Top 10 best museums in Chicago [Art Institute, Field Museum, Science & Industry, Shedd Aquarium]

Chicago has some world-famous museums and some lesser known museums. This video showcases our 10 favorite museums in Chicago with tons of information on what you will see if you want to visit the Chicago museums.
There are many Chicago museums: art museums, natural history museums, modern art museums, architectural museums, etc. Some of the Chicago museums are free museums. Some Chicago museums are free museums on certain dates for Illinois residents.
Museums are a great thing to do in Chicago when it rains or a great thing to do in Chicago when it snows or a great thing to do in Chicago when it is cold. Visiting museums in Chicago in the winter is a great winter activity. Visiting museums in Chicago when it rains is a great rainy day activity.
Some of the museums in Chicago are clustered around the Museum Campus, but other Chicago museums are scattered around the city. The Chicago Art Institute is right downtown, so is the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) or the Chicago Money Museum. The Chicago Architectural Center (CAC) is right on the Chicago River.
Music credits:
1. Chicago Art Institute:
Mind your Time by Me.So / me_so Creative Commons -
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music provided by Music for Creators • Mind your Time - Me.So
Track: Alex Skrindo & Miza - Thinkin' [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds.
Watch: • Alex Skrindo & Miza - ...
Free Download / Stream: ncs.io/ThinkinYO
2. Chicago Shedd Aquarium:
Omission by Huma Huma
3. Chicago Museum of Science and Industry:
Groove It by ZAYFALL / zayfallmusic Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Groove It - ZAYFALL (N...
4. Chicago Field Museum:
Night by Ikson / ikson
Music provided by Music for Creators • Night - Ikson
5. University of Chicago Oriental Institute:
Bumba Crossing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
6. Chicago National Museum of Mexican Art:
Llena de Plena by Jimmy Fontanez
Media Right Productions
7. Wrightwood 659:
Sao Meo Orchestral Mix by Doug Maxwell and Zac Zinger
8. Chicago Architecture Center:
Still Back by ZAYFALL / zayfallmusic
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Still Back - ZAYFALL (...
9. Chicago Money Museum:
Track: Futuristik - Forgive Me [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds.
Watch: • Futuristik - Forgive M...
Free Download / Stream: ncs.io/ForgiveMe
10. Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art:
Track: NIVIRO - Flashes [NCS Release]
Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds.
0:00 Introduction
0:34 Chicago Art Institute
2:37 Shedd Aquarium
4:16 Museum of Science + Industry
5:58 Field Museum
7:29 Oriental Institute
8:33 Museum of Mexican Art
9:20 Wrightwood 659
10:40 Chicago Architecture Center
11:44 Money Museum
12:30 Museum of Contemporary Art

[@TheJourneyest2016]

The fact that they have more than 10 museums to choose from says a lot about the city! So much to offer and so many cool different artistic and cultural things to experience. I have always wanted to go to the history museum where they have the lions from that movie!

[@JamesandLaurent]

The art institute in particular is amazing.

[@Kaiokai_]

I love the Sheed Aquarium and Field Museum. These two museums were a part of my childhood, I would go there for field trips or just to go. This is what I love most about Chicago

[@JamesandLaurent]

We love them too :)

[@georgepr242]

Adler Planetarium was one of my favorites as a kid too

[@JamesandLaurent]

So many to choose from.

[@chiarapoggi6408]

Chicago, città sorprendente, una collezione fantastica di arte moderna completa, sono veramente stupita e ammirata.

[@JamesandLaurent]

We're glad you enjoyed it :)

[@chiarapoggi6408]

Vale la pena di visitare questa sorprendente città, da ogni punto di vista.

[@JamesandLaurent]

Yes, Chicago is underrated :)

[@elevatorfan125]

The museum of science and industry is my favorite. I have been there twice

[@JamesandLaurent]

We love it too and have been there many times :)

[@frankkolton1780]

According to Trip Adviser, The Chicago Art Institute is only museum in the the world to be top ranked 4 years in a row. I was there last year and was awe struck by the beauty of the place, both old and new. Every exhibit room that we made it into was done perfectly. We are looking forward to make the trip again, but plan on spending 3 days there to take in everything.

[@JamesandLaurent]

And there are good reasons why it is ranked so high. Beautiful museum indeed.

[@parisologie]

thank you for taking the time to make this wonderful video. I'm currently planning a trip to Chicago and it was really helpful. I'm from Montreal and totally appreciate how much arts and culture can affect a city. I'm so glad I have a better idea about your museums. Definitely have a better idea which ones I want to visit. THANK YOU!!

[@JamesandLaurent]

You're very welcome. Yes, this video took a long time to make, but it gave us an opportunity to re-visit the museums we like most and visit a couple we had not both done. Depending on whether you only want to do museums or also explore the city by foot, we have two other videos about things to do in Chicago.

[@parisologie]

@@JamesandLaurent Already watched them :) you are awesome!! Thank you for all the time you devote to making this amazing content.

[@100yearsapart9]

Yes Chicago!!! And We’ve been to all the museums! except the Aquarium.... But maybe over the summer. Great vid 👍

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks for the thanks :). As you might expect, a lot of work went into filming and editing this video. We're glad you liked it.

[@gw1429]

Fantastic editing! Well done! Given 10 were necessary, agree w your MCA assessment.

[@JamesandLaurent]

Geoff Woie, thanks for the kind words. As you may imagine, a lot of work went into filming and especially editing this video. We are glad viewers like you enjoy watching it :).

[@IWillHarvestYourToes]

Ohh wow, thanks for the upload and the ART! Such an awesome video, and you guys are cute as hell!

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks Jay for the kind comment. A lot of work went into making this particular video. We hope people enjoy it :).

[@alexisstevens1996]

this video helped so much thank you

[@JamesandLaurent]

Glad it helped! We hope you enjoy your visit in Chicago 💖.

[@iheartplanet]

I have been in Chicago and visited few museums there - those are really great !!

[@JamesandLaurent]

They are indeed. Cheers.

[@MakeItLookEasyClimbing]

Intersting museums and a great video. A must see for Chicago visitors :-)

[@JamesandLaurent]

Yes, lots of great museums in Chicago :).

[@christianmiguel6731]

Thanks for sharing!!! 🤴🏻🤴🏻

[@JamesandLaurent]

You're very welcome. We hope you get a chance to visit all of them :)

[@bettyliu97]

this is informative, on point! love the commentary and editing. really nice transitions and exchanges between your commentaries.

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks a lot Betty. As you might imagine, a lot of work goes into making these videos. We're always happy to know that people enjoy watching them and find them useful 😘.

[@adventuresindixonland469]

Awesome video guys. Josh, Nicole, and I are planning a trip to Chicago this summer. The She'd Aquarium and the Field museum look like a must for Josh. We are not 100% set on what hotel, but we want to be close to everything.

[@JamesandLaurent]

We hope you enjoy your time in Chicago. There are multiple hotels in and around the Loop and in River North that will be within walking distance of many of the top attractions. Some of them will be pricy, but others should have reasonable prices on weekends. Let us know when you're coming.

[@AdventureEverywhere]

We live close to Chicago. We've actually never done the art institute. Apparently I'm missing some really cool Degas and Van Gogh paintings. We're still big fans of the Field Museum. You guys really did a good job getting a ton of information into this one. Your knowledge of architecture is fantastic. LOVE the BNL reference near the end! That's a classic song!

[@JamesandLaurent]

Haha, lots more reasons to come back to Chicago :).

[@AdventureEverywhere]

And considering we're like 2 hours away, no reason not to!

[@DOUGandNIKI]

What a great tour of Chicago! c/t

[@JamesandLaurent]

Yes, Chicago has lots of great museums :)

[@AnnDavid26]

Beautiful tour...Nice job...Happy New Week

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks a lot for the kind words. A lot of work went into editing this video and we're glad people enjoy it :).

[@alexteachesromanian]

Love visiting new museums! :)

[@JamesandLaurent]

Then Chicago is the place as it has many amazing museums :).

[@huangdenggaouk6951]

this is good, I have been to the Art Museum, Cloud gate. Chicago is a beautiful city, worthing travel.

[@JamesandLaurent]

We agree! We hope you get a chance to go back.

[@spalzep]

thank yall

[@JamesandLaurent]

You're very welcome :)

[@santi7616]

what a great and super interesting video, I can only say many thanks¡¡ :-)

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks for the thanks :). As you can imagine, a lot of work went into making this video. We are glad you enjoyed it.

[@Matt_escape]

The museum of science and industry would definitely be my top pick out of them to visit first.

[@JamesandLaurent]

We could see that :)

[@dimetronome]

Excellent review of the Chicago museums! I’m going there for only 2.5 days (mostly just for the museums). I already knew I wanted to see the Art Institute more than anything else, but I am having such a hard time narrowing down which other museums to see while I’m there.

[@JamesandLaurent]

Lots to see. We hope you enjoy your stay.

[@dimetronome]

@@JamesandLaurent thanks!

[@JamesandLaurent]

You're very welcome!

[@chunkytimmyeatsbeans8670]

Thank you for not talking about the hoods in Chicago the entire time!!! I’m so tired of my city being portayed as terrible, there are amazing parts

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks for watching our video. We have a couple of other videos about Chicago, one about the Top 10 free things to do in Chicago and another one about Chicago off the beaten path. You might find them interesting. And we don't talk about the hoods in those videos either 🤣.

[@ilahildasissac1943]

I wish videos would highlight the positive things about the hoods versus the negative.

[@GotoHere]

You get what you voted for, lawlessness, violence, crime, murders, corruption, destruction and racism. Most segregated city in the nation and governed by the pro segregation democrats.

[@georgem7965]

I would have left a couple of the art museums off the list and added the Peggy Norebeart Nature Museum (formerly the Chicago Academy of Sciences) at the north end of Lincoln Park and the Chicago HIstory Museum (formerly the museum of the Chicago Historical Society) at the south end of Lincoln Park. And you could do another video just on the various ethinc museums, Black, Polish, Swedish, Litiuanian, etc.. And don't forget the First Infantry Museum in Wheaton and the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union, IL (about an hour NW of Chicago via I-90). There is lots in the area depending on your taste. Yours runs heavier to contemporary art and architecture than mine does.

[@JamesandLaurent]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, we do love architecture.

[@WilkTraveler]

Nice editing as well my friends! And yes, let’s exchange video ideas! Congrats!

[@JamesandLaurent]

Yes, Chicago has lots of great museums :)

[@tierneycarlson5310]

Hey guys, I love your videos! If I may though, the sound is a bit erratic, with it being much louder during transition music. Thanks again for your awesome advice!

[@JamesandLaurent]

We know. We're working on it. Our latest videos should have better sound :)

[@awilliams8778]

Laurent is hilarious!

[@JamesandLaurent]

We were going for informative and educational on that one :)

[@astridarroyave]

❤

[@JamesandLaurent]

❤ you too.

[@dog2819]

Nice again fellas 👍 so glad I found your channel so helpful! Coming with my two toddlers tomorrow for a week and looking for things to do while my wife is in a conference. Seems like the CTA is going to be my best friend! Cheers!

[@JamesandLaurent]

We hope you enjoy your week. April is still a little bit early in Chicago because the lake cools down in the winter and keeps the lake front colder than further inland in the spring. But there is so much to do that you'll find something that fits your needs regardless of the weather.

[@dog2819]

@@JamesandLaurent Thank you for the reply. I been doing a lot of research I do have a question. Should I skip Chinatown? I've heard mixed reviews. Thanks again.

[@JamesandLaurent]

It all depends. Chicago's Chinatown is nice but it is small. If you haven't seen many others, you can stop by for lunch. If you've been to larger ones like San Francisco or New York, the Chicago one won't add much to what you've already experienced.

[@GoTravelOnTheCheap]

That is quite an extensive collection at the art institute. About how much does entry cost there? Beluga whales are so cool! We were just in Tesla's home country last month; learned more about his work while there--they are proud of him. April likes how colorful the Mexican museum is. Funny that the money museum is free! Though museums aren't our first go-to in a city, there are a few of these I think we would definitely enjoy 🙂 c/t

[@JamesandLaurent]

Yes, the Mexican art museum was colorful :).

[@mikeg.4211]

Seriously, the Adler Planetarium didn't make the list over the money museum? Are you kidding?

[@JamesandLaurent]

We never really cared for it. Sorry :(

[@user-ro5iu6br4f]

Damn, the Art Institute should be a paradise on Earth... Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin are not impressionist painters, though. More like post-impressionist. I can accept small fish being kept in captivity, but intelligent cytaceans, like dolphins, belong in the nature. Don't you agree, guys? As for the Field Museum, did they kill all these animals or stuffed them after their demise? I hope it's the latter, 'cause otherwise it's a big no-no pour mois. Edit: Kudos for the editing!!! 👍👍👍

[@JamesandLaurent]

Haha, if there's one thing we can count on every time we release a new video, it's some complaints from you. Do you need a boyfriend?

[@user-ro5iu6br4f]

@@JamesandLaurent LOL Nope, my partner and I are very happy together. Thanks for your consideration, guys. You already know that I'm against animals being kept in captivity and that I'm oversensitive when it comes to animal issues. The video is very nice and I've already congratulated you on the editing. P.S. I love ya, even if you don't. 💚💛🧡❤️💙💜

[@JamesandLaurent]

Who said we didn't love you? You're the one who was too busy to meet us in Athens 😁.

[@user-ro5iu6br4f]

@@JamesandLaurent Haha, but now I have an MD. What would you choose?

[@georgem7965]

Most of the animals at the Field Museum were collected a century or more ago when the mores and ethics of this sort of thing were very different. Sometimes the museum sent out collecting expeditions and sometimes there was an arrangement with various hunters. The Field pioneered the realistic dioramas of the animals displayed in their natural habitats. There is certainly a debate about the ethics of keeping live animals in captivity but it is hard to decide if an individual animal is "happier" in a well run zoo or refuge than in the wild. they certainly eat better and get better care. It is tough to do this without anthropomorphizing.