Take a stroll on the Chicago River Walk, a fantastic location for learning about and enjoying the rich history and magnificent architecture of the Windy City. With the Weekend Brunch Tour, you also get a hearty and delicious meal to energize you for the walk. The River Walk Tours are a three-hour journey along the riverfront, where you will hear the stories of Chicago’s triumphs and tragedies as well as engaging anecdotes about the city’s most colorful characters throughout history. Midway through the tour, when everyone’s built up a good appetite, there is a stop at Houlihan’s for a brunch buffet featuring just about everything you might want in a traditional breakfast. Coffee service and soft drinks are included in the price. Afterward, work off those calories on the second part of the walk.
The 1920s were a seismic period of change, and Chicago was at the forefront of this tumultuous era of gangsters and growth. The Chicago Roaring ’20s Tour gives you the opportunity to learn and see the iconic buildings constructed in that decade, including the Wrigley Building, Tribune Building, Mather Tower, Intercontinental Hotel and more. You’ll also discover more about the “Great Migration” that helped spawn the jazz age and change the cultural makeup of the city. This two-and-a-half-hour tour will showcase the “buildings, booze and jazz” that helped make the Windy City what it is today.
Stroll through the neighborhood where Chicago’s earliest arrivals settled during the Prairie Avenue Historic District walking tour. This informative tour will teach you about the millionaires who built the Windy City into a powerful force, and the rise and fall (and rise again) of this oldest part of Chicago. The tour will take you through Motor Row, the Chess Records studio, the Gilded Age mansions and the site of the Battle of Fort Dearborn. For a small neighborhood, Prairie Avenue sure packs in the history, so take a walk through the past during this two-and-a-half-hour jaunt.
Chicago has numerous tours by bus and tours by boat. The Chicago History Tour is a two-and-a-half-hour walking loop along both sides of the Chicago River that, because of the small group size, allows for a more relaxed pace and easier two-way interaction between the tour guide and guests. Designed to complement the city’s many bus and boat tours with lots of new information, you’ll learn interesting facts and hear incredible stories about Chicago’s rich history. Memorable stops include McCormick Bridge House, Vietnam Plaza, Trump Tower, Tribune Building, Wrigley Building and more.
Established in 1860, Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place for some of Chicago’s most famous politicians, architects, business leaders, philanthropists and artists. This tour will acquaint you with some of the area’s most storied citizens and take you on a dramatic ride through history. As you stroll through the cemetery with your guide, you will see tombs of architectural or artistic interest including the Getty Tomb, the Martin Ryerson Mausoleum and the Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum, while visiting the gravesites of Marshall Field, Daniel Burnham, Carter Harrison, Potter and Bertha Honore Palmer, Cyrus McCormick, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Ruth Page and architect Louis Sullivan.
Take a stroll through the aptly named Gold Coast, one of Chicago’s most affluent neighborhoods. New mansions continue to spring up alongside the grand residences built by Chicago’s 19th century elite, all snuggled in among the impressive urban architecture of Chicago’s famous skyscrapers. From hotel magnate Potter Palmer’s castle-like structure to the Astor Street Historical District’s classic brownstones, the tour is an awe-inspiring journey into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The tour also covers cultural touchstones in this area of the city including The Rush & Division intersection a few blocks away. This vibrant hotspot features a number of trendy bars and nightclubs — the perfect place for people-watching and celebrity-spotting. The tour also includes the historic water tower building; the popular summer gathering spot, Oak Street Beach and Division Street’s more mature counterpart, the “Viagra Triangle” at Rush, State and Cedar Streets.
Originally settled by German-Catholic immigrants in the mid-1800s, Old Town is a triangular area bounded by North Avenue, Clark Street and Ogden Avenue north of Chicago’s downtown business district. During the 1960s and ’70s it became the center of folk music and comedy in Chicago, and some iconic institutions from that era remain today, including the famous Second City improv comedy club, the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Up Down Tobacco Shop and the Old Town Aquarium. Today, Old Town is an eclectic and charming neighborhood peppered with comedy clubs, restaurants and shops. On this two-and-a-half-hour guided tour, see St. Michael’s Church — one of a few buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; historic Well Street; the original Old Town Triangle District; and a vast array of architecture, from stunning Victorians to working-class cottages to modern 21st-century mansions. The tour ends up at Zanies Comedy Club, where you’ll get a look at the inner workings of one of Chicago’s premier stand-up venues — plus free passes to a future show!
Head to Chicago’s south side to explore Hyde Park. This fascinating area of the city is the place where great thinkers, scientists, architects and industrialists honed their skills and left their mark on Chicago and on the world — and now it also holds the distinction of being the home of President Obama and First Lady Obama. It’s where the first automobile race in the United States took place, the location of the Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) of 1893, where the first controlled nuclear reaction happened, the site of the world’s first Ferris wheel, and home of the most technologically advanced library on earth. During your two-and-a-half-hour guided exploration, you’ll become more acquainted with such names as Frank Lloyd Wright, Enrico Fermi, John D. Rockefeller, Lorado Taft, and Indiana Jones.
Joyce Walks Chicago offers this 2 to 2.5-hour trek through the Armour Square community, home to the city’s Chinatown. Along with learning the background of the area from a friendly, knowledgeable guide, you’ll visit Chinatown Square and its famed zodiac statues, the Nine Dragon Wall, Ping Tom Memorial Park, St. Therese Church and other important cultural sites. The company specializes in tours of Chicago’s many diverse neighborhoods, where residents and tourists alike can delve into the area’s specific history, art and architecture.
Explore the historic mansions of one of Chicago’s most charming and exclusive neighborhoods with Joyce Walks Chicago. On this two-hour guided walking tour, you’ll learn about the generations of politicians (including Barack Obama), criminals, industrialists and philanthropists who have occupied the stately homes of Kenwood, where many of the 19th- and early-20th-century mansions are on the National Register of Historic Places. Whether you’re a native Chicagoan or just in the Windy City for a visit, Joyce Walks Chicago will help you discover Kenwood’s rich history, culture and architecture from a unique perspective.
Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on the lower west side was originally settled by German and Irish immigrants who came to the city to work in the factories and stockyards. Immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Bohemia followed and had a strong influence on the architecture. These groups also influenced the neighborhood’s moniker — Pilsen was named after a city in Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. The 1950s saw the neighborhood attract Mexican immigrants, and today Pilsen and Little Village to its west are the center of Chicago’s Mexican community. On this two-and-a-half-hour guided walking tour, you’ll discover the exterior wall murals that adorn numerous buildings; visit St. Pius V Catholic Church; explore the National Museum of Mexican Fine Arts; view the vast array of interesting architecture that’s reminiscent of the old Eastern European country yet infused with a Mexican flare; visit local shops; and pop into a Mexican panaderia, where you’ll have the opportunity to purchase the delicious baked goods.
Chicago was one of the first municipalities, and the largest, to legislate the incorporation of public art into its building plans. Today more than 200 other cities throughout the United States have similar ordinances, due in large part to the success of the Chicago ordinance. On this two-hour guided walking tour, explore Chicago’s Loop, located along the lakefront in the heart of the downtown business district. Within just a few blocks, you’ll see and learn about an abundance of art and architecture that makes the city such a fascinating feast for the eyes. You’ll start at Daley Plaza, where you’ll see the Picasso statue, and end at the Chagall mural in Chase Plaza. In between these two points you’ll hear enough interesting art and architecture facts to keep you supplied with cocktail party conversation for the foreseeable future.
The city of Chicago developed along the banks of the Chicago River. Join this two-and-a-half-hour walking tour along the city’s “Second Lakefront.” Chicago’s River Walk spans from Lake Shore Drive to Franklin Street and contains lush green spaces, cafes, retail spaces and a great place to sit back and relax or get a bite to eat. Today, the River Walk is comprised of the Confluence, Arcade, Civic and Market districts. Learn about how the city plans to add six more exciting new themes to the existing districts, including the Marina, Cove, River Theater, Swimming Hole, Jetty and Boardwalk! Stepping back in time, you’ll learn the vital role the river played in the emergence of Chicago as the great “metropolis” of the Midwest. View the iconic buildings located along the river while hearing riveting tales of the stories behind them as your tour guide thoughtfully reveals the stories of these structures and the fascinating characters that once occupied them. Lace up your most comfortable walking shoes because you’ll cover about two-and-a-half miles and climb several sets of stairs during this fun and informative tour.
Maxwell Street has long played an important role in Chicago’s history, from serving as the gateway for immigrant workers in the 1880s to the new home of African-Americans during the Great Migration of the 1920s. This informative walking tour will showcase some of the important landmarks both past and present, from the open-air pushcart markets of Eastern European Jews to the streets where blues legends Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf plied their trade. You’ll see where the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 began, swing by the world-famous Jim’s Red Hots, visit the Hull House Museum and more in this educational, entertaining stroll.