Our family trips usually include a museum or two on our itinerary. On a recent holiday weekend trip to Chicago, there was so much we wanted to see, we had a lengthy list. So we narrowed it down and picked three Chicago museums to visit, two where we’d get free admission thanks to the ASTC reciprocity membership. As it happens, we pick three of the biggest museums in Chicago (and the world!).

However, three museums in three days? I would’t recommend it now.  We went to Museum of Science & Industry, Art Institute of Chicago, and The Field Museum, and they are massive. Don’t make the mistake of trying to see them all in one trip, even if it sounds manageable. 

How big are the museums? The Museum of Science & Industry has 400,000 square feet of exhibit space. The Field Museum’s exhibition space is 480,000 square feet. And the Art Institute of Chicago? It has more than a million square feet of exhibition space.

However, let me share some tips for visiting them, should you want to choose one or two for your next visit.  

Before anyone leaves any hate comments, yes, there are WAY more than three museums to see in Chicago. I know this. I agree. First time visitors, though, are probably going to be eyeing the ones the city is most known for.

Related post: Dining With Kids In Chicago

Tips for visiting Museum of Science & Industry

As it’s the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere, the Museum of Science & Industry is going to take you a whole day to visit, and even then, I doubt you’ll see and it all.

The museum is so large, we didn’t see all the permanent exhibits during our 5-hour visit. It was Thanksgiving Weekend, so the crowds may have been bigger than usual. But if you visit that time of year, you’re in for a treat: The museum has trees decorated to represent countries from around the world, plus there’s the massive Grand Tree as the centerpiece.

Some of the places that were the biggest hits with our 7-and 9-year-olds included the mirror maze, the build-a-toy area, and the Idea Factory, which is essentially a one-room children’s museum.

The maze and playground both required timed tickets to limit crowds, so if you know you’ll want to see them, I recommend getting your tickets first thing so you’re not stuck with a really late entry time.

Your general admission ticket gets you into plenty of exhibits, including ones exploring energy, transportation and robotics, as well as the U-505 Submarine. You can opt to purchase experiences or passes to temporary exhibits (there was a Pixar one there when we went).

We bought tickets to the Coal Mining Experience. It was pretty interesting, and included a little ride in a coal mining train, but for the price, I probably wouldn’t do it again with the kids. It was $40 for us.

Dining tip: There are three dining options inside the museum, including an ice cream parlor. We had lunch at the Brain Food Court, which is a large cafeteria-like food court with healthy options and then your expected grilled and pasta fare. The food was pricey, as is expected at any museum, but I was impressed with the variety.

Parking tip: There is a parking garage at the museum that is$22 for parking. I heard there are parking lots within walking distance in neighborhoods, but I can’t vouch for any. I recommend taking public transportation, taxi or an Uber to the museum.

Reciprocal membership alert: If you are a member of Omaha Children’s Museum or another science center that’s likely a member of ASTC, you receive admission for four to Museum of Science & Industry. This is a huge savings.

Tips for visiting Field Museum

The Field Museum is on par with the big museums of the world like the Smithsonian. So, it’s huge and it’s full of a ton of exhibits in botany, zoology, anthropology and geology. Keep your expectations in check: You’re not going to see it all in one day.

A docent recommended our family take the one-hour tour with the kids. It took us to several exhibits in the museum and gave us a ton of interesting information. One kid was totally into it, the other was not. So, maybe it’s a good idea for families?

The docent tour did take us to see SUE, the T. rex that the museum is famous for. The museum is outfitting a new room for the skeleton and you can get a peek at Sue before it’s unveiled soon. It’s out of the way, and we would’ve missed it had we not gone on the tour.

The museum’s general admission gets you into a ton of exhibits that will appeal to kids, from mummies to extinct animals to anthropological exhibits of cultures around the world. In my limited experience, it’s not really worth it to buy tickets to the temporary exhibits (unless it’s a topic you really love). We bought tickets to one, and it was $50 for our family to see that one added exhibit. And, my kids just rushed through it, anyway.

Dining tip: There are two year-round restaurants at the museum, as well as a seasonal outdoor restaurants. We ended up walking to Giordano’s for some deep dish Chicago pizza, instead of trying one of the restaurants.

Reciprocal membership alert: If you are a member of Omaha Children’s Museum or another science center that’s likely a member of ASTC, you receive admission for four to Museum of Science & Industry. This is a huge savings.

Tips for visiting Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago is often rated the best art museum in the world. It’s huge, it’s full of incredible works of art, hundreds of thousands of pieces you can’t possibly see in one visit, and definitely not if you’re visiting with kids.

The best tip? Do the JourneyMaker experience with your kids. This free, customized itinerary maker for kids lets them pick a theme, then select artwork to include on the itinerary, and then they have to hunt for the art in the museum and complete small activities. Once they’re done, they get to choose a free art postcard.

You’ll find the JourneyMaker computers in the Ryan Learning Center. You should probably plan on spending some time in the rooms of the learning center, as there are art-making activities, toys, and books there for kids.

Anyway, the massiveness of the art museum was almost going to be too much, but the JourneyMaker itinerary took us through many galleries, so I did get to see quite a bit. However, my daughter was so set on finishing it, we ended up breezing through some of my all-time favorite works of art, which was a little heartbreaking.

A lot of people told us to take the kids to the Thorne Miniatures Room, that they’d love the pretty scenes in the tiny rooms. Maybe your kids will. My daughter was mildly interested, but still just dead set on finishing the JourneyMaker so she didn’t want to look for long.

It took us about 2 hours to do the JourneyMaker itinerary, with stops to linger in the Impressionist gallery and a (very) brief stop to see the miniatures.

We didn’t have any sweet reciprocal discount, but the good news is that kids are admitted free.

Dining tip: There are three cafes in the museum.

What’s nearby: We paired a visit to Maggie Daley Park with a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. They’re within walking distance of each other. This park will spoil you for all other parks – it’s that amazing and fantastically designed.

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Loews Hotels has two Chicago locations. I wrote about the downtown Chicago location recently and how it’s conveniently located to some of our favorite things in the city. The other hotel’s location is near O’Hare International Airport in Rosemont, Ill. We stayed there for a night during our Chicago holiday getaway with the kids. Here’s what a stay at Loews Chicago O’Hare is like.

Disclosure: Our stay was hosted by Loews Hotels. All thoughts, opinions and typos are my own. This post may contain affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a small payment for referring you.

If you haven’t heard of Rosemont, Ill., it’s a community about 20 minutes from downtown Chicago, with easy access to the city thanks to the train. It’s also about 5 minutes from O’Hare Airport.

What to expect

Loews is an upscale, welcoming hotel, though, I’ll be up-front for your traveling with kids – there is no pool. This gorgeous hotel seems to be better suited for travelers flying in and out of O’Hare and business men and women. Still, it’s a lovely place to stay overnight.

This particular location has a lot of artwork, from the moment you walk in, even. Floors have their own gallery even.

The lobby was chic and I loved the greenery on the walls.

The service, as was the case in the downtown location, was impeccable. We had breakfast at The Ashburn, the restaurant with an aviation theme inside the hotel, and when we left, they remembered our names to ask how our meal was.

A word about the restaurant, The Ashburn. We went with the kids to breakfast there, as guests of the hotel. The Ashburn had a kid’s menu, with typical fare like fluffy pancakes, french toast, and eggs.

For me, it was a tough call between ordering the buffet or something off the breakfast menu. The buffet had fresh fruits, pastries, quite a few hot dishes, and house-smoked salmon. After a weekend of heavy foods, I decided to get a light breakfast and ordered the salmon. It was a good call. My breakfast was just the right amount of food and tasted great.

Loews Chicago O’Hare Rooms

We stayed in a room with two queen beds and a lounger. The view wasn’t much, but it was also snowing so there wasn’t much visibility anyway.

The size of the room and bathroom was comfortable for a family of four with minimal luggage. There was plenty of closet space, if you needed it.

We ordered room service and ran out of places to sit, besides the bed.

Flavor By Loews Hotels

One of the coolest things a hotel brand can do is to localize the experience when staying at a property. If you’re staying at Loews Chicago O’Hare, you’ll find they’ve made quite an effort to introduce locally-made products in food and drinks.

Flavor by Loews Hotels is a brilliant way to introduce travelers to local products. Flavor by Loews Hotels is built on partnerships with artisan food & beverage vendors, and its starting to roll out in Loews destinations across the nation. At the Chicago O’Hare Loews, Flavor by Loews Hotels has different brands to try. Filbert’s Old Time Root Beer is available at The Ashburn; Veruca Chocolates boutique chocolates are paired in desserts at The Ashburn and in-room service; and Rare Bird Preserves are served at breakfast and desserts as well as in sauces used in dishes on the menu at The Ashburn and in-room dining.

We found even more products at the Loews Downtown Chicago location. I you’re there, try Chicago Honey Co-op honey in a cocktail at Streeterville Social; cold-pressed juices are available in ETA Restaurant + Bar; and Revolution Brewing’s Zephyr beer is exclusively available at Loews Chicago Hotel in ETA Restaurant + Bar, The Lobby Lounge and Streeterville Social.

Entertainment near the hotel

I suspect that many of the guests staying at the hotel were staying there for one particular reason: It’s very near Fashion Outlets of Chicago. I saw a lot of people passing through the lobby carrying shopping bags from brands like Armani, Guess and Neiman Marcus.

It’s a huge mall – a 530,000 square-foot, two-level indoor shopping center with more than 130 designer outlets like Gucci and Prada. Anchor stores include Bloomingdale’s The Outlet Store and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH.

My kids? They liked the Disney Outlet store, in particular.

We went to the mall during the holiday season to meet Santa and tour Santa HQ by HGTV. It’s a high-tech Santa experience, complete with an Elf Academy. If you go, know that it’s open through most of November and closes on Christmas Eve each year.

Doing Santa HQ is about the same price as going to see a regular Santa at the mall, which is to say, not cheap, but when you add in the extras, it’s worth it. Plus, having the ability to make a reservation beats standing in line and waiting.

Loews Chicago O’Hare is also near Parkway Bank Park, a massive entertainment district with up-scale restaurants, bowling, and in the winter, outdoor ice skating. We were in Rosemont during a snow storm and had the hardest time figuring out the parking situation at Parkway. We were trying to have dinner at Hofbräuhaus Chicago, but could not find parking. It was frustrating, and ultimately, we ended up just driving back to the hotel.

Tip: It turns out, our mistake was trying to park in front of the restaurant — there’s very little surface parking, so you just have to park in the nearby, massive parking garage.

If we had more time, there was plenty more for our family to explore, including bowling at Kings Dining & Entertainment, indoor sky diving at iFly, and the free interactive museum, Big Ten Experience.

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We visited Chicago during the holiday season, and being the kids’ first time in the city, we wanted to go to restaurants to sample some typical Chicago fare, as well as get some unique experiences. Our kids are ages 7 and 9, so I’m coming from the perspective of someone with fairly young, but pretty well-behaved, kids. Here are the highlights:

Tortoise Supper Club

Dinner at the Tortoise Supper Club was, hands down, the most memorable meal for us. Think: White table cloth, attentive servers, and if you’re there late enough on the right night, live jazz music. It doesn’t sound like it’s a place to bring kids to, but it was. Our waiter, Sergio, was particularly kind to the kids.

As guests of the restaurant, we had quite the experience. However, it’s important to note that there is no kid’s menu here (so no lower prices for smaller appetites). Your kids would have to order from the regular menu. One of our kids ordered a cheeseburger, the other went for steak.

I tried the French onion soup, which was delicious and the kids liked, too. My entree was a special, the short ribs. We were there on Saturday night, which is prime rib night.

Dessert was so good. We tried the chocolate tortoise (because, you know, it’s the Tortoise Supper Club) and key lime pie. No kidding, key lime pie is the thing to get.

The Tortoise Supper Club is within walking distance of the hotel we were staying at, Loews Chicago.

Walnut Room

I’d read about Macy’s Walnut Room in Chicago, how it was a grand restaurant inside a department store. When it first opened in Marshall Field, it was the first of its kind. And I’d read about it being decked out for the holidays, so I decided we’d brave the crowds for diner on Black Friday.

Apparently, everyone was done shopping for the day by the time we went, because we had a very short wait.

The dining room was impressive, with a large Christmas tree stealing the show. People stopped by the restaurant just to get pictures in front of it.

You could get the buffet or order off the menu, and since I’d wanted the famous chicken pot pie, I skipped the buffet and ordered that instead. It was a good idea. The restaurant also had a kid’s menu.

While we waited for dinner, fairy princesses wandered the dining room, granting wishes to children. It was totally unexpected, so I don’t even know if this is a regular thing or just on the weekends or what. But, it really added to the experience, especially for my daughter.

Giordano’s Pizza

I’ve asked friends in Chicago and the Twitterverse for suggestions on where to get good Chicago pizza. The consensus was that no one could agree. So, we ended up going to the place I hadn’t been to before: Giordano’s. There are several locations in the city, and we ended up at one not too far from The Field Museum.

It was pretty good, but I’ll be honest, Chicago-style pizza just isn’t my kind of pizza. It’s a lot of crust for me. My kids weren’t enthused about it as I had expected, either.

I’ve also had Gino’s East on previous visits, and the décor there makes it worth a visit in my book.

Breakfast in Chicago

I love breakfast and enjoyed three great breakfasts during our visit. We tried Do-Rite Donuts one morning. This tiny shop always had a little line, and it’s easy to see why. The huge donuts are fresh and delicious. In order to try a few flavors, we split three. The birthday cake and red velvet coconut were my favorites.

We also ordered chicken sandwiches, just to have a little something to keep us satiated. If you’re from Omaha, I’d say the donuts were better than Bob’s Donuts, but I can’t say the same for the chicken sandwiches.

Another memorable breakfast that was within walking distance of the Loews Chicago in the downtown area was Wildberry. We went to the Wildberry near Millennium Park.  The wait to eat at the restaurant on a Saturday morning was, indeed, wild. We opted for outdoor seating and only had to wait 30 minutes.

Yes. Outdoors in November. It worked, though.

The food was really good and filling. The coffee was also exceptional. There is a kid’s menu, too. Items for kids included silver dollar pancakes for $4 or specialty pancakes for $5 (including fresh berry pancakes, Fruity Pebble pancakes, and Oreo s’more pancakes), one egg meal for $5, and a few lunch offerings. Juice or soda are included with that price.

Being near Millennium Park, be sure to walk over to see “Cloud Gate,” AKA The Bean.

And, if the kids are really loaded up on sugar from pancakes at Wildberry, walk a little further to Maggie Daley Park. It might be the most incredible park you’ll ever visit. It’s huge, and it should wear your kids down.

Our other breakfast was in Rosemont, Ill., at The Ashburn. The Ashburn is located inside Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel, and we were guests of the hotel there. For breakfast, you can order off the menu or get the buffet. The buffet had a lot of options, many of them healthy, but we opted to order of the menu. I had house-smoked salmon, which was light and really good. Coffee was also delicious.

The Ashburn had a kid’s menu, and the fluffy buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes were pretty filling for the kids. I sampled them and they get my approval. Breakfast prices on the kid’s menu ranged from $4 for a fresh fruit bowl or oatmeal, to $7 for bacon and eggs, waffles, pancakes or french toast.

One thing to note about Loews Hotels like the one this restaurant is located in: They source a lot of food and drinks from local businesses. It’s a program called Flavor by Loews.

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