Things to Do in Chicago in January

Chicago slows down in January. The holidays are over, and most people are just trying to get through the next couple of months without cabin fever. The city doesn't shut down, though. The skating rinks stay open, the museums are quiet, and late in the month Restaurant Week gives everyone a reason to go out to dinner again. A lot of it is cheap or free.

This page is about what to do. For weather, hotel prices and packing, see Chicago in January. Exact dates move every year, so check each event's own site, or the city's festival dates page, before you plan around one.

Go skating downtown

The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park is free to skate, with Cloud Gate and the Michigan Avenue skyline right behind it. You need an online reservation, and skate rentals cost extra. The season runs from mid-November into early February, so January is your last full month on it.

Next door, the Skating Ribbon in Maggie Daley Park (337 E Randolph St) is the better skate. It's a winding loop of ice twice as long as a lap around a regular rink, and it stays open into early March. Sessions last two hours and have to be booked ahead. Skate rentals cost $17 to $23, cheapest Monday to Thursday. The park also rents igloos beside the ice for groups of up to eight, with hot cocoa and cookies included.

If you'd rather skate where the locals do, Choose Chicago lists the free neighborhood rinks, including the Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park, on the site of the 1893 World's Fair.

Eat out during Restaurant Week

Chicago Restaurant Week is the city's biggest dining promotion, and it usually starts in late January and runs 17 days into early February. Hundreds of restaurants in the city and suburbs (more than 550 in 2026) offer set-price menus, recently $30 for brunch or lunch and $45 or $60 for dinner. You don't need a reservation, but you should make one, especially on weekends. It's a good excuse to try a place that's normally out of your price range, so start with our Michelin-starred restaurants list and see who's taking part.

Use the free museum days

If you live in Illinois, winter is when the free days pay off. The Field Museum is free for Illinois residents every Wednesday. The Museum of Contemporary Art lets Illinois residents in free on Tuesday evenings, 5 to 9pm. The Chicago History Museum gives Illinois residents free days through the year, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday of January. Bring ID with your address on it. The rules change, so check each museum's site, and our free museum days page and museum guide for the rest.

Not a resident? The museums are still the best place to spend a cold afternoon. Go on a weekday and you'll have more room than you would in July.

Warm up in the Garfield Park Conservatory

The Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.) is 90 minutes of summer in the middle of January, and that's the point. Walk into the Fern Room when it's 15 degrees outside and you'll want to stay all day. It's free for Chicago residents, and $10 for other adults. You need a timed ticket, and it's closed Mondays and Tuesdays, open until 8pm on Wednesdays. The Green Line stops right out front at the Conservatory station. The winter flower show runs into the first days of January, so if you're here early in the month, you'll catch the end of it.

Catch the tail end of the holidays

A few holiday events hang on into the first days of January. ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo runs into the first few days of January, and tickets bought ahead cost less than at the gate. Wintrust Winter WonderFest, the indoor holiday fair at Navy Pier, wraps up around the same time. It's ticketed, and skating on its indoor rink is included.

Watch people jump into Lake Michigan

Every January the Chicago Polar Bear Club runs a polar plunge at Oak Street Beach, where the Drive bends at the north end of the Magnificent Mile. It raises money for Chicago-area families facing medical bills and other hardships. You can register and fundraise, or just stand on the sand in a parka and cheer. It's not a New Year's Day event, and the weather can cancel it. The 2026 plunge was called off when wind chills were forecast in the minus 30s.

See a show

Chicago has more than 200 theaters, and January is a good time to use them. Hot Tix, run by the League of Chicago Theatres, sells discount tickets for the current week and beyond. Tickets for Chicago Theatre Week, which runs in February with $15 and $30 seats, usually go on sale in early January, and the best shows go fast. See theatre in Chicago for where to start.

When it's too cold to go out

Some days the wind chill wins. Downtown, the Pedway runs under and above more than 40 blocks of the Loop, with food courts and shops along the way, and the Chicago Architecture Center's Pedway tour is the one tour worth booking in January, since you spend it indoors. Beyond that, pick a museum, a long brunch or a warm bar. We've got ideas in things to do on rainy days, the best brunch spots and nightlife.

For more on the season, see winter activities in Chicago, things to do in February and our holidays and events calendar.

Photo by Stuck in Customs