Wrigley Field Visit

Stay in the River North/Mag Mile area. More to do for the vacation part of Chicago, if you stay near Wrigley you will spend too much time commuting to the tourist areas.

Take the train to Wrigley, give yourself several hours before game time to walk around Wrigleyville. It’s an awesome experience.

Wrigleyville

1 - Batting Cages at Sluggers
2 - Al’s Beef (dipped with peppers)
3 - G-Man Tavern (Get a Chicago handshake; Malort and Old Style; I met Bill Murray and Eddie Vedder there when I lived up there)
4 - Murphy’s (It’s a legendary spot, go have a beer)

Sit in the bleachers and grab a Hot Doug’s dog. Best around.

Outside of Wrigleyville: Tons of museums and live music venues. Many great speakeasies and Michelin/James Beard restaurants. Be sure to check the street festival calendar when you visit - Chicago street festivals were my favorite part of the summers up there.

I appreciate all the recs. Really looking forward to the trip.

Summertime in Chicago is quite the time.

As someone else said, you should be looking at hotels in Magnificent Mile or River North. I'd also add any hotels on Upper Wacker. You'll want to be on the Brown or Red Line to get to/from Wrigley. Red Line takes you to Addison (Wrigleyville) and you can transfer Brown <-> Red at Fullerton or Belmont. If taking the Brown, though, I'd recommend getting off at Belmont and walking. Wrigleyville is only a couple blocks from there.

Outside of the game, I'd assume you jump into the typical weekend visitor route - do the architecture boat tour, walk through Millennium Park and Grant Park, check out some museums (i.e. Adler, Shedd, Field, Art Institute, etc.), grab a spot in line to the top of the Willis, get a good vantage point at Navy Pier for summer fireworks on Saturday night, etc.

If it's your first trip to Chicago, I doubt you'll run with this recommendation, but I always encourage folks on this board to explore neighborhoods - it's the lifeblood of this city and where you'll find most of the residents, bars, restaurants, etc. For a first time visitor, something like Lincoln Park isn't intimidating; Red Line takes you to Fullerton where DePaul is - plenty of tree-lined streets as you move towards the lake, you can go to the zoo and take Lakeshore Trail back downtown if you want to take in a long walk with a beautiful view of the skyline and Lake Michigan. West Loop is another neighborhood worth checking out that isn't too difficult - easy get from The Loop / River North and where you'll find some of the city's best restaurants. Will always amaze me how much it has changed since I moved to Chicago. If you want something a bit more eclectic, Wicker Park is fun. Plenty of bars and restaurants. Funny mix of weirdos, young professionals and single families.

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Stay in the River North/Mag Mile area. More to do for the vacation part of Chicago, if you stay near Wrigley you will spend too much time commuting to the tourist areas.

Take the train to Wrigley, give yourself several hours before game time to walk around Wrigleyville. It’s an awesome experience.

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This! Did exactly this recently for my first trip and stayed at the IHG a block form the Magnificent Mile and took the train to the games. Chicago was way more impressive and beautiful than I ever imagined.