Alaska Airlines Flights from Providence (PVD) to Chicago (ORD)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Alaska Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Providence (PVD) to Chicago (ORD), departing between 6:45am and 11:20am. Usually an Embraer RJ140 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Providence, RI to Chicago, IL is 2 hours and 52 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
Quick Flight Searches
Weekend Trips - Search
Upcoming weekend flight specials and airline
deals on flights to Chicago (ORD)
from Providence (PVD)
During your Chicago vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Just beyond the zoo's northeast border is a lovely botanical garden housed in a soaring glass-domed structure. Inside are four great halls filled with thousands of plants. If you're visiting Chicago in the wintertime, I can't think of a better prescription for mood elevation than the conservatory's lush haven of greenery. The Palm House features giant palms and rubber trees (including a 50-ft. fiddle-leaf rubber tree dating from 1891), the Fernery nurtures plants that grow close to the forest floor, and the Tropical House is a shiny symphony of flowering trees, vines, and bamboo. The fourth environment is the Show House, where seasonal flower shows are held.Even better than the plants inside, however, might be what lies outside the front doors. The expansive lawn with its French garden and lovely fountain on the conservatory's south side is one of the best places in town for an informal picnic (especially nice if you're visiting the zoo and want to avoid the congestion at its food concession venues).The Lincoln Park Conservatory has a sister facility on the city's West Side, in Garfield Park, that is much more remarkable. In fact, the 2-acre Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. (tel. 312/746-5100), designed by the great landscape architect Jens Jensen in 1907, is one of the largest gardens under glass in the world. It's open 365 days a year from 9am to 5pm. Unfortunately, a rather blighted neighborhood with a high crime rate surrounds the conservatory. If you want to see it, I recommend driving rather than public transportation.Allow a half-hour for the Lincoln Park Conservatory.
Museum of Science and Industry
Even if you don't plan on spending the day in Hyde Park, you'll pass through the neighborhood on your way to one of Chicago's most popular tourist attractions. The massive Museum of Science and Industry is the granddaddy of interactive museums, with some 2,000 exhibits. You should plan on spending at least a couple of hours here, and a comprehensive visit can take all day, especially if you catch an Omnimax movie while you're here. Although it's quite a distance from the rest of Chicago's tourist attractions, it's easy enough to get here without a car; your best options are the no. 6 Jeffrey Express bus or the Metra Electric train from downtown (the no. 10 bus runs from downtown to the museum's front entrance during the summer).While the museum is constantly adding new exhibits to cover the latest scientific breakthroughs, you shouldn't miss certain tried-and-true exhibits that have been here for years and epitomize the museum for Chicagoans. The U-505, a German submarine that was captured in 1944 and brought to the museum 10 years later, brings home the claustrophobic reality of underwater naval life. The full-scale Coal Mine, which dates back to 1934, now incorporates modern mining techniques into the exhibit -- but the best part is the simulated trip down into a dark, mysterious mine. Get to these exhibits quickly after the museum opens because they attract amusement-park-length lines during the day.Kids who love planes, trains, and automobiles shouldn't miss All Aboard the Silver Streak, a refurbished Burlington Pioneer Zephyr train with on-board interactive exhibits; the massive model train exhibit that makes up The Great Train Story; or Take Flight, an aviation exhibit featuring a full-size 727 airplane that revs up its engines and replays the voice recordings from a San Francisco-Chicago flight periodically throughout the day. Computer addicts should be entranced by Networld, which offers a flashy immersion into the Internet (with plenty of interactive screens). More low-tech -- but fascinating -- is the giant walk-through model of the human heart. Well-designed educational exhibits include AIDS: The War Within (which was the first permanent museum exhibit on the immune system and HIV) and Reusable City, which teaches children ecological tips with implements that they might find in their own backyard. Older children with a creative streak will enjoy Enterprise, which lets visitors take on the role of CEO for a day as they immerse themselves in the goings-on of a virtual company.And, not to be sexist, but girls (myself included) love Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle, a lavishly decorated miniature palace filled with priceless treasures (yes, those are real diamonds and pearls in the chandeliers). The castle is hidden away on the lower level. Also tucked away in an inconspicuous spot -- along the Blue stairwell between the Main Floor and the Balcony -- are the Human Body Slices, actual slivers of human cadavers that are guaranteed to impress teenagers in search of something truly gross.A major newer addition to the museum is the Henry Crown Space Center, where the story of space exploration is documented in copious detail, highlighted by a simulated space-shuttle experience through sight and sound at the center's five-story Omnimax Theater. The theater offers double features on the weekends; call for show times.When you've worked up an appetite, you can visit one of the museum's five restaurants, including a Pizza Hut and an ice-cream parlor, and there are also two gift shops. Allow 3 hours.
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
The building may be historic, but some of the attractions here will captivate the most jaded video-game addict. The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, it was founded by Sears, Roebuck and Co. executive Max Adler, who imported a Zeiss projector from Germany in 1930.The good news for present-day visitors is that the planetarium has been updated since then. Your first stop should be the modern Sky Pavilion, where the don't-miss experience is the StarRider Theater. Settle down under the massive dome, and you'll take a half-hour long interactive virtual-reality trip through the Milky Way and into deep space, featuring a computer-generated 3D-graphics projection system and controls in the armrest of each person's seat. Six high-resolution video projectors form a seamless image above your head -- you'll feel like you're literally floating in space. (On Thurs, Fri, and Sat nights, the theater is open late for SonicVision, a head-trippy digital animation show with an alternative music soundtrack.) If you're looking for more entertainment, the Sky Theater shows movies with an astronomical bent. Recent shows have included Secrets of Saturn and Mars Now!, both of which are updated as new discoveries are made. The planetarium's exhibit galleries feature a variety of displays and interactive activities designed to foster understanding of our solar system and more. The best current exhibit is Bringing the Heavens to Earth, which traces the ways different cultures have tried to make sense of astronomical phenomena. The planetarium's signature exhibit, From the Night Sky to the Big Bang, traces changing views of the cosmos over 1,000 years and features artifacts from the planetarium's extensive collection of historical astronomical instruments (all of which can get a bit boring for kids unless they're real astronomy nuts).The museum's cafe provides views of the lakefront and skyline. On the first Friday evening of the month, visitors can view dramatic close-ups of the moon, the planets, and distant galaxies through a closed-circuit monitor connected to the planetarium's Doane Observatory telescope.Allow 2 hours, more if you want to see more than one show.
Embassy Suites
Although this hotel does a healthy convention business, its vaguely Floridian ambience -- with a gushing waterfall and palm-lined ponds at the bottom of a huge central atrium -- makes the place very family-friendly (there's plenty of room for the kids to run around). The accommodations are spacious enough for both parents and kids: All suites have two rooms, consisting of a living room with a sleeper sofa, a round table, and four chairs; and a bedroom with either a king-size bed or two double beds. Guests staying on the VIP floor get nightly turndown service and in-room fax machines and robes. At one end of the atrium, the hotel serves a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast in the morning and, in the other end, supplies complimentary cocktails and snacks in the evening.Off the lobby is an excellent restaurant, Papagus Greek Taverna, and next door is a Starbucks outlet with outdoor seating.
Park Hyatt Chicago
For those in search of chic modern luxury, the Park Hyatt is the coolest hotel in town (as long as money is no object). The building occupies one of the most desirable spots on North Michigan Avenue and the best rooms are those that face east, overlooking the bustle of the Mag Mile and the lake in the distance.Luxury might be the watchword here, but the look is anything but stuffy: The lobby feels like a sleek modern art gallery. German painter Gerhard Richter's Piazza del Duomo Milan masterpiece is the visual centerpiece of the space, providing ample evidence of what visual treats lie in store for guests. Rooms feature Eames and Mies van der Rohe reproduction furniture and window banquettes with stunning city views (the windows actually open). The comfortable beds are well appointed with several plush pillows. While most hotels might provide a TV and VCR, this is the kind of place where you get a DVD player and flatscreen TV. The bathrooms are especially wonderful: Slide back the cherrywood wall for views of the city while you soak in the tub.NoMI, a restaurant nestled on the seventh floor overlooking Water Tower Square and the Museum of Contemporary Art, serves French-inspired cuisine and features an Architectural Digest-worthy interior by New York-based designer Tony Chi; the place has gotten stellar reviews, but be prepared for fairly small portions at expense-account prices.
Homewood Suites
An excellent choice for families, this hotel offers both fresh, clean rooms and some nice little extras. Because all of the rooms are suites with full kitchens, you can prepare your own meals (a real money saver) and there's plenty of room for everyone to spread out at the end of the day. Housed just off the Mag Mile in a sleek tower above retail shops, offices, and a health club -- and adjacent to ESPN Zone -- the hotel's decor is described as "Italian Renaissance meets Crate & Barrel." Distressed-leather sofas, Mediterranean stone tile, wrought-iron chandeliers, and beaded lampshades adorn its sixth-floor lobby. Rooms -- one- and two-bedroom suites and a handful of double-double suites, which can connect to king suites -- feature velvet sofas that are all sleepers, and the beds have big, thick mattresses. Each comes with a full kitchen, a dining-room table that doubles as a workspace, and decent-size bathrooms. The hotel provides a complimentary hot breakfast buffet as well as beverages and hors d'oeuvres every evening; there is also a free grocery-shopping service and free access to an excellent health club next door.
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Need help booking your trip?
Book online or call
1-800-504-3248(toll free)
Other direct flights to Chicago (ORD) on Alaska Airlines
