Guides · United States
Chicago tickets
Ticket and booking rules for Chicago: timed entries, closing days and official links, checked September 2026.
Checked September 2026 against official sources
Chicago
Bookings and opening rules
Follow the official link before you buy. Full walking days: Chicago itinerary.
Tickets and opening days
- The Art Institute of Chicago is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It is open Monday 11:00–17:00, Thursday 11:00–20:00 and Friday to Sunday 11:00–17:00.Source: Art Institute of Chicago · checked Sep 2026
- The Chicago Architecture Center's 90-minute river cruise runs several times a day from March to November, leaving from the dock at the south-east corner of the Michigan Avenue Bridge at Wacker Drive.Source: Chicago Architecture Center · checked Sep 2026
- All Skydeck tickets include The Ledge, the glass balconies on the 103rd floor of Willis Tower; opening hours change with the season.Source: Skydeck Chicago · checked Sep 2026
- Lincoln Park Zoo is free and open every day of the year.Source: Lincoln Park Zoo · checked Sep 2026
On the day
What to watch at each stop
Art Institute of Chicago
- Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Chicago Riverwalk and the architecture river cruise
- Cruises run March to November; book ahead
Willis Tower Skydeck
- All tickets include The Ledge
Questions
Quick answers
When is the Art Institute of Chicago open?
It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On the other days it opens at 11:00 and closes at 17:00, or at 20:00 on Thursdays.
The days these rules belong to
3 days in Chicago
Chicago's sights line the lakefront and the river, so each day keeps to one stretch: day one starts at Cloud Gate and the Art Institute, takes an architecture cruise from the Riverwalk and ends on the Willis Tower Skydeck; day two walks between the three museums of the Museum Campus and back through Grant Park; day three follows Michigan Avenue north to the 360 Chicago observatory, strolls through Lincoln Park Zoo and ends at Wrigley Field. The Art Institute is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so plan day one around it.
