A Tale of Two Towers

There are ways to get away from it all, and then there are ways. How about straight up? Here in Chicago you can get a bird’s eye view from two different towers. Most famous is the Willis Tower, more familiarly known as the Sears Tower until a few years ago. The tower is (by either name) the tallest building in the western hemisphere at 1,410 feet and was completed in 1973. At that time it was the tallest building in the world (and it remained the tallest until 1998). You can get near the top at the Skydeck, at 1,353 feet above ground. Recently added glass boxes (The Ledge) let you appear to be floating above the skyline (be sure to have a friend take your picture). The John Hancock building is 1,127 feet tall and officially opened in 1970. The Observatory at the John Hancock is 1,000 feet up and was refurbished in 2008. In addition to the Observatory, the Signature Room at the 95th is located (where else?) on the 95th floor (one floor above the observation deck) and offers full service dining with the backdrop of 360 degree views of the city. So, how do they stack up?

Tower	Willis Tower Skydeck	John Hancock Observatory
General admission (adults)	$17.50Includes interactive exhibits, Reaching for the Sky presentation, and The Ledge	$15.00Includes open-air skywalk, multimedia skytour
Special Package (other packages  also available)	$23.00General admission, plus: audio-visual tour poviding details about Chicago history and pointing out city site from 20 points on the Skydeck	$24.00 Total Tower ExperienceGeneral admission, plus: Souvenir (currently advertised as a t-shirt) Open-air skywalk Use of interactive telescope
Hours in May	9:00 AM-10:00 PMLast ticket sold at 9:30 PM	9:00 AM-11:00 PMLast ticket sold at 10:30 PM
Location	233 S. Wacker Dr.Enter Skydeck from Jackson Blvd	875 N. Michigan Ave.
Website	http://www.theskydeck.com/	http://www.jhochicago.com/

Either tower on a clear day provides a view of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. And both are included in the CityPass, which gets you into five major attractions: the two towers, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry. And if you go up about an hour before sunset and linger, you’ll see both the daylight and evening views, as well as the sunset.