East of the Art Institute toward Lake Michigan, Grant Park provides a welcome but not entirely complete break from the downtown urban grid - wide strips of high-speed road and railroad slice through it, so casual rambling can be frustrating. The northern half of the park centers on the immense Buckingham Fountain , which features daily light and water shows from dusk to 11pm. The whole two-hundred-acre swath is sprinkled with sculptures and monuments, from a moping Columbus to a proud Plains Indian on horseback. Nearly every weekend in summer sees a musical festival (be it gospel, blues, country, jazz or classical) held in the area around the Petrillo Music Shell, just behind the Art Institute. The Taste of Chicago in early July attracts more than two million people to a week-long feeding frenzy, garnished with concerts and other live entertainment ( ).

The major attractions are gathered in the newly landscaped southern half of Grant Park, known as Museum Campus . The extensive and engaging Field Museum of Natural History , 1200 S Lake Shore Drive at Roosevelt Road (daily 9am-5pm; $8, free Wed; ), is ten minutes' walk south of the Art Institute, in a huge marble-clad, Daniel Burnham-designed Greek temple. "Natural history" here includes anything non-white and non-European: the collection ranges from Egyptian tombs - the entire burial chamber of the son of a Fifth Dynasty Pharaoh was brought here in 1908 - to the man-eating lions of Tsavo. Folklorists in an earthen lodge in the Native American section tell myths and legends - intended for young kids but not overly sentimental or simple-minded. Also kid-oriented is "Underground Adventure," a simulated environment that "shrinks" you to 1/100th your size, giving you an entirely new perspective on the soil.

Just across busy Lake Shore Drive, on the shores of Lake Michigan, the Shedd Aquarium (summer daily 9am-6pm, rest of year Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-6pm; $15, $7 on Mon, when Aquarium section only is free; ) proclaims itself the largest indoor aquarium in the world. The 1930s structure is rather old-fashioned, but the lighthearted and often tongue-in-cheek displays - some use Far Side cartoons - are informative and entertaining. The central exhibit, a 90,000-gallon re-creation of a coral reef complete with sharks (who get fed at 11am and 2pm daily), turtles and thousands of tropical fish, is surrounded by more than a hundred lesser tanks. Highlights include the sluggish and comical South American freckled sideneck turtles, housed across from a 4ft, 250lb alligator snapping turtle, who trundles to the surface to breathe every half-hour. The Oceanarium provides an enormous contrast, with its modern lake-view home for marine mammals such as Pacific dolphins and beluga whales. Designed to replicate a rocky Alaskan coastline, it's a carefully disguised amphitheater for such demonstrations of the animals' "natural behavior" as jumping out of the water and fetching plastic rings. Performances are four times daily and you need a ticket. At other times watch from underwater galleries as the animals cruise around the tank, and listen to the clicks, beeps and whistles they use to communicate with each other. Get to the Shedd early to beat the long lines and school groups.

In summer, Shoreline Marine Sightseeing ($9; tel 312/222-9328, ) runs hour-long cruises along the lakeshore from a jetty just north of the Aquarium. Nearby, the expanded and renovated Adler Planetarium (daily 9am-4:30pm, 1st Fri of month 9:30am-10pm; $10-15 determined by exhibits entered, free Tues; ) has added an interactive 360-degree movie theater; and offers one of the best views of the city skyline. The small Meigs Field Airport is just to the south, so don't be surprised if low-flying planes seem about to crash into the lake.

Grant Park

• Grant Park

Illinois cities


All U.S. city guides