Heading to Oak Brook, Illinois for IANDS Conference 2025 this August 27th-31st? If so, you might be planning on exploring the extraordinary Windy City during your trip. And that means you’ll be looking for things to do in Chicago before and/or after the Conference, too.
Chicago is famed for its excellent food, world-class entertainment, fine art, and intriguing historical sites. And there are a lot of valuable guides out there that can show you the tourism hotspots in and around Chicago, like this Ultimate Chicago Bucket List or Gina On a Plane’s guide.
We wanted to do our own IANDS style guide, too. And IANDS is an organization known for research, education, and outreach regarding near-death experiences and related phenomena. So naturally, our guide on things to do in Chicago needs to be unique, and take you a little off the beaten tourist path.
This won’t be your typical guide on the famous things to do in Chicago. Instead, we’re going to focus on the spiritual, the fascinating, and … well … the haunted. The sorts of spots you may or may not hear about in those other, more mainstream guides.
Chicago is America’s third biggest city, and that means there’s a lot to cover here. So let’s dive straight in!
Explore Chicago’s spiritual and healing offerings
Let’s start with spirituality, shall we? Let’s explore some of the things to do in Chicago that focus on spirituality and soul healing. There are far too many excellent places fitting this bill in Chicago to list in this article, so these are just a few of our top picks!
Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA)
In far away Binghamton, New York, there’s a world famous projection art festival each summer called LUMA. But while Binghamton’s LUMA is all about filling your eyes with light, Chicago’s LUMA is all about filling your soul with light.
Located on Michigan Avenue, LUMA is devoted to the exploration of spirituality and faith across cultures. It’s a museum that invites contemplation and reflection through artistic mediums and stories of the human spirit. LUMA truly is a one-of-a-kind museum spiritual seekers won’t want to miss.
Soul House Spiritual Wellness Center
IANDS Conference 2025 will feature healing sessions, Reiki training, and numerous workshops and speaking events catering toward spiritual wellness. But what if you want to engage in spiritual wellness and healing before or after IANDS Conference 2025?
Look no further than the Soul House Spiritual Wellness Center on North Ogden Avenue in Chicago. Soul House features yoga, Reiki, meditation, chakra exploration, celestial sound baths, and more. All in a beautiful space within walking distance of the famous Fulton Market District.
Silver Lake Retreat
Not everyone enjoys spending time in big cities. A sprawling metropolis like Chicago may even be jarring for some. So if you’re looking for more of a crafted experience of solitude, journaling, nature immersion, and spiritual direction, you may want to look into a visit to the Silver Lake Retreat.
This lovely, modern inn is situated on the shore of a small lake with a dedicated nature preserve just a short distance away. With private and community retreats and excellent rates, this is a beautiful place to focus on some all-important soul care.
Fascinating (or just downright quirky) things to do in Chicago
Those other guides listing fun things to do in Chicago will tell you all about the major tourism hotspots in the Windy City. And again, yes, you should see those too. But what if you’re looking for something a bit more intriguing? Fascinating? Different? Quirky? Let’s take a look at some of those off-the-beaten-path destinations you may not hear about elsewhere.
Hairpin Arts Center
The Hairpin Arts Center is a community art sanctuary that celebrates human creativity in an all-inclusive, welcoming space.
Hairpin Arts Center has branches devoted to visual arts, performing arts, technology, and culture. Though IANDS Conference 2025 attendees might be most interested in the Healing Arts Branch, where they focus on art embracing and exploring wellness traditions and holistic health. Sound baths, yoga, and meditation circles await at this fascinating detour from mainstream Chicago tourism.
The International Museum of Surgical Science
As you know, IANDS is an organization with deep ties to the medical field. And it just so happens Chicago is home to one of the world’s most fascinating museums dedicated to medicine, and more specifically, surgery.
Opened to the public in 1954, the International Museum of Surgical Science is the only museum in North America devoted entirely to surgery. It’s an educational exploration of the history of surgical sciences that many IANDS Conference 2025 attendees will surely find fascinating.
Please note: Some of the exhibits at the International Museum of Surgical Science include graphic medical imagery. Most visitors find it fascinating, but sensitive guests or those with young children may want to preview what’s on display by visiting their website first.
The Busy Beaver Button Museum is surprisingly educational. It’s also one the quirkiest things to do in Chicago
So much of our work at IANDS involves near-death experience stories told by those who’ve had them. Those personal narratives are a quintessential facet of near-death studies as a scientific field, without which our work quite frankly wouldn’t be possible. So we have a deep appreciation for those sorts of stories.
That’s probably why we find the Busy Beaver Button Museum so intriguing. They tell the story of America through pin-back buttons through history, with thousands of buttons on display and tens of thousands in storage—an estimated 60,000+ in all. This museum currently holds the Guinness Record for the largest collection of pin-back buttons on Earth. It’s quirky, it’s weird, it’s educational. And it’s absolutely worth a visit!
Ready to Explore Some of Chicago’s Haunted History? Here are a few ghostly things to do in Chicago
A visit to Chicago that doesn’t involve at least a little bit of ghost lore seems like a missed opportunity. After all, Chicago is considered to be one of the most haunted cities in America—CNBC ranks it in 8th place. And even skeptics can enjoy these fascinating historical sites and guided tours through the Windy City’s haunted history.
Things to do in Chicago involving a Ghost Bus and a Creepy Cruise
We begin our foray into Chicago’s paranormal sites with the famous Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tour Bus. A luxury coach that will take you on a fully-narrated three-hour tour of Chicago’s most haunted locales. Seats on these popular tours go quickly, so be sure to book in advance!
Feeling a bit more nautical? The popular Creepy Cruise takes you on a 90-minute adventure on a riverboat through the heart of Chicago, where you’ll learn about the city’s haunted history, hear classic mobster legends, and more.
Graceland Cemetery and the ‘Eternal Silence’ Monument
Graceland Cemetery is one of the most famous final resting places in Chicago. It’s a beautiful certified arboretum and home to awe-inspiring architecture. And, according to legend, it’s arguably Chicago’s most haunted cemetery, too.
The famous Eternal Silence of Dexter Graves statue stands guard at the tomb of Dexter Graves. And according to local legend, staring into the eyes of this statue will present you with visions of your own death. Not that too many near-death experiencers are all too worried about that, of course. That’s just one of the many, many ghoulish stories originating in this otherwise peaceful cemetery.
The Congress Plaza Hotel
Probably the most famous haunted location in all of Chicago, the Congress Plaza Hotel first opened in 1893 ahead of the Chicago World’s Fair. And since then it’s hosted all sorts of unexplained anomalies, from ghost sightings to creepy whispers, moving objects, and even one room—room 441, to be precise—where guests are allegedly kicked awake. Yep … no thanks.
The Congress Plaza Hotel is an otherwise “normal” modern hotel accepting reservations like any other hotel in Chicago. They don’t directly participate in any paranormal events or tours, though many haunted history tours start here. But if you’re still looking for hotel reservations for IANDS Conference 2025, and you’d like to consider staying here, it’s worth calling to check availability … if you dare.
There are so many things to do in Chicago, and it all starts with IANDS Conference 2025!
Chicago is a remarkable, beautiful city unlike anywhere else in the world. We’re excited to see you in Oak Brook for IANDS Conference 2025, and maybe we’ll run into you while exploring these fun things to do in Chicago while we’re there.
You won’t want to miss our impressive keynotes, documentary showings, presentations, workshops, special lunches … this is shaping up to be our most exciting IANDS Conference yet. Oh, and don’t forget that IANDS members get discounts on Conference tickets, too!
Not yet registered for IANDS Conference 2025? No worries! Head over to our IANDS Conference website and register today. We’ll see you in Chicago!
