Chicago is a museum town — but you don’t have five free days to see all of them, and you shouldn’t try. Here are the ones actually worth your time right now, from the brand-new headliner to the free hidden gems. And because we’re a South Side outfit, we’ll let you in on a secret: a whole lot of the city’s heavy hitters sit south of the Loop, in our backyard.
What’s hot right now
The Obama Presidential Center is the big one. It opened on Juneteenth 2026 on a 19-acre lakefront campus in Jackson Park on the South Side, and it’s the newest must-see in the city. The four-floor museum walks you through the Obama years — there’s even a full-scale replica of the Oval Office and a Sky Room with panoramic views. Good to know: the museum runs on timed tickets that drop in batches and have been selling out within the hour, booked months ahead since opening — so plan early and grab them the moment a new batch goes live. The grounds, the library branch, and the observation deck, though, are free and open to everyone, and Illinois residents get free museum admission on Tuesdays.
Pokémon Fossil Museum: where fossils meet fun
If you’ve got kids — or you grew up on Pokémon yourself — this is the one to plan around. The Pokémon Fossil Museum made its North American debut right here at the Field, and it’s exactly the kind of clever mashup that gets everyone through the door: fossil Pokémon like Tyrantrum and Archeops displayed right alongside the real prehistoric bones they echo — including a certain world-famous T. rex named SUE. Excavator Pikachu, a crew of Pokémon Professors, and actual Field Museum scientists walk you through how paleontologists really dig, clean, and rebuild what they find.
It’s genuinely smart for families — the kids come for the Pokémon and leave knowing how a fossil actually comes out of the ground. The exhibit was built with Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science and The Pokémon Company, it lives on the Field’s first-floor main gallery, and it’s all-ages.
Plan ahead: it runs through April 11, 2027, and it needs a separate add-on ticket on top of general admission — demand has been high, so grab timed tickets before you go. Want it calmer? The Field runs early-morning access events (6:30–10:30 a.m.) on select dates, including August 29, September 12, and October 10, 2026 — a great way to beat the crowds.
Steps away: the rest of Museum Campus
Here’s the best part about the Pokémon exhibit: the Field doesn’t sit alone. It shares one lakefront peninsula — the Museum Campus — with two more giants, each a few minutes’ walk away. Make a day of it.
Adler Planetarium
A short stroll from the Field, the Adler is the move for sky shows in its domed theaters — and it hands you arguably the single best skyline view in all of Chicago. The walk out to Adler is worth it even before you buy a ticket.
Shedd Aquarium
Right next door — literally down the street from the Pokémon exhibit — the Shedd rounds out the campus. Beluga whales, a Caribbean reef, penguins, sea otters and sharks: it’s a can’t-miss with kids in tow, and one of the great aquariums anywhere.
The South Side’s museum muscle
This is where we plant our flag. The Museum of Science and Industry (now the Griffin MSI) in Hyde Park is a Chicago institution — the German U-505 submarine, the walk-through everything, all of it — and it’s a straight shot south from downtown.
DuSable: where Black Chicago tells its own story
Here’s a fact every Chicagoan should know: the first person to build a permanent home in what became Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a fur trader of African descent. The city was founded by a Black man — and the DuSable Black History Museum, in Washington Park on the South Side, carries his name and keeps that legacy front and center.
The woman who built it: Margaret Taylor-Burroughs
The DuSable is the oldest independent Black history museum in the country, and it began at a kitchen table. In 1961, the artist, educator, and activist Margaret Taylor-Burroughs — with her husband Charles and a handful of determined friends — opened it on the ground floor of their home on South Michigan Avenue, back when it was called the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art. She built it because the story of Black America was being written out of the city’s big institutions, and she refused to let that stand.
Today the museum holds more than 13,000 artifacts — among them Ida B. Wells’ writing desk and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s violin — inside a grand old building in Washington Park, a straight shot south from downtown. It’s a South Side landmark, and one of the most important Black cultural institutions in America.
The National Museum of Mexican Art — and a Pilsen legend
Our favorite under-the-radar pick sits right in Pilsen: the National Museum of Mexican Art, one of the largest Latino arts institutions in the country and — best of all — free every single day. The collection is worth the trip any time, but the museum is best known for its beloved annual Día de Muertos exhibition, A Celebration of Remembrance — a breathtaking hall of ofrendas and original work that draws visitors from across the city each fall. This year’s edition is coming soon, and it’s one of the best things to do in Chicago all season. Pair a visit with lunch in the neighborhood — Pilsen is stacked with taquerías and great spots on our Pilsen list.
A Pilsen legend — and our own
We have to pause here, because this one’s personal. A few years back, in the museum’s 2019 Día de Muertos exhibition, a portrait went up on the walls — a portrait of our grandmother, Raquel Guerrero (1935–2019), a Pilsen organizer and activist. Painted by Chicago artist Robert Valadez, it honored a woman who gave this neighborhood decades of her life.
A Mexican immigrant and a mother of eleven, Raquel became one of the Pilsen mothers who refused to accept less for their children. She helped lead the 1968 parent boycott that finally forced the city to build Benito Juárez Community Academy — Pilsen’s own high school, which opened in 1977. She organized her neighbors to win a branch library for the community, helped launch the beloved Fiesta del Sol, and pushed the city to hire Latino firefighters after deadly neighborhood fires. As her family put it, her legacy was simply “a motherly love for all those here in Pilsen.”
The museum’s walls change with every season, so her portrait may not be hanging today — but you don’t need a frame to find Raquel Guerrero in Pilsen. She’s in the high school, the library, the festival, and every family she stood up for. That’s a legacy no exhibit can take down.
Downtown & beyond
You can’t talk Chicago museums without the Art Institute of Chicago — one of the great art museums on the planet, guarded by those bronze lions on Michigan Avenue, holding everything from the Impressionists to American Gothic. For modern and contemporary work, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Streeterville keeps a rotating slate of bold, current shows.
How to do it right
A few local tips: check each museum’s free days before you go (Illinois residents get discounted or free admission at several); the Museum Campus is easiest by the #146 bus or a short rideshare; and always make a food plan — after the Field or Adler, hop over to Chinatown, one Red Line stop away, for a proper meal — and if you’ve got an hour, the Chinese American Museum of Chicago (238 W. 23rd St.) tells the neighborhood’s story.
Frequently asked
What’s the newest museum in Chicago?
The Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, which opened in June 2026 — the four-floor museum needs timed tickets, but the grounds and library are free.
Where is the Pokémon exhibit in Chicago?
The Pokémon Fossil Museum is at the Field Museum on the Museum Campus, running through April 11, 2027, as a separate add-on ticket.
Are any Chicago museums free?
Yes — the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen is free every day, and several others (including the Obama Center museum for Illinois residents on Tuesdays) offer free or discounted days.
Planning a full day out? Browse neighborhoods and spots near each museum on The Chicago Route directory.