Illinois Discount Hotels - Chicago Travel Guide

Only in the eyes of New Yorkers is Chicago this country's Second City. For in the Windy City, visitors will find culture and chaos, sports and skyscrapers, dramatic architecture and a diverse population.

Incorporated in 1837, the Town of Chicago drew its name from a Native-American word meaning "great." Thirty years later, 90,000 residents were left homeless in the Great Chicago Fire, which killed 300 people and left a devastating $200 million in damage. A grave disaster, the fire nonetheless provided the city an opportunity to rebuild and grow; by the time it hosted the 1893 World's Fair, it was home to the famous "El" train that still encircles the heart of downtown Chicago. Nearly three million people call Chicago home, a mid-Western mixture of cultures and races. The city's motto, "I will," is an articulation of its hopes and dreams as the city continues to grow in importance. And true to its name, it is a great city, with world-champion teams like the Chicago Bulls and well-beloved teams like the Chicago Cubs. Chicago sports fans are known around the globe for undying devotion in the bitter winter to their Bears, and through the long summers in the bleachers at Wrigley and Comiskey parks.

Art Institute of Chicago
Masterpieces from Monet and Degas are housed in a vast, world-class collection that also features African, American-Indian and Asian works, decorative arts and sculpture, photography, prints, textiles, and contemporary American painting. Free lectures are open to the public on Tuesday evenings.

Magnificent Mile
A mecca for shoppers, Magnificent Mile runs along North Michigan Avenue to Lincoln Park and rivals Rodeo Drive and Worth Avenue for world-class shopping and restaurants. Comforting names like The Gap accompany upscale Armani and FAO Schwatrz on the list of 60 well-known retail establishments to line this spending paradise. Three shopping malls are also nearby, and each is worthy of the Magnificent Mile's high-class shopping reputation, and magnificent restaurants and five-star hotels are happy to serve weary shoppers.

Lincoln Park Zoo
The oldest zoo in the country, Lincoln Park Zoo is still free to visitors. But its greatest asset is its vast collection - 1,200 animals - and its dedication to teaching conservation and protection of wildlife. The zoo's Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House is considered one of the finest gorilla exhibits in the world. Other visitor favorites include the Sea Lion Pool, the Bird House (where feathered friends surround their homo sapiens visitors) and the Penguin and Seabird House. And of course, there are plenty of elephants, giraffes and rhinos. 

Chicago Botanical Gardens
Whatever your taste in gardens, you will find it here. The 385-acre property includes a suitably romantic English Garden, a thoughtful Japanese paradise, and indoor greenhouses the duplicate the atmosphere of the desert as well as the rainforest. A 45-foot waterfall cascades through the Waterfall Garden and the pools in quiet areas that enhance reflection and relaxation. A visit to the Chicago Botanical Gardens is a learning experience as well; courses and lectures are almost always available, and a walk through the Endangered Species Garden teaches about preservation of plant species hovering on the edge of existence.

The Field Museum
The Field is Chicago's crowning museum of natural history, with exhibits on everything from dinosaurs to African culture to gems and minerals. Visitors can observe as geologists work on a million-year-old fossilized dinosaur, painstakingly removing its bones from the rock and assembling them for display. The "Life Over Time" display documents the changing weather patterns that contributed to the formation of the earth's environment, and other exhibits explore the various cultures of the world's population.