Museums

The Earth, the Sky & the Sea: The Big Three in the Grant Park Museum Campus

With terraced gardens and broad walkways, the Museum Campus at the southern end of Grant Park makes it easy for pedestrians to visit three of the city's most beloved institutions: the natural history museum, aquarium, and planetarium. The campus is about a 15- to 20-minute walk from the Loop and is easy to reach by bus or subway (a free trolley runs from the Roosevelt Rd. El stop). To get to the Museum Campus from the Loop, head east across Grant Park on East Balbo Drive from South Michigan Avenue, and then trek south along the lakeshore path to the museums. Or, approach on the path that begins at 11th Street from South Michigan Avenue. Follow 11th to the walkway that spans the Metra tracks. Cross Columbus Drive, and then pick up the path that will take you under Lake Shore Drive and into the Museum Campus. The CTA no. 146 bus will take you from downtown to all three of these attractions. Call tel. 836-7000 (from any city or suburban area code) for the stop locations and schedule.

A large indoor parking lot is accessible from Lake Shore Drive southbound; you can park there all day for $15. Be aware that there is no public parking during Chicago Bears games in the fall; Soldier Field is next to the Museum Campus, and football fans get first dibs on all the surrounding parking spaces.

Museum Free Days

If you time your visit right, you can save yourself some admission fees -- but not during prime tourist season. While some major museums offer free admission at specific times year-round, others schedule free days only during the slowest times of the year (usually late fall and the dead of winter); keep in mind that you will still have to pay for special exhibitions and films on free days. The good news? Some smaller museums never charge admission.

Monday: Adler Planetarium (Oct-Nov and Jan-Feb); Chicago History Museum; Museum of Science and Industry (mid-Sept through Nov and Jan-Feb); and Shedd Aquarium (Oct-Nov and Jan-Feb; Oceanarium admission extra).

Tuesday: Adler Planetarium (Oct-Nov and Jan-Feb); Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Science and Industry (mid-Sept through Nov and Jan-Feb); Shedd Aquarium (Oct-Nov and Jan-Feb; Oceanarium admission extra); and Spertus Museum (10am-noon).

Thursday: Art Institute of Chicago (5-8pm only, until 9pm Memorial Day-Labor Day); Chicago Children's Museum (5-8pm only); and Spertus Museum (3-7pm).

Sunday: DuSable Museum of African-American History.

Always Free: Chicago Cultural Center, Garfield Park Conservatory, David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Lincoln Park Conservatory, Lincoln Park Zoo, National Museum of Mexican Art, Museum of Contemporary Photography, and Newberry Library.

Museums for Less -- If you're planning on visiting lots of Chicago museums, you should invest in a CityPass, a prepaid ticket that gets you into the biggest attractions (the Art Institute, Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, and Hancock Observatory). The cost at press time was $50 for adults and $39 for children, which is about 50% cheaper than paying all the museums' individual admission fees. You can buy a CityPass at any of the museums listed above, or purchase one online before you get to town (www.citypass.net).