Definitely one of the must do while visiting Chicago!…read more Great boat tour with excellent docents. I ended up with a much great understanding of the Chicago buildings I was walking around or through.

My friends and I boarded the Chicago Architecture Center's River Cruise aboard the First Lady on…read moreThursday, July 23rd. We'd pre-purchased our tickets directly with the operator and paid for priority boarding. It took us a few more minutes to arrive than we'd anticipated, but it was easy to find the location the cruise departed from. Luckily, even though they'd already begun boarding the general admission folks, we were allowed to skip the line and our priority boarding was honored. Our guide's name was Russell and he's a volunteer docent. He was wonderful and his explanations were very interesting. It was a great way to get to know the stories behind the buildings and to see the city from a different angle. Highly recommend!

The Lake Fireworks tour was excellent. Gabby was our guide and she was excellent and very…read moreknowledgeable. The tour combined fireworks, history, and architectur. The whole family loved it.

I've been to Chicago many times, but never did the architectural boat tour thinking 'oh it's too…read moretouristy.' This time I gave in thinking the weather is nice and I want to do something relaxing. Wendella was highly ranked and a friend recommended them. I was bummed when I saw the 90 minute sunset tour was sold out. I saved $50. lol I was happy to find that they had a 45 minute tour at 8pm. This was actually perfect and for $28! I got to see a little bit of light when we boarded and the actual sun setting and views of the city in the dark. Very beautiful. The host tries to tell us history and be funny, but I think most were busy taking photos or just relaxing as a breeze hit. The ride is smooth so not to worry if you typically get motion sick. I felt fine. You may book tickets online and I'd show up by 7-7:15pm to get on the 8pm boat. The line gets long and if you want premium seating in the back or along the sides, then you want to be early. This 45 minute tour takes off a little bit further in than the 90 min one that has entry just off the bridge by Michigan Ave. Not sure if the boat had a restroom. Overall I'd budget about 2ish hours for this activity from the time waiting in line, cruise, and getting off the boat. Highly recommend!

The crime tour had a lot of stories about some very interesting people. It was a hot day (91+…read moredegrees and humid), and the A/C was woefully inadequate for a full bus. Our host was a young woman who knew her stuff. She never stopped talking unnecessarily, and was a speaker who kept your interest. At the start, she read off a bunch of rules that made her seem unfriendly. The tour seemed a bit rushed to me. I can also understand how some passengers would, if given more time, delay the tour an extra half hour. I wished we could have spent a little more time at the locations

Great tour! Our…read moreguide, Katie, was funny, friendly, and knew so many cool (and creepy) facts about Chicago's crime history. We hit everything from Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit to the Tylenol Killer and the crazy history of Streeterville. Loved hearing about speakeasies like The Bad Apple, the Rock n' Roll McDonald's drama, and wild stories like Johann Hoch and H.H. Holmes. Highly recommend if you love true crime with a side of Chicago history!

Braeden was a great tour guide providing lots of historical facts and lore with pictures too! He…read morewas honest, entertaining and knowledgeable! It's a fun and worthwhile tour!

Baylor walked around town telling us all sorts of spooky and gruesome stories. Now, I've been to…read moreChicago several times, but I learned more about locations I thought I already knew! I recommend this tour with hesitation.

My 13 year old daughter and I enjoyed the Iconic Foods of Chicago tour yesterday. Our guide Lillian…read morewas fantastic! the food was all amazing and I especially enjoyed all of the history she shared about the foods and neighborhoods of Chicago. Highly recommend!

Amazing amazing amazing! My best friend and I absolutely loved the "Yes Chef! Chicago: A Bear…read moreInspired Food Tour". Casey, our guide, was phenomenal. So fun and witty, and he really went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience. All the places we visited were very special and iconic, including a bakery that's 115 years old and an ice cream shop that's 105 years old. It was really fun remembering where these places appeared in the show. Another perk of the tour was skipping lines and having special areas and service just for us. And not having to drive and look for parking. The air conditioned bus was lovely and comfortable, and it was fabulous to be driven around different neighborhoods. We went to so many great places and it's a fun way to get to know the city better. We ate so much good food!!! Italian beef sandwich, charcuterie, pepperoni pizza, hot fudge sundae, strawberry donut and more. Great drinks too! Beer and cocktails, or soda. I didn't need to eat for the rest of the day! Everything was delicious! I highly recommend this tour! It was exceptional and worth every penny.

During Parents' Weekend at the University of Chicago, the university offered tours of the…read moreneighborhood through Chicago Detours. My wife did this tour a couple years ago and highly recommended it, but I wasn't especially interested because I had also gone to school here and figured I knew enough about Hyde Park already. However, she insisted that it would be worth our while and so I agreed to climb on the bus. And it was the absolutely right decision, because the tour was excellent. In fact, it wasn't just a tour of Hyde Park. It included the surrounding neighborhoods of Washington Park, Kenwood, Jackson Park, and Woodlawn. Since this was a UChicago sponsored event much of the information related to the University's investment and involvement in the area. Our tour guide and founder of Chicago Detours, Amanda, is herself a graduate of UChicago and thus she had some additional insight into the relationship with the community. Though the 75-minute tour felt a little slow-going at times, there was much to learn about the vibrant but sometimes troubled history of the area. Amanda has tremendous knowledge and the excursion was both fascinating and entertaining. I can imagine that Chicago Detours would have equally interesting tours of other neighborhoods in this diverse city.

Virtual tours are such a cool thing to do right now. I attended a Yelp Elite event that was a…read morevirtual food tour of Chicago. It was incredibly informative and a good balance of history and current trends. Looking forward to attending more virtual tours, like the World's Fair and the Cruise From Your Couch Boat Tour. I loved seeing the pictures of the in-person tours and can't wait to attend some of those too.

My grandmother and I were in Chicago for 3 days, and decided to do the walking prohibition tour on…read moreMonday. We were a bit apprehensive due to the weather - it was supposed to be very rainy with scattered thunderstorms. It ended up raining for only an hour, I'm so glad we did it! John, the tour guide is very knowledgeable in all things prohibition. We ended up being the only people who booked so it became more personable and conversational than a normal tour might go. We had a fabulous time overall! All 3 establishments had wonderful service and spectacular drinks! 100/10 would recommend this tour to anyone! You'll find it interesting regardless if you consider yourself a "history buff" or not.

Best tour I've ever been on. I recommend it to anyone going to Chicago. We learned so much and had…read morea great time.

Recommend. I made reservations online, and just needed your email receipt. We did the three o'clock…read moreSpeakeasy tour on a Saturday. We hopped on the tour bus at McDonalds and took off. Our guide, Eric, was fabulous. Being a high school history teacher was a big plus in his knowledge and exciting presentation. Only ten people are on a tour, so the group is intimate and easy to get through the old buildings. You buy your own drinks at the bars, or don't drink at all. There is no food. We had a good time learning some history of Prohibition. As fun and something touristy to do, this event is a bit cheesy, Hubby wanted me to add. We laughed. It was fun.

We did the 7pm - ghost and gangsters tour. Tour guide was very knowledgeable, great ghost stories…read morearound the city! We were on a bus and got off at stops to take pics, look around. I wish they would have taken us inside a spooky room, inside the Jane hull house or inside theater. It would have given more depth to tour. We try to take our teens somewhere different and this was something they had never done before. I recommend it.

A neat small place to learn about Chicago architecture and it's development, with short…read more 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.

The museum has great models of Wrigley field and downtown. There is a video that discusses the…read moreevolution 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!

Captain Wheeler,Deckhand Yosef made my birthday awesome! Helped my family with our super large…read morewagon stroller . WAITED patiently for us to transport our gear down the stairs. VERY friendly and social ,they come highly recommended.

This tour was on the top 10 list of our things to do in Chicago. I researched all the boat…read morecompanies that offered the Chicago architecture boat cruises and Shoreline Sightseeing came out hands down #1 for us in tour length, type of cruises, accessibility and in price for what you got. Best deal. Our tour guide was happy, energetic, and very knowledgeable about Chicago because he was born and raised there. We chose the 75 minute, 4pm Chicago River tour and it covered a lot! We never lost interest and learned about Chicago's history. It is well worth it! Our Architecture River Tour boat departed from the dock at Navy Pier. We learned that their boats are the most accessible at this location. Their boats can accommodate wheelchairs up to 30-inches wide. Your wheelchair must be able to navigate a ramp with a 2-inch step at one end. I needed one that was kind to my knees. Best to call them for more details. They were very helpful whenever we called them. Their boats are both double-decker and single-level boats, and there is generally no protection from the sun, rain, or wind. There is a small bar on the main level. Restrooms are located on the lower deck, which is accessible only via stairs from the upper deck. Enjoy! It's amazing!