Arts & culture
Chicago Museum Trail
Pick a museum and stay curious.
Explore this stop →
A WTDO FIELD GUIDE · ILLINOIS
Follow Chicago’s energy out onto the open road.
Art, architecture, neighborhoods and food make Chicago a trip of its own. Route 66 begins here and carries the story through smaller Illinois towns.
Find your storyExplore the map ↓Museums, neighborhoods and the beginning of Route 66.
Art, architecture, neighborhoods and food make Chicago a trip of its own. Route 66 begins here and carries the story through smaller Illinois towns.
Find your reason to go
6 ways into Illinois.
Choose a scene. The map and guide follow your curiosity.
01 / 06
Arts & culture
Chicago Museum Trail
Pick a museum and stay curious.
Start at the Art Institute or a Museum Campus institution, then make a second stop only if you have the time.
Go deeper →Photo: Yourusernamewillbepublic2 · CC0 ↗Photo credits for every scene
- Chicago Museum Trail · Photo: Yourusernamewillbepublic2 · CC0 ↗
- Chicago Neighborhood Food · Photo: Prayitno / Thank you for (12 millions +) view from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY 2.0 ↗
- Chicago River Architecture · Photo: Roy Luck · CC BY 2.0 ↗
- Illinois Route 66 · Photo: Anna Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0 ↗
- Starved Rock State Park · Photo: Yinan Chen · Public Domain ↗
- Springfield & Lincoln Home · Photo: Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891, artist · Public domain ↗
Explore by instinct
Choose a place, see where it lives.
Tap a marker, filter the kind of day, or reveal the land beneath the route.
Outline: U.S. Census Bureau. Optional shaded relief: USGS The National Map. Pins mark starting areas, not a driving route.
Zoom in
Chicago, one museum or landmark at a time.
Use these location pins to pick a stop. Check the venue’s own site for hours and admission.
LAKE MICHIGAN
Art Institute
Official visitor details ↗Orientation points only; background is editorial art, not a street or driving map.
Stay longer
Make space for the taste and the backstory.
Try a Chicago-style hot dog, deep dish, or a neighborhood specialty. Local restaurants and neighborhoods have more to offer than one famous dish.
Explore local food ↗Historic Route 66 starts in Chicago; the highway story also belongs to smaller Illinois communities along the road.
Check this year’s official events ↗Part of a larger story
Route 66 starts in Illinois and touches Kansas.
Follow the whole journey from Chicago to the Pacific with stops you can actually research.
Explore the Route 66 map →Your trip, your way
Keep the idea. Build the day when you are ready.
Ask WTDO to connect the places you chose to a route that fits your time and interests.
Plan a Illinois tripYour next good stop.
Find published places to eat, stay, explore or rent something for the day. Own a business? Add your details and verify your business contact; paid promotion is optional.