Chicago Bean Distance & Visit Planner

Your Starting Point

Where are you? Tap your area

Distance measures from the area’s center — or pick an exact spot below.

Or choose a starting point

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Enter address (Chicago area)

Travel mode

🚶 Walk

🚇 CTA

🚗 Drive

🚴 Bike

Visit time: 2:00 PM

Distance to the Bean

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Pick a starting point to begin.

Walking time

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CTA fare

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Parking (est.)

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Crowd at that hour

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Estimated travel time by mode

Straight-line distance adjusted for Chicago's street grid, with typical downtown speeds. Estimates, not live traffic.

03060 min

🚇 Getting there

Any Loop 'L' train to Washington/Wabash puts you a 2-minute walk from Cloud Gate.

🫘 Cloud Gate, a.k.a. "The Bean"

Sculpted by Anish Kapoor; unveiled 2004, completed 2006.
168 polished stainless-steel plates — the seams were ground away to a perfect mirror.
66 ft long, 33 ft tall, 42 ft wide, and about 110 tons.
Walk under it: the "omphalos" arch warps your reflection kaleidoscopically.
Free to visit — Millennium Park is open 6 AM to 11 PM daily.

Trip Preferences

Group size

Getting there

Budget per person

Available time

Accessibility needs

🚇

Best route

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🅿️

Parking tip

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🍽️

Food pick

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💵

Group total

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Estimated budget breakdown

For your group, using typical 2025 prices. The same numbers drive the total above.

Group total$0

Your itinerary

When To Go

Day of week

Time of day

Season

Visit Score

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Typical crowds through the day

Editorial pattern based on typical Millennium Park traffic — not live data. The marker is your selected time.

The week at a glance

Tap any cell to set that day & time. Cooler = quieter.

Quiet Packed

💡 Local Wisdom

Sunrise is the secret: before 8 AM you can have the Bean nearly to yourself — and the light is spectacular.
Summer weekends midday are the peak of the peak; expect a wait for a clean shot.
Winter trades crowds for cold: bundle up and you'll get empty reflections (plus the nearby ice ribbon).
The park is open 6 AM – 11 PM, every day, free.

Photo Preferences

Photo type

Time of day

Camera

📱 Phone

📷 DSLR

🚁 Drone

Best spots for this shot

Conditions score

ToughGoodPerfect

Light should be —

📱 Phone tips

Light quality through the day

Editorial guide using Chicago's typical sun times for each season. The marker is your chosen time slot.

Around the Bean

Max walk: 10 min

Matches

How far is everything?

Walking minutes from Cloud Gate, computed from each spot's real location.

01530 min

walking time from the Bean