Chicago (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Includes: the North Side, the Downtown Core, South Loop, Near South Side, South Side, and to parts further outside the city.
Great book for sightseeing. It is very well organized and easy to read. It does not overwhelm with information, which is something I love. It gives you just the right amount of details to get a feel for what you are seeing. The color-coded sections are a great idea.

As with any guidebook, there will be questions about why certain sights were mentioned, certain hotels selected, certain restaurants singled out, etc. But that is a part of development of any guidebook. Choices must be made.

The first part of the book provides background context on Chicago–from four suggested tours of Chicago to a brief history of the place and other introductory information. On pages 21-25 are some bold selections. On Page 21, the top ten tourist attractions (I'm not sure that these would be my Top 10, but some are no brainers, such as the Art Institute, the Magnificent Mile, the Field Museum, and so on). Pages 22-23 feature the best museums in the city–and the choice is pretty reasonable.

One of the standard features of any guidebook for a city is a consideration of the different areas within the city. Here, I'll just mention a couple.

One, the downtown core, including the Loop (defined by a loop in the elevated train tracks). There are some great buildings and museums here–the Art Institute (both a great piece of architecture and a stunning museum), the old Marshall Field's flagship store (now Macy's; it's still hard to refer to the place as Macy's!), Sears Tower, Auditorium Building, and Millennium Park. Places to stay? I love the old classic Palmer House. I also enjoy staying at the Hyatt Regency (its restaurant, Stetson's is also worth mentioning, although it's not listed in this guide). Some grand ones. I always enjoyed Miller's Pub, with its fine baby-back ribs. And walk out toward the Lakefront from here and enjoy the view.

Two, the North Side. Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building are wonderful. Want to shop till you drop? Check out the Magnificent Mile; in the process go up to the observation deck of the Hancock Building. I'm nervous about heights and get conniptions, but I can survive because of the splendid view! Some fine steak houses are located here–the well known Morton's and a Don Shula.

There is also a valuable guide as to where to go for antiques, art and art supplies, books, gifts and souvenirs, sporting goods, and so on.