Navy Pier is a Great Place to Visit in the Winter or the Summer or Anytime of Year! - Chicago IL

Our trip to Chicago, on the weekend of November 25-27, 2005, ended with a visit to Navy Pier. The website for this attraction made it look like a really fun place to visit. However, the only thing I knew going in was that there was a large Ferris wheel. In short, Navy Pier was not exactly the "Amusement Park" I had expected, but it was still a fun place to visit!

Getting there...
The pier turned out to be easy to get to as we followed another truck that seemed to be heading there. You park right inside the building so you don't have to walk at all once you get there. However, the parking is 22$, making this "free" attraction not so free anymore. There are trolleys that will take you right to the pier for free, but we were leaving Chicago soon and needed our car. 22$ isn't too bad, but if you plan on doing some of the activities you may want to find cheaper parking.

In November...
We were there on a semi-chilly day in November. We arrived bright and early at 10:00 AM, right when it opens. As we walked around we saw NO ONE. Maybe a worker or two, but NO ONE else. It was as if we were all alone on Navy Pier with only a few other tourists. At first this seemed creepy, but as we explored we realized that this was nice. We could go where we wanted, stop and look around, and not feel overwhelmed by crowds. This one hour spent exploring the peer alone gave us a chance to see everything there was to see.

Everything there is to see...
However, in November we found that there is not as much to "see" or "do" at Navy Pier. We saw a lot of signs for outdoor restaurants, boat rides, etc, that were all closed for the winter. This wasn't a huge deal to us since we only came there to check it out and weren't looking for anything specific to do. We could still see the HUGE Ferris Wheel, but it wasn't running. Basically, don't expect to do a lot outside when you visit Navy Pier in the winter. The outside is dead, but the inside still has much to offer.