I learned so much today! The mansion history was very interesting and the history about Ottawa was…read morefascinating too. The tour was ten dollars and was well worth it. I was told Christmas is a really great time to visit. I didn't even know about this mansion until a few days ago. I searched for other things around Starved Rock and foind the mansion. It was the best part of the day.

Beautiful turn of the century home. The docent was very knowledgeable (maybe a bit too…read moreknowledgeable). She shared the history of the home, it's pervious uses and work being done to restore it to the time of the Reddick family's occupancy. We stopped as an activity during a road trip but had to leave a before the end of the tour to get back on the road. The home had beautiful plaster detail, original wood work, windows, doors, and fireplaces. Definitely worth visiting to appreciate the architecture of days gone by.

Really cool. I recently did the evening tour which ends when the sun is almost gone for the day…read more The guided tour itself is really informative, you get 90 minutes of history and walk a total of about a mile inside the old prison grounds. You get to walk inside the West cellblock and a few other buildings. Sadly, several of them were burned by morons during the period between 2003-2017 when this was totally vacant and unused. But funding comes in little by little to make repairs. The old portion of the prison was designed by the same architect who designed the famous Chicago water tower. There are some newer elements as renovations were done in the 1950s and 1990s. The docents are very knowledgeable and have good stories to tell about the infamous former inhabitants of the prison. If you want to save a little money you can do a self guided tour as well.

We came for the haunted house. It was fun, and I enjoyed being able to walk around the property…read more There are multiple attractions you can visit, although one was full of flashing lights and no warning of such, so I had to close my eyes while my husband guided me through. There are too many people with neurological issues affected by strobes to not warn patrons. That was an awful experience. I hope to come back some day and do a tour during the day. The location is very interesting.

We had such a wonderful time visiting the David Davis Mansion. Our tour guide, Jeff, gave us a long…read moreand detailed tour that was both informative and engaging. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and made the history of the mansion come alive. One highlight was learning about David Davis's close connection to Abraham Lincoln, which added an even deeper historical significance to our visit. That piece of history was fascinating and memorable. We highly recommend the David Davis Mansion to anyone visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful historic home with a rich story, and with guides like Jeff, you're guaranteed an excellent experience.

We toured the David Davis Mansion on a chilly December afternoon. There was one else there for a…read moretour so we had our own private tour. The mansion was beautiful and decorated for Christmas. The house has many artifacts that are true to the Davis family. We learned a treasure of information from our tour guide Jeff. He was able to answer both of our questions and we had many of them. Jeff was able to tailor the tour to our interests providing a personalized experience. This tour of an exquisite mansion was top-notch due to Jeff and his wealth of knowledge and pleasant personality.

My friend and I had an errand out in this area and decided to see what else there was to see while…read morewe were here. This museum (the home of the Hegeler and Carus families, who were involved in a local zinc company and also a publishing house, Open Court Press) is a national historic landmark and is unique because it was owned by the same family the whole time, & they never made any fundamental updates to the house so it's largely as it was when designed by WW Boyington (who also designed Chicago's Water Tower and the old Joliet prison) in the 1870s. Several rooms have been restored, but you can see in areas where it hasn't where time is taking its toll (for example, the main hall was painted with egg tempera paint, and that organic element [the egg] is now degrading after 150 years). Still, the parquet floors are amazing, and details like pocket doors, carved wooden decorations and historical elements like the speaker tube system in the walls for speaking through the house are unusual! The house also contains the only German-style turnhalle (gymnasium) in a historic home in the US. Other interesting details include an ornate butsudan (buddhist cabinet shrine) due to Hegeler's interest in Eastern religions. We just took the general tour ($15), but you can do half house (upper or lower half for $50 each) or whole house tours ($100). The longest one is apparently 3.5 hours with two breaks and children are discouraged since it is long. You must register for the tours as they max out at 6 people. Despite it saying "masks are required" and our temperatures taken at the door, our guide was initially trying to take his mask off to talk and the other couple on the tour followed suit. When my friend and I left ours on, they all put them back on at some point. The rooms do have 6 foot markers on the floors, but since some of the rooms aren't big, if you had a full tour group this would be an issue. There is an elevator so the Mansion is handicap accessible. Overall, this seems to be one of the bigger attractions in LaSalle, so take a tour if you're in town.

This mansion is beautiful and a amazing historic site to see!! The house tour is incredible! I…read morehighly recommend going here and learning about this incredible family!

It was super enjoyable. Learned a lot of history about the city of Chicago. Max is so energetic and…read morejust good time! You won't regret it. Take the tour.

Review for the WALKING TOUR: went with my family. The stories and the locations were not the only…read morehighlights, but the skill and presentation of the storyteller as well. Sophia was amazing, engaging and was full of energy/passion. We saw a deal at Groupon for $28 and we decided to take a chance on the activity. You don't go in any buildings, except one - the Palmer House Hotel. It was a good place for a break in the tour, though no scary stories were told about it. My feedback for the tour company is to add more stories if possible, I feel like there could be a little bit more added compared to the other tours I've been on. Parking: Use spot hero beforehand to find the best deal closest to Hoyt's tavern (meet up spot). Picked the spot near Dunkin Donuts for $10.99 and 5 min walk away. FYI: The tour does NOT circle back close to where they originally started. We ended the tour about 20 min walk away. So just keep that in mind. We were fine with it and even got to stop by one of our favorite Gelato places in Paris, Amorino on the way back. Discovered they have a store here along the walking tour.

The Sanfilippo Foundation (de la musique) has limited tours of their beautiful and amazing estate…read more It's located in Barrington Hills on over 57 acres. The 52,000 sq. ft Tudor style home has so many unique musical, one of a kind and ornate items that you really have to see to believe! We went on the tour yesterday and it was really enjoyable. They have so many historical Calliope's from Europe and US on the premises. Also many other items including Tiffany lamps, steam trains/engines, a perfume museum and a restored carousel in its own building that is really something to see! It's truly a fascinating tour and very tastefully done. They only collected the very best top of the line pieces for the collection. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Pictures and reviews really don't do this place justice. You need to go and see everything for yourself! It's definitely worth it and you'll leave feeling dazzled!

Amazing collection and tour. The director, Gregory, and all the people that work there were so kind…read moreand obviously have a passion for what they do. Gorgeous and fabulous place.... My nephews (9 and 12) loved it!

This place is a bucolic respite, and tour guide Ted Weber is funny, self-effacing and passionate…read moreabout both history and his garden. Great for all ages. Streator clearly doesn't understand the hidden gem in its midst.

Beyond amazing! Truly thought we were looking at the garden when we walked through the gate. To…read moremy surprise, I believe there were 12 more to walk through! Each one absolutely beautiful. Was very taken with the English Garden. I began feeling like I was in the Secret Garden book. Then came the house tour. Beyond taken back with what history not only of the home, but the famous people that had stayed there! Definitely a must do! The owner himself gives the tour & is so informative! Don't pass up if you're in the area!!!!!!

Well, on this hot and muggy Sunday, we decided to have an atypical weekend visit to the shady Grove…read moreto do our almost daily walk. We typically only visit here on quieter weekday mornings. We were pleasantly surprised and fortunate to find the Blacksmith Shop open and that is the case only on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 3pm. Alec was the blacksmith on duty and he provided some insights into his craft as well as a walk-through of their various iron products, both functional and decorative. He is one of five volunteer blacksmiths on the staff here and really enjoys his time here. Thanks for the tour Alec!

What a great surprise. Needed a little down time and a chance to relax. The Grove provides just…read morethat. Free parking and no cost to walk around. The paths are easy to walk and the native prarie plants along with wild life is spectacular. The period building are relics from a very different era that look perfectly in place in woods. Will look to see what programming they have.

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.

We were fortunate to get truly excellent weather to head out onto the lake for a boat ride with…read moreHarbor Country Adventures! We went on the Classic Lake Tour. Our tour guide was a retired high school history teacher and football coach with all sorts of interesting stories about the region. We passed Mount Baldy, the "living" sand dune that moves, at Indiana Dunes National Park and made it all the way down to a good view of the Century of Progress homes before making our way back. We also got to hear all about the ship, the Emita II, which is a historic ship from the 1950s, and about how it reached its current home. It was also very cute that Captain Jan had the kids come up and take turns at the wheel on the way back. There is a snack bar on the lower level of the boat, and there are restrooms on board. Free parking is available a little walk away - walk towards the Lighthouse Museum, as the dock is behind there. Definitely a great adventure!

Very enjoyable and comfortable experience. You get a different perspective of the shoreline and…read morelighthouse. Live music and drinks/snacks for sale. Only complaint is there was a group with a person who should have been cut off from being served any more alcohol but her friends bought it for her. She was extremely obnoxious and loud and made a lot of people on the boat uncomfortable, especially ones with small children.