Location: Joliet
Top Things to do in Joliet
Countries
Top 7 Budget-friendly Things to do in Joliet, Illinois (IL)
Joliet (/ˈdʒoʊli.ɛt/ or /dʒoʊliˈɛt/) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County and a major part of the southwest Chicago metropolitan area. At the 2010 census, the city was the fourth largest in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. A population estimate in 2016 put Joliet's population at 149,395, which would make it the 3rd largest city in Illinois if accurate.
Restaurants in Joliet
1. Rialto Square Theatre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 247 reviews
Reviewed By travelgirl1NewYork - Darien, United States
Beautiful Theater in downtown Joliet. The only bad thing I can say is parking is not the best ~ but that is what you get when you are in a downtown area. Great comedy show!
2. Route 66 Raceway
3. Joliet Slammers- DuPage Medical Group Field
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 44 reviews
DuPage Medical Group Field is home to the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League. The Slammers are a professional baseball team and the 2018 Frontier League Champions.
Reviewed By V1752XRjamesc
Nice park to take in a relaxing ball game with a good view of the field and the concessions are fairly decent
4. Joliet Area Historical Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 116 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Joliet Area Historical Museum is worth visiting even if you never saw the Blues Brothers' movie or never drove on Route 66. Located at 204 Ottawa Street in Joliet, Illinois, Chicago's largest southwest suburb, it was established in 1977 and documents the history of Joliet and surrounding Will County. As an aside, there is a gift shop stuffed with Route 66 memorabilia and an opportunity to visit the nearby Collins Street Prison, another Blue Brothers trademark. I once spent a day at the prison. I was a batboy for an amateur baseball team that played against the prison team. But the museum isn't about the prison. It is about the history of the Joliet area, which dates to the 1600s. It has its own history, too. The building was formerly occupied by the Ottawa Street Methodist Church, which was designed by Joliet architect G. Julian Barnes and built in 1909. Located on one of the alternate paths of historic Route 66, the museum's ground floor features the Route 66 Welcome Center, which offers a display called the Route 66 Experience, highlighting the famous road that once connected Chicago through the southwest to California. There also is a dining room open to the public and staffed by Joliet Junior College's hospitality and culinary school students. Perhaps the most intriguing exhibit focuses on Joliet-raised and Joliet Junior College graduate John C. Houbolt, a NASA engineer honored as the chief conceptualizer of the lunar orbit rendezvous segment of the U.S. Apollo program and the use of a lunar module to shuttle astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon. The Joliet Area Historical Museum is proof that there are interesting museums this side of Chicago's Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry.
5. Joliet Prison
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 110 reviews
Reviewed By homewood_traveler41 - Chattanooga, United States
Very neat piece of history to check out. The only downside is because of vandals the majority of the prison interior is off limits. Still worth checking out, they have informative billboards placed all around so you know what you are looking at.
6. Joliet Iron Works Historic Site
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 37 reviews
The Forest Preserve District of Will County's Joliet Iron Works Historic Site provides a parking area, shelter, latrine, water fountain, and access to the 10.81-mile, paved/limestone I&M Canal Trail/Centennial Trail. The site protects foundations of blast furnaces and other structures from a dismantled iron manufacturing facility that operated from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. A 0.59-mile trail offers self-guided interpretive tours of the site's historical significance. Open 8 a.m.-sunset.
Reviewed By Toyota1994 - Chicago, United States
Joliet Iron Works Historic Site features an approximately 1.5 mile long paved loop trail that provides a self-guided interpretive walking tour of the ruins of the old Joliet Iron Works. Today none of the original buildings still stand, but remaining are many of the foundations of the blast furnaces and other structures from the dismantled mills, looking almost like ancient ruins. The trail that takes visitors around the grounds is outfitted with excellent informational signs that help communicate the important history of this one-time giant. The signs give a very good history of the Iron Works and the people who worked there. It would be really nice if the park could install a small 3-D model of a blast furnace. Nevertheless, this is an impressively maintained historical place. Hard to imagine that Joliet Iron Works employed approximately 4,000 workers in the early 1900s. The site also now serves as a trailhead for the Centennial Trail/I&M Canal Trail. The whole visit is free of charge. Do not miss a chance to visit this place.
