Cantigny Gardens & Museums

If you are visiting Chicago, this needs to be on your must-​see list. I grew up in Elmhurst and sad to say I had not even heard of this place. Fortunately, my brother brought me during a visit and I was stunned by this museum.
It is on a huge estate next to a top golf course. We went in the wintwr, but it is supposed to be more beautiful in the summer or fall.
What is remarkable is the cost – just $ 5 thanks to a trust Robert McCormick established. The highlight is probably the mansion, but the WW1 museum dedicated to the First Army Division is also wonderful.
The house has some nice artwork and some custom appliances, but the last room is incredible (with a hidden bar). One unusual thing about tour was someone asking dumb questions and then getting in argument with tour guide.
The grounds have several tanks that kids would love to climb on. The museum is fun, where you walk through a WW1 trench and through jungle for the Vietnam Name War.
Great place for history and I bet a great place for weddings or picnics.

Beautiful grounds, histrical information and tanks! Cantigny offers many interesting programs and exhibits throughout the year as well as concerts. It is a great place to pack a picnic and enjoy the day. At $ 5 for parking and no admission it is a steal of a deal!

Lovely gardens for a walk or back drop for pictures and if you have boys — they will most likely get a kick out of climbing on full size tanks near the museum.

This is definitely a must see war museum with gardens! So BEAUTIFUL in autumn!
This estate was named in honor of the first WW1 battle fought in the village of Cantigny, France by Robert McCormick.
Start off by getting a free ticket to the tour of the 41 room mansion. It was originally the home of Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune. Later it became the home of his grandson Robert McCormick, editor and publisher of the same Tribune from 1911 to 1955. The full tour starts at the top of the hour and the shorter tours start at half past. Try to make it to the full tour. The guides are very knowledgeable and you can ask them questions. As we waited for the tour to start we walked around the gardens. The landscaping is just absolutely gorgeous! And in autumn, the colors of the flowers and trees made it even more exceptional.
Even the First Division Museum is very well planned to give you a realistic experience. You first pass through a mock up of a village street in Cantigny during WWI. They even have the original street sign from 1918… Awesome! Then sit down to watch a 9 minute WW2 movie in a simulated WW2 Higgins Boat. As the movie ends, the screen door opens… and you are drawn towards a German bunker, as you can only imagine what those amazing veterans went through. Walk further into the museum and you travel through time to the Vietnam War then to Desert Storm as you watch video clips and listen to soldiers stories.
Between the museum and the 29 acres of immaculate landscaping, you can spend all day here… and all for $ 5.00. That is $ 5.00 per car, $ 2.00 on the off peak times. You absolutely will not regret visiting this AMAZING piece of history!

Wow, how have I not been here before? Located about 45 mins from the city in Wheaton, Cantigny isn’t just another wedding venue (that’s all I thought it was until this past Sunday when my mom decided she wanted to go and invited me). It’s a HUGE and FREE admittance piece of property that boasts many different types of trees, flowers, herbs, and foliage. I recommend you go in the fall when the colors change-​absolutely beautiful! Cantigny also has a very large US military/​war museum. FYI it’s not just a showcase of artifacts– you are literally walking through what looks like movie sets, feeling as though you’re actually in the setting! Complete with noise, famous dialogues, videos, etc. It’s something to see. As you enter into the museum you start off in the WWI era… eventually you make your way through every major US war and end up to current events. This museum was wonderfully done, bravo to the people who designed it!

Very nice place for the whole family especially during the events the hold. Best is their no individual entry ticket policy, just pay $ 5 per car … Well maintained gardens and museums. Many tanks exhibited from the wars of last century.

I love the Museum dedicated to the service of the First Infantry and the Mansion tour is an interesting walk through history. They host a variety of events.

My fiancé and I were considering Cantigny for our wedding venue. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option, because the staff that handles their weddings is so incredibly rude.
I had been in contact with the catering assistant, and she set us up an appointment with the catering manager. First of all, she was 15 minutes late to our meeting. It just went downhill from there. She was completely disinterested in showing us the property — when we asked where the outdoor ceremony would take place, she circled them on a map and told us that we could go find them ourselves. Giving us the tour and providing us with information was very clearly the absolute last thing she wanted to do. I felt like I was prying when asking questions. She made us feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome, and was just completely bored with the appointment. She went over the basics as quickly as she could, and at the end, I inquired about the ceremony spaces again, hoping she would take us to them — instead, she pointed to the map again and said «you can go see them yourselves, thanks!» and walked away without even saying goodbye or shaking our hands. I will also mention that the reception space was dirty, and I noticed cobwebs in several corners of the room.
To add insult to injury, I emailed the catering assistant, explaining what a poor visit we had with the manager, and she had the audacity to respond by inviting me to their bridal show — didn’t even offer an apology for our experience. We have visited 9 other venues, and our visits couldn’t have been more different than this one. It’s a shame, because the grounds here are so beautiful. We just won’t tolerate being mistreated by the staff.

My husband and I used to frequent Scarecrow Fest in St Charles. Lately that event has become an overcrowded mess. So this year we decided to try Cantigny’s fall event. We enjoyed it far better than going out to St Charles. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, scarecrows spread out and the best part was that the children’s events were outside the park. Not once did I get hit in the ankles by a stroller, or trip over an unattended child.
One of the coolest features is the smart phone self tour. All you do is call a number enter your location which is on a placard and they tell you about your current location in the park. I for one did not know that the grounds were used in the movie A League of Their Own.
The grounds have several walking paths some are kind of tucked away which are nice. Also they have most of the plants marked so you know what they are so if you are interested in planting one or two at home you know what to look for at the garden center.

This will be I suppose for lack of better phrasing a double review. There is a restaurant on site called Le Jardin which does not seem to have it’s own Unilocal page, Unilocal doesn’t tell me that it just keeps locking up when I try to search.
Cantigny: We came up to the guard shack entrance in a tour bus as we are a group with pre-​paid admission called in ahead of time. The guard, or whatever he is supposed to be, starts yelling, Event? Event? Not here for an event, we are touring our group is *****. Guard again, «What Event»? We yell the group name and try to explain as he angrily looks at the list and nods, then yells, «No photos. No Photos». Do they still have WWI secrets here?
At the inside desk there is a map one of our members asks about walking and the woman sort of yells, «you have to have a tour guide, tour starts in fifteen minutes». Such warm N fuzzys.
I decide I’m too tired and hungry and frankly don’t really care what’s behind the gates anymore.
****
Le Jardin: Dehydrated and hungry I enter the garden like (sorta) restaurant. Three heads pop up and stare as I stand by the sign that says «Please Wait To Be Seated». «Just me». I tell the server acting as hostess who advises I can sit anywhere ?? but the sign. oh never mind.
I have the Chicken Pesto Panini sandwich with Raspberry Ice Tea. The sandwich was thick, warm and a nice spread of pesto to not overwhelm. The order arrived quickly. The Raspberry Ice Tea was way too sweet. When the server came back to check on me I mentioned it’s just too sweet and another server advised her to take it back and use half regular ice tea. She did, I sipped and found the regular tea is way too sweet to so it’s still too sweet.
Back to Cantigny grounds: After lunch while the others were in lock step I wandered the grounds and sat on a bench by the picnic tables. I noticed there are men driving three wheeled carts, some are maintenance, others just patrolling and watching. While I walked around I think I was observed and tracked three times. I went back and sat on our bus and will always wonder why the Homeland Security style paranoia. Wonder why no photos of trees and picnic benches?

I came here as a guest for a wedding over the weekend and was super impressed with everything. The grounds (that I saw, which wasn’t much) were beautiful! The wedding was outdoor and all the foliage was lush and abundant, but also well taken care of.
The reception was inside at the visitor center and the service was top notch. We were addressed multiple times by waiters with apps, the bar service offered great beer, wine and liquor choices (of course I’m sure that depends on how much you are willing to spend!), and the food… OMG the food was AMAZING! This wedding offered parmesan crusted beef filet and potatoes, and it was perfect. The salads too were healthy dark greens– not a speck of ice berg in site! Hallelujah! I want to come back to tour the rest of the grounds soon, and would definitely come back in a heartbeat for another wedding!
This is a very popular wedding venue. We saw 3 or 4 other brides while walking in. I think a little bit of signage should’ve been provided by Cantigny to help guide guests. I didn’t know many people at the wedding, and was nervous about where I was walking initially. That’d be my only suggestion for improvement!

I came here with the kids bc it was a free day (supposedly). Well I drove in and at the booth where you usually pay $ 5.00 (not bad) but it was a free day so I asked the guy and he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. He said are you here for a certain event? I replied no and said I just thought it was free day. Usually I do a little more research but I didn’t and I gave the man $ 5.00. I was meeting my sister and a few friends here as well so I pulled in the parking lot and looked on my phone to check if I had the date/​parking lot/​etc. right. And I did but you need to show a voucher I guess.
So I called my sister and told her to show the guy the Voucher and she did. Well the guy gave her a hard time that it wasn’t printed and said mam you need it printed and he seemed rude about it. He showed her the printed ones he received and said look next time have it printed or you’ll have to pay. What?! Really?! Printing kills trees and it doesn’t say ANYWHERE to have it printed. I was pretty pissed because I literally pulled in 5 minutes before she did and the guy acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. Very frustrated and the guy was pretty rude to begin with.
He’s the first person your going to encounter when coming there and that’s the impression he’s going to make on people?! I wouldn’t go back if I had it happen again. The place is beautiful but if everyone is like he is RUDE, no thank you! I’ll go somewhere else and take the kids.

This is my third visit to Cantigny and each time has been wonderful. The gardens are lovely and are a great way to learn about horticulture and botanical life itself. As a early childhood teacher, I believe Cantigny is the perfect place for children to learn about natural science.
The war museum and tanks were favorites of the boys in my group. Children are also able to climb and explore them.
The restaurant, la Jardin, was full of fresh, flavorful food.

This place is beautiful and so peaceful. Usually not a big crowd unless there’s a special event. Side note do not come here for the Easter egg hunt. Very long line and the easter egg hunt only lasts 5 mins. K enough digressing. The cost is only $ 5 for parking otherwise entrance is free. The park has about 10 real life tanks that you can climb around and take pics. There’s a very nice museum that displays and explains artifacts from the different wars. Theres some gardens where very pretty butterflies usuall are found. There’s a decent restaurant Le Jardin that’s inexpensive. I have come here a bunch of times even after rain and I never see mosquitoes so no bites :). There are picnic tables so if you get here early enough you can have a little picnic here with a bunch of your family and friends. Then walk or bike around. The place is pretty big. There’s also a lot of trees so there’s a lot of shade from the sun. Awesome place to have a peaceful relaxing time!

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and Cantigny never gets any less cool. From the outstanding 1^st Infantry Division Museum, the McCormick House and Gardens, to the numerous special events they host annually, there is never a shortage of awesome things to see and do here. It’s great for kids and adults alike. And, make sure you grab lunch at the delicious and fantastically reasonable Le Jardin Café!

This place is so beautiful. I get really excited when I find beautiful places right here in the suburbs and this is one of my favorite finds.
I went here on a whim when I had a Friday off. I hate being cooped up in the apt so since everyone was at their «big people» job, I decided to have a day to myself and explore some of my surroundings. Honestly, this place is great to go if you are going alone. It is immersed in nature and has beautiful scenery. I loved the ponds and the Idea garden. It was a great way to relax and connect with myself after such a hectic life. Plus I got to see a wild turkey, which was pretty awesome.
A great asset to this garden is the First Division Museum. Honestly they have one of the best displays I have ever seen. It is like they transport you to the time that particular war took place. Honestly some of the displays were a little scary with their life size measurements and the surroundings. I was a little afraid there by myself so I piggy backed on the family in front of me in order to not get caught in one of those displays alone (what can I say I have a thing about wax statues and mannequins) I was highly impressed with the quality of this museum given that is was free.
In fact the whole thing was free when I went. All I had to pay was a $ 5 parking fee. Totally worth it!
(As a side note I feel I must say that there were tons of kids at the museum and none of them were scared, in fact, most were excited. That statement was merely to attest to the scale at which these displays were and how intricate they were presented. It was not meant to suggest that the displays are too scary for kids… just a 25 year old woman who has a thing about dolls ;)

Cantigny has such a beautiful atmosphere with tons of different gardens. I really enjoyed the tour of Robert McCormick’s home and the tour guide was very knowledgable. I did not know much about Cantigny until I got there and it was definitely a memorable experience I will be back!

This place is seriously amazing! We visited quite a few parts on our trip here, and I am extremely impressed. The scenery is beautiful, and the buildings are super cool too! It’s a great place to bring family and friends, and really makes you appreciate the natural beauty of this Earth! Parking is only $ 5, and its sooo worth it!

Oh gosh, I have such fond memories of this place as a kid, but had not been back for ages. My wife and I went this winter, her having never been, and we really enjoyed it.
First, we went straight for the tanks. Just like kids, we climbed around, took pictures, and had fun. We then checked out the museum which was very impressive — I had never been to it before that I remember, and really enjoyed it. We sort of sped through it, but you could easily spend over an hour here alone.
Walking around the grounds is quite nice as well, but the gardens were pretty much empty as it was winter. I am sure it’s awesome in the spring and summer.
Really great place to spend some time for not too much money!

This is such a beautiful spot! My family has come to Cantigny with our photographer for the last couple years now to take our annual family photos. The gardens are a perfect backdrop! From the trees in the fall, to the flowers in the spring, to the bridge and water in the summer — it all photographs just wonderfully.
We were there last weekend and I saw plenty of families walking around enjoying the grounds and soaking up the last of summer. I’ve never picnic’d here, but it seems like that would be an adorable sunday afternoon date — a little vino, some snacks and there you go! The museums seem interesting however it’s not totally up my alley. I was more interested in the bridal party I saw taking pictures!
Definitely a place to go check out though. Makes for a fun weekend family activity!