Learn about the Field Museum's latest news and programs on its website. For Illinois residents, admission is $24 for adults, $21 for seniors and students, and $17 for children, and each ticket is $2 more for out-of-state visitors. The museum also offers free days for Illinois residents throughout the year, and active military personnel and Illinois teachers can enjoy free admission at any time. The Chicago Children's Museum offers fun for the entire family, including all kinds of interactive exhibits that children love. They can make works of art, build skyscrapers, play in a treehouse, and even dig for dinosaurs.
Kids Town, where young children can learn through problem-solving and creative exploration in a kid-sized town, is an especially popular exhibit. The museum also has STEM, literacy, arts, diversity, and health programs for children and teens. Children under 3, K-12 teachers, and active-duty military are always free. Illinois residents are admitted free select free days throughout the year.
The Adler also participates in Museums For All, where any family that qualifies for state food assistance and has an EBT card may receive entry for up to eight people at $1 per guest. An ape house, a birdhouse and a working model of a five-acre Midwestern farm are just a few examples of what makes this zoo special. Founded in 1868 and known as America's oldest free public zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo still manages to charge no admission and remains open year-round. Set on scenic park grounds with lush lawns and pleasant walkways, the zoo greets visitors with the beauty of Georgian Revival buildings and a spectacular greenhouse.
The Zoo is open 365 days a year and constantly hosts events and activities. Check the website for announcements on newborns - always a treat. When you see the price of admission to museums you'll be glad to know that most of our world-class museums offer free days - so check the web sites and plan your visit accordingly. Then, there are those that are always free such as the National Museum of Mexican Art (reopens Sept., 2021) and the Smart Museum of Art.
Ice skating is free during the winter at Millennium Park and the Riverwalk just keeps on getting better with art installations, live music and nooks to hang out and watch the world go by. Whether you're visiting the city for the first time or you're a local looking for something to do on your day off, Chicago museums are can't-miss destinations. You'll find world-class institutions throughout the city, including collections devoted to contemporary art, natural history and science that are among Chicago's best attractions. Chicago's museums are world-class, but all those bones, weather simulators and rides in Chicago's first El train car don't come cheap. Throw in parking, special exhibits and the gift shop, and it adds up fast.
But in the philanthropic spirit of our fine city, most museums offer free admission for Illinois residents on certain days. Here's a complete calendar for the next few months for free museum days. If you previously reserved tickets and parking for your zoo visit, you are welcome to enter the zoo at any time during that day.
PLEASE NOTE THAT MASKS REMAIN REQUIRED INSIDE ALL BUILDINGS AT THE ZOO. If you're looking for a traditional museum experience, check out theField Museum, one of the largest museums of natural history in the world. It features almost 500,000 square feet of exhibition space, so don't expect to see everything in one visit. Explore its extensive collection of mummy artifacts, Native American pottery, dinosaur bones, and traveling exhibits. When you first enter the museum, you'll be greeted by a giant titanosaur skeleton named Máximo. American Blues Theater salutes US military personnel, first-responders, their spouses, children, and US veterans.
American Blues has a long-standing commitment to military personnel, first-responders, and veterans in our community, and we welcome you to our theater. We offer a number of discounts throughout our season for military personnel and their immediate families. Qualified individuals, including first-responders such as police, EMT, and firemen, will receive significant savings.
Many museums also offer free or discounted tickets to low-income families as part of the national Museums for All initiative. All you need to be eligible for the discount is an EBT card and your ID. Admission is $3 or less for up to four people per EBT card. No, it's not the University of Chicago waving its intellect at the rest of us , but rather this Hyde Park museum is named for brothers David and Alfred Smart, the original publishers of Esquire magazine. It just semantic serendipity that there are many very smart exhibits and programs at the free entry cultural institution. With over 15,000 objects, spanning five millennia of both Western and Eastern civilizations, Smart Museum also welcomes fantastic traveling exhibitions.
Expect hands-on art-making programs for families and thought-provoking lectures and symposia for adults, too. Visit when the weather is cooperative and enjoy the outdoor sculpture garden featuring work by Scott Burton, Richard Hunt, and Arnaldo Pomodoro. No visit to Chicago is complete without a photo at Cloud Gate, aka The Bean, an undulating, shiny lump of cheer. Located at Millennium Park, the park also features free live music just east of the park at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion during the summer months.
Across the street, the Chicago Cultural Center always programs free cutting edge art exhibitions and concerts. Do you ever wonder how a butterfly gets its colors? Do you wonder how birds know where to migrate each year?
Plus, many of the "grown-up" museums let kids in for free year-round, such as the Art Institute of Chicago. And most of the big institutions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and the Field Museum, host popular free days just for Illinois residents throughout the year. Go further beyond downtown to find the only national museum focused on Puerto Rican arts and culture. Three galleries have been carved out of a landmark 1895 building, once a stable that held horses, wagons, and landscaping tools. It's a fitting home given the history of this culturally-rich area on Chicago's West Side.
Humboldt Park — both the name of the surrounding neighborhood and the park space it encompasses — embraces its Puerto Rican community and offers a lot to visitors. Save time to try authentic dishes along Division Street and find even more art along the many outdoor murals. Members must present their active membership card featuring the ASTC logo and valid photo ID at the Adler box office to receive this discount. As part of the Museums for All initiative, we offer discounted admission to all families who qualify for state food assistance. Show an EBT or WIC card to receive $3-per-person admission for up to six people. This aquarium is one of the most popular family attractions in Chicago, and they offer free admission for Illinois residents on certain days each month.
The Art Institute of Chicago, home to the Thorne Miniature Rooms (a permanent collection that's very popular with kids), offers free admission to anyone under the age of 14. There are lot of fun things to do with kids at the Art Institute of Chicago. The American Writers Museum is one of the newest museums in the city. Since its opening in 2017, it has quickly become one of Chicago's finest institutions. Literary fans can learn the history of their favorite American writers, such as Sylvia Plath, Ida B. Wells, and Kurt Vonnegut.
You're even encouraged to type on the collection of typewriters, making this a great museum if you enjoy a more hands-on experience. When you want a touch of culture during your visit to Chicago, stop by the Museum of Contemporary Photography. This art museum features six photography shows each year, and you can easily get through everything in a couple of hours. You may see noteworthy work from emerging artists or breathtaking archives from the museum's own collection. Expect to see work by world-famous photographers, such as Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, and Marina Abramovic.
The museum's goal is to help people understand the artistic, cultural, and political roles of photography. Read detailed descriptions of all ofthe museum's exhibitsonline. Admission is $19 for adults and children and free for children under one, though Chicagoland residents get a $3 discount. Tickets are also discounted every Thursday from 4-8 p.m.
For Play Late Thursdays, and admission is free for kids 15 and under on the first Sunday of each month. All active duty personnel are honorary members who enjoy a 1-hour new client massage session for $59 and $69 per hour thereafter. Please mention the military discount when you call and present a valid ID upon check in. Chicago is known for its world-class museums, but a day out at one of them with the family can be a budget-buster. Happily, Illinois residents can gain free basic entry at the best museums on select days throughout the year. Chicago residents can check out free museum passes from the Chicago Public Library.
You should also know that free admission days are usually more crowded than usual, so prepare accordingly. Some museums allow you to reserve your free day ticket online. Be sure to check before you go as you could save yourself some time waiting in lines. As wonderful as these exhibits are, seeing all of them can be pricey. General admission tickets can cost as much as $40 per person at some museums.
However, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy all the amazing exhibits Chicago has to offer. Many of the city's museums have free admission days during which tickets are free to IL residents. There are also many museums that are free to attend all year long! Here is how to see the world's wonders for free right here in Chicago.
Visitors must provide proof of residency, and may have to purchase additional tickets for special exhibits. Here are Chicago's free museum admission days for February. We are also happy to offer discounted admission to Illinois teachers, active military members, and more. We bought the CityPass for our trip after realizing it would offer discounted tickets to almost all the attractions we wanted to see.
The fast-pass parts for the 360 Deck and Shedd were well worth it (the other attractions we saw weren't busy enough at the time to make a difference). We liked the added items at the museum aquarium, but they weren't anything that would sway us to want the CityPass. Highly recommend if you plan on doing more than 2 attractions in the city. Illinois residents can enjoy free admissions to this Chicago museum every Wednesday from 5 – 8 pm. Overall, children under 14, Chicago teens under 18, and Active duty military along with their family are given free access any day!
Throw in cheap parking and you've got yourself a day to remember. Free admission to the Art Institute of Chicago is available to current Illinois educators, including pre-K? 12 teachers, teaching artists working in schools and homeschool parents. Educators can register online to receive a voucher for a complimentary ticket to the museum.
Many Chicago area museums offer FREE days for families! Please note that special exhibits and features may not be included in the free general admission. And check back as more free days are added for this year. Active duty military and their families, veterans, teachers and educators, and LINK or WIC cardholders can also get free or discounted admission at many of these museums, too. Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit cardholders receive free general admission to the museum on the first full weekend of each month by showing a valid photo ID with matching name.
Ticketed exhibitions and activities are not included and must be purchased separately. Free admission is available to current Illinois educators, including pre-K–12 teachers, teaching artists working in schools, and homeschool parents. This voucher must be presented—as a printed document or on a smartphone—with a valid educator ID at one of the museum's admission counters. Learn more about requesting complimentary educator admission.
As part of Museums for All, LINK and WIC cardholders and anyone in their households receive free general admission to the museum and all ticketed special exhibitions. Simply present your card along with a valid photo ID. However, many museums also offer discounts or freebies for veterans, as well as teachers. Some are part of the Museums for All program, for those who have valid EBT or WIC cards; many offer admission for $3 up to six family members. Northwestern University's art museum offers free admission and parking daily. Reservations, available every fifteen minutes, are required for your visit.
In order to give as many visitors as possible an opportunity to enjoy the OI Museum, all visits are limited to one hour. Free admission daily with a suggested donation of $10 adult and $5 child. Some of the museums allow for free visits for homeschool groups. Some of those field trips may have minimum participants, maximum chaperones, restrictions on days or hours of admission.
Some of the museums have additional resources available to teachers and educators, such as borrowing materials, classes, and study guides. Entry to Navy Pier is free, and it hosts many free special events, including live music performances. So it's a nice family-friendly place to take a scenic stroll. The pier juts out into Lake Michigan and offers some of the city's best Chicago skyline views (especially from the Ferris wheel, which is $13-$16 per person). The city of Chicago offers free neighborhood tours, done by local residents. Photo courtesy of Adam Alexander Photography/Choose ChicagoLearn from a local!
Take one of the free neighborhood walking tours from Chicago Greeters, which has 24 different tours in 10 languages. The tours will let you sample ethnic foods in Chinatown, see the party atmosphere around Wrigley Field or just learn about cool stuff in downtown Chicago. You MUST register 10 days in advance for these tours, and you are expected to give the guide a tip. Not valid for special events, group tours or programs, and cannot be combined with other offers.
People of all ages can learn a thing or two during their visit to the Museum of Science and Industry. This interactive museum features exhibits about energy, weather, transportation, space, farming, genetics, and so much more. Young visitors especially enjoy creating their own manufacturing designs at the Wanger Family Fab Lab.
You can also get a first-hand look at history when you walk through the U-505 German submarine. 50% for active duty military who show their ID to the cashier. Retired members, military reservists, and National Guard receive $10 off after presenting a valid military ID. Discount to active-duty military personnel and Chicago police officersand firefighters.
