Is Chicago CityPASS Worth It? The Maths for a Family
We bought the C3 pass for our family of four and used it for Skydeck, the Shoreline architecture river cruise and 360 Chicago. It felt like the sensible choice at the time. Then I did…
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Chicago With Kids: Our Complete Family Guide
Chicago With Kids: Everything We Learned We spent two weeks in Chicago and Wisconsin with two boys — three full days in the city, a week at a basketball camp near Milwaukee, and a final…
Best Time to Visit Chicago With Kids: Month by Month
The Best Time to Visit Chicago With Kids (And What We Learned Going in July) We went in July, which is the month most families can go and the month most guides quietly warn you…
Chicago Trip Cost for a Family of 4: Our Real Numbers
Most travel blogs will tell you Chicago is expensive. Ours cost €6,359.14 for four people over 13 days, and the expensive part wasn’t Chicago at all — it was getting there. Here is every euro,…
Where to Stay in Chicago With Kids (3 Hotels We Booked)
We slept in three different hotels on this trip: one in downtown Chicago, one out by O’Hare, and one an hour and a half north in Wisconsin. Only one of them I’d book again —…
Where to Eat in Chicago With Kids: 8 Places We Went
Every city we visit has its flavors, but Chicago stands out for its delicious mix of comfort food, creativity, and culture. From deep-dish pizza to Nutella-filled breakfasts, our days exploring the city were often planned…
Finally Eating at Portillo’s Chicago: A Classic We Couldn’t Miss
Portillo’s is known for the Italian beef sandwich — thin-sliced roast beef served in its own gravy on a roll, with sweet peppers or hot giardiniera. Alongside it: Chicago-style hot dogs, cheese fries, and a…
Michael Jordan Statue Chicago: How to Visit (It’s Free)
Yes, you can just walk in. No ticket, no game, no charge. That is the question everyone has, because the statue is inside a working sports arena and it is not obvious from outside that…
Home Alone Filming Locations: 8 Spots You Can Visit
Home Alone Filming Locations: 8 Spots You Can Visit We were in Brookfield, Wisconsin for a week while the kids did the Milwaukee Bucks summer camp. On the way back we drove ninety minutes south…
Lou Malnati’s Brookfield: What to Order, Wait Times & Photos
We ate at Lou Malnati’s in Brookfield twice in one week. That’s the review, really — with four people and a week’s worth of dinner options near Milwaukee, going back a second time is the…
Fiserv Forum Without a Ticket: The Bucks Pro Shop & Deer District
We went to Fiserv Forum on a camp afternoon expecting to look inside the arena. We couldn’t — the building was closed to visitors that day. That turns out to be the useful thing to…
Milwaukee Bucks Summer Camp: Cost, Ages & Is It Worth It
🏀We flew from Barcelona to put two boys through a week at the Milwaukee Bucks summer camp. It cost $350 per child — about €646 for the two of them — and it was the…
Country Inn Brookfield: Best Base for the Bucks Camp
We stayed here for seven nights while our two boys did the Milwaukee Bucks summer camp, and of the three hotels we used across a two-week trip, this is the one I’d book again without…
3 Days in Chicago With Kids: Our Real Itinerary (And What It Cost)
We flew into Chicago from Barcelona with two boys, three days before we had to be in Milwaukee. We had never thought of coming to Chicago, but it came out to be one of the…
Lincoln Park Zoo With Kids: Free, and Worth a Morning
We spent our last Chicago morning at Lincoln Park Zoo before driving to Milwaukee, and it was the best day of the three. It also cost us nothing, which after two observation decks and a…
Navy Pier With Kids: Ferris Wheel Prices & What’s Free
Navy Pier was the last stop of our second day in Chicago, after Millennium Park and a deep dish lunch. We arrived in the early evening, which turned out to be the right call. Here’s…
Giordano’s Chicago With Kids: What to Order & the 45-Min Wait
Giordano’s is the deep dish most visitors to Chicago end up eating, and the one thing nobody tells you before you sit down is that the pizza takes 45 minutes. Everything else about the meal…
360 Chicago With Kids: TILT, Prices & Is It Worth It
360 Chicago was our third CityPASS attraction, after Skydeck and the architecture river cruise. Ninety-fourth floor of the John Hancock Center, 875 N Michigan Avenue, right on the Magnificent Mile. The thing to sort out…
Buckingham Fountain: Show Times, Free Entry & Night Tips
We stayed across from Grant Park, so Buckingham Fountain became our evening walk rather than an outing. That turned out to be the right way to see it. It’s free, it’s five minutes from the…
Millennium Park With Kids: The Bean, Crown Fountain & More
A short walk from the Nutella Café on Michigan Avenue, we found ourselves heading toward one of Chicago’s most beloved landmarks: Millennium Park and its centerpiece sculpture, Cloud Gate (popularly known as “The Bean”). That…