Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
50
Value
Insider Tours—for Free!
Want your kids to see the city from a native's point of view?
Chicago Greeter,
a
program run by the Chicago Office of Tourism, matches tourists with local Chica-
goans who serve as volunteer guides. Visitors can request a specific neighbor-
hood or theme (everything from Polish heritage sites to Chicago movie
locations), and a greeter gives a free 2- to 4-hour tour. (Greeters won't escort
groups of more than six people.) Kids of all ages are welcome (bringing new-
borns on the tours, however, is discouraged). When you call, please specify that
you will be using a stroller so that your guide can plan accordingly for accessing
public transportation. Chicago Greeter offers a special “Kids Activities” tour that
includes Navy Pier. Other popular family tours include Lincoln Park Zoo and the
Shedd Aquarium (see the website or call for details). Specific requests for these
kid-friendly tours should be made at least a w eek in advance, but “InstaGreeters”
are also available on a first-come, first-served basis, for 60-minute walking visits,
at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., from 10am to 4pm Friday
through Sunday. For details, call
&
312/744-8000
or visit www.chicagogreeter.
com. Millennium Park Greeter service originates from the Millennium Park Wel-
come Center (201 E. Randolph St.) and offers a free walking tour of the 24.5-acre
park.
2
Another free weekly,
New City
(
&
312/
243-8786;
www .newcitychicago.com),
also publishes ex cellent compr ehensive
listings of enter tainment options. A ppeal-
ing to a slightly younger audience than the
Reader,
New C ity
has an editorial tone
tending to ward the edgy and irr everent.
Published ev ery Wednesday, it 's av ailable
in the same neighborhoods and locations
as the
Reader.
Most Chicago hotels stock their r ooms
or lobbies with at least one informational
magazine, such as
Where Chicago,
that lists
the city 's enter tainment, shopping, and
dining locales.
CITY LAYOUT
The
Chicago River
forms a Y that divides
the city into its thr ee geographic z ones:
North S ide, S outh S ide, and West S ide
(Lake M ichigan is wher e the East S ide
would be). The do wntown financial dis-
trict is called
the Loop.
The city 's key
shopping str eet is
North M ichigan Ave-
nue,
also known as the
Magnificent Mile
Chicago
magazine is an upscale monthly
with good r estaurant listings. E ven better
for short-term visitors is the w eekly maga-
zine
Time O ut Chicago ,
which lists just
about ev erything going on ar ound to wn
during the week, from art openings to the-
ater per formances. For a look at the city 's
beautiful people, pick up
CS
(formerly
Chicago Social
), a glossy monthly magazine
filled with photos fr om charity galas and
ads for high-priced local boutiques.
In a class by itself is the
Chicago Reader
(
&
312/828-0350;
www .chicagoreader.
com), a fr ee w eekly that is an inv aluable
source of enter tainment listings, classi-
fieds, and w ell-written ar ticles on con-
temporary issues of inter est in Chicago .
Published every Thursday (except the last
week of D ec), the w eekly has a wide
distribution downtown and on the N orth
Side; it is av ailable in many r etail stor es,
in building lobbies, and at the paper 's
offices, 11 E. I llinois St., b y about noon
on Thursday.
