot fills up immediately so we had to park in a lot about 10 minutes away. I believe it was around $30. We paid extra to see the 3d movie. I believe we saw the trex movie. My son wasn't that impressed. I could skip it. I liked seeing the dinosaurs, like Sue. Another favorite was the taxidermy. There's also a children's area which he enjoyed!

This is a fantastic museum!…read more They house the largest, most complete T Rex skeleton ever found. Sue is quite impressive and there is a very interesting exhibit dedicated to her and the life it is believed she lived. There are halls of animals, an ancient Egypt exhibit, an underground creepy crawly exhibit, a Native American exhibit, and lots more. Don't skip it.

We had so much fun here! I wasn't sure what to expect and we went here on a whim. The museum was so…read moreinteractive! The staff are so nice and offer to take pictures for you through the installations. Highly recommend

This was a super quick experience... 30-45 minutes max... but it was pretty neat if you like this…read moresort of thing. Basic illusions with some neat instagram moments. If you're expecting an afternoon of experiences you'll probably be disappointed. I think if you know what you're getting you'll probably have a swell time. Staff was friendly and helpful. Everything was clean and was in working order.

Took the Art Deco tour yesterday, what a great way to learn about some of the history of Chicago as…read morewell as the gorgeous buildings!! Our guide was knowledgeable and kept the tour interesting. Unfortunately I flew out yesterday afterwards, but will definitely be back to check out the Center as well.

This is a rather small museum and when I was there there was like two exhibits to check out. The…read morefirst floor is 1/3rd gift shop 2/3 the Chicago exhibit. This exhibit has a cool model of the city and interactive screen that you can highlight different buildings. It's really amazing. However, there's multiple computers and if there's a crowd, as soon as you highlight the building you want someone else highlights the building they want and becomes really hard to really take it all in. There's a small series of panels on Transit orientated development which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure if those are always there or just currently there. They seemed rather new. There was also a piece on regular field with a model of the stadium and some interactive stuff to play with with a scoreboard. Overall the first floor was pretty good. Second floor is where I disappointment kind of hit. I guess they were in the middle of changing exhibits so there was only a small section to see and that exhibit didn't really resonate with me and didn't flow very well. It's worth checking out, especially if you have some sort of discount tickets like I did.

The heart of the city. Better and less crowded than the Bean…read more This fecal fountain is a fun little photo op when you're in the city, and it's right down the street from Kasama, making them an unlikely but excellent pair.

Exactly what you'd expect: a statue that looks like poop. There was also a super friendly outdoor…read moreorange cat nearby named Mister that made my entire day. He was so cute and so worth the visit to the Shit Fountain. It's also near Kasama, so you can definitely make a trip out of this or take a quick detour if you're in the area.

Stunning restored and/or maintained home with interesting exhibits. Great staff-very helpful, and…read morefriendly. Free Wednesdays from 4-7, but easily worth the price of admission.

This is a relatively small museum in Near North Side. A small auditorium will greet you upon…read moreentering. The first floor showcases beautiful rooms including the receiving and dining area and more. Fine furniture, statues, and other fixtures have interesting stories. They have a grand staircase that leads to the second floor which houses mainly the Tiffany lamps in different rooms. The third floor has a small Wizard of Oz exhibit with a part where you can take your pictures with some wearable items like a headband with lion's fur and ears, an axe, wands, etc. The small gift shop is also on this floor. You can finish the entire museum in 45 minutes. If you only have limited time in Chicago, you may want to skip this.

Finally visited this River North museum during my return to Chicago. Since I wasn't a CHI/IL…read moreresident, the adult ticket price was $22, however you can also opt for the Pay As You Wish option, which is essentially Suggested Donation. While the museum is 4 floors, the exhibits weren't as plentiful. The 1st floor is basically their cafe. The 2nd and 4th floors are prob the floors with more artwork. The 3rd fl felt like an "in-between" floor. Thankfully, the Yoko Ono exhibit was on display, which featured several interactive activations, like a Wish Tree or writing on a wall, which were fun. Their Museum Shop also spans from floors 1-2. I wouldn't say that this museum has the popular artists. The overall artworks are a mix of abstract, photography, and mixed media. I wouldn't recommend it as a "Must See" for tourists, personally. However, I'm an art enthusiast and still thought it was a decent museum to walk through. Perhaps opt for the Suggested Donation for this one.

I loved my experience! I really appreciate the free Tuesday nights for Illinois residents. That's…read moresuch a treat! Beautiful museum with multiple floors, excellent customer service, plenty of comfortable seating, cool gift shop, and a cafe and restaurant too. It has everything I need! The vibes are good here. I enjoyed all the floors and saw an impressive variety of art. I also wanted to see the Yoko Ono exhibit and I really enjoyed it. I appreciated how interactive it was. There were a few writing stations with activities, such as writing about your mom and taping it to the wall, and writing a wish on a tag and tying it to the wish tree. One room was blue and there were blue markers available and people were encouraged to add to it. Fabulous venue!

This was the most wonderful experience! I highly recommend it if you're in Chicago. It's located in…read morethe Willis Tower, so if you're going to the Skydeck it's a quick little jaunt over before or after. I wasn't sure what to expect, and it ended up being so much better than I imagined! All the people working were friendly, knew what they were doing, and helped us have the best experience we could have. I loved every part of it, and it was awesome tying in all the senses to color! The tasting one was so fun, I ended up guessing mine right! I think my husband and I had the most fun with the partner drawing activity, that's a keepsake for sure, haha! Other faves were the poem and balloon exhibit and of course, the ball pit. We came with our 6 year old nephew but I think the adults had more fun than he even did! It was fun to let loose and be a kid again. I was thankful for all the fun photo ops, it made it easier to get great pics without having our phones out the whole time. The only bummer was the ice cream. We paid $1 per person for it and it was just one tiny little ball with a wooden spoon, and I could taste the spoon more than the ice cream.

The Woman in the photo is a current employee at the Color Factory in Chicago…read more She made our experience TERRIBLE As soon as we walked into her location inside the ball area she greeted us rudely and spoke to our kids as if she didn't want to even be there. She does NOT like this job and does NOT know how to speak to children or treat them. It was our child's birthday with all her friends from school and kept rolling her eyes at them to the point where I finally approached her and told her the way she is talking and behaving in front of children is unacceptable Please get this girl proper training She is NOT cut for a job around kids Rudest employee I've ever met

I wish I had the time to actually stop and fully experience each of the exhibits more clearly. I'll…read morehave to take another trip. The kiddos enjoyed the sensing Chicago exhibit. I enjoyed learning more about the Chicago fire, the world fair & about the history of Uptown Theater. There is a cafe with coffee and other Chicago staples. I didn't eat there but I love the attention to detail on their menu offering. The kiddos said they love seeing the old trains & thought they looked better than the current or new ones.

If you've been to Field Museum, MSI, Institute of Art, Shedd Aquarium, and are looking to satisfy…read moreyour museum craving, this is a great option. You can get a discounted ticket on Groupon, and they also offer free tours to the public. The museum has two levels - the first one is mainly a theater and a diorama exhibit, while the second floor has a lot of artifacts about the history of Chicago from 1600-1700's and into the 21st century. What I liked in particular is that it covered multiple aspects - immigrants, industry, fashion, art, commerce, civil rights, architecture, famous people, and so much more. You'll definitely learn a lot - plan at least 3 hours. The only thing that could have improved the experience would be better designed plaques with text (or lighting). Some of them were hard to read because it was either too dark in the room or the text was white color on yellow / pale-blue background which didn't provide enough contrast. Other than that, this museum is definitely worth visiting!