Navy Pier, Chicago

Such a great place to visit. Parking is good nearby unless you have a large vehicle like a camper or full size van, mid size cars only. All parking in the area is garage parking for the most part so any tall vehicles won't make it. Great Place to visit in warm weather, you can get an alcoholic beverage and walk the pier, maybe see a performance on the outdoor stage. Very clean and safe location. Easy access to surrounding areas and a water taxi that will take you to the aquarium and museum

It's a nice little pier with kids rides. It's best to get the unlimited day pass for the rides. Not the best rides for the little one but if you have older kids like 6 or 7 then it's good. They can enjoy all the rides. My kids are two and four and they were only allowed on the lighthouse, Ferris wheel, and the carousel. Also if you want to go to the Ferris wheel for the view I would say go in the day time. I went day and night time but didn't enjoy the night view at all. There isn't much light or anything around to see at night. In the day time you get to see everything in the water and have the view of the city.

We really enjoyed our time at Navy Pier in the middle of August. We went down there to get on a architectural boat tour, and found many excellent things to do right on the Navy Pier. There was a great selection of shops, many of whom had handmade items by local Chicago artist. We also found the food court to be filled with lots of very good and healthy choices, as well as choices for treats and sweets. It was very easy to park here and while the parking was expensive, I was told that is generally how much it cost to park in downtown Chicago. I highly recommend Navy Pier as excellent, family-friendly, tourist attraction in Chicago

PRICEY! Parking is on the higher side even for Chicago. Fun things to do are certainly tourist priced. The festival atmosphere was great, and the music being piped throughout was nice ( not too loud and not overtly one style). The variety of food options are nice, but again on the pricey side and not for anyone with a food (egg) allergy. There was A LOT people waiting for the various cruises, some were already a few drinks ahead and rather rude which certainly is not family friendly. We will certainly pack a picnic and head back to explore some more.

Lobster Fest food was very good for the most part. Great atmosphere, lnot really crowded but still not enough tables. At the end of the Pier so was very nice. You buy tickets for it when your there. Ticket's are $2 apiece most food is between 2 & 6 tickets portions are nice size. Some vendors needed a better organization to ordering and pickup. I would go again.