A lakefront park and a comedy neighborhood, not a downtown extension
Lincoln Park is the largest park on Chicago’s North Side, running along Lake Michigan from roughly North Avenue up past Diversey Parkway. It holds a free zoo, a conservatory, a history museum, and several miles of the Lakefront Trail. Old Town sits just south and west of the park, a smaller, older neighborhood of brick rowhouses and the club that trained much of American sketch comedy, the Second City.
The two are usually visited together because they border each other and share the same L stops, but they answer different questions. Lincoln Park answers “where can we spend a free afternoon outdoors with kids.” Old Town answers “where is a good show tonight.” Neither answers “where is the shopping and the skyline,” which is the Loop and Michigan Avenue, and neither has the science museums that live on the South Side’s Museum Campus — this page stops at Lincoln Park and Old Town and does not cover Lakeview, Wrigleyville, Wicker Park or the rest of the North Side, even though they sit a short ride further north.
Both areas also sit well outside the taller downtown skyline. Lincoln Park’s tallest buildings are a handful of vintage apartment towers along the lakefront, and Old Town’s streets are mostly two- and three-story brick and frame houses. Visitors coming from the Loop or from a Willis Tower Skydeck visit sometimes expect a similar density here and are surprised by how residential and low-rise both neighborhoods feel — that quieter scale is a large part of the appeal for anyone who has already spent a day downtown.
A short history: rebuilt after the 1871 fire
Much of what makes Old Town distinctive today traces back to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The blaze stopped short of parts of what is now Old Town, which is why a handful of structures there predate 1871 in a city where almost nothing else downtown does — a rarity worth knowing before wandering the side streets expecting uniformly modern construction. In the fire’s aftermath, the city’s building codes tightened and its architects — the same generation associated with Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham and, later, Mies van der Rohe — turned Chicago into a laboratory for tall commercial buildings downtown, even as neighborhoods like this one rebuilt at a much smaller, residential scale.
Lincoln Park itself grew over the following decades from a former cemetery ground into the landscaped lakefront park visitors walk through today, which is part of why the Lincoln Park ghost tour leans on local history rather than invented legend — the burial ground under parts of the park is a documented fact of the neighborhood’s past, not a marketing story.
Getting there from downtown
The CTA Red Line and Brown Line both run north from the Loop with stops that put you within walking distance of the park or Old Town. Red Line trains run 24 hours a day; Brown Line trains stop overnight, so plan late-night returns around the Red Line or a bus.
| From | Line or route | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|
| Loop (Clark/Lake) | Red Line north to Clark/Division, then a 10-minute walk | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Loop | Brown Line to Sedgwick or Armitage | 20 to 25 minutes |
| Michigan Avenue | Bus 22 (Clark Street) or Bus 11 (Lincoln Avenue) | 20 to 30 minutes, longer in traffic |
| O’Hare (ORD) | Blue Line to the Loop, then transfer to Red or Brown | 55 to 70 minutes total |
Bus routes along Clark Street and Lincoln Avenue are slower than the L but drop you closer to specific blocks in Old Town and the park’s western edge. For a primer on the whole system before you ride, see the CTA L train guide and getting around Chicago without a car.
Lincoln Park: the zoo, the conservatory, the lakefront
The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the few free, publicly funded zoos left in the United States — no ticket, no timed entry for general admission, open every day of the year. It sits inside the park a short walk from the Clark/Division or Fullerton L stops. Individual experiences inside the zoo, like behind-the-scenes tours or a carousel ride, are ticketed separately from general admission, which remains free.
A few minutes’ walk north is the Lincoln Park Conservatory, a Victorian glasshouse with free admission, useful on a cold or rainy day when the outdoor park is less appealing. Both the zoo and the conservatory work well as a half-day stop for families, and both are genuinely free — a rarity worth noting on a destination where the Art Institute and the Museum Campus charge separately for every institution.
The park itself runs for miles along the lake, connecting to the Lakefront Trail, Chicago’s roughly 30-kilometer waterfront path for walking and cycling. Divvy bike-share docks are scattered through the park, and renting for an hour or two is a reasonable way to cover more ground than on foot. Chicago’s municipal beaches, including North Avenue Beach at the park’s southern end, are free and lifeguarded only from late May to early September; outside that window the lake is still there to look at, but nobody is watching the water.
The park also holds the small Chicago History Museum, a ticketed option for a rainy afternoon, and several public sculptures and gardens that cost nothing to see. None of this competes with the density of the Museum Campus further south — Lincoln Park’s museums are smaller and quicker, which suits a half-day visit rather than a full one.
Old Town: rowhouses, the Second City, and a quieter historic core
Old Town is one of the few Chicago neighborhoods with buildings that predate the 1871 fire in any number, concentrated on streets like Cass Street’s successor blocks near St. Michael’s parish. Walking the residential side streets west of Wells Street is the appeal here: gaslamp-style lighting, brick and frame houses, and a scale that feels closer to a small town than a big city.
The neighborhood’s best-known landmark is the Second City, the improv and sketch comedy club that launched performers who went on to Saturday Night Live and beyond. Shows run most nights of the week, with mainstage and studio-theater tickets sold separately; book ahead for weekend evenings, when shows sell out. Wells Street between North Avenue and Division Street carries most of Old Town’s bars and restaurants, and it gets busy and loud on weekend nights — a different crowd than the family afternoon in the park a few blocks away.
a guided evening walk through Lincoln Park’s darker history, including the site of the old city cemetery is one of the more distinctive ways to see the neighborhood after dark, mixing local history with the ghost-story angle that several Chicago tour operators lean on. It runs through Lincoln Park itself rather than Old Town, but starts and ends within easy walking distance of both.
What this area is not for
Skip Lincoln Park and Old Town if the goal is downtown shopping, skyscraper views, or the big-ticket science and natural history museums — those live in the Loop and on the Museum Campus in Hyde Park and the South Side. This page also does not cover the Riverwalk or Navy Pier, which sit on the same general lakefront but belong to downtown, not to Lincoln Park. And it stops at Lincoln Park and Old Town themselves: Lakeview, Wrigleyville, Wicker Park, Logan Square and Andersonville are separate North Side neighborhoods with their own character, covered in the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood guide rather than here.
A day plan that fits the neighborhood
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| Morning | Lincoln Park Zoo (free) and the Conservatory |
| Midday | Lunch on Wells Street or a walk along the Lakefront Trail |
| Afternoon | Old Town’s residential streets, or a Divvy ride further up the lakefront |
| Evening | A show at the Second City, or dinner and drinks on Wells Street |
Families tend to front-load the day with the zoo and park, since the free general admission means there’s no ticketed time slot to work around. Couples and comedy fans often reverse it, treating Old Town as an evening destination and skipping the park entirely — both are reasonable ways to use the neighborhood, and neither requires the other.
For families building out more than one day around this kind of stop, the Chicago with kids guide and the family-friendly Museum Campus guide cover how this area fits alongside the South Side museums on a longer trip; the four-day Chicago itinerary for families sequences it against downtown and the Museum Campus.
Budget and what things actually cost
| Item | Approximate cost (USD, before tax) |
|---|---|
| Lincoln Park Zoo general admission | Free |
| Lincoln Park Conservatory | Free |
| Chicago History Museum | 22 to 25 for adults |
| Second City mainstage ticket | 35 to 65 depending on night and seating |
| Divvy bike rental, single ride | 5 to 10 for a short trip |
| Casual dinner on Wells Street | 20 to 40 per person |
As with the rest of Chicago, menu and admission prices are shown before the roughly 10.25% Chicago sales tax; check current comedy-club ticket fees directly with the venue, since booking fees and dynamic pricing move by show and season. If you’re eating a sit-down dinner on Wells Street, budget a tip of roughly 18 to 22% on top of the bill, in line with the rest of the city — it is not included in the menu price or added automatically outside larger groups.
Combining Lincoln Park and Old Town with the rest of the North Side
Travelers with more than half a day often keep heading north from here rather than turning back downtown. Lakeview and Wrigleyville, home to Wrigley Field, sit a short ride further up the Red Line; Wicker Park, Logan Square and Andersonville lie further west and northwest and have their own restaurant and nightlife scenes distinct from Old Town’s. None of those neighborhoods are covered on this page — the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood guide picks up where this one leaves off, and a multi-day, car-free itinerary that sequences several North Side stops against downtown is laid out in five days car-free in Chicago.
Travelers building a longer trip around Chicago’s neighborhoods rather than its single attractions can also read the first-time visitor guide for how a stop like this one fits against downtown, the Museum Campus and a day trip, and the best time to visit Chicago guide for how the late-May-to-early-September beach season and the shoulder seasons change what’s worth doing here versus indoors at the conservatory or a comedy club.
Legoland Discovery Center as a wet-weather backup
an indoor Lego-themed play center in the suburbs is worth knowing about for families staying in this part of the city on a rainy day when the zoo and park lose their appeal — it sits outside Lincoln Park itself, in Schaumburg, so it’s a longer trip by car rather than a walk from the neighborhood, but it pairs with a day otherwise built around the things to do in Lincoln Park and Old Town hub when outdoor plans fall through.
Comedy and live music beyond the Second City
Old Town’s reputation for comedy extends into the broader Chicago scene covered in the Chicago comedy shows guide, and the neighborhood’s live music venues connect to the citywide blues and jazz clubs guide and the live music venues guide — none of these are exclusive to Old Town, but several of the city’s better-known rooms sit within a short walk of it.
FAQ: visiting Lincoln Park and Old Town
Is the Lincoln Park Zoo really free?
Yes. General admission has no charge and no timed ticket, and the zoo is open 365 days a year. Individual paid experiences inside the zoo, such as certain animal encounters or the carousel, are ticketed separately from general admission.
How do I get from downtown Chicago to Lincoln Park?
Take the CTA Red Line or Brown Line north from the Loop; both put you within a 10- to 15-minute walk of the park, in 15 to 25 minutes total. Buses along Clark Street or Lincoln Avenue are a slower alternative that drops closer to specific blocks.
Is Old Town the same as Lincoln Park?
No. They are adjacent neighborhoods that share L stops and are often visited together, but Old Town is the smaller, older residential and nightlife district south of the park, while Lincoln Park refers to both the neighborhood and the large lakefront park itself.
Can I swim at the beaches near Lincoln Park?
Chicago’s municipal beaches, including North Avenue Beach at the park’s south end, are lifeguarded and officially open for swimming only from late May to early September. Outside that window, the beach is accessible but unsupervised.
Do I need tickets in advance for the Second City?
For weekend evenings, yes — shows regularly sell out. Weeknight shows have more availability, but booking a few days ahead is a reasonable default either way.
Is this area good for a family with young kids?
Yes, largely because of the free zoo and conservatory, both of which require no advance ticket and can fill a morning or afternoon without a fixed schedule. Old Town’s nightlife side is less suited to young children, but the two areas can easily be split across different parts of the day.
Does this guide cover Wrigley Field or Wicker Park?
No. Wrigley Field is in Lakeview, and Wicker Park is a separate neighborhood further west; both are outside the scope of this page and are covered in their own guides, including the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood guide.
How much time should I budget for Lincoln Park and Old Town?
Half a day covers the zoo, conservatory and a walk through Old Town’s streets. A full day allows time for the Lakefront Trail, a sit-down meal, and an evening show, but the two halves of the day (family park time, evening nightlife) don’t have to happen on the same visit.
