Chicago: A Guide to Holiday Lights and Sightseeing
It’s my first time in Chicago. (bright festive music) I’ve made it to Chicago. I’ve been meaning to take this trip for years, and somehow I have ended up doing it in December, which surprises me because I dislike hypothermia. But it’s always so fun to experience a new destination this time of year because it feels festive and charming for the holidays.
So my plan is just to spend a couple of days being a tourist. I want to see the things, the skylines, city views, eat some food. I have some camera gear to talk about thanks to Best Buy, who’s sponsoring this video. This is just gonna be a vlog. (bright festive music) So having never been here before, my knowledge of Chicago is pretty limited.
I know it’s cold, I know there’s pizza and I know about The Bean or CloudGate, which is this famous art installation here, and I was really excited to see The Bean, except I can’t because they’ve fenced it off for renovations until next spring. So just a heads up, if you’re planning to visit in the next six months, CloudGate might be fenced off.
I’m at the bottom of the Wrigley building right now, and I know absolutely nothing about architecture. I couldn’t recognize any specific style or what time period it’s from, and I can tell first impression that Chicago has phenomenal architecture. All of these buildings are so beautifully and intricately designed.
This has to be one of the top cities in the country for architecture. So I asked you all on Instagram what a first timer needs to do in Chicago, and aside from The Bean, which is a bit of a sore subject now, I swear half of you said I had to eat at Cindy’s Rooftop Restaurant for the best views. (bright festive music) Okay, so I started over here.
This is where the Bean is located, and I’ve walked all along the waterfront down to this spot where it curves around and you get a really nice city view. Chicago has done such a good job of utilizing their lakefront for public space because it is all parks, walking paths, running paths. So I’ve come down here to take some photos of the skyline.
One of my favorite things to do in a new city is just go around to all the photo spots and take pictures, which brings me to today’s sponsor Best Buy because you can save up to $600 on Sony cameras and lenses, which make awesome gifts for the people in your life or for yourself if you need an upgrade. The camera I’m shooting on right now is the Sony Alpha Seven Four.
It’s currently $200 off. This is such a great hybrid camera for both photos and videos. It has a 33 megapixel full frame sensor. You get a lot of detail, a lot of room to crop in, even further in post or recompose the image how you want it. It can shoot still images at up to 10 frames per second, and it does 4K resolution video up to 60 frames per second in APSC mode.
It has face and eye tracking. So right now I can see a little box over my eye that tells me it’s in focus, and of course it has the variable angle screen so I can flip it out and see myself, which is essential. The lens I have on right now is the Sony 24 to 105 millimeter F4G. This always feels like a lens and a half to me because you so commonly find the 24 to 70 millimeter focal range with lenses, but this is 24 to 105 millimeters, so you get that extra 35 millimeters of reach, which makes it so versatile, especially for something like this.
Walking around a city, taking pictures, 24 millimeters is wide. You get landscapes, cityscapes, environments. I’m filming myself at 24 millimeters right now, but 105 millimeters punches you right into the details. You start to get that lens compression, and at F4 you get a shallower depth of field. So I can go from shooting a wide city shot to details of the skyscrapers.
This lens also has optical steady shot image stabilization, which is so nice for handheld video. It makes a world of difference, and I’m usually shooting handheld, especially walking around a city. It also has weather ceilings, so it’s dust and moisture resistant, which is essential for this kind of weather.
So yeah, it’s a great combo to walk around and shoot a little bit of everything with. So I’ll have links for both of these down in the description and be sure to check ’em out. (bright festive music) There are a lot of festive things to do in Chicago this time of year, like Christkindlmarket, which is considered to be the most authentic traditional holiday market of its kind outside of Europe.
Here you’ll find lots of vendors selling food and goods. It’s a great place to stop by, even for just a hot cocoa. And then there’s also zoo lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is a holiday light display that’s fun to walk around and you’ll get awesome skyline views from here as well.
(bright festive music) This morning I’m bundled up and I’m out at the North Avenue Beach pier for sunrise. This is a really cool pier that kind of arcs out into the lake, and it has one of the best views of the Chicago skyline. Something that keeps tripping me up though is Lake Michigan feels like the ocean.
I don’t feel like I’m on a lake right now. I feel like I’m at the ocean. There are even waves crashing against the shore. I didn’t realize how enormous this lake was going to feel. I mean, you look across it and it just goes into the horizon. On a completely different topic, we need to talk about this coat because it has been a lifesaver the past couple of days.
It’s the Aritzia Super Puff 2 0, so it’s the waterproof version, which is why it stood out to me, because with my other down coats like this, it’s always kind of frustrating to be gauging like, “Can I wear this? Is it going to rain? Is it gonna snow?” Especially if I’m packing for a trip, like they’re warm for winter weather, but they’re not waterproof for winter weather.
It is like wearing a down comforter. It is the warmest, coziest, puffiest coat. I have not been this excited about a new purchase in a long time. I know I’m a little late to be Aritzia super puff train. These have been popular for a few years, but so far I am super impressed with this. Definitely recommend it.
(bright festive music) If you’re looking to get a view of the city from above, Chicago has two popular observation decks. There’s Sky Deck on the 103rd floor of Willis Tower, which has the Ledge experience. These are glass boxes that extend four feet from the side of the tower for a truly downward view.
If you’re into taking pictures, Instagram shots, it’s a cool photo opportunity. And then 875 North Michigan Avenue has 360 Chicago on the 94th floor, which has the tilt experience that tilts you out over the edge of the building. It’s also close to the water so you get really nice views of the lake and shoreline.
(bright festive music) – So this is the end of my trip. I’ve had the best time here in Chicago. I’ve covered a lot of ground. I’ve walked over 20,000 steps a day. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of things. I’ve eaten a lot of things, but of course there’s still so much I didn’t get to do or eat, so I’ll have to come back.
I am really happy I came when I did, even though it’s cold, because I find that early December, which is when I’m here, is a lesser known sweet spot for travel, because at least here in the US a lot of people travel for Thanksgiving and or Christmas, and most people aren’t looking to add a third trip in between those two.
So early December can be surprisingly quiet and Chicago’s beautiful with all the holiday lights and decorations. So it worked out. I would definitely recommend Chicago if you’re looking for a city getaway. There is no shortage of things to do here, and the food scene is incredible. Like that’s what I’m saddest about, that I don’t have more time because every restaurant I looked at looked amazing.
It’s also super walkable. I walked pretty much everywhere. I did take public transit a couple of times, which was also easy. Now it’s time for me to head to the airport and fly home. I hope you all enjoyed this vlog and are having a wonderful holiday season, and I will see you in the next one.