City: Chicago, IL

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (312) 742-1168

Insider Pick:

Description: A 5-acre plot set aside amid the rest of the Millennium Park bustle, this urban oasis transforms with the seasons, each one displaying its own sense of beauty and life. Come in winter to enjoy the hush of freshly fallen snow and icicles that dot the 15-foot-high evergreen “shoulder” hedge—a symbolic nod to Carl Sandburg’s famous description of Chicago as the “City of Big Shoulders.” In spring, colorful bulbs emerge, along with happy honeybees and migratory birds. Summer bursts with a rainbow of splendid color; and fall brings a bounty of butterflies and gently swaying ornamental grasses. Two distinct areas—dubbed the “light” and “dark” plates for their contrasting types of growth—are divided by a diagonal pedestrian boardwalk that hovers over a series of stepped pools. Dip your toes in and breathe in the calm. Then get a bird’s-eye view of the entire award-winning design as you stand atop the Nichols Bridgeway, which crosses Monroe Street to the Modern Wing of the Art Institute. Free. Open daily 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Learn about the thought behind the look of the Lurie Garden on a free 20-minute tour. Fri 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Sun 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. from May to Sept. Meet at the south end of the boardwalk.