Plan a Visit
Directions to Shedd
Shedd is located at 1200 South Lake Shore Drive on Chicago’s Museum Campus. We can help you chart your course by plane, train, or automobile. By bus or by foot. We’ll get you going in the right direction.
Below you'll find a map of Chicago, zoomed in to the area around Shedd. The red pin is marking the location of Shedd. By clicking on it, you can get detailed directions from where you are to where we are.
Driving Directions
From Lake Shore Drive, exit at 18th Street. Follow Museum Campus Drive around Soldier Field. Signs will indicate visitor parking. Shedd is just north of the parking garage and the Field Museum.
Summer brings concerts, marathons and other special events to the Museum Campus, affecting traffic and parking. Check our alerts when you plan your trip so that gettng here really is part of the fun.
July 3 gridlock: The Chicago Police Department has issued a traffic advisory for the Grant Park/Museum Campus area due to the July 3 fireworks show. Expect heavy afternoon traffic. The campus will be closed to incoming and outgoing traffic by early evening. Other evening street closures will include Michigan Avenue and sections of southbound Lake Shore Drive.
Cash-only parking: Be prepared to pay $19 cash (going to $20 cash around 3 p.m.) as you enter the Soldier Field north garage on July 7, 10, 19, 21 and 24. This is a special-event price because of Northerly Island concerts in the evening. The cash-only entry allows drivers to exit the garage without stopping to swipe a credit card, getting them on their way more efficiently when there is heavy garage traffic.
Street closures: Through July 6, 3 p.m., for Taste of Chicago: Columbus from Monroe to Balbo, Jackson from Michigan to Lake Shore Drive, and Congress from Michigan to Columbus. Expect more congestion on Lake Shore Drive because of the closures.
Soccer: Thursday, July 23, 4 p.m. Pay $19 cash to enter the garage. The garage could close early to the public to accommodate 40,000 arriving soccer fans. Expect heavy afternoon traffic around the Museum Campus.
Walkathons and runs: Sunday, Aug. 9, and Saturday, Aug. 22. Watch for participants and expect delays, and possibly short-term lane closures, on the campus.
Bears family event: Saturday, Aug. 8, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This could affect public access to the Soldier Field north garage.
Parking Hours and Rates
Summer hours for the Soldier Field north garage are 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Labor Day weekend. The small lot east of the Field Museum is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. Parked cars can always leave after closing hours, but overnight parking is not allowed. Everyday parking rates for the Soldier Field north garage are $16 for the first four hours or $19 for up to 12 hours. Admission is occasionally on a cash-only basis; ATMs are available in the garage. Similar fees apply to the east lot. Parking rates typically are higher during sporting events, and garage access may be restricted to game ticketholders. Rates and hours for all lots and garages are subject to change without notice. All Museum Campus parking is owned by the Chicago Park District and managed by Standard Parking. For the most current parking information, visit http://www.soldierfieldparking.com/.
On weekends, valet service is available to aquarium guests for $25. Take advantage of this service at the guest drop-off area on the south side of the aquarium, off Solidarity Drive. Subject to limited availability.
Parking for Buses
School, tour and charter buses should park in the Adler Planetarium parking lot. The fee for bus parking is $26. Buses can also park free on Canal Street at Roosevelt Road, approximately one mile due west of the Museum Campus. Canal Street offers several restaurants and coffee shops where drivers can wait until called back for pickup. Buses cannot stage on Solidarity Drive or in the museum drop-off areas.
Cleaner air = cleaner water. For people and for fish, please turn off your engine. Illinois law limits idle times to 10 minutes for stationary diesel vehicles of more than 8,000 pounds.
For all transit information, go to http://www.yourcta.com/or call 312-836-7000.
The Museum Campus is served year-round by the CTA's #146 bus and also by the #130 Museum Campus bus during the summer. See below for specific routes. For the summer, more buses have been added to the #146 route and service hours to the campus have been extended to midnight. So bus it to Jazzin'!
From State Street downtown, North Michigan Avenue or the north side of Chicago:
Board the southbound CTA bus #146 Marine-Michigan to the Museum Campus (daily) or board the Red or Orange Line CTA train toward the Loop and exit at the Roosevelt Road/Museum Campus station, where you can transfer to the #130 and #146 Museum Campus buses.
From Union Station and Ogilvie Station
The CTA #130 Museum Campus bus makes a circuit between the train stations and the three museums, also stopping at the Roosevelt Road CTA train station.
From O'Hare Airport:
Board the Blue Line CTA train and exit at Washington, where you can grab the #146 bus on State Street. The Chicago Cultural Center, host to a tourism information center, is two blocks away on Michigan and Washington. You might want to stop by before you board the #146 bus.
From the south side of Chicago or from Midway Airport:
Board CTA bus #6 Jeffery Express (daily) and exit across from the Museum Campus or board the Orange Line CTA train towards the Loop and exit at the Roosevelt Road/Museum Campus station, where you can transfer to the #146 Museum Campus bus.
Parking problem? Let us know. If you encounter a problem with parking or Museum Campus access, please contact us so we can let others know about it.
