Find 500 Of Chicago’s Secret Places In New Guidebook

by Aimee Levitt / Block Club Chicago / November 3, 2023

Lauren Viera’s book takes readers to a hidden garden in Humboldt Park, a Chicago Fire relic in Lincoln Park and other spots geared toward locals — or tourists looking to go off the beaten path.

CHICAGO — Part of being a Chicagoan is hoarding secret spaces to show off to visitors and locals to prove how well you know the city.

This is also the guiding spirit of Lauren Viera’s new book, “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Chicago.”

“I definitely wrote it with locals in mind,” Viera said. “For tourists, any of these things are going to be exciting to discover. But I really wanted to surface things for locals that they might not have heard of.”

Viera has lived in Chicago for 20 years, covered it as a journalist for Time Out Chicago and the Tribune and written previous guidebooks. But even she made a few discoveries while researching the book, which was released in late October and is part of a series from Dutch publisher Luster. Read more HERE