360 Chicago (the Old John Hancock Observatory)

Chicagoans still call it the Hancock, but the black, X-braced tower at the north end of the Magnificent Mile hasn't carried that name since 2018, when John Hancock asked for its name and logos to come off the building. It's now 875 North Michigan Avenue, and the observatory on the 94th floor has been 360 CHICAGO since 2014. If you're looking for the John Hancock Observatory, this is it.

When this page first went up, our advice was to skip the observatory and ride up to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor, where the price of a cocktail bought you the same view. That trick is gone. The Signature Room restaurant and its lounge closed in September 2023, and 360 CHICAGO bought the 95th and 96th floors the following June. Plans announced in 2025 would fold that space into the observation deck, but for now the only way up for a visitor is a ticket to the 94th floor. (The lounge's women's restroom, with its floor-to-ceiling window straight down to Michigan Avenue, was one of the city's odder attractions. It went with the rest.)

The building

The tower was finished in 1969, and when it topped out it was the second-tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building. It's 100 stories and about 1,500 feet to the tips of its antennas, which now makes it the fifth-tallest in Chicago and the fourteenth-tallest in the US. Offices fill the lower floors and apartments start above the 44th-floor sky lobby.

Look up from the sidewalk and the thing you'll notice is the steel X-bracing on the outside. Architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill used the exterior frame to carry the wind loads, which kept columns out of the way inside and let the building reach a record height. It's one of the best-known examples of what gets called structural expressionism, and it still looks tougher than most of what's gone up around it. The same pair designed the Sears Tower a few years later.

What you get on the 94th floor

The deck sits 1,030 feet up. The express elevators get you there in about 40 seconds at 20 miles an hour, and your ears will tell you about it. Up top, the view runs a full circle, and on a clear day 360 says you can see four states.

What makes it better than Skydeck, to my mind, is where it is. The Hancock stands a few blocks from the lake, so you look straight down on Oak Street Beach and the curve of Lake Shore Drive heading north, with the Loop's towers stacked up to the south. There's also a screened open-air section where you can feel the wind, which is rarer than it should be on a skyscraper.

• TILT is the add-on ride. You grab a handrail, and a section of floor-to-ceiling glass tips you and up to seven other people outward to 30 degrees over Michigan Avenue. It lasts about two minutes, and riders have to be at least 42 inches tall.
• CloudBar is on the north side of the deck. Every ticket gets you in, there's no drink minimum and no dress code, and the cocktails are named after Chicago neighborhoods. You can carry your drink around the deck. It isn't the Signature Lounge, but it does mean you still get that drink with a view.

Most people spend 45 minutes to an hour up there, and there's no time limit.

Tickets

Every ticket is for a timed entry, and you need to join the line within 30 minutes of the time you picked. General admission is from $30 for adults and $20 for kids online, and walk-up prices start at $35 for adults, so buy ahead. TILT packages start at $45 for adults and $35 for kids. There's also a Sip & View ticket from $44 that includes one item from the bar menu. Prices move with the date and time. Tickets are non-refundable unless you paid for Fast Pass, and 360 won't refund you for fog, so check the sky before you book. It's also part of Chicago CityPASS.

360's own advice for missing the crowds is to go between noon and 2pm. Sunset slots are the busiest, and they suggest booking an hour before sunset so you're up top in time. In summer, the deck also sells tickets for the Wednesday and Saturday Navy Pier fireworks, which you watch from 94 floors up.

Hours and getting there

Hours: Daily 9am to 11pm, with last entry an hour before closing.

Where: 875 N. Michigan Ave., between Chestnut Street and Delaware Place. The entrance to 360 is on the concourse level, reached from the Michigan Avenue side. If you need the step-free route, use the Delaware Place entrance and take the elevator down.

Getting there: The Red Line's Chicago stop at State and Chicago is about a 10-minute walk. The #146, #147 and #151 buses stop at Michigan and Delaware or Michigan and Chestnut, two minutes from the door. Normal backpacks are fine, but there are no lockers, so leave your luggage at the hotel.

Our attractions page compares the two decks, and Willis Tower Skydeck covers the other one. The building sits in the middle of the Gold Coast, the Magnificent Mile and Streeterville if you want to keep walking afterward.