Windy American city of Chicago. The main attractions of Chicago (with photo) How to get from New York to Chicago by train

Chicago is more commonly seen as a major industrial and financial core of the United States, and if you believe the old American films, as the lair of the powerful Italian mafia led by Al Capone. However, the modern metropolis is one of the centers of tourism in the United States, which is visited by several million people a year.

Chicago is full of parks, museums, modern malls and trendy restaurants. The city is building on the shores of Lake Michigan. It boasts a well-groomed coastal strip and excellent city beaches. Sunbathing on the golden sand against the backdrop of glass skyscrapers, enjoy swimming and the sun, but in five minutes be ready to plunge into the dynamic life of the metropolis - what could be better for an active and inquisitive tourist.

The best hotels and hostels at affordable prices.

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What to see and where to go in Chicago?

The most interesting and beautiful places for walking. Photos and a short description.

A 100,000 m² urban green oasis in downtown Chicago. It was created at the beginning of the 21st century and almost immediately gained popularity for its original design, convenience and beauty of landscapes. Unusual sculptures, art objects and installations are scattered throughout the park. Exhibitions on site contemporary art. Under the park is railroad station and large underground parking.

The unique fountain in Millennium Park, designed by Jaume Plens, is a real engineering find. The design is a video installation placed on large facade screens, from which jets of water splash out. The image on the screens is constantly changing and is reflected in the water surface of the black marble pool. To implement this solution, quite complex technical research was required.

Sculpture in Millennium Park. The locals have nicknamed it the "mirror bean" because the outline of the structure really resembles a bean. The object has become one of the symbols of progressive Chicago, the avant-garde of contemporary art and the territory of inspiration for trendy artists. The design of the sculpture was developed by the master Anish Kapoor invited from London.

An embankment that stretches along Lake Michigan for several hundred meters. The pier was built at the beginning of the 20th century for purely practical purposes - to provide logistics along the river and lake. In parallel, tourist ferries were launched. Very soon, the inhabitants chose this place and began to arrange picnics there. Over time, cafes, well-equipped playgrounds, gardens, shops and attractions appeared.

Paris has the Champs Elysees, New York has Fifth Avenue, and Chicago has the Magnificent Mile. This is a shopping street, one of the sections of Michigan Avenue, around which the most prestigious areas of the city are located. In these places, real estate costs fabulous money. Shops, hotels and restaurants are concentrated on the Magnificent Mile, there are always a lot of people here - both residents and visitors to Chicago.

The school and museum was founded in 1879 by an organization of American artists. In 1893, the organization received a new building, which is still located today. The museum exhibits a rich collection of impressionists (Monet, Renoir, Cezanne), as well as works by Picasso, Matisse, Warhol and many other worthy masters. Also at the Art Institute of Chicago, you can look at exhibitions of weapons, photography, African art and Asian culture.

An unusual museum and at the same time a research center for the Western Hemisphere. It was housed in a building built for the opening of the World Exhibition in 1893. The exhibits are shown in dynamics, many copies are made in full size. Small copy works for children railway, which functions like a real one, and a puppet palace.

Museum complex on the shores of Lake Michigan, which houses collections dedicated to the natural history of the planet. The exposition has about 20 million copies, so even a cursory inspection will take several days. The space of the museum is divided into thematic areas: anthropology, geology, zoology. A valuable relic of the Field Museum is the largest surviving skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

A space theater and museum built with funds from retired businessman Max Adler. The first visitors were admitted to the planetarium in 1930. Thanks to the generous cash injections of the former businessman, navigation and astronomical mechanisms were purchased for the exposition in sufficient in large numbers. The Chicago Planetarium is the first planetarium in the United States.

Huge aquarium on the Chicago Museum campus. It is considered one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. It contains huge whales, sharks, penguins, crocodiles, octopuses and a considerable number of various fish. except marine life iguanas, snakes, birds, otters, fur seals live in the Shedd Aquarium - more than 2000 species of animals and 25 thousand individuals in total.

The complex, where exhibitions, presentations, shows and other cultural events are constantly held. The Chicago Children's Choir also performs here. The center opened at the end of the 19th century. At first it housed the Chicago Public Library and the Veterans Union. Later, both organizations moved to other places, and the building received the status of an urban cultural center open to all comers.

A cultural monument of the early 20th century, one of the important art centers in Chicago. From the very opening, the theater was used very widely, it hosted concerts, shows of magicians, theatrical performances, performances of comedians. A lot of people always gathered for the performances, as the site very quickly won people's love. Today, the popularity of the theater remains at a high level; artists from all over the States come here on tour.

The Chicago skyscraper, which was considered the tallest in the world until 2009 (then the championship passed to the Sears Tower). It should be noted that the tallest skyscrapers in America have always been built in Chicago. Willis Tower consists of 110 floors, the height of the building is 442 meters, and together with antennas on the roof - 527 meters. Bruce Graham was the chief architect of this grandiose project. The structure up to the 90th floor is supported by a system of powerful internal supports.

A skyscraper with 100 floors, another grandiose "high-rise" of Chicago. Among the locals, the name "Big John" is firmly attached to the skyscraper. Construction was completed by 1970. On the 94th floor there is an observation deck, from where you can look at Chicago from a truly “mind-blowing” angle. Inside the skyscraper is divided into a business part and residential areas.

The arena for the games of the most popular sport in the United States. The stadium always gathers full stands of fans during numerous cups. Wrigley Field has been the home ground of the Chicago Cubs for over 100 years. The stadium is an open space with stands installed around the perimeter. On the roofs of the surrounding houses, enterprising owners also organized places for spectators.

Zoo on the shores of Lake Michigan, one of the oldest in the New World. It opened in the middle of the 19th century. Now the zoo is one of the most popular attractions in Chicago, it is open seven days a week on a very convenient schedule. For animals created comfortable and habitat habitats, sometimes it seems that they just roam among the trees and can easily approach visitors.

A picturesque architectural composition on the territory of Grat Park. The fountain was built with private funds from one of the bankers. The sculptural group is made in the Rococo style and from a distance resembles a wedding cake. The four layers of this "cake" symbolize the states surrounding Michigan, and the jets of water are the lake itself. In the warm season, light shows are arranged here, in which several light sources take part.

One of the oldest city buildings, preserved since 1869. The tower survived the "great fire" of 1871, during which almost the entire city was destroyed. Several times they tried to demolish it, but the residents stood up for the structure. It is believed that the ghost of the caretaker lives in the tower. During the fire, he climbed to the very top and hanged himself to avoid an agonizing death from the fire.

The river connects the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, the total length of the channel is a little more than 250 km. As a result of the rapid industrial development of Chicago in the 19th century, the waters of the river were heavily polluted, after heavy rains and floods, epidemics flared up in the city. In 1900, the channel was redirected to the Mississippi River basin. There are 38 drawbridges across the Chicago River within the city limits.

The largest freshwater lake in the United States is part of the Great Lakes system. The Michigan Territory lies entirely within the United States, unlike other lakes. The reservoir is called the "third coast of the States" after the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as there are excellent sandy beaches here. You can swim in the lake all summer, even at the end of August the water remains quite warm.

City of Chicago (Chicago) - photo, attractions

(Chicago), « City of winds», « Second city», « City of big shoulders», « workhorse», « Midwest Crossing"... Whatever they call him! A city with a unique history, architecture, culture, geography, which has absorbed all the best and most beautiful that can be in an American city.

Chicago is located in Illinois, on the southwest coast of Lake Michigan. The city occupies the 3rd place in the United States in terms of population (about three million). It is one of the most important financial centers in America.

By 1837, Chicago turned from a small village into a city. Thanks to a lucky geographic location the city very quickly became an important transport hub of the country, which led to the rapid development of production and the arrival of a huge number of migrants here. This greatly contributed to the active development and prosperity of Chicago. And everything would have continued like this if there had not been a terrible fire in October 1871, which devastated everything around for three days. Most of the city's buildings were destroyed, 2/3 of the buildings became ashes (at that time, almost all the buildings were wooden), three hundred residents of the city died in a fire and more than ninety thousand lost their homes. I had to rebuild the city. The "Great Fire", one might say, was the beginning of a new life for Chicago. Hundreds of architects different countries world have embodied their grandiose fantasies in it, thanks to which the city has acquired its originality.

It was here that in 1885 the world's first 10-story skyscraper was built, which caused a real sensation. Everyone dreamed of getting on its roof to look down with their own eyes. Chicago city planners did not stop at the construction of the first skyscraper, but, on the contrary, continued their “great undertaking”. Soon there were fanciful arrows of the modern Trade Exchange, the City Department of Finance, the Exchange Exchange. These skyscraper buildings became the basis for future experiments in Chicago architecture.

"South Wacker Drive" (South Walker Drive)

In the forties of the 20th century, the city was swept by a new wave of "architectural inventions and fantasies": "Wrigley Building" (Wrigley Building), "South Wacker Drive" (South Walker Drive) and many others who tried to build on the same principles - buildings they made everything higher and higher, and on the roofs of skyscrapers they tried to build something beautiful and memorable, for example, a copy of “Notre-Dame de Paris” or the dome of the “Basilica di San Pietro” (Basilica di San Pietro).

Since the late sixties, a new trend in architecture has appeared in Chicago. Thanks to him, champions among skyscrapers have grown in the city: Sears Towers (443 meters, once the tallest in the world), Amoco Building (ranks 4th in the USA), Hancock Building (372 meters). They are by far the highest in the city.

hancock building

In Chicago, you can visit the G. Shedd Aquarium (once it was the largest on the planet), which houses several thousand species of fish, birds, amphibians, snakes.
The “City of the Winds” can also compete with the number two Russian capital, St. Petersburg, in terms of the number of drawbridges. Those who like to argue very zealously discuss the topic, where are the most bridges in the world. But there is no official data confirming that there are more of them in any of these cities.

Chicago is a very multinational city: it has its own Italy (here you can try real Italian pizza), and "China Town", and the kingdom South-East Asia, as well as areas that are inhabited only by Puerto Ricans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarusians.

Ukrainian village / Ukrainian diaspora in Chicago

For all art lovers, the Art Institute has been created, which houses a unique collection of impressionist paintings. This collection can only be compared with the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

But, by far, the most important Chicago attraction is the Miracle Mile, part of North Michigan Avenue, which is dominated by skyscrapers surrounded by the most expensive boutiques in the world.

Between the shores of Lake Michigan and residential areas are beautiful parks: Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Millennium Park.

Grant Park

Chicago is known for its jazz festivals and concerts. It was here, in the twenties, that jazz found its second home. And why not remember the famous and beloved cartoonist Walt Disney, who created the unforgettable "Mickey Mouse"! He was born and died in Chicago. And the world-famous gangster Al Capone, who held the city in his hands and inspired fear and horror for more than twenty years!? The city is also famous for the fact that the unsurpassed Chicago Bulls basketball player Michael Jordan, who became famous for his amazing jumps, lived within its walls.

You can’t tell everything about Chicago, it’s better to see everything with your own eyes, but having been here, you will fall in love with this city forever.

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In addition to the "city of the winds", the industrial capital of America has many more informal names, such as "city of big shoulders", "Midwest crossroads" and "workhorse". The very name of the city of Chicago comes from the Native American word shikaakwa, which means "wild onion", modified by the French Jesuits, the founders of the city on the western shore of Lake Michigan.

The modest village on the shores of Lake Michigan owes its rapid development and transformation into a large city to the construction of a railroad between the East and West coasts of the United States, as a result of which Chicago was in the center of the highway. Before turning into the industrial "heart" of America, Chicago managed to visit its agricultural center - the district was at one time the world leader in grain production; its surplus was fed to livestock and this led to the transformation of Chicago into one of the leaders in American animal husbandry. Then Chicago became both a "brewing" center, and, according to the laws community development, the industrial revolution began in the city - and everything would have been smooth if the grandiose Great Fire had not happened in the city of Chicago.

According to urban legend, the fire spread from a tiny barn on DeKoven Street, where a cow had the misfortune to knock over a kerosene lamp. According to another version, the fire started when Mr. Sullivan, who first raised the alarm, set fire to the hay in the barn, trying to steal milk there. One way or another, the fire, driven by the wind (the "windy city" after all) willingly consumed about a third of the then city of Chicago, which consisted mainly of crowded wooden houses, wooden sidewalks and again wooden coal warehouses. One of the purely American "tricks" of the fire story was that the Chicago firefighters only put out those houses whose owners paid them dues. Moreover, in what was then Chicago, two independent and competing fire departments worked simultaneously, which extinguished fires exclusively at their clients. Often, firefighters, arriving at the scene, first of all tried to find out which company was responsible for extinguishing it - and only then, having specified all the formalities, they regularly watered the charred firebrands with water. All these factors led to the fact that, according to local newspapermen, the Great Chicago Fire surpassed the fire in Moscow in its destructive scale during Patriotic War 1812. One of the few buildings that survived the fire was chicago water tower, which became an unofficial monument to the victims of the fire:

No matter how blasphemous it may sound in relation to these same victims, but without that fire there would not have been the modern city of Chicago, whose appearance many (including myself) find one of the most stylish and vibrant in the Western Hemisphere. Chicago before the fire had a chaotic and rather unsightly factory building, and when the fire vacated the gigantic squares in the city center (which also had a hefty market value), it led to a building boom, the architectural fruits of which attract the attention of connoisseurs to this day. Let's start with the fact that it was in Chicago that the world's first skyscraper was built - as much as 26 floors high, which for its 1882 year was an absolute breakthrough in construction. Then, like mushrooms after the rain, downtown Chicago grew building of the Trade Exchange (Chicago Board of Trade):

Exchange Exchange (Chicago Mercantile Exchange Clearinghouse):

And City of Chicago Finance Department (Federal Center):

Chicago gave America many bright architects - among them were Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham (Daniel Burnham), who became famous among other things for the construction of one of the most stylish high-rise buildings in New York: "House-iron" Flatiron. The second "wave" of high-rise construction swept the city of Chicago in the 40s of the XX century, when such striking examples as Wrigley Building And Chicago Sun Tower, and the architects of that era tried to give extravagance to their creations, arranging copies of the Parisian Notre Dame de Paris or the Roman Cathedral of St. Peter on their roofs.

Third, and this moment the last wave came in the 70s of the last century - and its result was the appearance in the city of Chicago of six of the twenty-five tallest buildings on the planet.

What is the best way to get acquainted with the city of Chicago and its architectural sights (my opinion):

I won’t recommend any river, lake and other guided tours (here, as they say, “to taste and color”) - but it seems to me that it’s no less interesting and much cheaper to just buy one ticket for the Chicago subway and ride around the city for two hours paid for. The fact is that in the city center the metro lines pass above the ground, at the height of the second or third floor, and it is very interesting to look out the train window at the Chicago architectural wonders that suddenly appear due to the next turn. The most interesting thing is to ride along the Chicago loop (loop, this is a type of Moscow ring branch, but formed by imposing several different branches on top of each other and, having made a half-ring along the loop, running in different directions from the city center), driving away from the loop for two or three station and again returning to the center.

Inspection of the architectural wonders of the city of Chicago, I would recommend starting with a visit to the observation deck on Skyscraper Willis Tower(former Siers-tower, address 233 South Walker Drive, Quincy Subway Station, www.the-skydeck.com, ticket price per adult 18 bucks).

Externally, the skyscraper looks like a bundle of several square pipes with a maximum height of 443 meters and 110 floors. The lower nine chimneys rise only to the fiftieth floor; then seven more pipes rise up to the 66th floor, five more - up to the 90th floor, and only the two highest form a 20-story "spire" of the tower. The whole design is entirely reminiscent of cigarettes, which were shaken out of the pack at different lengths. The Sears Tower skyscraper and its observation deck are very interesting and definitely worth a visit, but there is also a minus: the site is completely glazed and the glass is not washed there every day, so, unfortunately, high-quality photos of "Chicago from a bird's eye view" cannot be taken there. succeed. For this reason, visiting the observation deck on the Sears Tower is not as interesting as, for example, on Empire State Building And Top of the Rock in New York. The "highlights" of the observation Sears Tower include balconies with glass floors: you can look at the city, stretching directly below you.

Like many city monuments around the world, this one has its own “unofficial” name: since the “Flamingo” is located exactly in front of the Chicago Finance Department, the city residents call it “April 14 taxpayer” - in the United States this is the last day for filing tax returns.

Not far from the Flamingo is the following Chicago attraction: a brick skyscraper-"pioneer" Monadnock(Monadnock Building, www.monadnockbuilding.com, 53 W. Jackson Boulevard), built not on the basis of steel supporting structures, but built of brick in the old fashioned way, which is why the walls at the level of the first floors of the building have the thickness of fortress bastions:

Actually, it was Monadnock who revealed the whole inconsistency of "brick" technologies for high-rise housing construction, and after him, architects began to switch to the use of cast-iron and steel load-bearing structures in the construction of skyscrapers. However, for its time, namely for 1891, the 16-storey Monadnock, which was also equipped with a luxurious novelty - elevators - was a real architectural phenomenon. However, it remains so until now, as evidenced by the worldwide fame of the building and hundreds of companies competing for the opportunity to open their office in Monadnock.

Near Monadnock is located Harold Washington Library(Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State street), another undoubted attraction of the city of Chicago:

The building, although it was built in 1991, has the appearance of a medieval castle, decorated in the corners with figures of formidable mythical creatures, and accommodates one of the richest book collections in the world. Like the New York Public Library, the Washington Library offers nice bonus to all its visitors: free Wi-Fi - to connect, you just need to go inside.

I can't help mentioning Art Institute of Chicago(Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan avenue, www.artic.edu) - not least because I was taken there for free by a hostel neighbor, a museum lover from Canada. For him, as a member of some kind of museum association, the entrance for two people was free, but if you go without such useful acquaintances, then the entrance ticket will cost 23 bucks. In terms of content, the museum is quite interesting, there is an antique hall, there is a hall of Indian and other oriental artifacts, there is a hall of American art - both modern and not so (200 years by American standards is crazy antiquity, and the pre-Columbian era and the Mesozoic are practically the same Same).

Towering near the museum Stock Exchange Arch- one of the few surviving creations of the famous Chicagoan Louis Sullivan in the city. Most of his other works were safely demolished by ungrateful contemporaries, but they decided to move the arch to the park from the building intended for demolition.

North of the Art Institute, between downtown and Lake Michigan, lies another Chicago highlight: Millennium Park with his famous sculpture "Cloud Gate" (Cloud gate)- it looks like a huge polished metal bean, under which you can walk and admire your reflection:

Currently, Cloud Gate is Chicago's most recognizable and popular sculpture; According to popular opinion among the city's residents, its curved metal mirror surface reflects the soul of Chicago - people, skyscrapers, sunrises, sunsets, the waters of Lake Michigan and the famous Chicago wind.

View of Washington Street from Millennium Park:

Along the Chicago River is a skyscraper "center" of the city, which is very convenient to admire from the boardwalks on both banks. From my point of view, the Chicago Riverfront and the architectural masterpieces that surround them are some of Chicago's most photogenic sights:

There are also truly American brutal residential buildings in Chicago, whose appearance resurrects once seen Hollywood sagas such as Once Upon a Time in America:

Before my first trip to the USA, I imagined American cities from their films, exactly as in this photo. But this image has far from the most direct relation to reality - it's about the same as imagining St. Petersburg from the movie "Brother".

North of Washington Street, across the Chicago River, is another attraction: "Sea town" (Marina City Twin Towers, 300 North State street).

Despite the name, the two towers look more like inhabited corncobs. Each contains 450 apartments, and on the outside, parking spaces are arranged in a spiral, fenced with a steel cable. However, its presence is not a 100% guarantee of safety - during the operation of the towers since 1967, two cases of car falls into the river have been recorded.

West of Sea City is located Wrigley Tower (Wrigley Building, 400 North Michigan avenue, www.thewrigleybuilding.com) is one of the most striking and recognizable landmarks in the city of Chicago.

The head office of the world famous manufacturer of chewing gum is decorated with a clock tower, which is a copy of the Seville Giralda. Accurately opposite the Wrigley tower rises Tribune Tower, headquarters of the Chicago Tribune; Together, both of these buildings form the southern gate Magnificent Mile- the Chicago analogue of the Parisian Champs Elysees. Stones from the Beijing Forbidden City, St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, the London Parliament building and other famous places are built into the facade of the Tribune Tower.

Near the Wrigley and Tribune towers, the skyscraper of the eccentric American billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump soars skyward Trump Tower:

Chicago Landmarks: Magnificent Mile

It starts from the two-story drawbridge of Michigan Avenue and then stretches north, being the focus of giant shopping centers (for example, Virgin Megastore, Niketown, Bloomingdale's and the 74-story atrium of Walter Tower Palace - once the world's first shopping center with many department stores immersed in lush greenery), boutiques - for example, Walter Disney Boutique. By the way, Walt Disney himself was a Chicagoan of Irish origin. Those with a sweet tooth are unlikely to pass by Hershey's "chocolate" shopping center, where I highly recommend going on a full stomach. By the way, the founder of the "chocolate empire" Milton Hershey himself clearly did not abuse sweets or anything else, for he lived a rich and bright life and died at the age of 88.

From my personal point of view, the most interesting attraction on the Magic Mile in Chicago is John Hancock Center, or rather, not himself, but his observation deck, located on the 96th floor of a skyscraper (www.hancock-observatory.com) from where magnificent views of Chicago and Lake Michigan open.

The John Hancock Center itself is a somewhat gloomy tower tapering upwards, crowned with two tall antennas, giving the skyscraper a resemblance to Sauron's "All-Seeing Eye" from the adaptation of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".

There is a shopping center on the first floors of the building, you can get to the observation deck for 18 bucks. Her visit is not as interesting as in the Sears Tower (Willis-tower), because it is located significantly lower; besides, it is also glazed - except for the strange Sky passage, an unglazed passage 20 meters long between two parts of the glazed area. But even there, the lion's share of pleasure is ruined by a fine mesh, which closes the view of the city - so high-quality photos cannot be taken there either. From the feeling of "openness" - only a whistling wind. Pros: Great view of Lake Michigan.

Without a doubt, one of the main attractions of Chicago is lake michigan and a promenade on its shore:

Chicago Attractions - Old Town

Chicago " Old city» located northwest of downtown Hancock, accessible via the brown subway line. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the exact name of the station, but it’s three stops up from the loophole.

You can end your walk through Old Town Chicago by relaxing on a sandy beach and, if you wish, swimming in Lake Michigan (although no one was swimming there in early October - and I didn’t).

Chicago Attractions: The Blues

In the evening, I recommend to join the local "black" culture and go to one of the famous blues venues in the city of Chicago. My choice fell on a club owned by the Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy due to its proximity to my place of lodging for the night, the democratic price and the fact that I basically don’t understand the blues at all and went where it was closer from my hotel (Buddy Guy's Legend, South Wabash street 754, www.buddyguys.com).

The audience begins to move there around 6 pm, and the main concert starts after 9. If you come there before the concert, the entrance will be free (in this case, the security guard will take money from you before the start of the action, 10-15 bucks depending on the stardom of the speakers). Until the blues stars appear on the stage, the audience is entertained by one of the young.

In addition to Buddy Guy's establishment, connoisseurs recommend visiting the Green Mill (Green Mills, North Broadway avenue 4802, www.greenmilljazz.com) - in addition to high-quality music, this institution is famous for the fact that Al Capone, a man who through the efforts of Hollywood made for popularization of the brand "Chicago" no less than all city architects.

You can also visit Kingstone Mines (“Kingston Mines”, North Halsted street 2548) - one of the oldest blues clubs in Chicago. This place is always sold out, but the most famous performers play on Saturdays and their concerts often end early Sunday morning. Across the street from the Mines is its more modest and cozy counterpart - the B.L.U.E.S.

In addition to architecture, the city of Chicago is known for its distinctive cuisine - from stuffed pizza (that is, American-style pizza with rich toppings on thick dough) to steaks. Judging by the abundance of people, it is customary to eat pizza at the Giordano’s pizzeria chain - I was there too, but left hungry. As it turns out, they don't serve pizza in slices, only whole pizzas, and I can't eat a whole Chicago pizza alone. True, I heard that there you can order some kind of pan-pizza of a very modest size, but the waiter did not understand me on this subject - or pretended not to understand. In short, I had to eat my pizza at a not-so-hyped eatery around the corner, where they cut pizza as you ask, and the prices are much lower.

And finally, the weather in Chicago at the end of September was wonderful (especially in comparison with zero degrees and the first snow in Moscow at the same time), about plus 25, the sun shone every day. But there is a nuance: in America, the city of Chicago is called Windy city - “city of winds”, and this is true. The wind there can be very serious and it blows for a long time, so a thick windbreaker can be very useful.

Airports in Chicago

Chicago's main airports include O'Hare International Airport

And Midway International Airport. They are interconnected by the CTA subway line and bus routes.

How to get from Chicago O'Hare Airport to the city: by metro (blue line) - a one-way ticket costs 5 bucks; in the opposite direction - for some reason $ 2.25; travel time approximately 45 minutes. A 3-day Chicago subway ticket costs $20 plus a $5 deposit for issuing a new magnetic card, which you supposedly will then be returned to some account, but for this you need to either register on the site transport company, or call them - I did not bother with this. Credit cards of Russian banks (or the Russian branch of the American Citibank, as in my case) are not accepted by the ticket vending machine, and there is no live seller in principle. Moreover, the machine does not dispense change from bills, so you need to have exactly the amount that is required to buy a ticket. I had to go back to the airport and buy a bottle of water for 3 bucks to change the 20 dollar bill and give the machine exactly 5 bucks for a ticket to the city and not give my change to the Chicago subway. In general, during my travels in the United States, I often came across this unpleasant nuance of advanced American technology - automated points of sale of something categorically do not accept foreign bank cards for payment, be it Sberbank or the Russian division of Citibank (it is Citibank LLC and formally unrelated to the parent bank in the US). If you try to pay in a store / hotel / restaurant - everything is OK, but as soon as I tried to pay at the machine for renting a bike / metro ticket / at a gas station for gasoline - a refusal followed. I had to pay for gasoline only in cash, fortunately in the States there is still such an opportunity (unlike, for example, Norway).

It is advisable to arrive at the O'Hare airport in advance, since Americans have serious queues for personal searches at airports - for example, I stood in line there for about 50 minutes. By the way, unlike the flight from New York by Spirit airline, on the Chicago flight - San Francisco by United, no one got to the bottom of my rucksack on wheels (which I usually pass off as "hand luggage" to save on flights), and I was able to take it into the cabin at no additional cost. But, however, this time I kept all the “conspiracy” - I closed the wheels in advance, removed the handle, took out the straps and put it on my shoulders, turning the suitcase into a backpack.

From Midway International Airport, which is closer to downtown Chicago than O'Hare, you can get to the city on the orange subway line in about half an hour. If you wish, you can go from both of these airports to downtown Chicago by taxi, such a trip will take from half an hour to an hour and a half from O'Hare and from 15 minutes to half an hour from Midway (depending on traffic).

There are two other airports in Chicago: Gary Chicago airport And Chicago Rockford airport, but none of them currently operate flights from New York.

How to get to Chicago from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities

You can get to Chicago by air with transfers in Europe or America itself. From Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, Aeroflot or Delta Airlines flights can fly to New York (JFK airport), and from there you can go to Chicago (flights are operated by American Airlines, Delta, Northwest Airlines or Continental Airlines, departure airports JFK or La Guardia) . You can fly to Chicago from Moscow by planes of many European airlines, flights in this case will also be connecting, for example, Swiss via Zurich or KLM and Northwest Airlines via Amsterdam. It is usually cheapest to fly to Chicago from St. Petersburg with a KLM flight with a 16-hour flight in Amsterdam, or an Italian Alitalia flight with a 15-hour layover in Milan. You can get from Yekaterinburg to Chicago with a change in London, flights of British Airways and American Airlines. A flight with the Czech airline CSA may turn out to be somewhat cheaper, but in this case you need to be prepared for two transfers: in Prague and New York; you can also go to Chicago via Moscow. German Lufthansa flies from Kazan, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa and Perm to Chicago with one change.

How to get from New York to Chicago by plane

The duration of the flight from New York to Chicago is about two and a half hours. The destination is very popular and many American airlines operate on it, such as United, Continental, American Airlines, Delta, US Airways and some others. average price tickets from these carriers are $120-150, but there are often discounts and promotions, plus it is possible to buy a ticket from a low-cost airline, such as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue or Spirit Airlines. For example, I flew from New York to Chicago with Spirit Airlines for $50.

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How to get from New York to Chicago by train

Passenger rail transportation between New York and Chicago (as well as between other US cities) is handled by Amtrak. From New York, trains depart from Pennsylvania Station (aka Penn Station), in Chicago they arrive at Union Station, both stations are located in city centers, which adds advantages in favor of choosing to travel by train.

The trip from New York to Chicago by train will take about twenty hours and the ticket price will vary from 85 to 600 US dollars (depending on the ticket category and comfort). There is only one direct train between New York and Chicago: The Lake Shore Limited. It leaves New York in the afternoon and arrives in Chicago the next morning. From Chicago to New York, he leaves in the evening and arrives in the morning of the next day. You can also travel along this route with a change in Washington or Pittsburgh, more information about trains running through these cities can be found on the website www.amtrak.com.

How to get from New York to Chicago by bus

Traveling from New York to Chicago by bus will take from 19 to 22 hours. Of the major bus companies, this direction is served by the Greyhound carrier, the minimum ticket price on its website will be $44 one way.

How to get from New York to Chicago by car

Traveling by car is a truly American way of getting to know the country. New York and Chicago are separated by 1270 kilometers (about 790 miles), the Interstate 80 freeway is laid between the two cities, the journey will take about 14-15 hours, depending on the speed of driving and the number and duration of stops along the way. When calculating the budget for such a trip, I recommend keeping in mind that Interstate 80 includes several toll sections in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Tours of Chicago from locals

You can explore the industrial capital of America both on your own and with an organized Russian-speaking tour. Your guides will be local residents - photographers, journalists, historians - who are in love with their city and know almost everything about it. You can find a list of all available Chicago tours in the table below.

At the booking stage, you will need to pay 20% of the cost of the tour - the rest is given to the guide before it starts.

Life hack: how I save on hotels and insurance

In addition to traditional and well-known tools such as Booking or Hotellook, Lately new online services have appeared that greatly facilitate the life of the traveler and pleasantly protect the thickness of his wallet. One of them - roomguru I use it all the time and recommend it to all my friends and family. This service compares prices for an object in 30 booking systems at once, and offers you the most interesting options. In addition, it tracks discounts and special offers.

As for a good working travel insurance, it was not easy to find it before, but now it has become even more difficult due to the constant fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate against world currencies. For the past few years, I have been taking out insurance for my travels through the online service www.facebook.com/website, Google+ www.google.com/site And In contact with vk.com/site , and also subscribe to site updates by mail to follow the release of new articles about independent travel around the world.

Bright impressions from the sights of Chicago, one of the most colorful cities in the USA!
Your Roman Mironenko