What to see in Chicago in 1 day

Chicago reads well along Lake Michigan and among the skyscrapers that made it a world capital of modern architecture, with more styles concentrated in a few downtown streets than in entire other cities.

The river that crosses the Loop, the central neighborhood, remains the most natural thread to find your way in a single day.

Millennium Park remains the natural starting point: within its boundaries stands the Cloud Gate, the polished steel sculpture shaped like a bean that reflects the surrounding skyline, become the informal symbol of the city in just a few years of its installation.

From here, crossing the park, you reach the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the most important art museums in the United States, keeper of works like Nighthawks by Edward Hopper and American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Walking toward the river you can climb the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), one of America's highest skyscrapers: the Skydeck includes glass platforms jutting from the building, from which you see the city 412 meters below.

For lunch, places around the Loop offer the classic deep dish pizza, the high pizza typical of Chicago baked in a pan.

The Chicago Riverwalk is the pedestrian path along the river between skyscrapers, from which boat cruises dedicated to the city's architecture also depart.

Along the lake, Navy Pier is the historic pier with its observation wheel, not far from the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium, gathered on the same stretch of coast on Lake Michigan.

River North, with its concentration of restaurants and jazz clubs, remains the most comfortable evening stop, two steps from the Loop's lights.

Millennium Park, the Art Institute, and Willis Tower are enough to tell Chicago's artistic and architectural soul in just a few hours, with the afternoon choice between Riverwalk and lakefront adding the water perspective.

The Wicker Park neighborhood, with its independent music scene, and a real architectural cruise on the river remain good reasons to return. Seeing the skyline reflected in Cloud Gate, distorted and multiplied by the curved surface, captures Chicago in a single glance.