Chicago
Chicago
BeenUnited States of AmericaCfa
📷 File:Chicago River ferry.jpg: John Picken derivative work: Georgfotoart· CC BY 2.0Urbs in Horto | City in a Garden
About
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has 9.41 million residents and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Chicago is the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chicago, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
Visit Chicago for architecture, museums, theater, jazz history, and a civic musical life that ranges from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to smaller clubs and storefront venues. The Art Institute, Cultural Center, Auditorium Theatre, Pullman district, Hyde Park, and lakefront neighborhoods reward a trip planned by districts rather than by isolated landmarks. The city is especially useful for seeing how industry, migration, modern architecture, and public music shaped an American metropolis.
When to avoid
Do not visit Chicago expecting every useful stop to be close together or easy to improvise. For Chicago, the practical constraints are part of the itinerary: hours, transport, weather, crowds, and the distance between useful areas. A day in Chicago should account for distance, heat, parking, and transit before adding more stops. Use Chicago with honest transport planning rather than assuming every link will be easy.
Summer (June-August)
For Chicago, June through August usually require the most attention to heat, light, and weather. For Chicago, the warm season often means humid afternoons and a need for shaded or indoor pauses. Keep Chicago local in hard weather: fewer transfers, water when needed, and no single exposed site as the whole plan. Use interiors and later programming in Chicago to keep the itinerary from depending only on outdoor time.
Winter (Dec-Feb)
December through February are the cooler or wetter period in Chicago. For Chicago, cooler months can suit concerts, museums, and slower walks better than exposed summer routes. In Chicago, rain, wind, cold, snow, daylight, and service reductions can matter more than the average high. In Chicago, this is often a season for interiors, short walks, and slower observation rather than ambitious routing. Keep Chicago compact in this season: fewer outdoor sections, better hour checks, and practical rides when conditions make transit awkward.
The next week in Chicago
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Overcast
24° / 9°
UV High
Sat
Fog
29° / 14°
UV High
Sun
Overcast
28° / 15°
UV High
Mon
Showers
28° / 19°
20.5 mm
UV High
Tue
Showers
25° / 16°
19.8 mm
UV High
Wed
Overcast
17° / 11°
UV High
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
29° / 1°
Typical high / low
4 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
14.5h
05:31 – 20:02local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Chicago
4 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) at 14 km.
Getting around Chicago
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
AmtrakMetraNorthern Indiana Commuter Transportation DistrictValparaiso TransitChicago Water TaxiAmtrak Chartered VehiclePaceB MetroCTAUniversity of Chicago300 E Randolph353 North ClarkBurlington TrailwaysVan Galder (Coach USA)FlixbusGreyhoundPeoria Charter Coach
Sister cities
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- City flag source →
Public domain, cs:User:-xfi-.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.