Chicago residents make full use of the fresh waters of Lake Michigan and summers are the best times to enjoy the beaches. On the Far North side, there is the more casual stretch of beachside, where it is more fun to go for people who aim at having fun rather than being seen. Chicago beaches are open to everyone, so there are almost no private beaches to spoil the fun.

Chicago also has a number of lakefront parks, something which is mandatory for a city of beaches. During summers, you will enjoy soccer and volley ball games on the parks, and also a lot of other sea side sports. Some of the beach parks even have tennis courts for you to enjoy. Apart from the lake front parks, there are also other recreational parks, like the Grant Park, where you can enjoy musical festivals being held all round the year, and also there is the Millennium Park, which is a wonderful place to visit for all age groups.

Midway Park, situated next to the University of Chicago, offers winter and summer gardens and also skating. Washington Park is ranked the best place for sports.Chicago is a city of festivals, and you can find some festival going on in every season of the year. There are certain very famous and most recommended festivals, which should not be missed if you can plan your trip around that time of the year.

Taste of Chicago is a festival hosted by the Grant Park in the month of July every year, apart from this; it also hosts four main musical festivals, which should be attended by music lovers at all cost. These festivals are the Gospel Festival and Blue Festival which take place in June. Also there is Lollapalooza, which is the Indie Rock Festival in August and a Jazz Festival on the weekend following the Labor Day.

Chicago is a cycling city; you will find most people happy with their bicycles. It is a good idea to rent a bike and explore the city. You can see the city at its best while cycling through it and it’s a plain, so cycling would be even more fun and easy going