Willis Tower Skydeck

How to visit without overpaying

The mistake people make here is buying the Fast Pass in a panic about queues. The truth is the view from the 103rd floor is identical whichever ticket you hold, and the standard general-admission ticket is around a third of the price — the upgrade only buys you a shorter line for the glass Ledge boxes, the cantilevered cubes you step into 412m above Wacker Drive. Book a timed general-admission slot online before you go, turn up at the start of your window, and put the saving towards the architecture river cruise, which earns its ticket far more than this does.

The other half of getting it right is the weather. This is a view, not a museum, so a grey Chicago sky means you’ve paid to queue for a white-out. Check the forecast the morning of and treat the Skydeck as the thing you slot into your clearest day, not a fixed appointment booked a week ahead.

Worth the £27? It depends on the sky

Go for the first slot at opening or the last hour before sunset: both are far quieter at the Ledge than the mid-afternoon crush, and the low light flatters the lake and the grid in your photos. Allow an hour to ninety minutes all in — the lift up, the wait for your turn in the glass box, and time at the windows.

On a properly clear day it’s a real thrill and the four-state view is worth the £27. On an overcast one it isn’t, and you’d learn more about Chicago from the Architecture Center river cruise or a wander through Millennium Park next door. If you only pay for one elevated view in the city, this is the one — just don’t pay Fast Pass money for it, and don’t go up in the cloud.