Chicago Walking Tour - Elevated Architecture Downtown 'L' Train…read moreWe have previously taken the CAC boat tour and one of the surface walking tours (both of which were great), but this time we wanted something with a slightly different perspective while staying downtown. We chose the Elevated Architecture Downtown 'L' Train tour led by Andrew, our CAC docent. As no one else had signed up for the tour that morning, it became a private tour. Andrew was not only very knowledgeable about the architecture and friendly, but also, given that he works in planning at the Chicago Metro, was able to take us on an even deeper dive concerning the "L", its history, and some of the current challenges. As we were about 35' about street level for the tour, we were also treated to a different perspective of the building and their design/decoration, something that cannot be readily observed from street level. Thans again to Andrew for an information and entertaining tour above the streets of downtown Chicago-truly a unique experience.

If you're in Chiago you have to do the Architecture tour at least once. If you're in Chicago…read moreduring the Summer as I was you can seek sanctuary in the air conditioned lower level. I wish the audio was a little bit louder on that level due to the sound of the fans and people talking. If you like my reviews, consider "following" my profile for reviews all across the SF Bay Area . Why "follow" someone? It causes the person you follow's reviews to tier to top when you pull up a business. I find this very handy when researching venues. Rod's Review grading scale explained. Essentially I personally base it on the likelihood of a return visit and I try to be stingy with 5 star reviews since they should be "special" in my eyes. Price/Value also play a role obviously but there are $ and $$$$ littered across my grading scale. 5 stars - "I'll go out of my way" (approx 6 % of my reviews) 4 stars- "If I was in the area I'd go here and would recommend", (approx 38% of my reviews) 3 stars "Maybe if was nearby", (approx 37% of my reviews) 2 stars -"Would likely not return, Only if you want to go", (approx 16% of my reviews) 1 star -"No thanks, even if I was hungry", (approx. 3 % of my reviews)

'Wendella Tours & Cruises' has been in existence since I was a kid, and I am in my 60s now…read more Everyone visiting Chicago should take this tour of the Chicago River and it's surrounding architecture at least once. Everyone who lives in Chicago should take this tour many times, because when family and friends visit Chi-town, they MUST be taken on this tour. Then the more friends and family coming to see you, the more time you take this tour with them. - It's Obligatory. So every time a visitor comes town, I treat them to an afternoon tour on Wendella Tours & Cruises. It's not just that Wendella offers an amazing service - it's that this service is necessary in order to understand Chicago's unique architectural heritage.

Every time someone proposes to go on a Chicago River Cruise I groan. Why would you want to go on a…read moreboat for an hour when I can see the buildings perfectly fine from here? I've already done the cruise, why would I do it again? I end up going along with the group and doing a cruise, and I love it every time. On the river is the best way to experience the skyline of Chicago. You get to see the best of the best and hear history behind it. Even though this is a tourist trap, it is one of the few that I've been on that I actually think it is worth it.

Jim did an excellent job explaining the architectural history of Chicago. He was engaging and kept…read moreus entertained while we battled with the cold weather. The views were phenomenal and although the tour was 75 minutes, it felt shorter.

Just did the 60-minute architectural river tour departing from Navy Pier this past weekend and it…read morewas a fantastic experience. Our guide Ruby was awesome - engaging and funny with a perfect mix of architectural history and fun facts that kept everyone entertained. Right before docking at the end of the tour, the captain turned the boat toward the river entrance for a minute so everyone could take photos in front of the skyline, which was a nice touch. The biggest selling point for me was that all of Shoreline's tours are dog-friendly. I brought my pup Shadow along and they even gave her a treat as we were boarding. A couple tips: getting your tickets on Groupon will save you a couple bucks off retail, and bring your own water if it's a hot day - beverages on the boat are pricey. Great guide, amazing views, and pet-friendly. Highly recommend!

Every person I asked for a suggestion about what to do when in the city and everyone said to take…read morean architecture tour. They were right. I paid for the Gropuon which made our tickets half price. The one thing Is will say is that the parking directions for were confusing to me - I could have parked much closer but ended up going to the wrong location. This was something the tickets warned about but I just didn't figure it out. There was a bar and food on board but I didn't partake. We decided to do the nighttime tour per the suggestion of those who told me about the tour and I'm happy to have done so. The buildings were so beautiful and the lights were great. Next visit I will try the day time tour. It was an excellent way to spend 90 minutes and learn some really cool facts about a great city. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Chicago.

Chicago riverboat architectural historical tour on main branch of river. Time to cruise…read more Nonstop 90 minutes. Talk about the architectural sky scraper wonders. foremost. Mind blowing enormously tall. Alot of humor and details on rental price @$400,000 a year. Famous people like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey lived here. Willis seats tower 100 stories tall 1,052 in the Windy City Sky! It's the tallest! there are 37 drawbridges on the main branch river. That's all the facts in my head could remember. The river is alive! The buildings taller than Sequoia redwood trees or Oregon Douglas Fir. Glass, concrete and steel in assorted shapes - seemingly alive like a living tree. I feel the energy of the river and the buildings standing tall. Worth the moolah.

I recently rented a yacht from this company for my birthday, and the experience exceeded all…read moreexpectations :) From the moment we boarded, the captain was professional, welcoming and very attentive to all of our requests. The yacht itself was super clean, beautifully maintained, and equipped with everything we needed --plenty of space, float rafts to hang out on, great sound system, and perfect views from the top of the yacht. The captain was amazing--knowledgeable, friendly, and made us feel safe and relaxed. He has DECADES of experience and knows the lake Michigan and the Chicago river like the back of his hand. We cruised along stunning views of the Chicago skyline, and we saw the sunset on the way back. It was pure magic and oh so romantic. Perfect for a cancer horoscope sign such as myself;) I highly recommend this yacht rental company for anyone looking to celebrate, relax, or just enjoy an amazing Chicago experience on the water. I will be booking again!!

Chicagoland Yacht Rentals completely ruined what should have been one of the happiest days of our…read morelives. We rented a yacht for a gender reveal celebration, and what we experienced was traumatizing, unsafe, and felt like a complete setup. The captain, Joe, seemed fine at first he even helped us open our biodegradable powder cannons and posed for pictures. But seconds after the reveal, he started yelling that he needed to "settle everyone down" and demanded I Zelle him $400 on the spot for him to start while claiming the boat was damaged. He blamed his "friend," who then came aboard and aggressively insulted our entire family yelling in front of all our guests and young children. Two children were so traumatized!! This celebration turned into fear and panic. It didn't end there. The captain was drinking alcohol, slurring his words, smoking, and taking unauthorized photos of minors. His behavior was reckless and disturbing. We have video proof of his conduct. When I contacted Chicagoland Yacht Rentals, they did absolutely nothing. No call, no check-in, no apology just silence and a ridiculous claim that I had "spray painted the boat." I'm eight months pregnant, and they want to blame me for something I physically couldn't have done. We're now out thousands, and I've had to file a police report and begin legal proceedings. This company is dangerous, dishonest, and completely unprofessional. The dozens of 5-star reviews seem fake they don't match what we went through. Please do not trust them with your money, your event, or your family's safety.

Took the Art Deco tour yesterday, what a great way to learn about some of the history of Chicago as…read morewell 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.

This is a rather small museum and when I was there there was like two exhibits to check out. The…read morefirst 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.

I found this boat charter on Yelp! Spoke with Paul and the process to book was so seamless! He…read moreanswered all my questions promptly when wondering how to tip and if we needed to bring coolers. They supplied ice for our trip which was great! At the end of our time we were already trying to book with them again! With the new adjustment we were able to have 30 with proof of vaccines! Highly recommend them!

Captain Paul and team was AMAZING! We had a post graduation cruise for my daughter and best friend,…read morecruising into the sunset. The most memorable trip for my daughter, friends and family. Captain Paul was extremely flexible in making the most beautiful experience. We cruised on both the river, and saw the sunset on Lake Michigan. The experience of a private yacht for my daughter's celebration was priceless. Thank you Captain Paul for your hospitality!

Captain Tim is the best and so is his beautiful, clean boat! He can help create the perfect vibes…read morefor your party with all the accommodations needed to have a great time. This is the only charter I recommend to people!

if you are looking for a wonderful experience on the water in Chicago, this is the boat tour to…read moretake! Captain Tim is very accommodating and his boat tours are always a blast! I highly recommend if you are looking for someone on time, fun and entertaining and most importantly a great tour! Dor Sea Tours should be your top pick!

One Facebook ad, quick online reservation, and here we are Thanksgiving weekend floating down the…read moreriver in a hot tub in 20 degree weather...AND we would do it again! Here's what to know: -Make the reservation online days or weeks in advance so everyone can complete/sign waivers online well in advance -A couple of days before your date, the person who made the reservation will receive a text w/ additional waiver to sign and a training video on safety. Complete prior to date as it reduces the amount of time to check-in -Yes, they do ask for the credit card that was used to pay for the reservation, their ID, and they have to be at check in -There are a lot of fees for misuse and misconduct so definitely read the documents -once checked in, a team member walks you to the marina area and the changing rooms; the bathrooms are near the changing area and require a key to enter -The bathrooms and changing area are heated -The changing area has a few lockers to keep your belongings safe and you are responsible for keeping the key (if you lose there is a fee) -Once in your bathing suit, keep your shoes on, warm hat, and jacket -The boat doesn't have areas to keep your stuff so keep most of your items in the locker -A team member will walk you to your boat and there is a covered plastic crate that you will put your coat, locker key, and shoes in -There is a walkie talkie on your boat so you can stay connected w/ your assigned team member -The water is very warm and you can control the heat off/on -Make sure the entire group pays attention to how to drive the boat, it's def a team project -The boat doesn't not go very fast but turns seamlessly so give yourself grace for figuring how it maneuvers -Yes you are on the water w/ big water taxi boats and tourist boats; they definitely make waves and will push your boat out of their way -You can drive the boat w/in a 5 block radius -We had the most fun just floating in one of the "pier" type areas; sooo many people bundled up walking near the river said hi, took pics of us, and asked about our experience -You will stay warm the entire time, it was sooo hot sometimes we stood up just to cool off If you are thinking about this experience just grab some friends and do it! We are already talking about doing it again and bringing some friends!

When I asked if I wanted to cruise down the Chicago River in the middle of February, I first…read morethought my husband had lost his mind. However, once I saw the hot tub option I decided to be open minded and boy am I happy I did. The company has great communication and Devante, our crew member, was very helpful and friendly. We had 90 minutes but honestly because you can only cruise between a bridge span of three blocks we came back early. Just know that you are the one driving the boat so you definitely have to take somebody who is willing to be the designated captain. Overall, a really fun experience and I would try it again in the summer..

I'll serially do this again. Easily the best tour I have been on in years. It was fun, funny,…read moreinformative, historic, full of wonderful architecture, local movie filming, Incredible city and lake views, river views, and more. When I come back to visit Chicago again, I will easily choose this provider to take me on a tour of the city again. It was good enough to see again and again. Our host was friendly, knowledgeable, and answered all our questions with a sense of humor. The vehicle was clean, warm, comfortable, and carries about 20 people when full, I think. On my next visit I will ask to see "The Bean" close-up.

I went on the See It All Chicago minibus tour today. It was very good; had 3 stops (near the…read morePlanetarium, the Buckingham fountain and a the Rockery. We drove past various neighborhoods, Millennium Mile and the Bean, Gold Coast art festival, etc. Avery, the driver did a great job and made the tour more fun with all his stories. Thank you!