Chicago Explorer Pass

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Money Saving Coupon Code! The best coupon you will find anywhere.
Save 5% on the Chicago Explorer Pass with Coupon: GO5CMANTIS
The Coupon Code stacks on top the current sale prices.
Promo expires on March 31st.

The Chicago Explorer Pass is a flexible, multi-attraction pass that will provide you with admission at one low price to 3, 4, or 5 different attractions out of a list of 29 possible attractions. Included as options on the Chicago Explorer Pass are a wonderful assortment of Chicago’s most popular sites, including everything from museums, zoos, and tours to cruises, bike rentals, and historical homes. With your Chicago Explorer Pass in hand you can check out such iconic spots as Navy Pier and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as explore the Field Museum, SkyDeck Chicago, and so much more. The Chicago Explorer Pass is sure to include something that’ll please every member of your traveling party—and throughout the whole adventure, you’ll never have to pay anything at the door!

Top Included Chicago Attractions                                 

Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus Chicago: 1-Day Classic Tour
Shoreline Architecture River Cruise
Art Institute of Chicago
Field Museum
SkyDeck Chicago
Navy Pier Centennial Wheel and Rides
Museum of Contemporary Art
American Writers Museum

See the complete list of attractions and tours in the sidebar, divided by type of activity.

How the Chicago Explorer Pass Works

The Chicago Explorer Pass is a digital product that serves as your ticket to the iconic area attractions you’re just dying to explore. Simply take your Chicago Explorer Pass to the entrance gate of the attraction you wish to visit, get it scanned, and you’re all set—no money changing hands, no waiting in lines.

The Chicago Explorer Pass lets you select 3, 4, or 5 out of 29 available attractions. You purchase the denomination of the pass in advance, and can’t add or subtract attractions later.

The Chicago Explorer Pass is intended to work on your smartphone via the Go City Card app. This free app may be downloaded straight to your smartphone; or, if you prefer a paper copy, you can choose to simply print out your Explorer Pass.

The Chicago Explorer Pass is valid for 30 days after you activate it with your first attraction visit. You have one year from the date of purchase to use the pass.

What’s Good?

One of the best parts of the Explorer Pass experience is that all Go City Card products may be used in digital format. As a result, your days of waiting for an envelope in the mail, or forgetting your tickets at home, are over. Now all you need to do is just take along your smartphone and you’re in business.

When you purchase a Chicago Explorer Pass, you’ll receive a free digital copy of Go City Card’s well-regarded guidebook. Within the digital pages of this guidebook you’ll find all you need to know about the sites you want to explore, including such details as attraction locations, maps, hours, contact information, and more. What’s even better is that you’ll have all this handy data in one place, and you won’t have to take the time to do any of the research yourself ahead of time.

Go City Cards are updated on a regular basis, as all sorts of attractions are routinely being added and dropped from the service. This means that just because an attraction you want to tour isn’t available via the Chicago Explorer Pass today, it might possibly be included in the not-so distant future. All you need to do to keep track of such additions is check the Explorer Pass website before heading out on your trip.

What Could Get Better?

Since the Go City Card attractions list is ever-evolving, it can get tiresome to always be monitoring what is included and what isn’t. Some customers report back being frustrated by how dynamic the offerings are.

Also, the Chicago Explorer Pass will more than likely not cover admission to any special exhibits appearing within the wonderful museums on display throughout the Windy City. However, if such special admission were to be covered by the Chicago Explorer Pass, you could find that information on the Go City Card website.

Finally, at this point in time the only way to use the Chicago Explorer Pass on your smartphone is by downloading the Go City Card app. Though this app is free and relatively painless to download, some customers might not really want to put yet another program on their device. If you feel this way, do keep in mind that you can avoid the app-download simply by printing out paper copies of your Explorer Pass (and the complimentary guidebook, too).

Get Your Money’s Worth with a Chicago Explorer Pass

The Chicago Explorer Pass currently advertises savings of up to 40% compared to paying full price at the gate. This savings figure was arrived at by comparing the price of the Chicago Explorer Pass to the price you’d pay for each of the same attractions visited individually.

Unless you want to spend some time up close and personal with a calculator, the best general rule for making sure you maximize the amount of money you save while in Chicago is simply pay for the cheaper attractions you want to visit out of pocket, and use your Explorer Pass on those attractions whose admission prices are the priciest.

The “Saving Examples” tab on the Go City Card website is an outstanding resource for those customers that want to observe some real-world examples of how other customers went about saving money via the Chicago Explorer Pass.

Chicago Explorer Pass Coupon Codes

Save 5% off the already discounted prices with Coupon Code: GO5CMANTIS

Even at full price, the Chicago Explorer Pass saves money. It's currently on sale at GoCity.com. This coupon code stacks on top of the sale price, saving you even more. You won't find a better deal anywhere. Coupon expires on March 31st. Enter the coupon code on the "Review your order" page. Look for the "Have a promo code?" link under "Your Cart".

Chicago Explorer Pass Insider Tips

The Chicago Explorer Pass is good for 30 days. This makes it a smart option for local residents wanting to get out and about and explore their home area some more, or for those visitors able to spread out their time in Chicago. With the Explorer Pass being good for 30 days, if your schedule permits, you’ll never feel rushed.

Some attractions available via the Chicago Explorer Pass will require you to make reservations—they may even require you to provide a credit card at time of reservation. Don’t worry, though: this is just for the sake of guaranteeing the reservation, and you won’t be charged anything supplemental, so long as you don’t fail to show up at the appointed time. If you’re interested in knowing which particular attractions in Chicago require reservations, simply visit the Go City Card Chicago attractions website for the relevant details.

Likewise, a number of the guided tours and/or cruises available via the Chicago Explorer Pass are subject to weather conditions and/or seasonal availability. Again, simply visit the Go City Card Chicago attractions website for more information.

Many of the most popular attractions found in Chicago may be grouped together according to neighborhood. As a result, ahead of your visit you might want to see which of the attractions you’re most interested in are located near one another, in order to cut down on transit time/multiple parking fees/etc.

Where to Buy the Chicago Explorer Pass

The Chicago Explorer Pass is available online directly from Go City Card.