Art Institute of Chicago

The second-largest art museum in the United States has plenty of showstoppers. In parallel exhibitions, Edward Hopper's lonely Nighthawks and Grant Wood's American Gothic shine. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat stands alongside heaps of color-swirled Monets and Renoirs a few rooms away. It takes a time to go through the impressionist paintings — there are more here than anywhere else outside of France – but beyond that are sets of armor, dollhouse-like miniature rooms, and a modern wing with Warhols and Picassos.

The collection's expansion has necessitated many expansions to the museum's 1893 structure, which was built for the World's Columbian Exposition. The most recent extension, the Modern Wing built by Renzo Piano, opened in 2009 and extended the museum's space to about one million square feet, making it the United States' second-largest art museum behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Art Institute is affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a prestigious art school, making it one of the country's few remaining united arts institutions.

Location: 111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603

Website: artic.edu