Places to Visit in Illinois

1. Springfield

Springfield, Illinois is the state capital, and it is renowned as the birthplace of America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Much of the tourism in the city focuses on this great man, and interested people may visit the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln’s Tomb, and the law offices where he practiced before becoming president in 1861.

The Dana-Thomas House is widely visited, as it is the most complete example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. The city is set on the plains near the winding Sangamon River, and the Adams Wildlife Center allows residents and visitors to get in touch with Springfield’s natural surroundings with its 40 wooded acres. Springfield is a stop on the famous Route 66, and there are diners along it in retro style. The Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield is a popular venue, and it presents programs of ballet, theater, symphony, and orchestra.

2. Chicago

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and has a wealth of exciting opportunities that draw millions of visitors every year. Chicago sits on the western edge of Lake Michigan, and its huge harbor system includes beaches and beachfront parks. Parkland is an important city feature; there are over 570 parks, the centerpiece being Lincoln Park, a 1200-acre space.

Chicago has two major league baseball teams, as well as teams in the NFL, the NHL, and the NBA. Lovers of arts and culture come to see its collections of visual art and to listen to the Chicago Symphony. They can also enjoy improvisational comedy at one of the many city hotspots and to hear jazz, blues, and soul music. The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest in the country and has collections of internationally famous artworks, including the Old Masters, impressionists, and American art.

3. Rockford, Illinois

Rockford is the second largest city in the state of Illinois outside of the Chicago Area and is often dubbed “The Forest City” due to its 20,000 acres of green space. Four rivers run through Rockford, there are several golf courses, and Rock Cut State Park is a haven for boaters and campers who enjoy its pristine lakes and hiking trails. Rockford is proud of its history, which visitors can learn about at Midway Village, a pioneer village with costumed docents and historical exhibits.

The Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois is dedicated to an even earlier regional history, and it has a terrific dinosaur exhibit that includes a complete T-Rex skeleton.

4. Evanston

Evanston, Illinois has a charming downtown where you will find a great selection of theaters, music venues and restaurants. Home to Northwestern University, Evanston is a stylish suburb north of Chicago where you will also find the historic Grosse Point Lighthouse, built in 1873.

The lighthouse was put in place in the aftermath of several shipwrecks by water craft running onto the shallow shoals of Lake Michigan en route to Chicago. It was, for its working life, the brightest and lead lighthouse in the area. On a sunny day, take the kids to Lighthouse Park, a green space with a children’s playground and a beach with picnicking sites.

5. Bloomington

Bloomington is the 12th largest city in Illinois and has a sister city, Normal, which shares in its civic decision-making. The area was first used as an encampment for the Kickapoo Native Americans until Euro-American settlers reached the rivers and groves of the city in 1820 and put down roots there. Bloomington-Normal is a municipality with many faces.

Outdoorsy people love its forty-four different parks and its three golf courses. Lovers of the arts can enjoy theater, the symphony orchestra, and the city’s ballet corps. The area has a small but fascinating zoo, which has some of the rarest wild cats in existence: the Amur Leopard and the Sumatran Tiger. A huge indoor rock climbing park is a great favorite amongst both visitors and locals.

6. Galena

Galena, Illinois is a small city of under 4,000 inhabitants in the most northwestern corner of the state. More than 85% of this historic town is a National Historic District, and it is renowned for its architecture and its long mining history. Before Europeans settled here in 1821, Native Americans mined the area for over a thousand years, and they brought the mineral galena, a lead oxide, out of the earth.

Settlers continued to mine, and for the sake of commerce, Galena became a major steamboat port on the Mississippi River. Now visited for its history and its beautiful homes, Galena has a stunning main street featuring six blocks of French Colonial, Greek Revival, and Italianate homes, one of which belonged to Ulysses S. Grant, the 14th president of the United States. Surrounded by rolling hills and lush valleys, Galena is a wonderful place to visit or live.

7. Quincy

Quincy , Illinois is situated on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Dogwood-lined streets and fine architecture, much of it in traditional German style, make this city a lovely place to visit. Quincy has a rich history; it was a safe haven for Mormons leaving behind the persecution they faced in the eastern states and was a major stopping point on the Underground Railway, which helped African American people flee the south and slavery. Like many cities on the Mississippi, Quincy has a heritage of blues music, but it also has an annual film festival, an excellent opera company, and a fine theater.

8. Alton

Alton, Illinois is only fifteen miles north of St. Louis, Missouri and is considered a part of the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Known for its limestone bluffs along the Mississippi River, the city and its surrounding area offer lovely drives along the Great Rivers Scenic Route. Archeological artifacts of the city’s prehistory can be viewed in the National Great Rivers Historic Museum, and outside, a prehistoric painting of a piasa bird can be seen on a cliff face.

Alton is the hometown of jazz musician Miles Davis, and it was the site of the final debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858. From its humble beginnings as a Mississippi ferry-crossing, Alton has grown to be an important center for the arts, particularly theater.

9. Elmhurst

Elmhurst, Illinois is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of approximately 45,000 people. It is a center for the arts with a fine art museum that offers classes to adults and children. It also has a symphony orchestra and theater groups and performances.

The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art draws many visitors; its focus is on cutting and polishing stones and displaying them as works of art. The city of Elmhurst is a terrific place to go shopping with a downtown core offering nearly three hundred unique merchants. Plenty of family fun can be had at the indoor trampoline park in town.

10. Lincoln’s Tomb

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was born on February 12, 1809 in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Largely self-taught, he passed the Illinois Bar and began his career as a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois under the tutelage of his wife’s cousin, John T. Stuart. Before and after his terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Lincoln and his partner had a successful law practice in Springfield, and it was in this town that he married and had four children.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President on November 6, 1860 and led the country through the Civil War. On April 14, 1865, he was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer in a Washington, D.C. theater, and his body was brought home by train to Springfield at the request of his wife. Lincoln’s Tomb is in Oakridge Cemetery and is open to visitors year-round.