Chicago's Museum Overview

Soar the galaxy. View a 67-million-year-old T. rex. Surf Caribbean reefs. Climb into a genuine World War I submarine. Explore galleries of paintings, drawings and photography. Chicago is stocked with culturally diverse treasures - some of the finest museums and art galleries in the world! Here are a few tempting pearls:

The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum is the only museum in the world with two full-size planetarium theaters. Don’t miss the Shoot for the Moon exhibit that begins with a journey with Jim Lovell and features the fully-restored Gemini 12 Spacecraft and the Lovell Collection of personal space artifacts.

A cultural gem boasting the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-impressionist works outside of the Louvre in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago provides visitors with an extensive permanent collection of paintings, drawings, photography and textiles.

Discover Sue, the largest and most complete T. rex ever found at the Field Museum. Take an awe-inspiring trek through 4 billion years of life on Earth in Evolving Planet. Discover what Field Museum and others have learned about the Americans who lived here before us in The Ancient Americas, and how it’s changing everything we thought we knew.

The Museum of Contemporary Art showcases today’s most innovative and exciting artists, highlighting outstanding examples of visual art from 1945 to the present with a strong focus on surrealism, minimalism, and conceptual photography.

The largest science museum in the Western hemisphere, the Museum of Science and Industry offers entertainment for all ages - more than 800 interactive exhibits to touch, create and explore including the U-505 submarine, a working coal mine and a real Boeing 727 airplane.

From beluga whales to frolicking sea otters, and lively penguins to exotic fish, the Shedd Aquarium has more than 22,000 aquatic animals. In the Wild Reef exhibit, only five inches of glass separates you from more than two dozen sharks. And visit the 4-D Special FX theater and watch the Sponge Bob Square Pants movie where you will literally be tickled with bubbles, wind, and other surprises.