Things to Do in Illinois, United States: City Guides

Things to do in Illinois range from exploring Chicago’s architecture and museums to following the rivers, railways, farmland, and historic communities that shaped the state. Illinois is a broad, connected land between Lake Michigan and major rivers, with a history influenced by Indigenous cultures, migration, industry, agriculture, and transportation. Neywo offers free audio guides for 4 cities in Illinois, with 157 narrated places in total and 9 walking tours.

What to see and do in Illinois

Discover Chicago, the state’s major urban centre

Chicago is Illinois’s largest city and its most prominent cultural, economic, and transportation hub. The city’s story includes the Great Migration, which established a large Black community and helped make Chicago a leading cultural centre. It is also a major national crossroads: all six Class One freight railroads meet there, Chicago Union Station is a national Amtrak hub, and O’Hare International Airport is among the world’s busiest airports by flights and passengers.

Neywo covers 132 narrated places in the city. Among them are the Stony Island Trust and Savings Bank Building, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Theatre, and Robie House. Chicago also appears in the films of John Hughes, whose stories often used the fictional suburban town of Shermer, Illinois. You can continue with the dedicated guide to Chicago.

Follow Illinois’s waterways and transport history

Movement is one of Illinois’s defining themes. Indigenous cultures lived along its waterways for thousands of years, while French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet travelled the Illinois River in 1673. Later, canals and railways carried trade, people, and settlement through the state.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal helped connect the region, while Chicago grew into a central transport hub. The Mississippi River forms much of Illinois’s western edge, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers mark parts of the south. Together, these waterways explain much of the state’s geography and its long role as a crossroads.

Explore the landscapes between lake and river

Illinois is largely part of the Interior Plains, where the land is generally level. Lake Michigan lies to the northeast, while the Mississippi, Wabash, and Ohio rivers shape other edges of the state. The far northwest includes a small part of the Driftless Area, an unglaciated landscape with higher and more rugged terrain.

The state’s natural history reaches much further back. Illinois once lay beneath a shallow sea near the Equator, where marine life including trilobites, brachiopods, and crinoids lived. Today, prairie farmland, rivers, protected areas, and the edge of a Great Lake create a landscape that can feel open and changeable. Illinois is also one of the United States’ most tornado-active states; 136 tornadoes were recorded there in 2023.

Visit Galesburg and its railway heritage

Galesburg reflects the importance of railways and local history in Illinois. Neywo’s guide includes 6 narrated places in the city, including the Galesburg Railroad Museum, the James B. Stockdale Museum, the Orpheum Theater (Galesburg), and the Carl Sandburg Birthplace Historic Site.

The city is one of the smaller Illinois destinations available in the app, making it a useful stop for travellers interested in railway history, local museums, theatre, and the life of Carl Sandburg. See the guide to Galesburg.

See Naperville’s historic and community landmarks

Naperville combines local history with cultural attractions. Its 4 narrated places on Neywo include the DuPage Children’s Museum, Naper Settlement, Old Nichols Library, and the Naperville Historic District.

These sites offer different perspectives on the city, from a museum focused on children and learning to historic buildings and the preserved character of the historic district. The Naperville guide brings them together in a short city visit.

Discover Peoria along the Illinois Waterway

Peoria is another place where Illinois’s relationship with water, architecture, and civic life comes together. Neywo covers 15 narrated places, including the John C. Flanagan House Museum, the Illinois Waterway Project Office, the Peoria Riverfront Museum, and the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

The Illinois Waterway Project Office points to the continuing importance of managed waterways, while the riverfront museum and historic buildings add cultural and architectural dimensions to the visit. Explore more with the guide to Peoria.

Learn about Illinois’s Indigenous and immigrant histories

The name Illinois comes from the people whom French missionaries and explorers called the Illinois. The name passed through several languages before reaching its modern spelling. The Koster Site records a long span of continuous habitation, while Marquette later founded a mission at the Grand Village of the Illinois.

Illinois became a state in 1818, after American settlers began arriving from Kentucky by way of the Ohio River. Immigrant farmers from Germany, Sweden, Hungary, and elsewhere later contributed to the state’s agricultural communities. Industrial jobs in northern cities and coal mining farther south brought still more newcomers. The result is a history shaped by many forms of movement and settlement.

Visit Cahokia Mounds and Illinois’s cultural heritage

Cahokia Mounds is a World Heritage Site and one of the state’s important reminders of older cultures and societies. More broadly, protected areas across Illinois preserve natural and cultural resources.

The state’s cultural life also includes a strong connection to music education. Illinois has hosted the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946 and is home to a major professional association for music educators. Universities such as the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and Northwestern University add another important part of the state’s intellectual life.

Understand the modern state

Illinois remains a major manufacturing centre, while agriculture continues to shape its economy. Its major outputs include corn, soybeans, livestock, dairy products, and wheat. The state also has large coal resources, some petroleum production, and growing interest in wind power. Illinois corn is used to produce 40 percent of the ethanol consumed in the United States.

The state’s political history is equally distinctive. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama were elected president while residents of Illinois, which carries the official slogan “Land of Lincoln.” Chicago’s global role, the state’s universities, its rail network, farms, factories, and waterways all contribute to Illinois’s modern identity.

Explore Illinois with Neywo’s free audio guide

Neywo has free audio guides for 4 cities in Illinois: Chicago, Galesburg, Naperville, and Peoria. Together, they include 9 walking tours and 157 narrated places. Narration is available in 11 languages.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Download Neywo to explore Illinois while walking through its cities and discovering the history behind the buildings, museums, waterways, and landmarks around you. You can also continue planning your journey with the wider United States guide.