Best Tourist Attractions Nearby Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois
Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Sawyer Bengtson on Unsplash

A visit to the Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois, can easily be a full-day activity. However, if you don’t want to put all your eggs into one basket, you will be happy to know that there are plenty of other things to do nearby. So, if at any time during the Navy Pier tour you feel like you are ready to move on, check out one of these tourist attractions.

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago, considered one of the oldest art museums in the world, is one of those places everyone should visit while in Chicago. It has more than 300,000 artworks in its permanent collection, including paintings by iconic artists like Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, Paul Cézanne, and Grant Wood. The museum also houses the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, considered one of the largest libraries dedicated to art history and architecture.

Millennium Park

Millennium Park is the most visited tourist attraction in Chicago. The park is popular thanks to its public art, which includes the famous sculpture Cloud Gate Anish Kapoor, and a number of other points of interest like Lurie Garden, McCormick Tribune Plaza, and Harris Theater.

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum celebrates the Gilded Age of American history with a focus on architecture, art, and design. The museum is housed in a mansion built for wealthy banker Samuel Nickerson and features a number of original furniture and decorations that belonged to the owner as well as other objects from the era.