8 Coolest Towns in Illinois for a Summer Vacation
Beach Park's Lake Michigan dunes stretch from town toward the Wisconsin line, all sand and waves and no high-rises in sight. Up the Fox River, paddlewheel boats move past picnic blankets in St. Charles. Hot air balloons drift over Galena's Mississippi bluffs every June. Woodstock's town square stays just as walkable in July as it was when Bill Murray walked it over and over in Groundhog Day. Eight Illinois small towns where summer breaks open in a different direction.
St. Charles
St. Charles is more than a Chicago commuter town. It sits 40 miles west of the city, close enough for an afternoon shopping trip, but St. Charles itself is family-built. The Fox River runs through downtown lined with parks. Mount Saint Mary Park works for dogs and kids, and Wheeler Park has playgrounds, mini golf, and disc golf. On the east side, Pottawatomie Park stretches north into Norris Woods Nature Preserve. Weekend traffic concentrates here for picnics, frisbees, garden walks, kayaking, and even paddlewheel riverboat tours aboard the "St. Charles Belle" and "Fox River Queen."
Geneva
The Fox River keeps going south through Geneva, and so does the park network. Summer visitors will find the Fabyan Villa Museum & Japanese Garden and the German-built Fabyan Windmill on either side of the Fabyan Forest Preserve, with the Sacred Heart Grotto monument inside the Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve. Downtown Geneva has refurbished its Victorian-era commercial core, which now runs independent retailers and restaurants out of renovated houses. Time a trip for the Swedish Days festival in late June or the Geneva Classic Car Show in mid-July.
Beach Park
Northeastern Illinois owns the southwestern chunk of Lake Michigan, and Beach Park is the village holding most of the protected stretch. From Beach Park up toward the Wisconsin border, the lakeshore runs through parkland and beach preserves end to end. Illinois Beach Nature Preserve flows into Illinois Beach State Park, which connects north to North Dunes Nature Preserve. Visitors get sandy beaches and dunes interspersed with wildflowers, hiking and biking paths, a 241-site campground, bird-watching, fishing, boating, swimming, and even SCUBA diving. The lodging and lakeside eateries run along Sheridan Road just off the water.
Galena
Galena, in the northwestern corner of the state, runs on stately architecture and the bluffs of the Mississippi River and the Galena River that bisects the town. The Italianate-style home of former president and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant is one of many 19th-century brick buildings on the National Register here. Galena's downtown, voted one of America's Best Main Streets, runs more than 125 individual shops and restaurants along a single strip. Late June brings the Great Galena Balloon Race, when roughly two dozen hot air balloons float across the bluffs at sunrise.
Mount Carroll
About 40 miles south of Galena, Mount Carroll sits just inland from the Mississippi River with a population around 1,500 and a business district that punches harder than that count would suggest. Red brick pavement runs alongside a multi-colored strip of historic buildings now housing cafes, galleries, restaurants, antique shops, and inns. On the edge of town, the 371-seat Timber Lake Playhouse hits its stride in summer with musicals, classic plays, and new productions. West of town along the Mississippi, the 2,500-acre Mississippi Palisades State Park has dense forests, river bluffs, and a campground.
Galesburg
Galesburg is a railroad town that brings the heat to western Illinois. Train enthusiasts can spend an afternoon at the Galesburg Railroad Museum, classical music fans can catch a concert by the Knox-Galesburg Symphony at the Orpheum Theatre, coffee drinkers and shoppers can take to the vendors along downtown's Seminary Street, and kids will find the Discovery Depot Children's Museum on Mulberry Street, with hands-on exhibits and art studios. All of this runs year-round but reads better with a warm sun between exhibits and a few minutes on a shaded bench.
Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights is another Chicago suburb, this time to the northwest, that pulls weight in summer. Like St. Charles and Geneva, it gives residents a break from the city while keeping the metro within reach. Parks and golf courses ring the village. Busse Woods has an elk habitat and a winding lake, Deer Grove Forest Preserve handles hiking, fishing, and wildlife viewing, Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve adds a short boardwalk to all of the above, and little Lake Arlington rounds it out. Right next to the train station, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre is a 329-seat venue running music, comedy, and cabaret. The dining options run from tapas to Thai, pho, Italian, Mexican, and most of the rest of the world map.
Woodstock
About 40 miles northwest of Arlington Heights, near the Wisconsin border, Woodstock (not the New York one) is as cool as the name suggests. The Woodstock Folk Festival has been running annually for nearly forty years, with local and international performers on the main stage at the Woodstock Square Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register since 1982. The Woodstock Opera House, built in 1889, still books shows, and the McHenry County Courthouse, built in 1857, has been converted to a museum, events venue, and historic landmark. After a few blocks the streetscape will start to look familiar. Woodstock was the primary filming location for the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day.
Summer vacations in America take many forms. The Atlantic and Pacific coasts call hard this time of year. The mountains, just past the last of the skiers, exert a different kind of pull on warm-weather travelers. But the Midwest has an understated case to make, and these eight Illinois towns make it. Community events, one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants, parks aplenty, and even a long stretch of the Great Lakes all await.
