Find superb architecture, art galleries and museums on a visit to Hyde Park, a charming lakeshore neighborhood. The park was the setting for the 1893 World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition. The area is the home of the University of Chicago and the location of Barack Obama’s family residence. It’s also a neighborhood filled with glorious parks, elegant gardens and urban beaches.

Stroll through the campus of the University of Chicago. Among its many attractive landmarks are the Gothic-style Bond Chapel and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Take a guided tour of the Prairie-style Frederick C. Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Court Theatre is a venue for innovative productions and interpretations of classic plays.

Dedicate time to visit the campus museums. The Smart Museum of Art is a showcase of American, Asian and European art. See works by avant-garde artists, such as Henri Matisse, at The Renaissance Society. Archeological artifacts from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are among the highlights of the Oriental Institute Museum.

Visitors of all ages will enjoy exploring airplanes, a coal mine, a Mars Rover and submarines at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. This is a good starting point for touring the green and watery Jackson Park. Find peace at the Garden of the Phoenix Japanese garden on the park’s Wooded Island. Follow summertime crowds to the sandy shores of 57th Street Beach and 63rd Street Beach.

Enjoy more greenery at Midway Plaisance Park. Gardens bloom in vivid colors in summer and an ice rink provides recreational fun in winter. Join locals for a picnic and lake views at Promontory Point.

Spend a day at the children’s playgrounds, sports fields and sprawling lawns of Washington Park. Within the park is the DuSable Museum of African American History. Study the lifelike sculpted figures of the Fountain of Time.

Hyde Park is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of The Loop–Downtown. Trains travel at regular intervals between the neighborhood and Van Buren Street station.