Six Perfect Winter Activities in Chicago

Chicago sits on the shore of Lake Michigan, which means "lake effect" weather, which is a nice way of saying that it gets cold here. Really cold. Like oh-my-god-I-think-my-eyeballs-just-froze cold. January averages a high of 31.6°F and a low of 18.8°F at O'Hare, and the wind off the lake can make it feel 10 or 15 degrees colder than that. It's easy to see why far fewer tourists come between December and March than in summer.

Those who do brave the cold get cheaper hotels, shorter museum lines and plenty to do all winter long. This page is a short list of the best of it. For the weather, prices and packing, see Chicago in winter, and for the month-by-month calendar, see December, January, February and March.

1. Go skating downtown

The free McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park is still the classic. You skate with the Bean and the Michigan Avenue skyline behind you, and it's free if you bring your own skates, though you do need an online reservation and rentals cost extra. It opens in mid-November and closes in early February, earlier than it used to.

For a longer season and a better skate, walk east to the Skating Ribbon in Maggie Daley Park, a winding loop of ice twice as long as a lap of a regular rink, open into early March. Sessions are two hours and have to be booked ahead. If it's snowing sideways, Wintrust Winter WonderFest at Navy Pier has an indoor rink from late November into early January, included in the ticket. Our January page has rental prices and the free neighborhood rinks.

2. Go sledding, or cross-country skiing

Once a real snow falls, head for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Its sledding hills open when the ground is frozen and there are at least three inches of snow. Two of the lit, staffed hills are inside the city limits. Caldwell Woods (6350 W. Devon Ave.) on the Far Northwest Side and Dan Ryan Woods (Western Avenue and 87th Street) on the South Side are open 10am to 7:30pm Sunday through Thursday and until 8:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, conditions permitting. Dan Ryan Woods also has a separate area for snowboarders. Swallow Cliff Woods, near Palos Park, needs at least six inches of snow before it opens. Call the hill's number on the preserves' site before you go, since hills and parking lots close when the snow isn't right.

The preserves have hundreds of miles of trails you can ski on your own, though they aren't groomed. For groomed and tracked trails, rentals and lessons, drive out to Sagawau Nordic, at the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center (12545 W. 111th St., Lemont), where the walking trails turn into ski trails when there's enough snow. It's in the southwest suburbs, so you'll need a car. The cross-country skiing page has the details.

3. Warm up under glass

Chicago's two big conservatories are the best escape from a 15-degree day. The Lincoln Park Conservatory (2391 N. Stockton Dr.), built between 1890 and 1895, is free for everyone. It has four display houses, the Palm House, the Fern Room, the Orchid House and the Show House, which hosts the seasonal flower shows. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays and uses timed entry, so reserve a slot. It's next door to the Lincoln Park Zoo, so you can combine the two. Go see the zoo's Japanese macaques, the snow monkeys, who are at their best in winter.

The bigger Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.) is right by the Green Line's Conservatory stop. It's free for Chicago residents and $10 for other adults, with timed tickets, and it's also closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The winter flower show runs into early January, and the spring show opened in mid-February in 2026, so you may get tulips while it snows outside.

4. Eat out, and see a show, for less

The old version of this page promised Restaurant Week menus at $22 for lunch and $32 for dinner. It's gone up since, but Chicago Restaurant Week is still the best deal of the winter. It runs 17 days from late January into early February, and hundreds of restaurants offer set-price menus, recently $30 for brunch or lunch and $45 or $60 for dinner. It's the perfect time to splurge on a place you might otherwise not be able to afford. Our Michelin-starred restaurants list is a good place to start.

Then book a show. Chicago Theatre Week, in the first half of February, sells $15 and $30 seats at dozens of theaters, and tickets usually go on sale in early January. The rest of the winter, Hot Tix sells discount seats. See theatre in Chicago.

5. Spend the coldest days in a museum

Chicago's museums are nice and toasty when it's freezing outside, and winter is when the free days pay off. Most of the big museums give Illinois residents free days, and they cluster in January and February. The Field Museum is free for Illinois residents every Wednesday, all year. Visitors from out of state can still get a break. Bank of America cardholders get into several museums free on the first full weekend of each month through Museums on Us, and the International Museum of Surgical Science, in a Gold Coast mansion, was free for everyone on Tuesdays in January, February and December in 2026. The free museum days page has the details for each museum, and our museum guide will help you choose.

6. See the lights

From late November into early January, ZooLights fills the Lincoln Park Zoo with millions of lights, a light tunnel and fire pits for s'mores. It used to be free. Now it's ticketed, but it's cheaper if you book a date ahead, and it's free on most Mondays, with tickets released a week in advance. The rest of the holiday season is easy to forget the cold in. The Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza still serves mulled wine and German food from the Friday before Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, and there's a second market at Gallagher Way in Wrigleyville. And Santa still rides the rails. The CTA Holiday Train tours the L every holiday season, with Santa waving from an open flatcar full of reindeer. See Christmas events in Chicago for all of it, and New Year's in Chicago for the fireworks.

When the wind wins

We couldn't find Chicago Winter Dance, the February dance parties this page used to recommend, anywhere on the city's site, so it looks to be gone. For a night out that keeps you indoors, the Blackhawks and the Bulls both play at the United Center on the Near West Side through the winter. Downtown, the Pedway lets you cross much of the Loop through tunnels and bridges without stepping outside. For more ideas, see things to do in Chicago in winter, things to do on rainy days and what to wear in Chicago in winter.

Photo by mreioval