Hotels near The Magnificent Mile

The stretch of Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street, known as the Magnificent Mile, is the city's flagship shopping and hotel district. Department stores, global flagships and vertical malls like Water Tower Place line the boulevard, broken up by landmarks such as the historic Water Tower, one of the few buildings to survive the 1871 fire.

At the north end, the 360 Chicago observation deck crowns the former John Hancock Center, its Tilt platform leaning you out over the street. The avenue is at its best around the winter holidays, when more than a million lights turn the trees into a tunnel of white.

Pro Tip: Window-shopping and people-watching cost nothing; save spending for the flagship stores you cannot find at home. For the best photos, walk the west side of the avenue in the morning when light hits the historic Water Tower.