10 Stars! Went on the Sin & Suds Beer Tour and our tour guide Vince was great. He was friendly,…read moreextremely knowledgable, funny, enthusiastic and someone who had a passion for beers and Chicago. He gave us an education on beer and what to look for, a mini-architectural tour on the walk between bars and lots of stories about the sinful past of Chicago, especially during prohibition. My favorite story was about Gentle Annie Stafford and how she got her man to put a ring on it. ;) We went to four bars, we were provided with several generous shares of beer at each location, each one different and tasty. What I enjoyed about these types of tours, is a local guide takes you to places that locals go to, I wouldn't know to come to these bars otherwise. What makes it even more enjoyable is that you get to meet other people, we had a bachelor party and a few couples on our tour and it was fun meeting new people, sharing a beer and was provided a slice of Chicago style pizza at our last beer stop. Well worth the time and money for both beer enthusiasts and we even had a non-drinker on the tour for a tag-along. Be sure to dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes, in total we walked about an easy 1.5 miles. Ask for Vince, he knows his stuff and ask him about the Bruce Willis Tower ;).

I don't wanna seem like a beer snob, but the beers served on this tour is subpar.. actually rather…read moreawful quality.. the walk, the tour guide, and the history of the places are AWESOME. Really enjoyed all of that but really didn't take more than a sip of any of the beers served... If you're looking for exposure to GREAT chicago beer, skip this. if you are looking for history and culture mixed in a fun walk, this is nice.

If you're a craft beer fan this tour should be on your list of things to do if you're visiting…read moreChicago. You get to visit 3 breweries/brew pubs. I believe at least one of them you get a tour of, Revolution brewery was the one we got to tour. Our guide Ted was awesome, he gave us some history on the places we were going to visit along with some local Chicago history during the ride. The location were kept a surprise ahead of time so we didn't know where we were going until we got there. They do have a rotation of different breweries they tour so if you decided to go again you could possibly explore some new spots the next time around. The coolest part about the tour is the bus itself, just checkout the pictures. The seating layout makes for great interaction with the rest of the people on the tour. I happened to find out about The Barrel Run when I was looking up Chicago tours on YouTube & came across some video a couple named kovACTION made about 3 months ago. Right after watching that I knew I had to fit this in my schedule when I was in town.

The Barrel Run provided an exceptional experience. For my sister's 40th birthday, we arranged a…read moreprivate Prohibition Tour, which proved to be truly remarkable. Our tour guide, David, was an outstanding narrator whose extensive knowledge offered many new insights, even for those in our large group who reside in the Chicago area. Furthermore, Denise, who served as the primary point of contact for scheduling, was excellent; her communication was consistently thorough. I highly recommend The Barrel Run for anyone seeking a unique and memorable event.

Fantastic boat experience on the Illinois River! We loved every minute of it. Super easy to book by…read morecalling. Friendly staff on phone and on the boat. We were warmly greeted when we arrived. Given the option of indoor or outdoor seating. We sat outside as it was a beautiful night. The captain drove carefully and we loved all the history on this two hour ride. We even got to see a majestic bald Eagle and its nest. SO COOL. They have a cash bar inside with any beverage you desire. Reasonable prices. This is a great idea for someone visiting from out of town. Or even someone who grew up here would enjoy - it is very educational. Awesome guy on acoustic guitar playing mellow tunes throughout. Definitely a MUST DO when you are in Ottawa IL!

Just got off the Saint Genevieve boat, and wow, what a great experience. Such a beautiful historic…read moreboat with the most ornate bar that serves incredible well priced cocktails, wine and beer. We were fortunate enough to listen to a singer, Aaron Kelly. Really great singer songwriter with a great bluegrass twist. He told the best stories and made his songs come alive. It was really cool! Beautiful view of the houses, saw bald eagle, and lots of neat infrastructure pieces like the railroad bridge etc. Price right, and a wonderful time. Highly recommended!

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.

This tour was a blast from start to finish! I was in Chicago from NYC, visiting friends Labor Day…read moreweekend and came across this tour. I had some time to myself so I signed up, thinking it would be a fun way to learn about the Chicago craft beer scene, see more of Chicago and meet some cool people. All 3 things were accomplished! I met my other tour takers at Haymarket - a nice combo of locals and out-of-towners; and after our first beer flight, it was like we knew each other for years. Along with meeting the group, I met the ultimate in tour guides - Nik. He is serious about his beer and his city. He is personable, funny and full of information. Along with the tour, I learned he is also part of Chicago Beer Geeks and has a podcast called Chicago Beer Pass. His passion comes through 100%. You could tell he cares about this world and he really makes you feel a part of it. The group hit 3 locations - Haymarket, Lake Effects (where we met its brewer, Clint) and Arrogant Frog. Nik took us through all the beers, explaining the differences, history of the locations, etc. Did I mention Nik is a great tour guide? Well, he is. The Chicago Brew Bus is a great few hours spent learning about Chicago, drinking some really great local beer and meeting new people. I highly recommend you get on the bus!

Holy stroke of genius! Why didn't I think of this? Crap…read more It was my friend's 28th birthday and she was growing tired of the same ol club scene. Honestly, me too. I was thinking about blowing her off if she was going to tell me to meet her at a club, possibly would have flipped out on her. Luckily, she saved herself by finding this cool idea. So she purchased tickets and rounded up the troops. Some of us were beer aficionados, some not. Never fret, they had something for everyone. There is this cool party bus that seats about 14 and they play cool music. They were setting the stage perfectly for a Brew Bus tour. The tour began at Goose Island where we met Kevin and Chris. Two of the most beer educated and friendly guys you could ever meet. It was so refreshing to see the founders of that company taking time out to run the tour and interact with patrons of Chicago Brew Bus Tours. I can only wish for that type of customer service in other places. The Brew Bus took us to Moonshine and Haymarket. We had the pleasure to take tours of the various brewing facilities and how each special blend is made. It's really awesome to drink the actual beer as you see it being made; you appreciate beer that much more. The facilities the beer was being made was so advanced and complex...I am glad I left it to the Brew Bus staff to school me on it whilst I drank. The best part of the tours was the tastings afterwards. I have been to wine tours before and had little sips of wines here and there. This was totally different. LOTS of BEER, FREQUENTLY. I like the words beer and frequently in the same sentence. Sounds good, aye? The Brew bus tour is genius because you can still keep your friends together without having to worry about designated drivers and such. Chicago Brew Bus takes care of it all. In Summary, Awesome trip, awesome owners/tour guides, cool bus, cool music, great tasting beer, and memories with friends that will last a lifetime. My friends and I are already recommending this place to others and I extend that to you. You will have a ball. I came out of that tour knowing much more about crafting brews and loving beer even though I wasn't too much of a beer gal. The tickets are super reasonable which is a godsend in this town. Well worth the money for the good times alone. Can't wait to do it again with a different set of friends. Cheers Chicago Brew Bus!

The Ottawa Visitors center is located is located just west of the Historic Reddick Mansion and is…read morelocated in it's care takers cottage right in the middle of the Historic district of Ottawa. The Visitors center offers up local menus and activities all over the area not just Ottawa, and not long after arriving you will realize you can spend more than a mere day trip in town. They also boast a small souvenir shop with items ranging from a few dollars to a $100 + for from shot glasses to framed photography and art work there is something to fit your budget.

From the owner: Welcome to beautiful Ottawa, Illinois. pickusottawail.Com!read more

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.

A short fuse and a close call…read more After Emily and I checked in to our hotel room, we wanted to stretch our legs and see if there was anything nearby for some beer and some food. Turns out, Short Fuse was right up the road and a 5 minute walk got us there. For a Sunday, it wasn't too busy but not dead, so we got seated right away. We ordered some beer and took a look at the menu. While nothing really struck our fancy, our waitress made a comment that if we did want any food, it might be slim pickings as they were running out of stuff. Turns out, this day was the last day they were open. Talk about timing! After she mentioned that, I started to notice that people were buying bar signs and various other things. Emily started off with a Guava Gose and I grabbed a Krankshaft kolsch. We sampled each other beers and we both really liked what the other ordered. I don't really know what a gose is but, damn, was that good! I've had Krankshaft before so I knew what I was getting myself in to. We ended up ordering a second round of the same beers and let each other sample the other's beer a little more liberally this time. While we were kind of hungry, nothing on the menu really struck our fancy, especially considering they might've been out of it. Room service took care of those hunger pangs later after a few more beers in the hotel bar. Online reviews for this place seemed hit and miss but I really enjoyed my time there and really enjoyed the artwork on the walls and the vibe of the place. We did contemplate buying some bar signs on our way out but declined as we don't know what we would exactly do with them. It sucks to see a small business close but they did say they may try to open up a new place in a new location in the future.

I sat at the bar and it took almost 20 minutes to get served. There were only two ladies working…read morethe front so I was patient. I ended up getting a flight of 7 and my favorite was the Bear-ie White. Plenty of parking. There was food available but I did not order. Big space which was nice.

Firstly, Raquel I believe, what a wonderful person! Great driving skills and sense of…read moreresponsibility. God bless you for doing what you do and putting up with some crazy stuff! Can't wait for our next trip! Evil Horse in Crete was a great place to start. Beers and burritos were real good. Malt Brothers in St. John had great beers and awesome pulled pork sandwiches. But especially liked the pint of Bacon!!! Windmill brewery in Dyer was next as things got serious. Had a strong cafe brew. One Trick Pony in Lansing even put up with us playing their drums. Thanks for not driving us straight to nuthouse!

Great way to get a group of folks together, enjoy some adult beverages, and get everywhere safely…read more Anthony was a gracious host and driver for my best friend's bachelor party. They take care of the reservations and are easy to work with.

I got the 72 hour tour, and I was lucky enough to have Candace everyday! She was amazing, great…read morestories and insight from a local, sharing city tips and personal recommendations. I had some other drivers but I was so happy when she picked me up. Give this woman a raise!

immediately 5 stars for our guide miss felicia. she was a delight, and she was hilarious. not only…read moredid she take us to all the spots but also recommended other chicago staples such as portillos. it was a great experience.