5 Best Sights in Chicago, Illinois

If you want to see masterpieces but don't want to spend a long day wandering around one of the major art museums, the Smart may be just your speed. Its diverse exhibition program features art from around the globe.

To get a good overview of the neighborhood, contact the Hyde Park Historical Society, which sponsors lectures and tours. The society is housed in a building that once served as a waiting room for cable cars. The organization documents, preserves, and educates the public about the history of Hyde Park Township, which stretches from the north at E. 39th to E. 138th Streets on the south, and between Lake Michigan on the east and S. State Street on the west.

It’s tough to top the view of Chicago's skyline from the Point—a scenic, man-made peninsula, which projects into Lake Michigan. Opened in 1937 as part of Burnham Park, this 40-acre peninsula, which was originally called 55th Street Promontory, is entered via a tunnel underneath Lake Shore Drive at 55th Street or the Lakefront Trail. The fawn-shape David Wallach Memorial Fountain is located near the tunnel. The park's field house is a popular wedding venue, so you may catch a glimpse of a beaming bride during your visit.

A tower, arched doorways, and a large round window form bold masses on the exterior of this church, designed in 1887 by Daniel Burnham and John Root. The Romanesque interior, with vaulted arches, gives a feeling of breadth and spaciousness. The parish was organized to serve Irish workers at the nearby Union Stock Yards. Take Interstate 94 south from the Loop (43rd Street exit), or take Bus 8 to Halsted and 45th streets and walk east on 45th Street for a few blocks.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this opulent clubhouse on Lake Michigan is one of the last remaining Mediterranean resort–style buildings in the Midwest. The posh country club looks like something out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. It boasts meeting rooms, horse stables, a 9-hole golf course, beach, and an art gallery. With magnificent crystal chandeliers, balconies, pillars, and a vaulted ceiling, its ballrooms and grand lobby wow visitors, including President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who chose the center for their wedding reception. Referred to by many as the "Gem of the Southside," it is also the home of the South Shore Cultural School of the Arts.