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Every place in Things to do in Chicago in winter, pinned where it actually is. Tap a marker to see which one it is.
Holiday lights and ice skating
The skating ribbon at Maggie Daley Park opens in mid-November; from late November, ZooLights fills Lincoln Park Zoo in the evenings and the city's Christmas tree goes up in Millennium Park.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Free, open all 365 days and running since 1868. Gates open at 8 a.m. and the animal houses at 10; families head for the Farm-in-the-Zoo. Parking costs, so bike or bus in. In winter, ZooLights dates sell out.
Maggie Daley Park
Next to Millennium Park: climbing walls, a play garden with a ship and a lighthouse, and a looping skate path that's iced over in winter. Free to wander.
Millennium Park
Free and open daily from 6 a.m.: walk under Cloud Gate (the Bean), wade into Crown Fountain in summer, and catch free concerts at Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion.
Warm, and indoors
A tropical glasshouse, the Tiffany dome, the Art Institute and the big lakefront museums. Through the holidays, the Museum of Science and Industry fills with its Christmas Around the World trees.
Garfield Park Conservatory
A huge Victorian-style glasshouse of palms, ferns and desert plants on the West Side, plus outdoor gardens in summer. Free with a timed-entry reservation; the Green Line stops a block away. It's a warm escape in winter.
Chicago Cultural Center
The old central library, crowned by two stained-glass domes, one of them the world's largest Tiffany dome, with free concerts, films and exhibitions through the week. Admission is free; start in Preston Bradley Hall.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Seurat's Grande Jatte, Hopper's Nighthawks and Wood's American Gothic all hang here. Book a timed ticket online, then join a free daily tour or plot your own route through the galleries. The café serves a rotating pick from the city's restaurants.
Field Museum
SUE, the most complete T. rex yet found, anchors a natural-history museum begun with the 1893 World's Fair collections; Máximo, a cast of a 122-foot titanosaur, now fills the main hall. Open 9 to 5; buy timed tickets ahead, as weekends sell out.
Shedd Aquarium
Belugas, sea otters and a walk-around Caribbean reef, with Lake Michigan filling the Oceanarium's back windows. Reserve a timed entry online; weekday mornings are quietest.
Museum of Science and Industry
Tour the captured U-505 submarine, ride down into the replica coal mine and watch chicks hatch. Plan most of a day, and know some exhibits carry an extra ticket. Catch a film in the five-story domed theater.
Rooftops with fires, and a fireplace tavern
A heated rooftop over Millennium Park, another 22 floors up near McCormick Place, and glögg by the fire in Andersonville.
Cindy's
The glass-topped rooftop of the Chicago Athletic Association hotel, looking over Millennium Park to the lake; in winter the terrace keeps fires going.
VU Rooftop Bar
Twenty-two floors above Cermak near McCormick Place, a big all-season rooftop with firepits, retractable windows and jazz bands late in the week. There's a dress code.
Simon's Tavern
A Swedish-flavored Andersonville tavern pouring since the 1930s, with a fireplace lounge in back and house glögg every winter. Beer-and-shot prices and a great jukebox. Watch for trivia and karaoke nights.
Shows on a cold night
Sketch comedy, jazz in a 1907 lounge, blues until late, and old films in a 1929 movie palace.
The Second City
Sketch and improv since 1959, the stage behind Belushi, Murray, Fey and Colbert. The mainstage revue plays Old Town, and a second revue plays the smaller stage next door most nights.
The Green Mill
Uptown's 1907 jazz lounge, a Capone-era hangout with music every night. Sunday's Uptown Poetry Slam started here, and late jam sessions run past 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Kingston Mines
Running since 1968 and billed as the city's biggest, longest-running blues club, with two stages trading sets late into the night, every night of the week. There's food, so settle in.
Music Box Theatre
A 1929 movie palace on Southport with stars twinkling across the ceiling, showing repertory, foreign and cult films. October brings a horror marathon; sing-alongs and 70mm series turn up through the year.
Comfort food
Deep dish, a big bowl of pho on Argyle Street and Sichuan heat in Chinatown.
Pequod's Pizza
Pan pizza ringed with cheese baked dark and crunchy against the pan, the edge regulars fight over. It's a sports bar on Clybourn, a long-standing favorite of the city's chefs, and the kitchen runs until 2 a.m. most nights (midnight on Sunday).
Tank Noodle
The big, bright pho house at Broadway and Argyle, open since the strip's early days: order a combination pho with brisket, tendon and meatballs, or a banh mi to go.
Lao Sze Chuan
Tony Hu's original Chinatown dining room for Sichuan heat: dry chili chicken, Chengdu dumplings and plenty of numbing peppercorn. Bring a group so you can cover more of the menu.
Christmas in Chicago
From late November through December: the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, the city's tree in Millennium Park, the Christkindlmarket and light shows across town. Dates and times: Christmas lights in Chicago, holiday parades and the Chicago holiday guide.
What to know about the cold
Highs hover around freezing from December to February, and the wind off the lake makes it feel colder: dress in layers, with a hat and gloves. Downtown, the Pedway links some buildings and 'L' stations underground. After the holidays, hotels cost less and the museums are quieter.
Want more?
More for a winter trip: the best rooftop bars in Chicago, several open all winter, 3 days in Chicago and free things to do in Chicago.
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