Ready to stretch your mind? Chicago’s amazing museums are the perfect places to satisfy your curiosity and spark your imagination.
Science rules at the three great institutions that make up Chicago’s lakefront Museum Campus. Centered within The Field Museum’s 20 million biological and anthropological specimens is Sue, the largest and most complete T. rex ever found. Explore the universe at Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, the world’s only museum with two full-size planetarium theaters. Or head to the Shedd Aquarium and get up close with 22,000 aquatic species.
The Museum of Science and Industry - the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere - offers over 800 captivating interactive exhibits including the U-505 submarine, a working coal mine, a Boeing 727 airplane, and much, much more.
Among Chicago’s world-class institutions showcasing art is the Art Institute of Chicago, whose permanent collection of paintings, drawings, photography and textiles includes the largest compilation of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works outside the Louvre. Find outstanding and thought-provoking visual art created since 1945 at The Museum of Contemporary Art.
Curious about the environment we live in and creatures that live among us? Visit The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park to learn about urban nature.
Photography is in focus at The Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Midwest’s sole museum committed exclusively to this medium, and changing Chicago-focused installations at City Gallery at the Historic Water Tower.
In this city that celebrates its diversity, such institutions as Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, DuSable Museum of African American History, and The Oriental Institute, hold a special place of honor.
Finally, if your group includes kids, Chicago Children’s Museum is a must-see.
For a listing of Chicago's best museums, click here.