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.
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.
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.
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.