This is the first in a four-week series to help BlogHer '09 attendees explore Chicago.

My favorite way to explore a city is on foot. I think it has something to do with the experience of using all five of my senses in a way that driving (or boat-riding) tours just can’t match. (Not to mention that walking is good for Earth, good for you and good for your wallet. Well, potentially good for you and your wallet. I suppose that depends on your discipline when in such close proximity to Garrett Popcorn Shops.) So if you’ve planned a little extra time before or after BlogHer ’09, and were hoping to see a little bit of the city (believe me: there’s plenty to see), then I’ve got a juicy tidbit for you: Chicago walking tours.

BlogHer community member Cynthia Clampitt created three tours, and we couldn’t wait to share them with you. Each week leading up to the conference (July 2, 9, 16 and 22) we’ll publish them in this space for you, with a Tips and Fun Facts wrap-up. So whether you’re looking to get to know the Windy City better or just want to exercise (with a view), you can find it here.

Walking Tour One: Michigan Avenue South of the Chicago River and Grant Park

From the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, cross the Columbus Drive bridge south to Wacker Drive. Head west to Michigan Avenue.

At Michigan and Wacker, start on the west side of the street and head south. The high-rise on the corner, at 333 N. Michigan Ave., is one of the city’s several Art Deco landmarks. Next, you will pass Illinois Center, a cluster of tall, dark, glass buildings, once considered “The Future of Urban Planning.” Underground passages lined with shops make it possible to move among the buildings without ever going outdoors.

In another couple of blocks, you will reach the Prudential Building at Randolph Street. This was the first skyscraper built in Chicago after World War II. Behind it is the Aon Center, originally built as the Standard Oil Building. It is one of Chicago’s three giants, currently holding the number two position at 1,136 feet tall.

Turn left and head up Randolph Street, then cross to the entrance of Millennium Park, a corner of Grant Park that offers gardens, monumental sculpture, a concert venue, terraces, outdoor art galleries, and numerous other opportunities for enjoying oneself. One of the first things you’re likely to notice is the very sculptural Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a remarkable “explosion” of brushed steel with a state-of-the-art sound system that is suspended from an overhead trellis, so no one’s view of the stage is obstructed. It is considered the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States.

East of the pavilion is the massive, shiny, silver, bean-shaped sculpture known as Cloud Gate. Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work installed in the United States. This highly reflective piece of art offers a great photo opportunity, with reflections of the city’s skyline and the lake against a backdrop of the real thing.

The Lurie Gardens offer 2.5 acres of flowers, shrubs, trees, and grasses native to Illinois, and the Chase Promenade is an inviting three-block-long walkway lined by nearly 200 trees.

At the south end of the park is the Crown Fountain, which was designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers flanking a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images designed to show the diversity of Chicago’s citizenry. Water flows through an outlet in the screen, giving the illusion of water spouting from the mouths of the individuals pictured. In the summer, the fountain is a favorite spot for children, who can run through the cascading water.

The south side of Millennium Park is bounded by Monroe Street. Crossing the street, you come to the Art Institute, one of the country’s top art museums. Walk around the building, both to see the classic old part and more modern addition and to get to the back of the building. Behind the building, depending on the state of construction at the time of your visit (they’re adding a new wing), you may be able to see the ornate main arch from the old Chicago Stock Exchange preserved and ensconced in a tiny park. But even if this small park is blocked off, continue past the Art Institute and across the street behind it (Columbus Drive). You will find yourself amid more of the many gardens of Grant Park. Amble through the gardens toward Buckingham Fountain. This spectacular Chicago landmark is one of the largest fountains in the world. It was donated to the city by Chicagoan Kate Buckingham, who built it in honor of her late brother, Clarence. Completed in 1927, the three-tiered fountain was inspired by the Latona Basin at Versailles. The great, bronze seahorses that adorn the fountain were sculpted by French artist Marcel Loyau. The fountain operates mid-April to mid-October. Light and water shows are given each evening, and the central spout regularly shoots up to 150 feet in the air.

From this vantage point, if you look to the south and east, across the grassy playing fields you can see, in the not-so-far distance, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Adler Planetarium, which is on a point of land that extends out into the lake.

From the fountain, walking back toward Michigan Avenue along Congress brings you to the grand entrance designed to lead you from the city into Grant Park and toward Buckingham Fountain. This entrance is flanked by two wonderful 1928 sculptures by Yugoslav artist Ivan Mestrovic of Native Americans of Illinois. The statues are named The Spearman and The Bowman.

From here, you have a great view of a stretch of Michigan Avenue that is, in fact, one of the world’s most-recognized one-sided streets, along with New York City’s Fifth Avenue and Edinburgh’s Princes Street. Sometimes called the Michigan Boulevard District, with buildings dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s, this handsome stretch of road offers examples of the work of many of Chicago’s most important architects, including Daniel Burnham, Dankmar Adler, Louis Sullivan, Holabird & Roche, Marshall & Fox, Henry Ives Cobb, S. S. Beman, and Graham, Anderson, Probst & White.

Look to your left (south), and you’ll see the Hilton Chicago. Designed by Holabird & Roche, the hotel was originally called the Stevens Hotel. It was built in 1927 and was, when it opened, the largest hotel in the world.

Cross Michigan Avenue, and, at the corner of Michigan and Congress, you’ll be outside the Auditorium Theater in Roosevelt University. President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Auditorium Building in October 1888, and President Benjamin Harrison dedicated the completed building in December 1889. It was immediately acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and functional theatres in the world, remarkable for its perfect acoustics and for innovative design. The spectacular arched ceiling meant no internal pillars were needed, so every seat had an unobstructed view of the stage. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra resided at the theater until Orchestra Hall was completed in 1904. Roosevelt University moved into the building in 1946. In 1976, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark. Today, the theater is home to the famed Joffrey Ballet. If you think the pillars in front of the building, on the Congress side, look like they have been cut off, you’re right. The street used to be narrower and lower, and great stone stairs were removed when the street was widened in 1952.

Now, head north (back toward Wacker Drive).

Orchestra Hall (also called Symphony Hall) is another couple of blocks up, at 220 South Michigan Avenue. The home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for more than a hundred years, the building is an interpretation of Georgian style. As you walk by, look for the names of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Wagner above the arched windows of the second-floor ballroom.

As you continue north, you might also keep an eye out for the Fine Arts Building, the Chicago Athletic Association, the University Club, the Old Republic Building, the London Guarantee and Accident Building, and other wonderful, elegant, old buildings. One newer building worth noting is the Smurfit-Stone Building, a sleekly modern edifice that contrasts sharply with the antiques around it. Its sharply angled, diamond-shaped roof is lighted at night, with the colors changing with the seasons or for special events.

Between Washington and Randolph stands the imposing Chicago Cultural Center, a Classic-Revival building constructed in1897 as the city’s first library. Enter the doors on the south side of the building and walk up the stairs to the large room on the third floor. All around you, the stairways, walls, and ceilings are covered with millions of piece of glass, gold, and abalone shell. This is the largest mosaic in the world, and it is crowned by an impressive Tiffany glass dome. On the far side of the dazzling third-floor main room there is an entrance to a long hall that leads to the north side of the building. Look for the handsome GAR Hall, where another, even larger Tiffany stained glass dome can be viewed, and tall windows offer splendid views of Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park across the street. Self-guided tours of the building and its exhibits and galleries are available, and a docent-led tour is offered every day at 1:15 p.m. Also in the Chicago Cultural Center, on the north side of the building, is the Chicago Visitor’s Center—a most useful destination, with a nice café, a room full of maps and brochures, and Chicago greeters to assist you.

Continuing north, you come to the Carbide and Carbon Building at 230 N. Michigan Ave., with its stunning dark green to black exterior trimmed in gold and bronze. The gold decorations at the top of the building are actually 24-karat gold. This handsome skyscraper has recently been renovated and is now Chicago’s Hard Rock Hotel.

You are now nearly back to Wacker Drive and the Michigan Avenue Bridge, from which you started the tour.

Is your appetite whet for more of Chicago? This tour leads into Walking Tour Two, so stay tuned!