Plan a Visit
Directions to Shedd
Shedd is located at 1200 South Lake Shore Drive on Chicago’s Museum Campus. We can help you chart your course by plane, train, or automobile. By bus or by foot. We’ll get you going in the right direction.
Below you'll find a map of Chicago, zoomed in to the area around Shedd. The red pin is marking the location of Shedd. By clicking on it, you can get detailed directions from where you are to where we are.
Driving Directions
From Lake Shore Drive, exit at 18th Street. Follow Museum Campus Drive around Soldier Field. Signs will indicate visitor parking. Shedd is just north of the parking garage and the Field Museum.
Parking Hours and Rates
The Soldier Field north garage entrance is open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The small parking lot east of the Field Museum is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Drivers can always exit after closing hours. Everyday parking rates for the Soldier Field north garage are $19 for the first four hours, $22 for four to 12 hours and $41 for 12 to 24 hours. The east museum lot is a flat $22. The Adler lot, at the east end of Solidarity Drive, has three rates for cars: $11 before 9:30 a.m.; $19 after 9:30; and a $13 night rate after 4 p.m. The new overnight rate for the north garage, east lot and Adler lot is $22. Admission is occasionally on a cash-only basis. Parking rates typically are higher during sporting events, and garage access may be restricted to game ticketholders. Rates and hours for all lots and garages are subject to change without notice. All Museum Campus parking is owned by the Chicago Park District and managed by Standard Parking. For the most current parking information, visit www.soldierfieldparking.com/.
On most weekends, valet service is available to aquarium guests for $26. Take advantage of this service at the guest drop-off area on the south side of the aquarium, off Solidarity Drive. Subject to limited availability.
Traffic Alerts and Cash-only Parking
The Museum Campus is the site of concerts, marathons, football games and other special events that can affect traffic, parking fees and even parking availability for museumgoers. The Soldier Field north garage and the lot east of the Field Museum raise the parking fee to $22 (and occasionally more), cash-only on the way in, when there's a game or other special event at the stadium or a concert on Northerly Island. Credit cards will not be accepted on those days. ATMs are available in the garage. When the cash-only special-event fee is in effect, it often also applies to all Museum Campus parking facilities, and meters on Solidarity Drive are bagged at the same time. Not all fee changes are announced ahead of time, especially during the summer, so we suggest that you be prepared for cash-only parking when you visit.
Saturday, May 25, until 9:30 a.m.: The Soldier Field 10-K run will shut down northbound Lake Shore Drive between 57th Street and 31st Street. Part of the course for the expected 17,000 runners includes Museum Campus Drive, and the run ends at Soldier Field at 9:30 a.m. From the map, it looks like your access to parking and Shedd will be from either direction on Lake Shore Drive at McFetridge Drive, with entry to the Soldier Field garage from the north side until the race is over. But watch for markers and signs.
Sunday, May 26, 5 to 11 a.m.: Both northbound and southbound Lake Shore Drive will be closed to everything but bicycles from Bryn Mawr to 57th Street. Before 11 a.m., you have two approaches to Shedd. From Roosevelt Road, you can get onto southbound LSD in the far right lane, which will be sectioned off with orange barrels, and immediately exit at 18th Street, turn left at the light and follow the road to Museum Campus Drive, heading north to parking and Shedd. From I-55, exit to northbound LSD, staying in the far right lane as marked, and exit at 18th Street to get to Museum Campus Drive.
Parking for Buses
Parking fees in lots on and adjacent to the Museum Campus are $11 to $80, based on availability and type of vehicle. Please check parking fees before you visit. School, tour and charter buses may park in the lot adjacent to Adler Planetarium, managed by Standard Parking, 312-235-7724. Buses may also park free on Canal Street at Roosevelt Road, approximately one mile due west of the Museum Campus. Canal Street offers several restaurants and coffee shops where drivers can wait until called back for pickup. Buses cannot stage on Solidarity Drive or in the museum drop-off areas.
Cleaner air = cleaner water. For people and for fish, please turn off your engine. Illinois law limits idle times to 10 minutes for stationary diesel vehicles of more than 8,000 pounds.
Public Transportation
For all transit information, go to www.transitchicago.com/ or call 312-836-7000.
The Museum Campus is served year-round by the CTA's #146 bus. Service hours are until 10:30 p.m. every day. Between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day, if you're using Metra or Amtrak, you can also catch the #130 bus to Shedd (see below for hours). For estimated arrival times, use the CTA's bus tracker online or by text messaging on your cellular phone. Useful bus stop IDs heading to Shedd are 316 (Roosevelt and State), 5023 (Ogilvie Station, Clinton and Washington) and 14461 (Union Station, Jackson and the river). For either bus route westbound, use 4595 (Solidarity Drive and aquarium).
Specific routes to Shedd Aquarium are:
From State Street downtown, North Michigan Avenue, or the north side of Chicago:
Board the southbound CTA bus #146 Marine-Michigan to the Museum Campus (daily) or board the Red, Orange, or Green Line CTA train toward the Loop and exit at the Roosevelt Road/Museum Campus station, where you can transfer to the #146 Museum Campus bus.
From Ogilvie/Union Stations:
Board the #130 eastbound Museum Campus bus. Buses leave the stations between 9:30 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. Last bus from Shedd is at 6 p.m.
From O'Hare Airport:
Board the Blue Line CTA train and exit at Washington, where you can grab the southbound #146 bus on State Street.
From the south side of Chicago or from Midway Airport:
Board CTA bus #6 Jeffery Express (daily) and exit across from the Museum Campus or board the Orange or Green Line CTA train toward the Loop and exit at the Roosevelt Road/Museum Campus station, where you can transfer to the #146 Museum Campus bus.
Jellies
Don't miss the Jellies special exhibit. Discover how these animals, which are 95 percent water, survive and thrive in the world’s oceans. Find out more.
