A first time visit to Chicago went down well with 16 people from Poole-based Saxon Group Travel recently. GTO Sylvia Saxon arranged the accommodation and flights through The Travel Adventure in Sussex and then organised excursions herself once in the city. “We touched down after a very pleasant flight with Virgin Atlantic and you could feel the excitement in the group.”

Accommodation for the six-day holiday was at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. “It was first class,” says Sylvia. “Our first question was ‘Can you recommend a steak house?’ and we were told Gibsons. It should be in my bible as one of the hundred places to see before you die – a better steak you could not find. The waiter brings out the prime cuts, gives you the history of the meat and then you choose.”

Sylvia booked a city coach tour for the first day of the holiday, visiting the free-entry Lincoln Park Zoo, Wrigley Field (home of the Cubs baseball team), Millennium Park and the Navy Pier and on another day, the group took in a lunchtime classical performance in the Cultural Center, by the New Millennium Orchestra. “This was free and the musicians were such a talented bunch,” remembers Sylvia. “We then went on to the Art Institute where there was so much to see.”

She continues, “The people everywhere are so friendly in Chicago and you can even request ‘greeters’, a free service provided by the city’s tourism department, where your group is met by a very enthusiastic local with bags of city knowledge, who then highlights the sights and ambience that makes Chicago so special. We all said we would like to return and my thanks go to The Travel Adventure for putting together another great trip, at a very affordable price.”