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United Airlines Flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on United Airlines, which operates 9 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD), departing between 6:10am and 11:15pm, and one additional non-stop flight regularly scheduled to depart at 11:45pm and arrive at 5:47am, everyday except Saturday. Generally, a movie is offered on this route. The average travel time from San Francisco, CA to Chicago, IL is 4 hours and 7 minutes.
During your Chicago vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
Chicago's vibrant Pilsen neighborhood, just southwest of the Loop, is home to one of the nation's largest Mexican-American communities. Ethnic pride emanates from every doorstep, taqueria, and bakery, and the multitude of colorful murals splashed across building exteriors and alleyways. But this building, the largest Latino cultural institution in the country, may be the neighborhood's most prized possession. That's quite an accomplishment, given that the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum was founded in 1987 by a passel of public schoolteachers who pooled $900 to get it started.This is truly a living museum. There are wonderful exhibits to be sure, showcasing Mexican and Mexican-American visual and performing artists, and often drawing on the museum's permanent collection of more than 2,400 works. But it's the visiting artists, festival programming, and community participation that make the museum really shine. Its Day of the Dead celebration, which runs for about 8 weeks beginning in September, is one of the most ambitious in the country. The Del Corazon Mexican Performing Arts Festival, held in the spring, features programs by local and international artists here and around town. And the Sor Juana Festival, presented in the fall, honors Mexican writer and pioneering feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz with photography and painting exhibits, music and theater performances, and poetry readings by Latino women.The museum is very family oriented, offering a deluge of educational workshops for kids and parents. It also has a splendid gift shop, and it stages a holiday market, featuring items from Mexico, on the first weekend in December. Allow 1 hour.
Chicago Fed Visitors Center
It's not worth a special trip (unless you're a huge Alan Greenspan fan), but the Visitors Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is worth a quick stop if you're wandering around the Loop. More than just the standard history-of-banking displays, the center has kid-friendly features such as a giant cube that holds a million dollars, and an exhibit that lets you try detecting counterfeit bills. And yes, there's even a section where visitors can pretend to be Alan Greenspan for a moment, showing how changes in interest rates affect the economy. Free guided tours are offered weekdays at 1pm. Allow a half-hour.
Museum of Contemporary Art
The MCA claims to be the largest contemporary art museum in the country, emphasizing experimentation in a variety of media -- painting, sculpture, photography, video and film, dance, music, and performance. But much of the space seems to be taken up with theaters and hallways; seeing the actual art won't take you long. Sitting on a front-row piece of property between the lake and the historic Water Tower, the gloomy, imposing building (designed by Berlin's Josef Paul Kleihues) looks like something out of Communist Russia, but the interior spaces are more vibrant, with a sun-drenched two-story central corridor, elliptical staircases, and three floors of exhibition space. The MCA has tried to raise its national profile to the level of New York's Museum of Modern Art by hosting major touring retrospectives of working artists such as Cindy Sherman and Chuck Close.You can see the MCA's highlights in about an hour, although art lovers will want more time to wander (especially if a high-profile exhibit is in town). Your first stop should be the handsome barrel-vaulted galleries on the top floor, dedicated to pieces from the permanent collection. For visitors who'd like a little guidance for making sense of the rather challenging works found here, there is an audio tour for rent as well as a free tour (1 and 6pm Tues; 1pm Wed-Fri; 11am, noon, 1, and 2pm Sat-Sun). In addition to a range of special activities and educational programming, including films, performances, and a lecture series in a 300-seat theater, the museum features Puck's at the MCA, a cafe operated by Wolfgang Puck of Spago restaurant fame, with seating that overlooks a 1-acre terraced sculpture garden. There's also a store, Culturecounter, with one-of-a-kind gift items, that's worth a stop even if you don't make it into the museum. The museum's First Fridays program, featuring after-hours performances, live music, and food and drink, takes place the first Friday of every month. Allow 1 to 2 hours.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Chicago area, including:
Palmer House Hilton
Chicago's oldest hotel, the namesake of legendary State Street merchant prince Potter Palmer, is decidedly from another era -- and the massive complex feels somewhat lost in time. The elegance of the grand lobby isn't matched in the rooms (decorated in an anonymous midlevel hotel style) or the clientele (which tends heavily toward conventioneers). And don't expect grand views of surrounding skyscrapers, because most rooms look out into offices across the street. All the rooms are in the process of being renovated, but upgrades at the palatial Palmer House take place, understandably, on a staggered basis; be sure to ask for a refurbished room when making reservations. Bathrooms are on the smallish size (some rooms come with two bathrooms, a plus for families). Kids might appreciate the sheer size of the place, with plenty of room to wander, and the location is good for access to the Museum Campus, but the Palmer House's days as one of Chicago's top hotels are gone.Facilities: 4 restaurants (including the legendary but dated Trader Vic's, a Cajun restaurant, and 2 American bar and grills); 2 lounges; indoor pool; health club; Jacuzzi; sauna; children's programs; concierge; business center; shopping arcade; room service until 2am; babysitting referrals; laundry service; overnight dry cleaning; executive rooms.
Swissôtel Chicago
This sleek, modern hotel is all business, and may therefore feel a bit icy to some visitors, but its professional aura makes it especially attractive to business travelers in search of tranquillity. Panoramic vistas from every room -- of Lake Michigan, Grant Park, and the Chicago River -- are the hotel's best features. The spacious rooms have separate sitting areas and warm contemporary furnishings. Business travelers will appreciate the oversize desks (convertible to dining tables), ergonomic chairs, and -- in upgraded executive-level rooms -- CD players. Executive suites, with wonderful, 180-degree views, have separate sleeping areas. All executive-level guests also receive complimentary breakfast and hors d'oeuvres and have access to a lounge with Internet connections, a library, and a personal concierge.Active travelers will want to break a sweat in the lofty environs of the Penthouse Health Spa, perched on the 42nd floor. And those who just want to indulge themselves can enjoy the ultimate steak-and-lobster expense-account restaurant: the on-site outpost of New York's The Palm.Facilities: 3 restaurants (steakhouse, American); lounge; penthouse fitness center with indoor pool, spa, Jacuzzi, and sauna; concierge; business center with extensive meeting services; 24-hr. room service; massage; babysitting; laundry service; 24-hr. dry cleaning; executive-level rooms.
The Claridge
If a modest, cost-effective option in a lovely setting within walking distance of Michigan Avenue, Division Street, Old Town's nightlife, and Lincoln Park's many attractions sounds pretty good to you, don't dismiss The Claridge. Ask for a room above the eighth floor that overlooks the tree-lined street (kings and double-doubles are spacious and sunny); avoid at all cost the dark "king superior" rooms, which look onto the fire escape. Some deluxe accommodations have sitting areas, and three executive suites on the 14th floor have working fireplaces.The Claridge won't overwhelm you with facilities; the hotel's restaurant and bar are both quite small. Where this hotel really wins its Brownie points is for the very pleasant staff and nice touches such as freshly baked cookies at turndown. In the lobby, there's a cozy sitting area where you can linger over your complimentary continental breakfast. The surrounding neighborhood of elegant town houses makes a great place for a stroll -- without the traffic and noise of other downtown neighborhoods.
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