360 Chicago - John Hancock Observatory

At the top of the John Hancock Center Tower (875 North Michigan Avenue), the John Hancock Observatory sits 1,000 feet above sea level and offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the city through large windows. It spans four states and, on a clear day, you can see nearly 80 miles in every direction.

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To get to the observatory, you must first take the fastest elevator in North America. It travels 1,000 feet (305 meters) in exactly 40 seconds. Your ears will be blocked by the pressure, you will feel a little cramped, and you will be awed by the floors flashing by on a screen at breakneck speed.

Once inside, visitors walk around a circular glass window with the silhouette of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), recognizable among thousands, acting as a magnet.

A multimedia audio tour, available in seven languages (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish), introduces visitors to Chicago's most famous skyscrapers, the city's history and its major attractions. An adapted version of the multimedia Sky Tour is also available for children.

One of the walls of the observatory traces the history of the city of Chicago through photographs, maps, and press articles. The exhibit spans 25 meters and includes the fire that devastated the city in 1871.

Don't miss a drink at the Cloud Bar inside the observatory. The perfect setting for an early evening cocktail.

For the local newspaper "The Chicago Tribune" and many locals, the Hancock Center Observatory is the best place to take pictures of Chicago's skyscrapers. The Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) has a similar attraction, the Skydeck - glass cabins suspended in mid-air - but its main drawback is that it doesn't include the Willis Tower itself in its panorama - obviously. And the Chicago skyline without the Willis Tower isn't really the Chicago skyline, is it?

The 100-story John Hancock Tower rises 1,128 feet (1,500 feet including antennas) above Michigan Avenue. The tower houses offices, restaurants and more than 700 condominiums, making it the third tallest residential building in the world after Chicago's Trump Tower and Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

The John Hancock Center Tower was the world's tallest building outside of New York when it opened in the late 1960s and remains the fourth tallest building in Chicago and one of the six tallest skyscrapers in the world.

On the 95th and 96th floors of Hancock Tower, a restaurant and bar - the tallest of its kind in the world - offer a variety of cocktails and fine cuisine in a breathtaking setting. A chic must is the Sunday buffet and its "seafood bar", stocked with crab, salmon, oysters, .... See "The Signature Room at the 95th".

As for the Sky Lobby, on the 44th floor of the building, it houses the world's tallest indoor swimming pool.

• 875 N Michigan Ave 94th floor, Chicago, IL 60611
• 360chicago.com