Almost everyone you meet in Chicago who loves their city will ask when you tell them you are visiting from out of town, "Have you done the architectural boat tour?" People in Amsterdam will also ask if you have done a canal boat tour - and you have to do these when you visit these cities. Our docent volunteer guide, Steve, was excellent. He was very personable and extremely knowledgeable about the city's riverside buildings and its history. The boat staff was also hardworking and ready to help with any issues, from getting a drink at the boat's downstairs bar to handing out covers when the rain hit us. For what we paid, the 1.5 hour tour was more than worth it. I recommend sitting at the top towards the back, as you don't have to crane your neck as much when he points out places of interest. This was a truly wonderful experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. read more

Not what I expected overall but it was still a very educational experience. Scoring tickets to Chicago's Architecture Center through our hotel, we used the tickets as a good time filler. Not a must see or do attraction but a great day filler activity as you explore the city. Loved the wealth of information they offer as it's valuable to understand Chicagos importance from the ground up! I thought it would be more about highlighting the amazing architectural buildings around the city but nothing like that. It's was more about the environmental impact the city has and the hurdles when designing buildings around town. The staff were friendly at check in and provided great service overall as they were kind and helpful. Small center that you may explore at your own pace and may or may not be worth the admission price. But scoring free tickets it allowed us to be selective in our day or day plans to include the activity to pay it a visit! read more

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What a great local spot to pair with an architecture tour! Here is a polished, well-structured version of your review: A fantastic information center--honestly, this is one step better than HGTV! The history of how Chicago was built is laid out in such a clear, logical way. Heading up to the second floor, the depth of knowledge and history on skyscrapers absolutely blew me away. It's the perfect place to visit right after taking the river cruise. Pro Tip for Visitors: You can add admission to your Ticketmaster river cruise booking for just $5 extra! A solid review that highlights the skyscraper exhibition on the upper level and gives a very practical tip on ticket add-ons! read more

The museum has great models of Wrigley field and downtown. There is a video that discusses the evolution of the city. There are interactive displays that describe prominent buildings, architects , and architectural styles in Chicago. A good place to learn about Chicago architecture! read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This is a rather small museum and when I was there there was like two exhibits to check out. The first floor is 1/3rd gift shop 2/3 the Chicago exhibit. This exhibit has a cool model of the city and interactive screen that you can highlight different buildings. It's really amazing. However, there's multiple computers and if there's a crowd, as soon as you highlight the building you want someone else highlights the building they want and becomes really hard to really take it all in. There's a small series of panels on Transit orientated development which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure if those are always there or just currently there. They seemed rather new. There was also a piece on regular field with a model of the stadium and some interactive stuff to play with with a scoreboard. Overall the first floor was pretty good. Second floor is where I disappointment kind of hit. I guess they were in the middle of changing exhibits so there was only a small section to see and that exhibit didn't really resonate with me and didn't flow very well. It's worth checking out, especially if you have some sort of discount tickets like I did. read more

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Entry to the museum is only five dollars if you show them your ticket from the First Lady boat tour. The ground floor has a short eight minute clip with information about the city. There is also a great display of the city as well as a Wrigley ballpark exhibit. Unfortunately, the upstairs is currently being renovated, so there was not a lot to see this trip. They have a great gift shop. read more

The Chicago Architecture Center is amazing, it offers very interesting and informative exhibitions and workshops. They have the best city tours of any offered in the city. The gift shop is quite nice and offers a variety of great gifts for others or yourself. The staff is very friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. The CAC Open House is a must-do event. I highly recommend you visit the CAC and the membership is so worth it too! read more

This was by far the best architecture river tour in Chicago! The guides on this tour are docents from the Chicago Architecture Center. The docent on my tour was Mary Jo and she is AMAZING! Not only is she extremely knowledgeable but also a very enjoyable tour guide. Another important reason to pick this tour over others...they are not for profit - dedicated to architecture education. The tour guides are docents and don't accept tips. They do this purely as pleasure to spread their knowledge. An absolute wonderful tour and highly recommended! read more

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A neat small place to learn about Chicago architecture and it's development, with short timelines on the walls and miniature model of the city and another ofWrigley Field. I bought a perfect, sturdy canvas bag labeled Chicago Architecture Center. read more

I had an amazing experience! I went on May 31 and Ciara amazing! She went out of her way to help me find the perfect souvenir. She was knowledgeable, friendly and customer service was a 10 out of 10 she was what made the experience so great! If she wouldn't have gone on her way to assist me, I would've walked out without a souvenir! read more

Entertaining a friend who's a teacher of architecture, we spent an entire day walking the city, doing an architectural boat tour, and ended it here at the CAC. He was so blown away by this place. He took so many pictures to share with his students and was a kid in a candy store when we shopped the gift shop. The scale models on the 2nd floor and the models of the entire city on the first floor were truly impressive. While architecture isn't my field, I loved the CAC. You certainly don't need to be an architect or a teacher to appreciate it. read more

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We arrived before 10am and waited outside till they opened. We entered from the adjacent building and walked into the gift shop. It's a nice gift shop. I was informed that the ticket sales were on the other side. It costs $15 per person. If you have a NARM you can get in with your membership card. Soon as you enter there is a movie. It's worth your time to see it. Under the movie screen is a model of the city. To the right is an interactive kiosk. You can choose a building or an architect and learn more. Upstairs there is an exhibit about skyscrapers. read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Signage - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Took the Art Deco tour yesterday, what a great way to learn about some of the history of Chicago as well as the gorgeous buildings!! Our guide was knowledgeable and kept the tour interesting. Unfortunately I flew out yesterday afterwards, but will definitely be back to check out the Center as well. read more

Chicago, IL - Top on my list for our Chicago trip was an architecture boat tour. The Chicago Architecture Center volunteer docents lead the tours making this company unique from all the others plying their tours up and down the river. Our tour guide Susan was top notch! Additionally, I joined a walking tour led by Michelle and Sally - again top notch. They knew exactly where we should stand to get the best views. And the ear pieces really helped me hear their narratives. I would definitely do this again when i next return. read more

The Chicago Architecture Center, the tours, and all of the 300+ docents should have a five star rating for everything they do. My partner, Nicole, and I have had 43 tours with the group over the years, I believe we have a 40+ more to go to get the whole portfolio. Our most recent tours were the tour of the Old Post Office with John, and the El tour with Quentin. This was our third tour of the Post Office and the second El tour. They were not reruns. Every single tour that the Chicago Architecture Center conducts is a gem and is unique. We tell everyone that is planning to go to Chicago to be sure to try to do a Chicago Architecture Tour. And not just the tour on the River, but one of the 80+ other tours. read more

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Paid 15 bucks to see a cool model of Chicago and that's it. The entire second floor had no more models, rather a bunch of exhibits about saving birds. This place sucks. read more

Stopped into the Chicago Architecture Center to become a "Dual" member, as that allowed my husband and I to have a "buy one get one" river cruise, free walking tours, free admission to their museum, AND reciprocal membership benefits at more than 1.300 cultural institutions across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This was a phenomenal value, and I'm delighted to be supporting the museum and their efforts. We really enjoyed touring the museum, and I especially enjoyed that it covered architecture around the world. The docents were extremely informative, and we enjoyed chatting with them. read more

Chicago Architecture Center - We enjoyed the movie; it was a great way to kick off our visit to the museum. - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We booked the sunset tour boat tour and were blown away by the scenery. Our hotel recommended we book our tour directly with the center and we were so glad that we did. The tour was 90 minutes long and we enjoyed every second. We got to learn so much about Chicago's architecture history and about the different districts along the river. The stop in the middle of the tour where we got to enjoy the breeze and admire the chicago skyline was my favorite part. Everyone on board was very friendly and most were tourists like us which allowed us to get to know other people and hear some of their recommendations. Also they serve drinks on board! read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The staff is very kind and helpful, but be careful with the items you buy, as they are not always as advertised.

We just toured the Old Post Office with John. He did a great job! The space is amazing and stories compelling.

After lunch nearby, my friend and I were looking for something to do. Chicago Architecture Center came up on our search within walkable distance so we thought it would be fun. Entrance is $14/adult. There are two floors and they recommend starting at the top. The top floor was a celebration of trees and nature. Something interesting we learned is that there has been scientific studies to support a correlation between urban tree canopies impact on the residents quality of life. Basically there is not tree-equity and the areas of socioeconomic struggles have less trees. There was also many structures in miniature form made of wood. It was beautiful to see, but a quick browse on 2nd floor. Coming down to 1st floor was a better experience for me. It was a beautiful history lesson about the city of Chicago and their architecture evolution throughout the years and how they are a trendsetter for other cities. There was an audio visual presentation that my friend and I enjoyed. A quick visit, but interesting if you need something to do. They also have a gift shop but we didn't see anything too appealing to take home. The memories are enough. read more

Chicago Architecture Center - exterior, business front - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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There wasn't a lot to see and do here. Add to that the total indifference of the woman that 'helped' us when we walked in and it wasn't a great experience. It's basically a museum. On the first floor there's a pretty cool diorama (not sure that's exactly the right word) of the entire city. Everything appears to be in scale, but it's all white other than the water, which is blue. There's a movie that follows the history of the city. Outside of this exhibit, there's a lot to see upstairs, but there's much, much more to read. I don't know. I know how to read, but in a museum I tend to find it a little boring. That's just me. If you're into museums that present information in written form, then give it a try. Otherwise, I think the Big Bus tours that provide views of the actual city is a better experience. read more

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How is it that I didn't know about the CAC until I moved back to Chicago? What started as a discounted membership benefit through volunteering at Open House Chicago has snowballed into my taking over 80 tours in the past 5.5 years. (And that's with my taking every other year off from my membership...) Then again, one of my draws to the tours is the number of things the docents extraordinaire have pointed out over the years that were hiding in plain sight on me. In a way, the CAC fits right in, spitting distance from a couple of my previous workplaces, only to become something I can't unsee now, a la all of the "Y-in-a-circle" symbols that a tourmate once likened to the Hidden Mickey symbols at Disney. (If you don't know what the "municipal device" is yet, sign up for a tour to find out! Particularly any tour that walks by the Chicago Theatre or Navy Pier.) The tours have taken me to places I either didn't know existed or I might not have necessarily ventured to on my own, e.g. Historic Austin, Motor Row, Fort Sheridan (pretty much those farther north suburb ones, in general), even the "What's New" took me to areas I hadn't explored before. You can also take the same tour twice and end up with completely different experiences. There are the docents who may focus more about bricks. Some may be more interested in science/engineering or history. The UIC tour I took last week was led by someone who taught there. And I'm sure tours like the "Lights, Camera, Architecture" one are always being updated. I've been trying out some of their bus tours, and I think my favorite so far has been the "Devil in the White City" tour. It had tied together various walking tours, we saw some things we may not get to see on a walking tour, all while talking about the architecture, history, and people tied to the 1893 World's Fair. I often get the question which have been my favorite tours so far. I suspect the list changes every time I answer, depending on what pops up in my head in the moment, and I imagine the list may change depending on who is giving the tour, but here's a start: * Chicago Women in Architecture * Grant Park Secrets * The Old Post Office * Chinatown (my tour started with "Why is the library entrance located where it is?" - never thought to ask that question before!) * all of the cemetery tours, city or suburb, especially around Halloween * the Art Deco ones are great for photography, especially if the elevators and mailboxes are still around * Mies & IIT (not necessarily a favorite, but I feel like a lot of other tours made more sense after taking it) But, honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the tours. I have learned so much from all of them. Check out the CAC website for their non-tour programming as well. I unfortunately can't attend as many of those during the work week, but I remember quite enjoying a talk about ballparks once, and one of these days, I'll make it in to one of their film screenings/discussions. Definitely take the cruise. And if you're around mid-October, do take advantage of Open House, whether it be in Chicago, NYC, or some other city in the world. Hopefully I'll see you on the next tour or at OHC! read more

My organization scheduled a boat tour outing and our CAC, Terry Light, was perfect! He had a tough audience (construction attorneys and their spouses) but he provided the perfect blend of information and legend for architecture buffs and newbies. read more

Excellent experience, it was a beautiful day, we went on Saturday May 9-2026. Bill was the person given the information, he was excellent, knew very well all the history of Chicago and the buildings. We were a group of 4 and we sat on the front of the boat, it was a good choice. read more

Is this a MUST DO when in Chicago? Is it thrilling and amazing? No. But it's a neat place to spend an hour or a little longer learning some neat stuff about architecture's history and future, especially as it pertains to Chicago. Entry is 14 dollars. I didn't have to pay because it was included with my priority boarding architecture cruise ticket. If you see my review on the cruise, I'm not sure priority boarding is worth the extra cost. The first floor is the gift shop and focuses on Chicago history. There is a model of the city as well as info on the history of Chicago homes and architecture through the years. There is also a film playing. The second floor holds a rotating exhibit and models of famous skyscrapers. The exhibit that was on when I visited focused on the growing use of timber as the primary framing for skyscrapers--so interesting and teaching me things I never imagined! The center organizes the architecture cruises, walking tours, and other special events. It's located on the riverfront, right across the street from the boat dock site. read more

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Great tours of Chicago. Any time family or guests are visiting I make sure to take them on either a river cruise or walking tour of the Loop. And I've learned so much about other neighborhoods through their other tours throughout the city. Worth a membership. read more

One of the best ways to explore the city and take in some incredible views. Knowledgeable tour guides volunteer their time to share the history of these beautiful buildings. We scheduled an am tour and would love to go back for the sunset tour sometime. I would recommend this to anyone visiting Chicago!! read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Excellent way to learn about the incredible architecture of Chicago. Only 90 minutes long and reasonably priced. Best $5 sunglasses you can find. read more

I attended the architecture boat tour and it was amazing! Chris was our tour guide and he was great. Chris was informative and funny! read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Go to Bohemian National Cemetery. Mary Jo was our guide, and while cemeteries don't seem to be glamorous places to tour, this one was interesting, and not unlike a walk in a pretty park. The stories of the interred are interesting and the sculptural headstones and mausoleums are often beautiful. Some markers are unique with actual photographs made part of them. We'd never seen that before. We had also toured Graceland Cemetery 8-10 weeks ago with Mary Jo as the guide. That particular tour was focused on the women interred and their lives and accomplishments. read more

Didn't take a tour or anything, so this is just a review of the center itself. There's really not much to see or do. The upper level has some simple models of some large buildings, and plenty of educational content on building materials, future plans around the world, and historical notes. It doesn't feel overly organized, and mostly was just lots of text and photos of upcoming buildings in other cities. The main floor housed a cute gift shop and a scale model of Chicago. The scale model was very cool and I had a great time finding my home and other recognizable buildings. I especially loved the tiny Cloud Gate! I was able to enter for free (available from November to January, there are specific dates, I believe) and it was worth a stop, but if I had to pay, I would not recommend. read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Basically if you like architecture, you need to look around this museum because this is all about it. It has tons of exhibits on the history of local buildings and more. Chicago Architecture Center is a museum yet it's also more, as in it's also a foundation for preservation and other causes. Lots of interesting things about the city to learn in here. This is also operating in relation to the architecture boat tours. As for the actual museum, it's two floors of a pretty modern looking building. It's not that bad of a price to get in. They have packages for those also wanting to do the boat tours. Get on Groupon. It's about $9 there for museum tickets. Helps you save a bit. There's quite a bit more in here than you may think. On the first floor there's some exhibits on the history of Chicago architecture. There's a large diorama of the skyline. Also there's a film about the early years, the Chicago Fire, and how it resulted in better building materials. The second floor features large models of famous skyscrapers. Also there's a few smaller exhibits on conservation and energy. The boat tour is an additional cost, but you can learn a lot. Good museum with lots to see and not that bad of a price for everything. It has some very knowledgeable staff. There's also tours that are good if you're okay spending a few more bucks or whatever. read more

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Busy, plan ahead. Easy to find. Handicap accessible. Interesting displays. Nice views from top floor.

I did the Ukrainian Village tour. It was wonderful. Two hours of history, architecture and beauty. The deacon at Saints Volodymr and Olha Ukraniand Catholic Church gave us a private lecture in the awe striking Church. There is even a Louis Sullivan Russian Church. read more

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The Chicago Architecture Center sits just south of the Chicago River on Wacker and is a nonprofit promoting the city's architecture and environment through tours, exhibitions, and events. If you're planning on coming here, I'd recommend booking the associated boat tour. If you purchase tickets for the boat tour, tickets here are only an extra $5 per person instead of the typical $14 so save some money! There were only two floors and wasn't entirely about architecture as I was expecting. There were some exhibits about the history of Chicago architecture and the future of architecture, but there were also exhibits about climate change as well as conservation tips and alternatives. It was an interesting and convenient spot that was worth the reduced price. read more

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There is so much architecture it could be easy to do the tour more than once and be sure to add on the extra tour inside the Center. However, give yourself plenty of time, there is a lot to see. We sat on the lower level, not wanting to navigate the stairs, one person in our party had a broken foot. Sitting there, we were seeing things before they were talking about them. Which had us turning around more than we would like to think. Also spend an hour looking down, to balance out all the looking up. Haha! read more

Chicago Architecture Center - Waiting for the tour to begin - Museums Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Took the architecture boat tour with Deb who was so informative and knowledgeable! So great to learn more about the city.

This is a great resource for many different tours of the super architecture in the Chicago area. We first spent about an hour in the center where you check in for the tours. There was a very nice exhibit overviewing architecture in Chicago and one about timber framed buildings. Both were interesting. I especially liked the large model of downtown Chicago and all of the buildings. The particular walking tour we went on was very good as was our tour guy David. It was helpful to have the audio sets or it would have been hard to hear the narration given all of the city noises. There were many tours to choose from depending on day of the week and time of year. Many years ago I went on their excellent boat tour of the architecture along the river. We need to return to town to go on more tours! read more

Another Windy City hidden gem. If you're into architecture, Chicago is a great city to see. If you're don't know anything about architecture, this place located along the river, motivates folks to learn more. This center teaches why buildings are built a certain way... weather it be a citywide devastating fire or just to keep the heat in. It certainly gives the city context for when you walk amongst the giant buildings yourself. Beatiful and interactive model of the city, that maps out green spaces, bike routes, and other areas of interests. It also has skyscraper models of the tallest buildings in the world. Again, it's another place that will eat up some time between river tours, ball games, and foodie locales. Enjoyed it. read more

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