Amid the frenzy of the city, downtown Chicago offers prominent green spaces for visitors and locals alike to enjoy. These parks provide a meaningful getaway with the family and an opportunity to see the city in a new way — quite literally — with today’s guide. You’ll get the gang out to one of the city’s most unique parks to traverse a wall overlooking the concrete jungle that is Chicago, followed by a nearby picnic and a few touristy delights.
Chicago’s Riverwalk is a labyrinth of life in the heart of downtown. The 1.25-mile-long path, which was expanded in 2016, offers unique city views and plenty of family-friendly activities. It’s perhaps best enjoyed on the river itself, which is where today’s guide sets off. You’ll start with a scenic and educational boat tour, then cool off with homemade gelato and a refreshing water fountain.
Few things symbolize summer like ice cream and boating, and Chicago offers myriad options to embrace them both. The Chicago River cuts through the city’s urban sprawl with 156 miles of water, and today the whole family will get busy exploring it. You’ll start the afternoon in nature at a North Center boathouse and end by treating the kiddos to sweets at one of Chicago’s oldest and most iconic ice cream parlors.
This guide has you travelling 30 miles from the city and spending the day jumping off 90 foot climbing walls, ziplining across a lake, and traversing a ropes course suspended high in the air. Afterwards, you'll take it easy by exploring a nearby historic downtown village for drinks and eats in one of the oldest communities in Illinois.
Imagine Chicago with mountains in the distance. Nobody would ever leave. While we don't have mountains, there are still places to hike to get some elevation. For this guide, you'll head about 1.5 hours outside the city where you'll hike through 3,400 acres of bogs, wetlands, and up large, ancient land formations called kames. Embedded
During the summer, Rogers Park can feel like a mini-beach town if you know the right spots to visit. We've got an afternoon beach trip planned for this guide. You'll start at a beachside cafe for slushies and walk 10 feet to find a spot on the sand. Once you've got enough sun and beach, you'll go through a quiet lakeside residential neighborhood until you come upon a small enclave of shops and cafes that give off strong small town beach vibes. There, you'll end the day with a post-beach meal of ice cream, sandwiches, and coffee.
This guide is what summer memories are made of. It starts with catching a ballgame, staying after with your kids to run the bases, and it ends a at a classic Chicago diner serving deep-dish pizzas, Italian lemonade, and a famous breaded steak sandwich.
We're taking advantage of living next to a giant freshwater lake and have you taking the family on a fishing 101 expedition. You'll get outfitted with fishing gear from pros who've been helping anglers for over 50 years. Afterward, you'll make your way through a maze of trails that take you to the lake, where you'll fish for salmon, perch, and trout.
It's Wednesday, and you realize you're out of fresh produce. Instead of waiting for the weekend, this guide has you and the family visiting Ravenswood for their mid-week farmers market, jumping on bouncy houses, and having a picnic in the park.
Start your day at a sustainable farm, picking up fresh produce and sipping local coffee. Then, step into a neighboring nature preserve for an easy stroll or a longer hike through a tall grass savanna. End the day at a family-owned brewery, with craft beer paired with a delicious brisket sandwich.
This guide has you visiting West Ridge, a quiet residential North Side neighborhood that's home to a vibrant South Asian, Jewish, and Eastern European community. You'll start with a hike on a 20-acre nature preserve, build a wooden fort, and end with Balkan street food.
We're catching big air and big eats for this guide. We start the day in Chicago's Southeast side at a former industrial site that's been converted into a 200+ acre nature area. We'll be wandering trails and spending time riding bikes over dirt jumps at a world-class bike park set inside this reclaimed industrial site. We end the trip with the most delicious donut you'll ever get your hands on.
This week's guide takes you to Garfield Park in search of a bit of inspiration. The first stop is to one of the oldest and largest conservatories in the country, where you'll wander through 4.5 acres of indoor gardens and let the vast rooms of tropical plants and small ponds help you de-stress. Afterward, you'll visit a restaurant with a socially conscious mission of supporting men and women to overcome poverty and homelessness. Here are the highlights.
Young kids in daycare learn to make friends. But my guess is you're learning to do the same with other parents too. With that in mind, we've planned a casual playdate with your new parent friends. You'll pick up Cambodian fried chicken sandwiches and then take it down the street to a tap room that kind of looks like a daycare on Saturday afternoons.
Visiting the Indiana Dunes National Park is usually a summertime affair. When there's fresh snow on the ground, however, it's an entirely different experience that might have you thinking these Midwest winters aren't so bad after all. Take the kids an hour south of the city for an easy winter hike up sand dunes and through patches of pine forests that lead you out to Lake Michigan. Afterward, on the way back to the city, treat the family to a feast at a seafood shack on the side of the road.
Getting a slice of pie is the answer to a lot of situations. Kids being exceptionally well-behaved? Reward the family with pie. Kids running roughshod over the house, and have you ready to pull your hair out? Well, don't you deserve pie for all your troubles? This guide has you having lunch at what looks like a classic small-town diner, and then you follow it up with some playtime at a library across the street.
As kids, do you remember those mornings after a big snowstorm when you'd peer out the window and your ten-year-old brain would analyze road conditions and constantly calculate the probability of a snow day like it was the NY Times Election Needle? Then, when school was finally called off, you'd fill your days with snowball fights, sledding, and drinking hot chocolate. This guide is our attempt to help you create some of those childhood memories for your kids. You'll be barreling down a steep sledding hill with the skyline as your backdrop. After that, you'll end things with with Japanese souffle pancakes, ramen, and hot chocolate.
We visit the past and peer into the future all in one guide. You'll make your way to Evanston to visit Northwestern University. It starts with a tour of an art and history museum, and then you'll follow up with an astronomy lesson inside an open-air observatory. Between those stops, you'll grab a bite to eat at a chicken joint popular with students and locals alike. Here are the details. *Logistics note - This guide, in its entirety, is only good for Friday night as the observatory is only open to the public on Friday evenings.
This guide has you taking the family on a trip out to the suburbs for an annual holiday tradition. You'll head to Lisle, Illinois to visit the Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre garden, and woodland ecosystem. While this place normally closes at sunset, during the holidays, they stay open late into the evening and light the area up with holiday lights and special effects. You'll go on a self-guided night-time walking tour with hot chocolate and treats, and included in this guide are a few pointers to help plan your trip.
Do you know what's better than roasting s'mores around an open campfire? Watching your kid's eyes light up when they experience that for the first time. For this guide, we've got you hanging out at the only sanctioned firepits along Lake Michigan. But before that, you'll have pancakes, steak, and eggs at a beloved diner nearby in Hyde Park.
Do you recall your first live theater show? Maybe it was on a school field trip to watch The Nutcracker, or perhaps it was a big Broadway production later on in life. No matter the age, there's something magical the first time you see the lights turn down and the show begins. For this guide, you're taking the kids to a nationally-acclaimed children's theater known for its original shows and high-value productions. Before that, you'll visit a Saturday farmer's market hosted inside a park where your kids can grab some eats and burn off some energy before the show.
Pack the car because you're going on a day trip to Southwest Michigan. It's close to a 2-hour drive, and if you're going during the right time of year, you'll start at a pick-your-own peach/grape/apple orchard on a hillside farm. Afterward, you'll head to a park covering nearly 2,000 acres and 6 miles of sandy trails that go up and over steep sand dunes. The day ends at small downtown in one of the many communities dotting Lake Michigan's coastline.
When the week has been long, and the family is in need of quality time to recharge, the answer to your woes are cute animals and crepes. This guide has you taking the kids to Lakeview, where you'll spend time in a bunny cuddle session and then finish off the day munching on sweet and savory crepes.
We're getting the kids out of the house for an early morning hiking on the Northwest Side of Chicago. You'll walk through a beautiful nature preserve with trails covering 46 acres of woodland, wetland, prairie, and savanna. But before that, you'll fuel up with Korean pajeon pancakes and bread pudding French toast at a nearby breakfast spot. Here are the details.
Are the kids climbing all over the walls at your house? Okay, let's give your home a break. For this guide, you'll take the kids to Uptown and visit a former bank whose second floor is now a bouldering gym. Afterward, you'll take advantage of one of the most significant benefits of raising kids in Chicago: having easy access to food cultures from all over the world. You'll have a post-gym meal at a Vietnamese restaurant where you'll introduce your kids to something other than pho. Here are the details.
For this guide, take the family to Bridgeport to fly kites and have a picnic at a giant rock quarry turned park. But first, you'll have everyone stretch their legs and take a short stroll through the neighborhood to gather all the necessary picnic provisions: tavern-style pizza and paczkis for dessert.
We're hitting the road for a weekend trip to Wisconsin. It starts with a 2.5-hour drive to Madison, Wisconsin, which we're using as our home base for the weekend. After getting settled on day 1 of your trip, you'll drive less than an hour away for some serious hiking up a 500-foot bluff. After climbing over boulders and hiking through woods, you'll have a post-hike meal at a family-friendly winery built into a hillside vineyard. On day 2, you'll visit a deep cavern and indulge in classic Wisconsin fare.
There's been a big flurry of development along the Chicago River, and we're taking the family to visit a few outdoor spots taking advantage of their proximity along the North Branch of the river. It starts with an incredible breakfast biscuit sandwich, followed by a short walk along the river, and then you'll head to a family-friendly brewery and get on the water.
There is no shortage of outdoor markets when summer rolls around. For today's guide, we'll visit a wonderful farmer's market in Woodlawn, just south of the University of Chicago campus. You'll stroll through the market with your family and pick up fresh produce, pies, and a smorgasbord of items from a local French chef. After feeding our bodies, you'll feed our minds at the Museum of Science and Industry nearby.
We've got some quality family time in store with burgers and elevated bar food at a family-friendly, residential corner bar. Afterward, you'll visit the second floor of a building that was left vacant for decades but has found new life as a vintage bowling alley that welcomes families during the day.
This guide has the family walking through fields of wildflowers and exploring an island nature preserve on the South Side. But before that, you'll grab brunch and beignets at a French cafe and then head down the block to a basement bookshop where you'll find books to take along your nature walk. Here are the details.
This guide has us venturing out of the city and into the suburbs. You'll make your way to Long Grove, IL, about a 40-minute drive northwest of Chicago. It's home to a small downtown with rural farming charm. You'll walk through cobblestone sidewalks, munch on apple cider donuts, rummage through antiques, and have a beer in the woods while your kids jump around on logs.
This guide takes you on a mini-Swedish adventure in Andersonville that works as a leisurely Sunday morning outing. This is a historically Swedish neighborhood on Chicago's Far North Side, and we'll be doing our best to immerse ourselves and our kids into the food and culture. Here are the highlights.
This guide has you going deep inside a forest preserve where you'll camp along the shores of a small lake, do a bit of hiking, and hang by a campfire. If this is your first overnight camping trip with kids, this is an excellent option, as the grounds are set up to make this as easy as possible. You're also only 30ish minutes from downtown Chicago, so you're not too far away if you need to cut the trip short and head back into the city.