Chicago: Tips for Affordable Family Fun

Nearly every visitor to Chicago ends up at Navy Pier at some point.

It is the No. 1 tourist attraction in the Midwest and it’s worth a look. The former site of a Navy training facility had become a lakefront eyesore before the early 1990s when it was resurrected and turned into a tourist magnet. Today, Navy Pier is home to the wonderful Chicago Children’s Museum, has plenty of terrific restaurants and lots to do, including boat rides, theaters and a towering Ferris wheel.

Do it all and you’ll end up broke. Fear not. Your Chicago visit doesn’t have to end just because you spent your last dime at the Pier. There are plenty of ways to have fun in Chicago for free.

Museum Campus

Start at the Museum Campus, home to the venerable Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium and my kids' favorite, the Field Museum of Natural History, home to Sue, the giant T-Rex, and several of her dinosaur pals. If it’s a Monday from September through February, or a Tuesday October through February, enjoy the museums for free. If not, take in the view of the harbor and start walking north.

• Sue, the T-Rex, overlooks the hall at the Field Museum.
• Yo Hibino

Just ahead you’ll see one of Chicago’s treasures: Buckingham Fountain. This masterpiece, built by philanthropist Kate Buckingham to honor her brother, Clarence, operates from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. from mid-April through mid-October, or longer if the weather cooperates. Each hour, the water dances for 20 minutes, shooting a geyser 150 feet into the air. Beginning at dusk, the display includes a spectacular light show.

This is a favorite of locals, and not just because Kate was forward-thinking enough to give the fountain to the people of Chicago along with a $300,000 trust fund that keeps it operating without burdening taxpayers. We make the pilgrimage at least one evening each year. My husband I set up our folding chairs and uncork a bottle of wine and laugh at the kids as they run around the fountain, trying to dodge the spray as the winds off Lake Michigan scatter the water. Or maybe they’re trying to get wet. I have never been sure.

Millennium Park

After you have had enough dancing water, continue walking north toward Chicago’s newest attraction and the crown jewel of the lakefront: Millennium Park. This park, built over what had been unsightly railroad tracks, caused public consternation for its cost overruns and clout-connected builders, but no one complains any more. It is the best thing that has happened to the city since, well, Navy Pier was reclaimed from its ruins. And this one is even better because it’s all free, from the concerts to the clowning to yet another fountain.