Illinois : Tourist's Hot Spots

Though Chicago dominates the state Illinois with its cloudy skyline, beaches and museums yet Illinois itself be an enjoyable experience also  for everyone. The state houses major attractions like Wrigley Field, the beautiful Bahai House of Worship in Chicago, Starved Rock State Park in Northern Illinois, Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Central Illinois, Black Hawk State Historic Site in Illinois, Rend Lake in Southern Illinois and the National Scenic Byway in Southwest.

Chicago: Chicago has the world's greatest architecture and a wonderful place to visit. It is the third largest city in the country and enjoys continental climate and often referred as "windy city" because of strong cool breezes that blow across the country. The city is a global leader in terms of financial rankings.

• Field Museum of Natural history: The museum houses everything from biological collections to African exhibit, a walk through from city streets to Saharan sand dunes. Other permanent collection features artifacts of geology, botany, zoology and anthropology.
• Art Institute of Chicago: The city's most premier cultural institution that houses treasures and specimens from all around the globe with a diverse collection of thousands of years and includes pieces from a variety of paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, decorative arts, textiles and architectural designs. The museum is most famous for the fabulous collection of both Impressionist and Postimpressionist paintings. 
• Adler Planetarium: A perfect destination and the oldest planetarium in region that features historical instruments including telescopes, space age equipments, astrolabes and other tools. The center also houses a library with numerous astronomy related researches and hosts regular programs on the study of universe. 
• Chicago Cultural Center: The center features various exquisite rooms, notable for their stained Tiffany glass dome and sparkling mosaics. It hosts regular cultural programs of special events and exhibits.
• Grant Park: The famous Grant Park attracts millions of visitors on every year with its world famous cultural institutions and architecture. Its centerpiece id Buckingham Fountain is one of the largest fountains of the world with a capacity of 1.5 million gallon. The stunning Millennium Park occupies the northwest corner of the park and houses the reflective cloud gate sculpture.
• Shedd Aquarium: The top destination of the city and includes the oceanarium with whales and dolphins. A new shark exhibit also adds glimpses to the aquarium.
  

Springfield:
The city is the capital of small state Illinois and has a great association with Abraham Lincoln, who practiced law from the same city from 1837 to 1861.The city is a well developed economic base and has major sights offer an in depth history of this legend man.

• Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum: Contains the most complete Lincoln collection in the world that includes everything related to him. There is an impressive Lincoln's tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery, where the body of Lincoln was laid after his assassination. It houses collection of books, civil war materials, manuscripts, pictures and maps.