Weekend trip to Chicago

SkippyTater

DH and I are planning a long weekend (Friday - Monday) trip to Chicago in mid-September.  We will be flying into O'Hare.  Neither of us have ever been to Chicago.  Any and all ideas would be great. 

Will we need a rental car?  How would you recommend spending a long weekend?  What should we make certain to see/do while there?

 TIA!!

SkippyTater

Also - any budget-friendly hotel recs?

MarcyLT

I wouldn't recommend a car. September will be beautiful, so you'll be able to walk and take public transit or a taxi everywhere you go. Form O'Hare, if you're staying downtown, you'll just take the Blue Line CTA into the city. It's so easy.

For a quick weekend trip, especially if you've never been here, try to do some "quientessential Chicago" things. I'd recommend:

-Deep dish pizza at Gino's or Giordano's
-Shopping on Michigan Avenue and State Street
-Try a Chicago hot dog!
-If you're into comedy or theater, get tickets to Second City (lots of SNL alum started here) or Steppenwolf or Chicago Shakespeare - all amazing choices
-Explore some non-downtown neighborhoods for an afternoon - Wicker Park, Andersonville, Lincoln Park, all short train rides from the Loop and fun to pop in and out of stores and coffee shops and find great places to eat
-Go to the top of John Hancock Tower or Willis Tower - great views of the city
-Try some amazing restaurants - look on opentable.com for reservations

As far as hotels, not sure what your budget is. In downtown, you can generally get a really beautiful boutique hotel for between $150 and $200 a night. Before we moved here, we stayed at Hotel Rafaello and Hotel Felix in River North, the Blake Hotel in the South Loop, and visitors of ours have stayed at Hotel Burnham, Allegro and Hotel Monaco with great success.

If you're looking even cheaper, definitely try La Quinta on Franklin and Monroe or any of the Club Quarters hotels - Expedia or Orbitz are usually helpful.

katarczyna

Eat an Italian Beef w/ hot peppers from Al's. Orgasmic.

hz80408

Go to Millenium Park and see the Bean, etc.

Are you into museums?  Check out Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetariam, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry (above the listed we like Shedd the best then Museum of Science and Industry).

 I recommend Portillo's (they have italian beef, hot dogs, pasta, etc) over Al's Beef listed by pp.

If you're sports fans, check out a Cubs or Sox game while you're here.

katarczyna

hz80408:

 I recommend Portillo's (they have italian beef, hot dogs, pasta, etc) over Al's Beef listed by pp.

Are you serious?! OMG you cannot be a native and think Portillo's is good! Good for variety and non-offensiveness, but it's NOwhere near as good.

If you said Mr. Beef, I could at least say to each his own. But Portillos?! 

 

I'm passionate about my beef and combos, what can I say?! 

hz80408

katarczyna:

Are you serious?! OMG you cannot be a native and think Portillo's is good! Good for variety and non-offensiveness, but it's NOwhere near as good.

If you said Mr. Beef, I could at least say to each his own. But Portillos?! 

I'm passionate about my beef and combos, what can I say?! 

Lol, I'm not a native...but I was extremely disappointed when I tried Al's.  Portillo's is the best in my book, but to each her own :O)

katarczyna

haha. You're right -- to each his (or her!) own. I do like the hot dogs at Portillo's quite a bit. Their sport peppers are juicy.

 

I just love the peppers. Especially the one on Taylor in the summer when Mario's is open. My mouth is watering and I just ate lunch. lol 

Mabmin

I think Al's has better fries, but agree that Portillo's has better beefs.  I think DH was disappointed when he tried Al's with me for the first time.  He also thinks that Portillo's is much better, but agreed that Al's has good fries.  I like Mario's as well, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to go there.

quigleygina

We stayed at the Getaway Hostel; DH and I had a private room and spent the weekend exploring the area. It was perfect! The hostel is clean, safe, friendly and charges about $30 a night per person. There?s a lively strip of bars and restaurants a block down, including B.L.U.E.S., one of the most famous blues bars in Chicago. It?s also a few minutes away from the lakefront in Lincoln Park and the free zoo.