The Chicago Riverwalk

A walkable spine beneath the skyline

The Riverwalk is Chicago's answer to a question a lot of riverfront cities never quite solve: what do you do with the water's edge once it stops being industrial. Roughly 1.25 miles of continuous, mostly below-street-level path now runs along the river's south bank from Lake Shore Drive to Lake Street, and unlike a road-level sidewalk, it puts you at the waterline looking straight up at the underside of bridges and the base of towers that most visitors only ever see from a distance. It's free, open to anyone, and one of the more recent additions to how the city presents its own architecture to the public.

The path unfolds in a series of distinct sections between bridges — sometimes called its "rooms" — each with a different character: a stretch of open plaza, a run of bars and restaurants at water level, a quieter garden-like segment further west. That variety is deliberate, and it means a walk end to end is less a straight commute and more a sequence of small, different spaces, each framed by a different angle on the buildings above.

Chicago Architecture Center

Sits directly on the Riverwalk and anchors most of the departures along it.

Chicago Architecture River Cruise

Most cruise operators depart from docks along this same stretch of water.

What to do along it, and the best views

Beyond the walk itself, the Riverwalk is genuinely functional as a place to spend an hour or an afternoon: kayak and paddleboard rental stands put you directly on the water for a self-guided version of the same views a cruise gives you, and several of the bars and restaurants built into the themed sections make for a legitimate lunch or evening stop rather than just a photo pause. It gets busiest on warm evenings and weekends, when the water-level bars fill up and the path itself sees real foot traffic.

For the architecture itself, the Riverwalk's real value is the angle: standing at water level looking up gives you a sense of scale that a street-level sidewalk or even a cruise boat doesn't quite match, especially near the bridges where the towers rise almost directly overhead. Pair a Riverwalk walk with a look across the water at Marina City's towers on the north bank, or continue west toward the Merchandise Mart for one of the more dramatic single buildings visible from the path.

• Runs roughly Lake Shore Drive to Lake Street, about 1.25 miles, free to walk.
• Kayak and paddleboard rentals put you on the water for a self-guided version of the cruise view.
• Busiest on warm evenings and weekends — an early walk or a weekday visit is calmer.

Marina City

Visible across the water from several points along the Riverwalk's western stretch.

The Loop

The Riverwalk runs directly beneath the Loop's densest cluster of towers.