Neighborhood 48H guide
South Loop / Museum Campus: Where to Stay & What to Do in 48 Hours
The Field Museum, Buckingham Fountain and live blues at Buddy Guy’s Legends.
The South Loop runs south of the Loop along Grant Park. The Museum Campus at its lakefront holds the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, and Buckingham Fountain sits in Grant Park nearby.
Photo gallery
Photo: Iswzo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Sean McMenemy · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Why stay here
Walk to the three lakefront museums and Grant Park, with good-value big hotels.
Who it's for: Families, museum lovers and blues fans.
Pros
- Museum Campus
- Grant Park and the lakefront
- Often better value than the Loop
Cons
- Quieter dining scene
- Convention crowds
- Busy on Soldier Field event days
48H in the South Loop
Dinosaurs, a fountain and blues.
09:30 – Field Museum
Natural history museum; book ahead.
14:00 – Buckingham Fountain
The 1927 fountain in Grant Park.
20:00 – Buddy Guy’s Legends
Live blues club on Wabash.
Named recommendations
Real places with links to their official site or a Maps place page. We do not invent hours, prices, or ratings.
Drink
Drink
Buddy Guy’s Legends
700 S Wabash Ave
Blues club owned by Buddy Guy, with live music.
Official site / map →
See / do
See / do
Field Museum
1400 S Lake Shore Dr
Natural history museum on the lakefront Museum Campus.
Photo: Iswzo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →See / do
Buckingham Fountain
301 S Columbus Dr
Grant Park’s 1927 centerpiece fountain.
Photo: Sean McMenemy · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Official site / map →
Where to stay
Specific named properties—not vague city-wide searches. Expedia stays use tracked Creator links; others open the hotel's official site.
Roam48 may earn a commission when you book a stay through Expedia or Vrbo links on this page, at no extra cost to you. All commercial stay links use rel="sponsored nofollow".
Hotel · Expedia
Hilton Chicago
720 S Michigan Ave
Big historic hotel on Michigan Avenue facing Grant Park.
Check rates on Expedia →
Vacation rentals
Prefer an apartment or whole home in this neighborhood? Browse Vrbo listings for South Loop / Museum Campus.
Chicago requires short-term rentals to be registered with the city, and some buildings and precincts ban them. Look for the city registration number on the listing before you book.
Browse vacation rentals in South Loop / Museum Campus on Vrbo →Other ways to spend 48 hours in Chicago
- The Loop — The Art Institute, Millennium Park’s Bean, the Riverwalk and a rooftop above Michigan Avenue.
- River North — Marina City’s corncob towers, deep-dish pizza, a Portillo’s Italian beef and hotel rooftops.
- Magnificent Mile / Streeterville — Michigan Avenue’s shops, the 1869 Water Tower, the Billy Goat Tavern and Navy Pier.
- Gold Coast — Astor Street mansions, Oak Street Beach and the Drake’s Palm Court.
- West Loop / Fulton Market — Randolph Street’s Restaurant Row: Au Cheval’s burger, Girl & the Goat and Fulton Market’s old warehouses.
- Wicker Park — The six-way corner at North, Damen and Milwaukee, Big Star tacos, Myopic Books and The 606 trail.
- Lincoln Park — The free Lincoln Park Zoo, the glass Conservatory, Pequod’s pan pizza and late-night blues at Kingston Mines.
- Lakeview / Wrigleyville — Wrigley Field’s red marquee, Murphy’s Bleachers and a hotel across the street from the ballpark.
- Hyde Park — Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, the Museum of Science and Industry, the new Obama Presidential Center and Promontory Point.