Museums in Chicago

Chicago's museums are the best reason to give the city more than a weekend. There's an art museum with Seurat, Hopper and Grant Wood on the walls, a natural history museum with the most famous T. rex anywhere, an aquarium, a planetarium and a science museum with a real German submarine inside. Three of them share the Museum Campus on the lakefront at the south end of Grant Park, and a few of the best are free every day.

They've also gotten expensive. Adult admission at the big ones now runs $25 to $55, and several use date-based pricing, so a summer Saturday costs more than a February Tuesday. Prices below are as of September 2026 and come from each museum's official site unless noted. Check before you go.

Cutting the cost

Most of the big museums give Illinois residents free days, and Chicago residents get money off every day. The dates move around, so we keep them on our free museum days page. If you're visiting from out of state, a pass can help. Our CityPASS vs. Go City comparison runs the numbers, and for adults who want the big five, CityPASS usually comes out ahead. Bank of America cardholders also get free general admission at participating museums on the first full weekend of every month. Check which Chicago museums are in before you go.

The Art Institute of Chicago

If you only see one museum, this is the one. The Art Institute (111 S. Michigan Ave., across from the Loop) has A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Nighthawks and American Gothic, the three paintings you've seen on a thousand mugs, in a collection of nearly 300,000 works. The Modern Wing, the Renzo Piano addition that was brand new when we first wrote this page, holds the architecture and design collection and the 20th- and 21st-century art, and its Nichols Bridgeway runs over Monroe Street into Millennium Park. Tickets are $32 for adults, according to Time Out Chicago, with $5 off for Illinois residents and $12 off for Chicago residents. Kids under 14 are always free. It's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and it's open until 8pm on Thursdays. Confirm the details on the museum's visit page. Give it at least three hours.

The Museum Campus

The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium sit next to each other on the lakefront south of Grant Park, and the Adler is out on the tip of Northerly Island. The nearest L stop is Roosevelt, and from there it's a longer walk east than it looks on the map. Trying to do all three in one day is how people end up hating museums. Pick two.

The Field Museum

The Field Museum (1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr.) is the natural history museum, and SUE is the star. She's one of the largest and most complete T. rex skeletons ever found, more than 90% recovered. Since December 2018 she's had her own gallery upstairs instead of the main hall. The Pokémon Fossil Museum is on through April 11, 2027, and it's pulling crowds, so book ahead if your kids know what that is. Admission starts at $30 for visitors and $21 for Chicago residents. Illinois residents get in free every Wednesday. On select dates the museum stays open until 9pm.

Shedd Aquarium

The Shedd is the one kids ask for, and the Abbott Oceanarium, where the main tank is backed by a wall of windows onto Lake Michigan, is the part adults remember. Shedd uses date-based pricing now, so there's no single number. CityPASS lists the top adult box-office price at $54.95 and $41.20 for kids, which makes it the most expensive museum in town at its peak. Buy on the Shedd's own site, go on a weekday if you can, and look at its resident free days and discounts if you live in Illinois.

The Adler Planetarium

The Adler (1300 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr.) was the first planetarium in the US, and the skyline view from its front steps is free and one of the best in the city. Inside, the dome shows are the reason to go, and they cost extra. Museum entry starts at $25 for adults and $13 for kids, with $5 off for Chicago residents. The hours are unusual. It's open 9am to 4pm every day except Wednesday, when it opens 4pm to 10pm with timed tickets. The Wednesday evening slot is the one I'd book, because you walk out to the city lit up across the water.

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

The Museum of Science and Industry is now officially the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, a name it took in 2024, and its website has moved to griffinmsi.org. It's at 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Dr. in Hyde Park, far enough south that you should read how to get there first. General admission works out to $25.95 for adults (the museum values admission plus one $12 experience at $37.95), and Chicago residents get $9 off adult tickets and $5 off kids'. The extras add up. The Coal Mine tour is $12 for adults and $9 for kids, and going aboard the U-505 submarine is $18 and $14. I'd pay for the U-505 before anything else. Illinois residents get a lot of free days here. Our five best exhibits page helps you plan, and where to eat nearby covers lunch.

Museum of Contemporary Art

The MCA (220 E. Chicago Ave.) is just east of Michigan Avenue in Streeterville, so it's easy to fit in between other things. The shows change constantly, and it's the place for art that's still being argued about. Adults pay $22, or $19 if you live in Chicago. Anyone 18 and under gets in free, and Illinois residents get in free on Tuesdays from 5 to 9pm. It's closed Mondays and stays open until 9pm on Tuesdays.

Chicago History Museum

If you want to understand the city you're walking around, start at the Chicago History Museum (1601 N. Clark St.) at the south end of Lincoln Park. Adults pay $24, or $19 for Chicago residents. Kids 12 and under are free, and so are Illinois residents 18 and under. It's open Tuesday to Saturday 9:30am to 4:30pm and Sunday noon to 5pm, and closed most Mondays. Illinois residents get free days through the year, including holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Fourth of July. Read up on the Great Chicago Fire before you go. It pairs well with the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is up the road and free.

DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center

Margaret Taylor-Burroughs and a few others started the DuSable in her house in 1961. The museum has been in a former park administration building in Washington Park since 1973. It's a Smithsonian affiliate and it's named for Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city's first non-Native permanent settler. It's at 740 E. 56th Pl., open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Tickets are sold through its website. It's close enough to the Griffin MSI to combine the two in a day on the South Side.

Free museums that are worth the trip

The National Museum of Mexican Art (1852 W. 19th St.) is always free, and it's the best reason to go to Pilsen, along with the neighborhood's murals (the museum's site has a mural guide). Its Día de los Muertos exhibit, up every October, is the largest in the country. It's open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, and until 8pm on the first Wednesday of the month. Take the Pink Line to 18th Street or Damen.

Down in Hyde Park, the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Ave.) is always free and closed Mondays.

In the South Loop, the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College (600 S. Michigan Ave.) is free, and it's a short walk south of the Art Institute. It's open until 8pm on Thursdays.

For more ideas when the weather turns, see things to do on rainy days, and if you have kids along, family fun in Chicago.

Photo by brian cors