We had a group of 6 do the Allentown Mob tour. Our wonderful docent was Kathy. The tour started outside of Cafe 59 and it was easy to spot Kathy and she was very friendly. It's a 2 hour walking tour, and you'll stop at various buildings to learn about the who, what, when's of what went down there. For example, you will stop at a building and hear about how organized crime controlled laborers local 210. You will see where certain made men were gunned down. Explore Buffalo is a nonprofit run by volunteers; be kind and leave a tip if you enjoyed your tour! I look forward to going on another tour with Explore Buffalo and learning more about our great city! read more

Experienced the walking tour of Allentown Historical homes. Judy was our Docent. We learned so much about Buffalo's rural to urban history. The different architectural trends, building materials, and political affiliations. I was especially impressed by the Five Sisters, French and Italian influences and Victorian style homes. We also walked through a park I'd never realized was a park. We even stopped at a Bed and Breakfast I had no idea about. Born and raised Buffalonian and I learned so much in this tour. So glad we did it. Highly recommend! read more

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Explore Buffalo-American Architecture Tour with docent Kevin Bennett. Absolutely great. The tour is packed with interesting and unknown facts for every building. We are very fortunate to have such great architecture in our city. Our docent was extremely knowledgeable and very personable. Kevin wanted to share his knowledge with you and answer any questions you would have. A great experience! Thank you! read more

I recently enjoyed a bike tour of the Outer Harbor from Canalside with Explore Buffalo as part of the on going 200 years of the Erie canal celebration called The World Canals Conference: Explore Buffalo Bike Ride. I loved the easy pace of the ride. The information given at each stop was easy to hear and understand with some cool tidbits I never knew before. The stop at Unity Park was especially interesting to me. I had ridden there before but didn't know the history. The giant metal Ladle was from Bethleham steel which was a huge employer for years in Lackawanna but has been long gone like so many industries in Buffalo. The canal leading to it was very important to the plant as a way to access Lake Erie. Cool. I love learning and biking so it was a great day. read more

Terrific tour of Saint Stanislaus church in Buffalo, the "mother church" of Polonia here. Two docents, who are church members, led the tour , explaining the naming of the church, its history, Polish history in Bufflalo and beyond. They were articulate, engaging, so knowledgeable. If possible, take this tour before the Buffalo diocese closes this church, too. read more

Explore Buffalo - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

Recently got the explorer pass and went on our first tour of the season with it - Presidents of Buffalo. The tour guide was friendly and informative. It focused primarily on 4 presidents: - Grover Cleveland - Millard Fillmore - McKinley - Lincoln Our tour guide also shared bits of information on the other buildings we walked past. Explore Buffalo offers several tours each day and in many neighborhoods. They even have some bike tours! Online reservations are super easy, and the explorer pass is a good option if you plan on doing at least 3 tours in a year. I would recommend checking them out! read more

Explore Buffalo - Presidential History Tour - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

Had an amazing time taking the morning tour walk around Delaware Park! Claudia & Lynn are wonderful guides & it was great to learn about the area while taking a scenic stroll! read more

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I attended the Explore Buffalo's West Side mob tour. This was led by tour guide Bob who had lots of stories and supporting photos of news articles about the events he talked about that made the stories that much more interesting. We had lots of questions on the tour and Bob had all the answers. At one point on the tour it started to rain and Bob was willing to continue his stories for anyone that wanted to stay! The tour was great and the customer service of Explore Buffalo was great as we had originally booked the Allen Town mob tour but due to cancellation they accommodated us to switch to this one seamlessly. read more

Explore Buffalo - Providence Social a historic building on the tour - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

Just took part in the Best of Buffalo downtown walking tour. I've lived in Buffalo for 40 years but just never noticed all the outstanding architecture we have! Docent Kathy was wonderful and very knowledgeable. Highly recommended! read more

I attended the West Side Mob Tour and had a great experience. Our guide, Bob, was very knowledgeable and able to answer additional questions. He also had pictures of the people/news articles in his stories which helped bring them to life. The tour was a good value- $15 for 2 hrs. The walk was slow enough that the variety of ages in the group appeared comfortable. I definitely want to attend another of Explore Buffalo's tours in the future! read more

Explore Buffalo - Historic carriage house - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

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I am originally from Buffalo, but the Vietnam War took me away from Buffalo and I only returned to visit ocasionaly. I am now 81 years of age and my son gave me a wonderful Father's Day gift this year. He gave me four days in Buffalo so we could walk the same streets that I walked for 21 years. It was wonderful and we took two tours with Explore Buffalo. One on September 15 and the other on September 17. I am of Polish descent so we took a tour of Broadway-Fillmore on the east side of Buffalo. It was wonderful to see how the east side is coming back. Now it is a Muslim neighborhood and the people are making their mark on the community. The beautiful Catholic Churches are not being torn down but being make into mosques. New businesses are opening and the housing stock is being renovated. Don't miss the Best of Buffalo tour. It brings to light the beauutiful architecture in Buffalo from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These buildings are being brought to their earlier glory. During this time Buffalo was one of the wealthiest cities in the USA. In both of these tours the tours guides were exceptional. Do Explore Buffalo; you will not be disappointed. read more

Today we had the pleasure of interacting with our splendid docent Bonnie on the Scandalous Buffalo walking tour. Being early in spring, the weather could have been either lovely or well, not so much. The forecast for clouds, rain, wind and dropping temps all happened during our walk, but with Bonnie's leadership and exuberant personality and facts and tidbits, our tour continued, like so many of the characters in the narrative, we're made of that tough stuff. What a pleasure it was learning factoids about our fair city, and like rewatching a good Netflix show, you could take this tour again and learn something new. Highly recommend. Here's a snippet, see their website for all the goings on: Join us for a tour of the scandalous side of Buffalo history! On this downtown walking tour, you'll learn some of the darker stories of the Queen City's past. read more

My sister-in-law and her husband have the Explorer Pass and couldn't recommend Explore Buffalo more highly for our visit. We took them up on the Leading Ladies of Delaware Ave tour and then again for the Silo City Vertical tour. Leading Ladies was a new tour for our docent, but you wouldn't have known it if she hadn't mentioned it. For a tour that admittedly wasn't "my pick", it was a really entertaining and enjoyable experience that flew by. Whether it was admiring the architecture of Delaware Ave or listening to tales of Buffalo society of yore and some of the "scandal" of the past, the tour had a little something for everyone. The Silo City vertical tour was "my pick" and it didn't disappoint at all. Our docent, Margaret, should be crowned "queen of the silos" if such a honorary title exists. She knew SO MUCH about the space that it was easy to imagine the facilities "coming to life" as we explored them. As someone with a fear of falling (less so the heights), this tour was totally manageable and well worth it. Margaret was upfront on the reality of the facility, but her experience and delivery completely makes you feel at ease. This is a hidden gem that seamlessly mixes unrivaled views, historical perspective and urban exploration. A hidden gem! Can't wait for our next trip to Buffalo to add more stops with Explore Buffalo. read more

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We just did the Silo City Grounded tour with Larry. He's so full of stories and information, but more importantly a passion for Silo City and Buffalo history. He was great! The tour was fun, easy to walk, just the right length. If you ever wanted to get inside one of those grain silos and hear what they're all about, this tour is well worth it. read more

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With the exception of one walking tour, they were all great. The only exception is the city hall tour. My problem with the docent is she must be a Trump supporter. She told us he looks good to be president again. Leave your political opinion out of the tour. I don't care who she wants as president. Leave religion and politics out of it. read more

I purchased a couple passes for my mom for Christmas and she selected the Allentown Mob Tour. The tour started from Cafe 59. Rob was our main tour guide and Donna was his assistant. Both were engaging and entertaining. There were many times where the crowd was laughing and everyone was really into the tour. There were about 40 people in our tour and everyone was able to hear, and see the photos presented. Take this tour! Also, they give you a tour for a free beer or wine at Cafe 59 with a purchase of food, if you go there the day of the event. read more

My husband and I took the City of Light tour on Saturday December 8th. The bus arrived at the Seminary on time and Denise and Rocco were friendly and excited to get started. Denise was very knowledgeable and anxious to share her extensive knowledge of the area with us. We were able to enter and your many of our stops, which was unexpected and appreciated. Rocco was an excellent driver and very helpful and accommodating. I would recommend this tour without reservation! We are trying the Silo tour next!! read more

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I just have to up the stars for Explore Buffalo. I've taken a number of their courses and tours over the past year and a half. A few of the walking tours of Downtown Buffalo have been terrific. Full of tons of info and with great guides. You will most certainly learn all sorts of things you didn't know before. And if you are lucky, someone on the tour will also have random pieces of interesting info to add to the guides info. Then there are the "learning lectures" they offer in the winter. The venue is great, fabulous old church. But the topics and speakers are not always great. Sometimes it's the topic, which I grant is a subjective thing. But other times the subject is interesting, but the speaker just isn't great at speaking, or hasn't practiced, or has too much info and it enough time or whatever. But sometimes it's not up to par. That's why no 5 stars, yet. I haven't done any of the beer tours, but I've heard only good. I took the April Fools Tour, and they did a great job. Tons of fun stories, some true, some not, but all told well and creatively. I have found the lectures start on time and are well planned out. I love that. They will be five stars soon no doubt. Full disclosure - I have an Explorer Pass - I like them enough to "buy in". read more

Best way to learn about Buffalo! I can't recommend getting the Explorer Pass enough if you are new to Buffalo or have lived here forever! Explore Buffalo has been sanity- saving for us this summer. We moved to Buffalo 2 years ago to be closer to our family in St. Catharines in Canada. The border closing this year has been difficult for us this summer as we typically travel to Canada at least 1-2 weekends a month. We purchased an Explorer Pass and for the cost of two tours for two people we have been on over 10 tours, including the most recent mural bike tour yesterday. Buffalo has such a rich history and is such an important player in growth and expansion of the early US. I'm almost embarrassed to say we had no idea when we moved here. Through Explore Buffalo we have seen and learned so much! We have seen neighborhoods and learned about historical events and seen architecture/buildings and neighborhoods that we never would have found on our own. And the tour guides!!! These are volunteers with a passion and pride for sharing their knowledge of this city that is just amazing....and contagious. If you haven't checked out or been on their tours- do yourself a favor and Explore Buffalo today! read more

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I have my Meetup group to thank for helping me discover Explore Buffalo. One of my group's organizers booked an event that sounded really intriguing to me -- Art of the Subway Tour. Come to find out, it was actually one of more than seventy tours offered by Explore Buffalo. The tour was just $15, but I was told if I purchased a fifty-dollar Explorer pass, I could do as many tours as I wanted included in that cost. So basically, do three tours and the pass is essentially paid for. That shouldn't be too hard given that they offer so many of them! I went online to the Explore Buffalo website, paid my fifty bucks, and in under a week, my pass was in my mailbox (with a free guest pass good for one tour). The Art of the Subway Tour was really informative. I loved the casual and interactive nature of this tour. Our docent Olivia was well-spoken, patient, and very good-natured. She also projected very well, which is important in a larger group setting and in an environment where trains and people are in and out. It was impressive how Olivia explained the artwork in a way that would be easy for someone who is not an art aficionado to understand, while at the same time keeping it from being boring for those who may have a better understanding of art. I had so much fun on that tour that I joined another one. That was on a Sunday morning. The following Wednesday evening there was a tour I was told was a "must-see." The Main Street: Old Meets New was only being done one time and someone told me I _had_ to see it. Since I bought the Explorer Pass, this was a no-brainer for me. We met in Allentown at Cafe 59, where we were given a free drink coupon for the restaurant. The tour started promptly, and good thing since we had a lot of ground to cover and a large group. I will say that I wasn't as impressed by this tour guide as much as I was with Olivia, but it was just a couple of things that I think could be easily fixed. We had a large group and sometimes the docent would start speaking before the entire group was gathered, so those of us with short legs who may not walk as fast as those taller people would end up missing the first few sentences. The docent didn't always seem sure of herself when explaining some of the things we were seeing, and I felt like there was a lot of information that didn't really mean much to me. I wish I could think of an example, but all the good examples I had have flown out of my mind (probably because the pieces of information weren't that important to begin with). I love the history and I enjoy learning about the architecture, but some of it starts to feel like a laundry list of facts that are hard to hold onto. I enjoy the stories more, like learning about the doctor who removed the bullets from William McKinley when he was shot. THAT was a very interesting story! (Spoiler: It was a gynecologist.) That's two tours down, one to go to have my pass mostly paid for. I am not currently signed up for any future tours, but that's because my September is so freaking busy. The nice thing is, since I have an Explorer Pass, I can just walk up to most tours without pre-booking, which I might do if I have some free time when there's a tour taking place. I was raised in Western New York and I'm learning so much about my home that I never learned in school. Plus, I'm meeting new people and beating the snot out of my friends in my Fitbit challenges! The Explore Buffalo tours would be fantastic for your out-of-town guests. Not sure what to do with them? Already seen the Falls? Take them on a tour! Or better yet, call them an Uber and send them on their own so you have time to clean up after those messy people and maybe grab a nap before they make you take them out for Buffalo wings. read more

Great 2.5 hour tour of Buffalo's most visible history. The silo city vertical tour involves a lot of climbing and you will encounter lots of dust, rust and incredible views and a chance to see things that you may never see again. Its always better when your tour guide is knowledgeable and passionate about what they are doing and Larry, our guide was just that. He was a wealth of knowledge and entertaining to listen to, always making sure everyone could hear him and that everyone was always traveling through safely. This is a "must do" if you are a photographer. read more

Save yourself the Prohibition tour and google the info yourself. If you really want to recreate the experience, read it in stuttering monotone. Although this tour was advertised as 'last one,' it was admittedly the first ever, and the volunteers hadn't even done a read through.....very dull and disorganized. read more

My wife and I took the Downtown Mob Tour on September 21, 2019. Our guide, Rob, was excellent. The tour starts at the Spot Coffee at Delaware & Chippewa, but none of the Spot employees knew that. The cost was $15, and the tour lasted about two hours. read more

Went on one of the Gilded Age tours - mansions of Delaware Ave. It was a tour of the outside of the buildings only. Tour guide, Ron, was great. He was very knowledgeable of the buildings and the history behind them. You could tell he really enjoys his job as a tour guide. The tour lasted about two hours, although you don't actually walk that far (TR inauguration building to Bryant St.). This was my first tour and I will definitely attend another one. read more

This is a review of the Allentown Mob Tour Explore Buffalo puts on. The weather was perfect. The group meets in front of cafe 59 on Allen. You can't miss the guides because they are wearing explore buffalo shirts and name tags. Funny one of the guides wore the name tag "The Godfather" very suitable for the tour. What you need to know: Pros: - relatively inexpensive adult 15$ and student only $5 (great for a student like me!) - guides are quite knowledgable and friendly. The guide does use note cards on occasion to refer back to but understandably so - there is a lot of information to remember! - walking tour suitable for all (let me explain...) you are standing the whole time but the walk is certainly not fast paced and you really do not walk that far. Start at Allen and Franklin walk down to Day's Park back up Elmwood just a few buildings past cantina loco and then back to Allen. Really it's not far at all. I wore flip flops but comfortable walking shoes are best. - you learn a LOT about the city particularly Allen and how the mob formed in this area / the crimes that took place CONS: - this tour is 2 hours so you definitely get your money's worth but really I think it could have been done in 80-90 minutes - the guide mentioned he had a micro phone but since it was a small group he decided not to use it -just use it! We are outside and it can get loud. I had trouble hearing "the Godfather" at times. Overall this tour was good I think with some minor changes (perhaps a more upbeat, outgoing tour guide, use of microphone, and cut down on the time) a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon on Father's Day. read more

I took 3 of Explore Buffalo's many walks over 2 days in the city in August 2018. All were excellent -- so professionally done that I did not realize at first that the guides are all volunteers. They are all extremely well prepared, based on vast amounts of research about the sites. And they do a great job of presenting the information in a very articulate manner. These are proud citizens of Buffalo who are delighted to be showing off the many wonderful attractions of their home town to locals and to visitors. read more

We just finished an excellent kayak tour on the Buffalo River with Explore Buffalo, The Audubon Society, and Elevator Alley Kayaks. Explore Buffalo tours have been really solid the last two years, and offer a lot of variety read more

Explore Buffalo - Audubon kayak tour - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

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Went on the Lincoln pkwy tour and learned a lot about the neighborhood around Delaware Park and those who originally lived in the area. Very enjoyable. read more

Great time on the Masters of American Architecture tour! Paul was a great guide, very friendly and very knowledgeable. This tour is affordable and very worth the cost. It's a great way to see the city, get some exercise and learn some interesting new things. read more

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Great tour guides! I recently moved back to Buffalo from Denver after 3 years, and was looking for a way to explore my birthplace and hometown more because I felt I didn't do a good job of it my whole time growing up here. When I moved back I promised I would do a better job and this group is doing the trick! I did the brewing buffalo tour a couple of weeks ago and it was a blast. Got to see the new breweries opening up in buffalo, and as a beer geek myself this tour was amazing. Got to learn of buffalo's past brewery history as well as it's booming future and got to try some amazing beers along the way. Tonight I did the silo city vertical tour and it was absolutely amazing! I used to think the old grain silo's were an eyesore but it was an unbelievable experience getting to walk through them and see everything and better yet to hear of the rich history of them and how they helped this city grow throughout the 1900's. Views were amazing and breathtaking. They also did an amazing dinner inside one of the silos afterwards! All in all I highly recommend Explore Buffalo and I will be doing a bunch of their other tours. Everything is run so smoothly and you can tell all their employees care deeply about teaching you about this great city and care about making the experience a memorable one. Met some amazing people as well, yet another reason they call this the city of good neighbors! read more

This review is of the Lockport Tour of Homes held right after Thanksgiving. Looking at the Explore Buffalo schedule online, this was probably not a normal event, as most of their tours have guides leading you around outdoors. But it was still excellent! There were half a dozen large, private homes to visit, all decorated for Christmas. We were given maps of the neighborhood so we walked to each home easily. Every one was staffed by a group of very friendly guides who would talk about the building's history and answer any questions. Best of all, they opened up the old Palace Theater for tours, hot chocolate and cookies! It was far more than a regular house tour where you had to wait in lines just to stare at someone's old furniture. Did I mention there were carolers in some of the houses, too? The event far exceeded my expectations--a local history lesson and a holiday party rolled into one! I hope this becomes an annual tradition in Lockport because I saw parts of the city I have never seen, even though I lived in the area most of my life. If I visit the Buffalo area again I'll be sure to look up Explore Buffalo's schedule, even if it is one of their regular guided walking tours. read more

I recently went with a group of six on the Buffalo Brew Tour, and it was excellent! The tour started at Gene McCarthy's, and took us on a 4 hour tour of breweries around the Buffalo area, filled with free samples and some interesting history lessons about brewing in Buffalo. The tour is $60 a person, unless you have an explorer pass, then it is $55. It seemed a little steep to me at first, but ended up being totally worth it! From Gene McCarthy's we hopped on a bus, and made our way to our first stop, Resurgence, which I had visited before, but was a whole new experience on the tour. They taught us all about how the beers are brewed, how they choose what they brew, and even told us about some experiments they had tried (a beer made from warheads holy moly!) They also gave us a sample of each beer they explained, I left with a pretty good buzz. From there we went to Pan Am, in the Hotel Lafayette. They had 3 of the giant tubes filled with beer waiting for us when we got there, along with free popcorn. No tour on this one, but it was nice to sit and relax for a bit. After that we headed to Flying Bison, my first time there, and we got a drink ticket for a flight of our choice. After we finished up there, it was back to Gene McCarthy's where we arrived to a spread of more than enough delicious wings and fries, which tasted great after all that beer, and 2 drink tickets. I was a little skeptical going into the tour, thinking maybe it might be full of beer snobs, but the crew was awesome. They enjoyed the beers with us, were super knowledgeable answering any goofy question we had, and made the day super fun. There were about 6 other people on the bus with us, so it wasn't too crowded either. It made for a really fun day, I would definitely suggest going with a group to make the experience even better. read more

We enjoyed the Turn of the Century Treasures tour. Our tour guide Judy was knowledgeable and friendly. I recommend Explore Buffalo tours to residents and visitors alike. Take the Metro Rail mass transit and save the parking fees! read more

We called up Explore Buffalo and arranged for a private tour for our group of 8 at a really reasonable price. Our docent was dedicated, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We were in town to see a Bills game and we're not exactly architecture afficionados, but we left with an appreciation for the city and its really neat buildings -- inside and out. We asked for the Masters of Architecture tour (buildings by prominent national architects; they also offer a tour that focuses on local architects from Buffalo). I definitely recommend the walking tour and our docent, Debora. read more

We were treated to a personal tour with one of the founders of Explore Buffalo, Brad Hahn. We'd already nosed around a bit on our own - Buffalo has rich and accessible architecture - but Brad's tour, which encompassed history, economics, and the social fabric of the city, tied it all together. I'm leaving Buffalo with a broad sense of this former industrial giant and once again thriving American city. Much fun, and left us wishing we had another three-plus hours to spare seeing all that Buffalo has to offer. read more

Explore Buffalo - Silo City - Food Tours Near Me - Buffalo, New York

We went on the Ground Silo tour with Ron as a tour guide. He was very informative and friendly! We felt comfortable asking questions and he seemed happy to answer! read more

I can't believe there can be such high quality tours for such a low price. My tour today of Larkinville was outstanding. The depth of the information the guide shared was stunning. The architecture, the inside of the church, even the guide's comment on a local restaurant--all so valuable. I can't wait until another tour. I may even do this one again! read more

Excellent walking tour with TinaMarie. Beaux Arts tour was a great way to experience Buffalo architecture. Highly recommend!

Whether you are new to Buffalo/Western New York, have lived here your whole life or are just passing through, you absolutely must experience the tours hosted by Explore Buffalo. I've been a part of a number of tours, and have enjoyed them. Kim is particularly fantastic for the Elevator Alley/Explore Buffalo Kayak tour. And, if you haven't had the chance to meet the Executive Director, Brad, make it a point to attend and event or sponsor the organization to meet him. Explore Buffalo brings to life Western New York's rich history and exciting future. read more

GREAT Masters of Architecture tour today with our guide Chester. Totally exceeded our expectations. If you've lived in buffalo for decades or just visiting for a few days I highly recommend a tour or two! read more