'The Windy City', as Chicago is known, sits on the shores of Lake Michigan in Illinois. It is one of America's busiest cities, a hub for commerce, and a dazzling playground for its visitors.

How to get there
Flights to Chicago take about 8 hours from the UK with plenty of direct flights heading straight to Chicago's O'Hare International airport, one of the States' busiest hubs. Scheduled services from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and the US carriers such as American Airlines and United all operate from London, this is where you'll find the majority of direct flights. Chicago is also served with a range of indirect services operating from regional airports such as from Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Belfast.

When to go
Chicago's nickname may or may not be due to the fact that it suffers some icy cold blasts off Lake Michigan during the winter months but whatever the case it's certainly not the best city to visit between December and March. Like many cities in the USA's northern states it does suffer a pretty harsh winter and in contrast a very hot summer with temperatures in July and August often over 30 degrees. The timing of your holiday to Chicago depends very much on whether or not cheap flights to Chicago are your major driver. If they are then you're going to have to brave the cold. If you still want a relatively cheap flight to Chicago but don't fancy having to take your entire winter wardrobe try April, May, June, September or October as a good time to visit Chicago. Flights are more expensive the closer you get to summer but then of course the weather gets progressively better too. Finally if you like it stinking hot and you don't care how much you pay for your flights, Chicago in July and August is within your grasp, it's also at the peak of festival season with loads to do and see but be warned it really can be very expensive to travel at this time.

What to do
Chicago has a fantastic array of cultural attractions to match its breathtaking skyscraper filled city centre. It's also a great place to shop, eat out, watch sport and much more. There's certainly no shortage of reasons to bag yourself a cheap flight to Chicago. For a must see list of attractions try 'The Loop' just to the south of the Chicago River which is the city's traditional centre. You'll find Sears Tower here (the tallest building in the US with views over 4 states), the city's celebrated theatre district and the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the world's finest galleries covering almost five thousand years of art. On the other side of the river the 'Near North' is home to countless shops (try North Michigan Avenue to exhaust your credit cards) wonderful eateries and some fantastic buildings. It's also home to Navy Pier with a host of family friendly attractions. If you have more time why not hire a car and visit Starved Rock State Park, which is an easy day trip from the city.

Whatever your reasons for visiting this great city, let dealchecker find you a cheap flight to Chicago, then why not try our hotel search for a cheap hotel in Chicago too?