Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Chicago is one of the American cities to visit - primarily for its architecture and feel. Wealthy inhabitants have contributed much to the culture and life of the city and this is clear in many of its buildings as well as its numerous museums - big and small. The Art Institute is a must see among the bigger museums. It is great value for money ($6 entry fee and another $4 for a small guidebook) with an extensive and user-friendly layout. Make no mistake, this is not the British Museum - it does not have the sheer scale and diversity of collection that is the result of the Empire and promiximity to the Old World. This is the difference. The AIC has a brilliant Impressionist and Contemporary collection with the highlight being the Monet and Cezanne. It is, to be short, quite sumptuous. I have never seen a Monet before but I am itching for a revisit. AIC has the largest single collection of a any series of Monets. Alongside the other Impressionist paintings it is really well worth the visit. However, if you are short of time, I would suggest you give the Classical (Roman and Greek) collections which are rather small. If you have kids the museum is very friendly too with the right level of audioguides too.

I used to work next to the Art Institute ... during lunch I'd walk through it for inspiration. It really is one of my favorite spots in Chicago, and the one place I always take visitors to. It's a wonderful, creative, enriching experience.

Absoulutley breathtaking! The best over all Art Museum I have been to. Need to take all day, to catch the total expereince. My favorite is the Impressionast Exhibit. If you love Van Gough, Monet, Renoir or Degas as much as I do, you can not pass this up! Plus the sculptures are gorgeous! Nothing to dislike, except, not really for the smaller kids, they seem to get bored very quickly.

I had an amazing time there. It was very neat to see so many famous and diffrent peices of art. It had a very nice atmostphere - very cultural and magnificent.