 |
Alaska Airlines Flights from Montreal, Canada (YUL) to Chicago (ORD)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Alaska Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Montreal, Canada (YUL) to Chicago (ORD), departing between 8:20am and 4:25pm. Usually a McDonnell Douglas MD80 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Montreal, Canada to Chicago, IL is 2 hours and 37 minutes.*
* Some flights must connect with additional service on this airline.
During your Chicago vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Oriental Institute Museum
Near the midpoint of the campus, a few blocks from Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, is the Oriental Institute, housing one of the world's major collections of Near Eastern art. Although most of the galleries have been renovated within the last few years, this is still a very traditional museum: lots of glass cases, very few interactive exhibits (in other words, there's not much to interest young children). It won't take you long to see the highlights here -- but a few impressive pieces make it worth a stop for history and art buffs.Your first stop should be the Egyptian Gallery, which showcases the finest objects among the 35,000 artifacts from the Nile Valley held by the museum. At the center stands a monumental 17-foot solid-quartzite statue of King Tutankhamen, the boy king who ruled Egypt from about 1335 to 1324 B.C. The largest Egyptian sculpture in the Western Hemisphere (tipping the scales at 6 tons), the Oriental Institute excavated it in 1930. The surrounding exhibits, which document the life and beliefs of Egyptians from 5000 B.C. to the 8th century A.D., have a wonderfully accessible approach that emphasizes themes, not chronology. Among them are: mummification (there are 14 mummies on display -- five people and nine animals, including hawks, an ibis, a shrew, and a baby crocodile), kingship, society, and writing (including a deed for the sale of a house, a copy of the Book of the Dead, and a schoolboy's homework).The Oriental Institute also houses important collections of artifacts from civilizations that once flourished in what are now Iran and Iraq. The highlight of the Mesopotamium Gallery is a massive, 16-foot-tall sculpture of a winged bull with a human head, which once stood in the palace of Assyrian king Sargon II. The gallery also contains some of the earliest man-made tools ever excavated, along with many other pieces that have become one-of-a-kind since the destruction and looting of the National Museum in Baghdad in 2003. The Persian Gallery displays approximately 1,000 objects dating from the Archaic Susiana Period (ca. 6800 B.C.) to the Islamic Period (ca. A.D. 1000). Other galleries are filled with artifacts from Sumer, ancient Palestine, Israel, Anatolia, and Nubia.The small but eclectic gift shop, called the Suq, stocks many one-of-a-kind items, including reproductions of pieces in the museum's collection. Allow 1 hour.
Chicago Historical Society
At the southwestern tip of Lincoln Park stands one of Chicago's oldest cultural institutions (founded in 1856), but one that has successfully brought its exhibits into the 21st century. Inside the Historical Society's lovely redbrick and glass-walled building, you'll find well-designed displays of significant objects, artifacts, and artwork -- but the overall effect is instructive rather than interactive (this isn't the place to bring young children).Casual visitors can get a good overview of the highlights in about an hour; history buffs will need more time. The must-see permanent exhibit is A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln, which explores the institution of slavery in America and the devastation of the Civil War (items on display include the bed that Lincoln died in and an original copy of the 13th amendment abolishing slavery, signed by Honest Abe himself). Another highlight is the CHS's costume collection, which includes clothing worn by George Washington, John Adams, and, of more current vintage, one of Michael Jordan's uniforms, along with numerous gowns by contemporary fashion designers (pieces from the collection are displayed on a rotating basis). Other worthy stops are the Charles F. Murphy architectural study center, featuring one of the nation's largest collections of architectural working drawings; the decorative and industrial-arts collection, including stained-glass designs by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan; and We the People, a permanent exhibit that explores how "ordinary people" founded the United States. (After your visit, head a few blocks away to North Ave. Beach, the best beach in the city, and or wander the neighboring residential streets of the exclusive Gold Coast.)The Historical Society also sponsors lectures, symposia, and seminars; film screenings; family programs; historical reenactments and performances by local theater companies; and music concerts on the beautiful plaza overlooking Lincoln Park. On the ground floor of the museum, past the gift shop, is Big Shoulders Cafe, entered through a flora- and fauna-decorated terra-cotta arch removed from the old Stockyard Bank and reassembled here. The museum's website is worth checking out before your visit, especially the impressive online "exhibit" on the Great Chicago Fire. Allow 1 to 2 hours.
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Three years after the Haymarket Riot, a young woman named Jane Addams bought an old mansion on Halsted Street that had been built in 1856 as a "country home" but was now surrounded by the shanties of the immigrant poor. Here, Addams and her co-worker, Ellen Gates Starr, launched the American settlement-house movement with the establishment of Hull House, an institution that endured on this site in Chicago until 1963. (It continues today as a decentralized social-service agency known as Hull House Association.) In that year, all but two of the settlement's 13 buildings, along with the entire residential neighborhood in its immediate vicinity, were demolished to make room for the new University of Illinois at Chicago campus, which now owns the museum buildings. Of the original settlement, what remain today are the Hull-House Museum, the mansion itself, and the residents' dining hall, snuggled among the ultramodern, poured-concrete buildings of the university campus. Inside are the original furnishings, Jane Addams's office, and numerous settlement maps and photographs. Rotating exhibits re-create the history of the settlement and the work of its residents, showing how Addams was able to help transform the dismal streets around her into stable inner-city environments worth fighting over. Allow a half-hour.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Chicago area, including:
Sofitel Chicago Water Tower
The latest addition to Chicago's already-crowded luxury hotel scene, the Sofitel aims to impress by drawing on the city's tradition of great architecture. French architect Jean-Paul Viguier created a building that's impossible to pass without taking a second look: a soaring, triangular white tower that sparkles in the sun. But the place doesn't take itself too seriously, as you'll see when you walk in the airy lobby and check out the luminescent floor tiles that change color in a never-ending light show. The overall feel of the hotel is European modern; you'll hear French accents from the front-desk staff, and foreign-language magazines are scattered on tables throughout the lobby. The bright, stylish Café des Architects has become a favorite business lunch spot for locals.The guest rooms feature contemporary decor with natural beechwood walls and chrome hardware. All the rooms enjoy good views of the city (but the privacy-conscious will want to stay on the upper floors, where they won't be on display to surrounding apartment buildings). The standard doubles are fairly compact -- but thanks to large picture windows, the spaces don't feel cramped. The luxurious marble bathrooms (with separate tub and shower stall) are quite spacious. The amenities are top-notch. Recognizing that business travelers are the bread and butter of Chicago hotel profits, ample support services exist for working visitors. But this doesn't mean that Sofitel doesn't welcome families; in fact, up to two children can stay in a room for no extra charge (they'll even roll in a portable bed for the kids).
Le Méridien
Tucked into the Westfield North Bridge mall, Le Méridien is a fairly recent addition to the competitive high-end Chicago hotel market, and it seems that the general public has yet to discover it. Le Méridien touts its design philosophy as "European with a French accent," which, in this case, means marble floors, vaguely 18th-century-inspired furniture, and some whimsical artwork (a large painting of a Napoleonic figure with the head of a dog hangs in the lobby). A terrace offers outdoor seating, and a casual bistro is hidden away in the back of the lobby (depending on your perspective, it's either pleasantly secluded or isolated). Rooms are a bit small (especially the least expensive ones on the north side), but the amenities are top of the line: The safes come with chargers for cellphones and laptop computers, and the in-room phones are cordless. High rollers will want to book one of the suites overlooking Michigan Avenue; a few even come with private terraces, something few hotels in this city offer. Le Méridien can't compete with the Park Hyatt or the Peninsula in the glamour department, but its cozy style should appeal to travelers looking for some place a little more personal. It also makes a good base for anyone visiting during frigid winter weather; with a whole mall just a few steps away, you can get out without even putting on your coat.
Windy City Urban Inn
This grand 1886 home is located on a tranquil side street just blocks from busy Clark Street and Lincoln Avenue -- both chock-full of shops, restaurants, and bars. While the inn is charming enough, the true selling point is hosts Andy and Mary Shaw. He's a well-known local television reporter, while she has 20 years of experience in the Chicago bed-and-breakfast business. Together, they are excellent resources for anyone who wants to get beyond the usual tourist sites. Plus, their subtle touches give guests a distinctive, Chicago experience: Blues and jazz play during the buffet breakfast, and local food favorites offered to guests include the famous cinnamon buns from Ann Sather's restaurant and beer from Goose Island Brewery.The more-open-than-typical remodeled Victorian home has five rooms in the main house and three apartment suites in a coach house; all are named after Chicago writers. Lovebirds should request the Nelson Algren and Simone De Beauvoir Suite, which has a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and a view of the Sears Tower. Two of the coach house apartments can sleep four: two in an upstairs bedroom and two on a bed that folds up against the wall (custom-made for the Shaws, these feature top-quality mattresses, making them much more comfortable than the Murphy beds of old). In good weather, guests are invited to eat breakfast on the back porch or in the garden between the main house and the coach house.
|
|
|
