How to Spend a 12 Hour Layover in Chicago: Midway to Hull-House and Shedd
Updated October 2, 2026
A 12 hour layover in Chicago from Midway connects Jane Addams' Hull-House, a Maxwell Street Polish at Jim's Original, the Shedd Aquarium and an evening in Chinatown.
Twelve hours from Midway is enough to string together Chicago history, a legendary street food, a lakefront aquarium and a Chinatown dinner. Begin at the settlement house where Jane Addams built a movement, then walk to the stand that has served the Maxwell Street Polish since 1939. The afternoon belongs to belugas and sea stars at the Shedd, and the evening ends with dusk at a riverside park and a table full of handmade dumplings.
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Is it worth leaving the airport?
Yes. This is the most ambitious Midway plan, but each leg is a short ride, and the one timed ticket, the Shedd, can be booked from your phone after landing. The Hull-House Museum is closed Sundays and Mondays, so on those days start straight at Jim's Original.
Getting from MDW into the city
Take the Orange Line from the terminal to Halsted and transfer to the northbound 8 Halsted bus, which runs up to the university campus where Hull-House stands. At night, return on the Red Line from Cermak-Chinatown to Roosevelt for the Orange Line, which does not run overnight, so do not cut it fine.
Plan on about 1 hr 14 min for the round trip between Chicago Midway International Airport and the first and last stops.
This plan also keeps 45 min to get out of the airport and 1 hr 30 min to get back through security before your flight. You can customize these buffers with Navi through text.
Times are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm your boarding time with your airline and check entry requirements before leaving the airport. You are responsible for getting back in time for your flight.
Visa and entry
If you are arriving from another country, customs at Midway's Concourse A admits you before your connection, and there is no sterile transit zone anywhere in the U.S. After that you are free to explore and only need to pass TSA screening again on the way out.
What to do with your bags
Midway has no bag storage counter, and the Shedd does not allow re-entry, so whatever you carry stays with you all day. Travel with a light daypack, and leave anything bulky checked through to your final destination if your airline allows it.
The 12 hour plan, stop by stop
About 8 hr 31 min in the city
Time to head out from Chicago Midway International Airport for Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. It's a 43 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded Hull-House as a settlement house serving immigrant neighbors on the Near West Side, and the surviving building is now a National Historic Landmark and museum on the University of Illinois Chicago campus. Rooms trace the reform work that grew from here, and changing exhibitions on the ground floor connect that history to Chicago today. As of October 2026, admission is free, and the museum is closed Sundays and Mondays.
Tip: It opens Tuesday through Saturday with an earlier close on Saturday, so check the calendar before you build the day around it.
- Time here
- 40 min to 1 hr
- Website
- hullhouse.uic.edu
NaviTime to head out from Jane Addams Hull-House Museum for Jim's Original. It's a 12 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Jim's Original has sold the Maxwell Street Polish since 1939, and it stood on Maxwell Street itself until 2001 before moving a few blocks to its current corner. The order is a grilled Polish sausage on a bun with yellow mustard, a heap of grilled onions and sport peppers, with fries thrown in free. The bone-in pork chop sandwich is the other legend; just mind the bone.
Tip: Keep it classic with a Polish with everything and the free fries, then walk off the onions on the way to the lake.
- Time here
- 15 to 30 min
NaviTime to head out from Jim's Original for Shedd Aquarium. It's a 26 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
The Shedd sits on Museum Campus at the edge of Lake Michigan, and its Abbott Oceanarium, home to beluga whales and dolphins with the lake as a backdrop, is the main event. The daily Sea Star and Sturgeon Touch lets you gently feel both animals. As of October 2026, prices vary by date, advance tickets are highly recommended with an arrival window, and there is no re-entry once you leave.
Tip: From Jim's, ride the Roosevelt Road bus east to State Street, then take the 146 or walk the rest of the way; book an arrival window after lunch.
- Time here
- 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr 30 min
- Website
- sheddaquarium.org
NaviTime to head out from Shedd Aquarium for Ping Tom Memorial Park. It's a 27 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
A Red Line hop south to Cermak-Chinatown puts you near this riverside park, the best place in the neighborhood to watch evening settle over the South Branch. Once a railyard, it now has a pagoda pavilion, a fieldhouse with a skyline patio and paths along the water, all bearing the name of Ping Tom, a Chinatown civic leader. As of October 2026, there is no charge to enter, and it closes in the late evening.
Tip: Arrive before dark for the glow on the towers across the river, then walk south through the neighborhood to dinner.
- Time here
- 20 to 35 min
- Website
- chicagoparkdistrict.com
NaviTime to head out from Ping Tom Memorial Park for Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings. It's a 4 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Qing Xiang Yuan, known to regulars as QXY, makes dumplings to order in a small Chinatown dining room, with fillings built around lamb, pork, beef and more, plus barbecue skewers on the side. Order a couple of different fillings to share and a few skewers, and you have a hearty dinner before the train. Local food threads warn that waits can stretch at peak times, which is the price of everything being made fresh.
Tip: Put your name in early at the dinner peak, and keep an eye on the clock for the Red and Orange Line ride back to Midway.
- Time here
- 45 min to 1 hr 10 min
- Website
- qxydumpling.com
NaviTime to head out from Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings for Chicago Midway International Airport. It's a 31 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
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