The John Hancock Observatory: See the City of Chicago from New Heights

A few years ago I visited Chicago on Thanksgiving Weekend and stopped by the John Hancock Tower. Unfortunately, at the time we were there, the line was a mile long with kids going to see Santa. We passed on seeing the tower on that trip, but when planning our August 2008 trip to Chicago, I researched and asked for advice online about the John Hancock Observatory so that I could make sure we could see it this time around. The first thing that I found many people saying was that the Hancock was definitely better than the Sears Tower. After reading that from many sources, there was no question that I would be doing the John Hancock Tower instead.

Now the question became whether or not I should go to the Observatory floor or try the restaurant or lounge that many people were talking about. While many people said the lounge/restaurant was a better option, I got a response from at least one tourist who was very disappointed in the lounge and stated you couldn't actively walk around to see the view from all sides. That squashed any ideas I had about not doing the observatory and I made a plan to get there shortly before sunset.

Getting There
If you are in a hotel anywhere near the Michigan Avenue/Magnificent Mile area, you can easily walk to the Hancock Tower. It's a straight shot down Michigan Avenue, right in between all the action of this strip. You simply cannot miss the tower as it approaches and towers over everything around it. When you enter from the Michigan Avenue entrance, it is only a few feet away to the entrance to the observatory. Tickets for adults is $15 with a discount for kids and seniors.

When to Go
We planned to go just before sunset so that we could see the city during the day as well as see the city lights at night. We arrived about 10 minutes before sunset because we were running late and at this time there was absolutely no line. We managed to get up to the top just in time to see the sun starting to set and to do a few laps while the sunlight was still illuminating the city. After that, we did a few laps around and waited for the dark to set in so that we could see the city at night. It was still not very crowded up there the whole time and we were able to see the view from all sides with out many people in our way.

As we started to leave around 8, the crowds did start to pick up and more and more people started coming out of the elevator. I was actually surprised more people did not come at sunset time and instead more people were coming when it was already dark. Sunset time is actually the best time, in my opinion, because you get to see both views of the city.

Other Activities
It's not all about the view as there are a lot of other activities as well. For one thing, there are fun photo ops. First of all, you take a photo upon entering the tower which you can then purchase against different backgrounds. The other photo ops are free and do-it-yourself for fun. One setup makes it look like you are a window washer and you can play around to pose as you wish to get a fun picture that appears to leave you hanging outside the tower cleaning windows. A second setup is a beam that you can stand up next to and pretend to be laying on it so it looks like you are hanging off the side of the building looking down to the ground.

Other activities include the history tours you can do. You can read the history wall to learn about various things to do with Chicago and the tower. You can also grab a set of headphones and do a guided tour as you walk around the tower. Depending how much you are into history, you could enjoy these things for hours. Finally there are sightseeing things so that you can get an even more zoomed in view of the city and the lake. The Hancock Tower also contained a gift shop where I found our Chicago photo frame.

In The End
Anyone who says the Hancock Observatory is not worth it must not enjoy sight seeing because I completely thought it was worth it. The lounge and the restaurant may be cool on another trip, when I want to just sit and relax, but for this trip I really wanted to see the city from all angles. My only wish was that we would have made it to the tower 30 minutes before sunset as I had hoped to see more during the daytime, however we were simply running late. Kids and adults alike will enjoy this view as well as the additional activities and history lessons of the tower.