Things to Do in Naperville, United States: Walking Guide

Looking for things to do in Naperville? This city in Illinois combines local history, preserved architecture and museums with the character of an established community. Its most significant sights include Naper Settlement, the Naperville Historic District, Old Nichols Library and the DuPage Children’s Museum. Neywo also offers a free audio guide for Naperville covering four narrated places, with narration available in 11 languages.

What to see in Naperville

DuPage Children’s Museum

The DuPage Children’s Museum is one of the places included in Neywo’s Naperville guide. It is a destination designed around discovery, with opportunities to explore the exhibits and see what catches your attention. For families, it offers a different kind of museum experience from the city’s historic sites.

Naper Settlement

Naper Settlement brings Naperville’s history together in a thirteen-acre outdoor history museum. Its collection includes thirty historic buildings and structures from the Naperville area, with stories spanning the period from the city’s founding in 1831 through the early twentieth century.

Many of the buildings were moved from their original locations and restored in styles appropriate to their different periods. The result is an open-air setting where Naperville’s early development can be explored through architecture as well as exhibits.

The museum experience is hands-on. Activities and tours led by museum educators in period costumes add context to the people and eras represented by the buildings. Naper Settlement was established in 1969 and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Old Nichols Library

Old Nichols Library stands on Washington Street and is one of Naperville’s historic landmarks. The 1897 building served as a public library for nearly ninety years before library operations moved to the newer Nichols Library on Jefferson Avenue in 1986. It reopened in 2022 as an Italian restaurant.

The library began with a bequest of ten thousand dollars from James L. Nichols, a professor at North-Western College—now North Central College—and an author and publisher. The building was designed by Mifflin E. Bell in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.

Its yellow brick and indigenous limestone give the building a lighter appearance than is usual for that style. Architectural details include a hipped roof, a front-facing gable and a broad, rough limestone arch above the entrance. The central part of the main façade projects forward and emphasizes the doorway. A modern addition was connected to the south wall in 1962, while the building’s later history included a sale to a local church in 1996 and acquisition by a developer in 2017.

Naperville Historic District

The Naperville Historic District preserves a collection of buildings that reflects the character and layout of the town’s early development. Walking through the district offers a way to see how the original community took shape and how its built environment has been retained.

The district includes 613 buildings, of which 544 contribute to its historical integrity. Together, they form a substantial record of Naperville’s past and make the area an important part of any visit focused on what to see in Naperville.

Explore Illinois with Neywo

Neywo’s free Naperville audio guide includes four narrated places. Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Instead of following a fixed tour, you can explore independently while the app tells the story of each location when you arrive.

Download Neywo to discover Naperville with a self-guided audio guide and learn more about the places along your route. You can also continue exploring Illinois, compare Naperville with Chicago, or discover more of the United States.