Took the taxi several times during my trip!…read more Affordable at $10 per one way ride. Covers a long ground. Nice, quick ride to Chinatown with ample seating available. Honestly a great alternative to the architecture tour, which I did also and didn't enjoy due to crowdedness.

Chicago Water Taxi is a popular way to avoid traffic while enjoying some awesome views of the…read moreChicago Skyline. Great for commuters abd visitors. Definitely the easiest way to move along the river for $10 per ride. Make sure to check the times for the routes as schedules change. One of the most popular route is to take the water taxi on Michigan Ave all the way to Chinatown. Clean boats with plenty of seats and safe. You can purchase the tickets online or on the boat. Staff is available to assist you.

While in Chicago, my wife scheduled an architectural tour on the Chicago River. In the summertime,…read moreespecially, this is prime time to take one of these tours, where you can enjoy seeing the different architectural designs of the skyscrapers built over the past 100-plus years. When we went, the weather was gorgeous, but it was hot since it was early August. Make sure to hydrate, or at least bring some sort of beverage, even if it's an Aperol spritz. Our tour guide was great and explained the history and stories behind each building we saw, including the Chicago Tribune building. During the 90-minute tour, you go west, south, north, then east along the Chicago River to check out the various buildings and the stories behind them, as well as others under construction, like the Bally's Casino. As a sidebar, that building is pissing off the locals across from it because it is now blocking their view. Make sure you buy tickets in advance and arrive at least 15 minutes before the boat leaves, as the queues build quickly, and you will want a good seat on the top deck to capture the buildings around you and take pictures. Also check whether the staff creates a second queue as they take ticket holders from both at the same time, so if you are in the back of one, they don't go through that queue first before the other. In the summertime, the tickets will sell out quickly, so make sure you buy in advance if you're looking to take a tour.

We took a Saturday morning architectural cruise with Chicago line cruises. The check-in process was…read moreextremely organized, as was the boarding. We had great seats on the back of the boat and the staff was very helpful. After the safety briefing, we got underway. The guide was so knowledgeable about the history and the architecture of Chicago. Highly recommend! They offer free water, lemonade, and soft drinks, as well as alcoholic beverages for purchase. The tour guide was so funny and offered spare hats to the men who had limited hair on the boat to keep them from getting sunburned!

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!

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

One of my favorite locations to visit. I love the vibrancy of a pedestrian friendly city. I love…read morethe people, the sights, the shopping. There is something for everyone

Keith and captain Joe were a delight. Good entertainment with good history of the city. Highly…read morerecommend.

A fantastic tour with Hillary, did not feel like 90 minutes! so knowledgeable and fun, we had a…read moregreat time.

CTA has an L station in Garfield Park on Central Park Drive. It makes one wonder why the street is…read morenamed that, and where is Central Park at for crying out loud. Well I'll tell you about it in a little history lesson. Before it was Garfield Park, it was called Central Park, because it was designed to be a major attraction. The park was renamed after President James Garfield was assassinated, but the name of the street wasn't changed, so this is way. As for the actual station, it's simple and there's fast access to the Conservatory. It serves the Green Line. The station is along Lake Street. Find this at the north side of the park, which is where most visitors go. The Conservatory is just north from here. It's usually safe at this station, with it being in the park and pretty much just used by visitors to the park and its attractions. The other stations around here are even kind of scary. As for this one, it seems there's pretty good security around here. There's noticeably almost never any homeless for the most part. Getting to the Conservatory and park is a breeze from here. It's just there may be kind of a long ride. This is far out west of The Loop, and there's not as many trains.

An okay CTA stop. Not as large or new as some of the other stops, but it gets the job done. I do…read morelike the design on the train station, especially the different tones of bluish-green and the surrounding lights that fit the color scheme.

In addition to composing captivating articles about overlooked/disappearing Chicago history, the…read moresavvy twenty-somethings running the Forgotten Chicago Web site have also recently begun hosting tours of the city. I have attended the last two FC tours, both of which were only a $5 "donation." The tours typically cover areas that aren't given much attention by other Chicago tour groups. The first tour I attended followed the trail of old Ogden Ave, and the second tour wove a meandering path on the south side from Chinatown to the ITT campus. These tours are quite different from those given by the Architecture Foundation. FC tours aren't as polished as the AF tours, but it doesn't matter because FC takes you places that you would have never otherwise known existed. On the south side tour, for example, we explored the vacant Michael Reece Hospital grounds, which was eerie at times. And how else would I have found the tiny memorial commemorating the first softball game (yes, it is located in the middle of a nearly deserted hospital campus - strange). The tours cover a lot of ground, so be prepared to do some walking. The south side tour covered about 4 miles, but every place we stopped was well worth the trek. This is not your grandma's walking tour. FC's tours are also growing in popularity. It is a great way to meet others with similar interests, and the guides always welcome input from the group. Large groups can make it difficult to hear, so make sure to get close to the guides at each stop. Once you try it, you'll want to go to every one.

What, you wanted a Frank Lloyd Wright architecture tour? Or, you were hoping to hear some juicy…read moregossip about Al Capone? Try a different tour group. These guys are neighborhood historians, and have their own nerdy, niche interests in Chicago history. You will find out a lot about the history of retail and industry in a particular area. In addition to the standard neighborhood history overview, they'll point out some interesting ghost sign, or an abandoned train entrance that tells a forgotten tale about the city. That being said, maybe not the best choice for an out-of-towner--you know--someone who doesn't know that a Mike Bilandic plaque is worth a chuckle.

As of Jan. 4, 2009, Chicago's Free Trolley service has ended…read more I heard the inevitable news of your passing this weekend. (See the link at the end of this post to see the official announcement from the City of Chicago.) I was in such denial and did not want to believe it was all true. I was with you on your last day and didn't even know it was your last. I didn't even get to tell you in person, that ... I .. LOVE.. YOU... Thank you for keeping me warm in the freezing temps of winter, carrying my shopping bags, and my suitcase (whenever I came from Ogilvie) without charging me one cent. Thank you for the cheery music that made the ride all the more pleasureable. R.I.P. Chicago FREE Trolleys. You will be missed. He is the information from the City of Chicago (sorry for the long link as I couldn't use html codes in Yelp! reviews): http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCategoryAction.do?deptCategoryOID=-536896557&contentType=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&entityName=Transportation&deptMainCategoryOID=-536896085

Sometimes free isn't that great- for instance a free taste of stinky cheese at a fancy supermarket…read morewhen you are lactose intolerant; You have a possible situation on your hands instead of being able to bask in the glow of FREE! My friends- the free trolley is a chance to bask. I randomly came across this free trolley and I was certainly glad I did. Instead of arriving at the Navy Pier hot and aggravated after a long walk in the heat, I followed the signs, waited a few minutes and hopped right on the train. The driver was extremely pleasant, the seats were clean, the trolley is well maintained, and there were no noxious toxic smells to complain or report about (thank goodness). There were plenty of seats available, and everyone on the train was in high spirits. We arrived at the Pier in no time at all, and I was able to experience this Chicago highlight in full tourist fashion, well rested and excited. At the end of my excursion, I was able to get back on the trolley- not the same one, but just as immaculate, and the driver was equally as inviting- and returned to where I began. Thanks Chicago!!