Field Museum

The Field Museum of Natural History stands on Chicago's Museum Campus, by Lake Michigan just south of Grant Park, next to the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. It grew out of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and was first called the Columbian Museum of Chicago. The department store owner Marshall Field was its first major benefactor, and it took his name in 1905.

The museum began in the former Palace of Fine Arts in Jackson Park and moved to its present white marble building in 1921. The Chicago Park District owns the land and building. Today the museum is also a major research institution, with scientists working in zoology, botany, geology and anthropology.

Its collections number nearly 40 million specimens and objects. The most famous is SUE, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton about 90 percent complete and roughly 67 million years old, unveiled in 2000 and named after the fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, who found it. Inside Ancient Egypt includes a three-storey reconstruction of the mastaba tomb of Unas-Ankh and 23 human mummies. The animal halls display the man-eating lions of Tsavo, which attacked railway workers in Kenya in 1898, together with large dioramas of mammals and birds. Other halls cover gems, evolution, Pacific cultures and the peoples of the Americas.

Basic admission covers the permanent halls, and special exhibitions cost extra. Plan at least three to four hours. The museum is a short walk from Roosevelt station on the CTA Red, Green and Orange lines, and several bus routes stop on the Museum Campus.

How much is entry to the Field Museum? Basic admission for visitors from outside Chicago starts at USD 30, and Chicago residents pay from USD 21 with proof of address. Illinois residents enter free on Wednesdays with an advance reservation. Children under three are always free, and seniors and students get USD 3 off. Tickets including special exhibitions or 3D films cost more.

The museum opens daily from 9 am to 5 pm, with last entry at 4 pm, and closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Advance online booking is strongly advised on free Wednesdays and school holidays. Tickets may also be sold at the door, subject to availability.

Making the most of a visit. SUE now stands in the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet on the upper level, and a cast of Maximo, a titanosaur measuring about 37 metres, fills Stanley Field Hall at the entrance. Start early at SUE and the Evolving Planet galleries before school groups arrive, then work through Inside Ancient Egypt and the Grainger Hall of Gems. The museum has a cafe and picnic area, and the Lakefront Trail outside gives views of the Chicago skyline.