An interesting Hop on Hop Off tour of Chicago

Chicago, the windy city is located by the shores of Lake Michigan. There are plenty of cheap international flights to Chicago, so I decided to visit this exciting city. The off season is a good time to get flight tickets for cheap to Chicago and you can get great travel deals during this time even though the weather may be a bit chilly. There are plenty of attractions worth visiting in Chicago, so I read up about the city before booking cheap tickets to Chicago.

Exploring Chicago
I decided to explore Chicago at my own pace and for this the best thing was to book a pass on the hop on hop off bus service or the trolley service. The signature tour is really economical and I could lounge at leisure at interesting diners or spend some time shopping for offbeat items. I decided on the double-decker bus though you can even do this tour by trolley. The good thing about the tour is that since I made online bookings while scouting for cheap flights to Chicago, I got a 10% discount on the ticket that cost $31, plus freebies like Hershey s chocolate and complimentary popcorn. The tour was informative and lasted for two hours. It operates daily between 9 am and 4 pm from convenient 14 locations across the city except during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Chicago offers more than seven thousand restaurants for the gourmet, offering the best steaks and other cuisines from across the world. As a part of the signature tour I had the opportunity to visit many architectural marvels in this modern city that is often termed an architect s delight. Besides, the tour took me across several Chicago neighborhoods and important sites across Chicago s downtown and the Loop.
Museums and Aquariums
I was lucky to book a limited period Explore Chicago tour along with the signature tour. Using this I could visit any museum, do shopping or visit other local attractions over 3 days at my own pace. Hence I got a fantastic aerial view of Chicago from the John Hancock Observatory and was thrilled by the special effects of Transporter FX, a virtual reality simulator at the Navy Pier. I took the bus again from Navy Pier to visit the Museum campus near Soldier Field that houses two very good museums, namely the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium. The same campus is also home to the Shedd Aquarium that has more than 8000 aquatic animals across 700 species from all over the world. A water taxi is also available between Navy Pier and the Museum Campus at short intervals.
As I was booking flights to Chicago, most websites highly recommended a trip during the annual Chicago Blues Festival held around June. Another special event that I was fortunate to visit was the Taste of Chicago Festival where entry was free. For a very nominal amount I got a taste of the different flavors that restaurants across Chicago had tooffer. So for those of you not in a hurry , I would definitely recommend that the Hop on Hop off bus or trolley tour is a great way to see the different aspects of this beautiful modern city.

Article Tags: Signature Tour, Navy Pier

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com