Field Museum
Meet SUE, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found, on Chicago’s lakefront.
Photo: Sea Cow · CC BY-SA 4.0
Field Museum guide: SUE the T. rex, Máximo the titanosaur, Inside Ancient Egypt, the man-eating lions of Tsavo, the Museum Campus, tickets and tips.
What to expect
Founded in 1893 after the World’s Columbian Exposition and named after its first big donor, Marshall Field, this natural history museum moved into its marble building on Chicago’s lakefront in 1921. Its collections hold around 40 million objects, from meteorites to masks.
The star is SUE, a Tyrannosaurus rex found in South Dakota in 1990 and the most complete skeleton of its kind, with around 90 percent of its bones by volume. SUE has its own room in the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet, while the grand Stanley Field Hall is now ruled by Máximo, a cast of a titanosaur 37 meters long.
Inside Ancient Egypt takes you through a reconstructed tomb with real mummies, and the stuffed lions of Tsavo, which killed railway workers in Kenya in 1898, still draw crowds. The museum also runs active research labs, and some, such as the fossil preparation lab, have windows for visitors.
The museum shares the Museum Campus with the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium, and the lakefront path gives one of the best views of the skyline.
Field Museum: top things to do
- 1SUE the T. rex
- 2Máximo the titanosaur in Stanley Field Hall
- 3The tomb in Inside Ancient Egypt
- 4The skyline from the Museum Campus
Field Museum: best time to visit
All year; weekday afternoons, after school groups leave, are quietest.
Field Museum: insider tips
- Buy tickets online and choose the pass that includes the exhibits you want.
- Plan at least half a day; the building is enormous.
- Walk to the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium next door.
Fees, passes and parking
- Federal park passes such as America the Beautiful are not valid here.
- Basic admission is cheaper for Illinois and Chicago residents; tickets with special exhibitions and 3D films cost more. Buy on the official site.
Checked Oct 28, 2026. Official prices
Gas and fast charging nearby
599 gas stations within 20 km
- 0.7 km BP
- 1.5 km BP open 24 hours
- 2.1 km Mobil
- 2.3 km Citgo
- 2.4 km Shell
- 2.9 km Gas Depot
- 1.9 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Supercharger)
- 2.3 km Tesla Supercharger Fast chargers (Supercharger)
- 3.5 km Electrify America Fast chargers (Electrify America)
- 3.5 km EVgo Fast chargers (EVgo)
OpenStreetMap data, Oct 28, 2026.
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