Candace is the best driver and tour guide. She made our ride entertaining and fun. She puts her whole heart in her job. She new passenger by name. We had trivia questions and prizes. read more

Gray Line Sightseeing Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This company did not provide the services I paid for due to employees who have no idea what they are doing. if I could give zero I would. Specifically, I ONLY went back to Dubai to go to the Louvre in Abu Dhabi because it was not open on my first trip. I selected the tour that provided this and it was all set up for Sunday. Without asking me someone changed my tour ( I did not consent to this change) to Monday'; the museum is not open on Mondays. i was told this was a mistake but since I only went to see this museum this was a MONUMENTAL MISTAKE. I took off work, paid for their services and flew to Dubai for a specific reason. I did not get to see the museum, not because it was a holiday or it was under maintence but because some employee had no idea what they were doing. When I complained and asked for a partial refund since I did not get what I paid for, I was offered a free trip to Abu Dhabi when I come back to Dubai. This is unacceptable since i have no intention of returning to Dubai any time soon or know if I ever will. This is a very large company and while mistakes happen, the cost for me should not be so high. They screwed up a trip I carefully set up for my purpose due to incompetence and then refuse to accept responsibility. Be very careful in choosing this company for dream vacations because they could get messed up and then they will do nothing about it read more

The Gray Line Trolley worked out pretty well for us as a mode of transportation around the city of Chicago on a Sunday. Since they don't list the map or schedule on the internet anywhere (at least I couldn't find it), here's the route: Sears Tower Palmer House Hilton Art Institute Hilton Hotel (8th & Michigan) Adler Planetarium Shedd Aquarium Field Museum Sheraton Hotel (Columbus & North Water) Navy Pier Water Tower Place Hancock Tower Hard Rock Cafe Wrigley Building Fort Dearborn. Features: * You can hop on/hop off at any of these locations, as they circle in a loop. * One full rotation takes about 1-1/2 to 2 hours * They alternate "Upper Deckers" (double decker buses) with trolleys * The longest you will wait (if you just miss one) is about 20 minutes * They start around 9:30 am * The last pick up times range from 4:45pm at Sear Tower to 6:25 pm at Wrigley Building. * The tour ends at 6:30pm for the evening at Fort Dearborn. * The guides who narrated the tour were very friendly. read more

Gray Line Sightseeing Tours - View from an Upper Decker Bus - Historical Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

OMG stop the Trolley (no, Don't) i was just happy to Sit for an hour & 45 minutes!! from the Holiday Hustle & Bustle, then we met our Guide Matt & our Driver Mr. DeFourneaux, they were the Best Team EVER, literally it took us All over Chicago you can get off & on if you want to, i wasn't leaving these guys, it was the Best Value, the Most Fun, we Learned & Laughed Matt was great, he got us out of the trolley to actually point out different buildings & sites that connected us with history that we've heard of but never had the places to connect it to so Interesting i wore a Chicago hot dog home!!!! (no ketchup) read more

Gray Line Sightseeing Tours - Historical Tours Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

BAD, just a waste of money. Luckily this was included with our Go Chicago Card. if you want a great tour, find othe other red double decker bus. Started off with the trolley tour. NO GUIDE. The driver told us the guides were allocated to the bigger buses. So we switched over to the double decker bus. There was a guide... but she wasn't any better. She described the buildings as "really old." She didn't offer much history. Just naming the different restaurants and stores. DUH, I can read the signs. Tell me some history and information about the city! I had been on the other double decker bus and it was SO MUCH better. They give you info and history and the drama and stories behind the buildings, streets and people. I felt bad for my family, they had never been to the city before, but we didn't have time to do a different tour. This was NOT a tour. This was a bus that took you to different stops. read more

My wife and I had the GO! card for Chicago on a 3 day weekend in Chicago from Minneapolis. We hopped on the Grayline trolley double decker near Navy Pier and rode it for about an hour and a half. Our tour guide was a little gruff, but funny too. We got lots of good information about the city and sitting on top of the double decker bud was really refreshing on a beautiful Chicago afternoon. My wife and I marveled at the wonderful Chicago architecture and all the Labor Day sightseeing. We got off around the Buckingham Fountain and walked back to the hotel so we could hit another attraction. Overall, the bus was awesome, being a double decker, the speaker was pretty cool, and it made for a fun hour and a half and all included on the Chicago GO! card. read more

(Review for the Hop On-Hop Off Tour, 10/12/10) Succintly: Don't do it. I hate giving one star reviews. It just seems mean. But this is a one-star review, and only because the tour guide was good and the driver was pretty friendly, too. So why the low rating? (1) I WAITED MORE THAN AN HOUR FOR A BUS THAT NEVER SHOWED. That is ridiculous. To clarify a little more: I stood waiting for 20 minutes at one stop, and the (friendly) staff said that there was a trolley due in 7 minutes, and a double decker due in 12 minutes. I love the double deckers, so I figured I could walk to the next stop just to get my blood moving again, and that next stop was just a 10 minute walk away. I walked the 10 minutes along the route, and waited another 15 minutes at that stop before the trolley arrived. But again, based on the staff person's estimate about the double decker, I thought I'd wait for that bus -- boom, there went another 30 minutes. Are you effing kidding me? I finally decided it would be faster to WALK to the museum I wanted to hit, a whole nother half an hour walk. And yup, no double decker bus passed me up. EXCEPT FOR THE RED DOUBLE DECKERS that are Gray Line's competitors. Whoever they are, they were timely, or at least ran frequently. And even when I approached one to make sure they weren't Gray Line, they were very friendly. (2) GRAYLINE'S STOPS AREN'T CLEARLY MARKED. My sister and I literally chased down a bus at the Shedd Aquarium stop because we had no idea where to go. Unlike their competitor, there wasn't any sign at all marking where they did pick ups. Sure, at the Willis/former Sears Tower, there's a ticket booth and they tell you where to go. And when I walked to the Palmer House Hilton, there was another ticket booth, and the guy told me where to walk *across the street at an unmarked location* to wait, although it still wasn't clear. But no marker at the Shedd Aquarium. No marker at the restaurant district (where we got off). I didn't notice if there was one at the other tower/Mag Mile stop or Navy Pier, since we stayed on the bus at those stops. But what.a.suck. Tour guide: yes, good, informative, interesting. But if you're interested in the Hop on-Hop Off tour bc, well, it's a fabulous concept, try somebody else. read more

Do not use this trolley! You won't see much of anything because they are slow and the tours guides are awful. One of the buses was so old the speakers were not working so the guide was using a bull horn. The trolley is a scam and makes money off of people who are visiting the city and do not know any better (i.e. the only people who would use this service). Also, they do not have marked stops which makes them difficult to find - they even skipped a stop I wanted to get off at while I was on the bus. They took so long I ended up paying for taxis to get me places or walking. read more

I wrote a letter six weeks ago to Gray Line Tours regarding a problem we had in July 2016 and since I have not had the courtesy of a return letter or even a phone call I am compelled to post this review. On July 2, 2016 we took a Gray Line tour - Historic Chicago South Shore, at 3:30pm.  A bus picked us up at 2:45 PM at the Talbott Hotel where we were staying.  This driver (female) was informative and friendly and we were able to converse with her.  She brought us to the Palmer House location by 3:05 PM where we had to wait for a different bus for the tour at 3:30 PM, per our tickets.   We waited almost fifteen minutes and a bus showed up; the driver went into the building.  We waited for the driver to come outside and when he didn't we decided to board so that we could get a good seat.  After another ten minutes a female employee came on board and told us we were on the wrong bus.  At this point a male driver came from the rear of this bus where he had been sleeping!  We were directed to another bus that was parked nearby.   The 3:30 bus tour started at almost 4 PM - website information and our tickets indicate 3:30.  The driver started speaking on a mic.  His diction was not understandable by most of the passengers; everyone had the same reaction as us. His name may have been Leon; not sure as it was very hard to understand him.   Leon was the worst tour guide I have ever met.  His speaking voice was horrible, annoying, and with an uneven pitch.  He had very little real information to give us as we passed different sites.  Example:  as we passed a retail store his retort was "on our left is The Gap" or similar statements. We can read - this was not information pertinent to our Historic South Shore tour.  When we were at the Adler Planetarium he parked the bus and told (us) the passengers to get out of the bus and enjoy the view.  I guess he needed a 15 minute nap. I expected a return letter from Gray Line but I've received nothing to date. This tour was a big waste of our time and money. I believe that years ago this was a "go to" tour company but they have gone so far downhill; I don't believe anyone was happy with that tour that day. Save your money - don't give it to Gray Line. read more

I had a horrible experience after using gray line in so many other cities and have always loved them! The Chicago one is awful. First of all, there are no seats on the bottom half so half of the time, people couldn't even be picked up bc there was no room. Luckily I didn't have this problem and never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. After spending some time in different locations, I jumped back on the bus only to be taken on a detour bc of some traffic and with absolutely no warning, we barely cleared an overhang by inches. We would have been decapitated if we stayed sitting in our seats. That happened three different times on very low hanging areas and even the your guide had no idea where he as going bc it was off of the tour run. After that, I was looking forward to getting off at my stop, the Sheraton towers as that was where I was staying. Nope! Bus didn't stop and I got stuck on the bus for almost 2 more hours due to Soldier field traffic (Concert was getting ready to start). Needless to say, I went through every emotion possible. With a heart condition, it wasn't really helpful to go through an experience where I had to be aware of where we were going so I didn't get killed. I will never recommend gray line in Chicago. One of the worst traveling experiences I've ever had. I honestly think I should reforge a refund enduring what I went through!! I have pics and video to prove it and those are the "safe" ones. Use another service if you want to live!!! read more

So I rented one these big bad trolley's for a St. Patrick's Day pub crawl and it rocked! This was a great service. They gave me space for 28 people and 3 hours for $700. They picked me up on time at my location and I was in contact with the driver the entire time. The driver was incredibly friendly and willing to take us wherever we wanted to go. I gave them my agenda and they followed it in an exact and timely manner. We brought our own booze on the trolley and it was enclosed which was also a plus because it was kinda chilly out. The only downside was that the radio was not working and music would have been helpful. I would recommend Grayline to anyone. I'm already looking for the next chance to rent one of their party/sightseeing trolley's. read more

This was not a good experience. You should definitely choose another sightseeing business even if it costs $5 or $10 more. Trust me! Here are the reasons for my 1 star rating: 1. They said that the buses/trolleys come every 20-25 minutes--we waited for 45 minutes for a bus to show up (which is horrible in the colder months). 2. It was horrible customer service from the beginning. There were at least 10 other people along with my mom and I that were waiting for the bus. Once the bus arrived we all stood at the door of the bus driver because we assumed they would need to check our tickets. We waited for a good 2 minutes awkwardly waiting for the bus driver or the tour guide to say something to us. Finally the tour guide sticks his head out of the door and says "oh are you guys here for the gray line? You can just go on the bus". 3. The tour guide did not have a microphone. When you think about all the city noise and the fact that you are on a moving bus there is no way to hear someone without a microphone so its pretty much a bus ride not a bus tour because you hear nothing about the city. 4. The tour guide got hit in the head with a tree branch and never once warned everyone that you should never sit up straight or stand up because there are many times you are going under a bridge overpass that will literally take your head off or you may pass a tree that will poke your eye out with a branch (no exaggeration here). 5. The few times we could hear the tour guide speaking we got to learn fun facts like which hotel Oprah likes to stay at, which clothing stores only take credit cards, and how the Rainforest cafe is a scary restaurant. 6. We stopped in the restaurant district (which was one of the stops on the tour) and the tour guide got off the bus and ran into a restaurant (we all assumed he needed to use the restroom) but 20 minutes later he runs out with a bag of food and goes and sits in the front of the bus with the bus driver and never says a word to all of the customers on the top of the bus. 7. There were 3 stops left after the restaurant district and my mom and I could not wait to get off of the bus at our stop. The bus driver didn't even stop at the last 3 stops and just ended up taking us back to where we started. There was no way to notify the driver if you wanted to get off (which you shouldn't even have to do because they write on their route and map that they will stop at every stop). It was a horrible experience but I guess next time I go to Chicago I will be able to tell everyone where Oprah likes to stay. read more

Worst getto ass guides you'll ever have....out of the four trolleys we got on all four guides hated the city and just talked it down the hole time. They should all be fired!! I live in Chicago and took a friend on it to see the city but we last 6 stops before we got off and never got back on. I spend the rest of the day defending the city and its history. Tried to get my money back but they ignored my calls and emails. Horrible company overall too. read more

It's a terrible tour. All the bus driver did was ramble on and on and on and on about pretty much nothing. We hopped off the tour early because it was so boring. Do not waste your time. read more

Dangerous...Nearly Decapitated The bus flys under the overpasses that are way too low for a double decker bus. You have to DUCK or you will literally loss your head! It's unnessisarily dangerous. The tour guild was not interesting either and we waited too long compared to their competition, but it was a minor annoyance compared to possiblity decapitation. Someone will get hurt on that tour. read more

TERRIBLE!! You wait and wait up to an hour. Maybe if they didn't have the same stop with Chicago Trolley and you didn't see 7 red buses go by before Greyline bus. I called customer service 3 times in 2 days and NO HELP NO REFUND. Had to take taxi from Navy Pier after waiting for 55 min. Have to say 2 times was lucky to get same tour guide he was great knowledgeable funny. Like a band-aid some how made it better. read more

My daughter and I took the Hop On, Hop Off trolley tour. We able to leave our car in a garage all day and tour a part of Chicago. We were picked up from the Palmier House Hilton Hotel, passed by the Art Institute, and got dropped off at the Adler Planetarium. We spent a couple hours in the Planetarium, walked over the Shedd Aquarium and when we were done at the aquarium, got picked up by the trolley and passed the Field Museum, Navy Pier, Water Tower, Hancock Tower, Sears Tower, and other places. Our tour guide was obnoxious and hilarious. He had great stories and facts that held our attention. I'd love to able to take their other tours. read more

REVIEW FOR THE HOP ON/OFF TOUR My family and I bought the Chicago Go Card (1 day pass) but we chose to pick up tickets for the Hop On/Hop Off Tour which includes a 2-day ticket. One thing I highly recommend is for you to pick up the map showing all of the stops. This really helped us when we decided to walk away from the tour route. Also, with the Hop On/Off Tour, you have a choice to get on a trolley bus or a double decker. We first picked the trolley but the sound system was horrible so we couldn't hear the narrator from the front. Poor guy kept making jokes and none of us got it cause we could barely hear him. But the second bus we took was the double decker. It was definitely a much better choice. Better sound system and a much better narrator. NOTE 1) Grab the map 2) Hop On/Off arrives at least every 20 minutes if you're not picky. But if you have a preference - Trolley every 30-40 and same for Double Decker. 3) Get the Chicago Go Card for a 2-day pass. read more

I feel really generous giving this two stars but one seems really mean. We waited and waited-- far too long for a bus that we were told came "every 30 min". (Once a bus passed us by altogether and twice we were given incorrect information by a grey line employee.) As if the logistics weren't poor enough, the "guide" possibly knew less about Chicago than I did. Really, don't read me building signs "On your left is the Men's Wearhouse where you know you'll come out looking good" isn't helpful or interesting, or really even funny. We had two-day tickets as they were included in our "Go" passes but with the logistical hassle and less-than-informative narration we opted to walk on our second day. read more

I went on the Holiday Lights Tour a few days ago. I would not recommend it. We spent so much of our time sitting in traffic and the windows fogged so that you could not see well out of the windows. I could not hear/understand the driver when he did speak. It was very disorganized! There was confusion about where to board the bus. Our family was not able to sit together even though we arrived early. This was the worst experience of our 6 days in Chicago. read more

What a fun way to enjoy the city! Even as a Chicagoan, I found the tour to be entertaining and educational. Matt is a great tour guide and I enjoyed the open-air ride on the 1002 bus. I recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy a laid-back afternoon in this beautiful city. read more

We took the two day hop on, hop off trolley and were very pleased. I certainly expected transportation but I didn't expect a knowledgable tour guide who made us laugh out loud with his stories about the city. Know that my wife and I don't laugh often but this guy had us in stitches. We learned as much from the trolley ride as we did from the boat ride we took although the view from the boat is certainly more scenic. The trolley stops are not all clearly marked so this makes it a little difficult to navigate how to ride this thing. The trolley runs late sometimes and so when we were standing in what I assumed was a pick up stop and didn't see the bus at the appointed time I started to worry we were in the wrong spot. However, once you get on board the trolley takes you close to where you want to go and it beats walking in possibly extreme summer heat. read more

This review is for the North Side/South Side tours. Our first tour guide, Shay, was so informative and funny. There wasn't a single dull moment during her tour, even though the material she covered was pretty dense. We really appreciated how she gave recommendations for the best restaurants/ attracts/etc. This gave a really personal feel to the tour. Our second tour guide was not as interesting as Shay, but he was very polite and friendly. read more

We and had a great time riding with Lester on the Grayline Trolley. The tour covered most of the major attractions in the city and Lester provided colourful, humorous commentary. There were delays due to heavy traffic and changes in traffic patterns. These delays were not Grayline's fault. Some delays were caused by passengers wandering off at photo opportunity spots. It was very cold and Lester didn't want to strand them. Also, thanks to Josh, who was very helpful and guided us to good places to eat. read more

Great tour of the north side. Mitch was great and super funny! Unbelievable how he drives that bus on those city streets.

The Gray Line Trolley worked out pretty well for us as a mode of transportation around the city of Chicago on a Friday and Saturday we saved $$$ with the Chicago gocard!. read more

We had a great tour guide. His name is Mitch and he was knowledgeable, funny and helpful. I definitely recommend this tour as a way to get to know the city and all it offers. read more

Terrible. Trashed trollies, very few double buses, less than brilliant tour guides. We waited for 90 minutes at a stop as we watched five of the competitor's buses go by. Simply not worth the savings. read more

We recently went on the panoramic & scenic north side tour. The tour covered many different attractions and was a quick way of getting a flavor of the city of Chicago. The tour was interesting although the person giving the tour was hard to understand. Booking this tour however was not such a pleasant experience. The tour was said to pick you up at your hotel but when we called to inquire about it the person on the phone rudely told us that we were not going to be picked up and had to get ourselves to the hotel where the tour started at. Ok, we took a cab to said hotel and once there the staff was again rude, when we asked for a map of the route they just dismissed us and said they didn't have one. I would not recommend this tour, the tour itself was ok but the service booking this tour was such and unpleasant experience I would just spend my money elsewhere. read more

Judging from some of the other reviews, it appears that Grayline does have some knowledgeable guides on their trolleys, but you couldn't tell from the guide we had on our tour on Saturday. First, she stated a couple of times that the three tallest buildings in Chicago are the Willis (Sears) Tower, Aon Building and John Hancock, even though the Hancock was superseded by Trump Tower several years ago. She also stated more than once that the city "wouldn't let" Trump build his tower higher which is also not accurate. She had zero knowledge of the city and only pointed out things that were completely obvious (such as "on the right is American Girl", "to your left is the Four Seasons Hotel". It was less of a tour and more of an inexpensive taxi ride. Next time I have out-of-town guests I'm using Chicago Trolley Co.! read more

I went on these buses/trolleys with family in town who had purchased Groupons but I won't be using them again. I've been on the competitors buses before and had a much better experience. Gray Line does not operate everyday so we had to change our plans to work around their schedule. While waiting for a bus or trolley bunches and bunches of them would go by from their competitor. It was nearly impossible to hear or understand what the narrators were saying because their mics were so bad. I also don't think they knew much about the city, even heard one say that he had only lived here about a year. I think I probably knew more than they did. read more

These guys SUCK! They take forever to get from one stop to the next. Our driver shouldn't be taking these 30 minute pit stops at each destination, saying he needs a break every damn stop. SAVE YOUR MONEY!! Take transit or Taxi. read more

It totally worth! You need to take it, we went around the city and our guide and driver were pretty cool and knowledgeable people. Mr. Lester, and our driver Ms. Pat very funny and kind people. We pretty much saw everything before taking the tour, but with them and the tour you'll see and learn stuff about the city and buildings! Just do it! read more

The microphone didn't work and they didn't have a replacement which is inexcusable for the $35.00 they charge per person. My friend and I couldn't hear the guide because of this and to top it off she kept asking for tips! read more

Oh, how I wish I'd have read the reviews BEFORE taking this Grayline Sightseeing Tour! TERRIBLE!! Chicago Trolley gave a price of $45, so we walked across the street and purchased Grayline tickets for $22.50. The person at Chicago Trolley told us as we walked across the street, "You get what you pay for". How wrong he was! We DID NOT get what we paid for. We were ripped off! We were left stranded...no bus came to pick us up at the last stop. We waited 45 minutes. We ended up having to walk. Sorry excuse for a sightseeing tour. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!! read more

As first time visitors to Chicago we looked forward to an overview of the city from the gray-line Grand Tour, a 4 hour guided trip through north and south Chicago . It was terrible because the guide had a staccato style of speaking that made him hard to understand. I got about 20 per cent of what he said. Find another tour. read more

Terrible. Avoid Grey Line. I wanted a nice tour with some simple facts about the city. Instead we got some unfriendly girl (probably a high school dropout, judging by her vocabulary and mispronunciation of common words), who appeared to read and misread facts from her smartphone. As we would approach the stops on the list, the "guide" would google the facts about the building or landmark and just read them to the group. In between stops, she was silent. It was awkward. I had a ton of questions, but I was too embarrassed for her to ask her because I knew she wouldn't know the answers. It was embarrassing to watch her and torturous to listen to her, and it was insulting to the guests who paid money who expected to learn something. In addition, the ticket sellers are sketchy. When we paid in cash for one of our tickets, we gave the guy a $10 bill and $20 bill to pay for the $25 ticket. He gave us our ticket and informed us to have a nice trip. When we reminded him about the $5 change he owed us, he replied, "I thought you were giving me a tip." Really???!!!! A tip for selling a ticket? At a later stop we attempted to find the tour representative at the booth to ask about the next bus, but she was far away from the ticket booth. It appeared that she was hiding around the corner sitting on a bench, looking as if she wanted nothing to do with her job. She was also unfriendly and answered our questions as if we were bothering her. I suggest anyone pay the extra money for one of the more professional tours. Avoid the Greyline. Or go, but try to have a sense of humor as the ignoramus tour guide tells you that the John Hancock Center cost $1 million to build, when your own smartphone search reveals that it actually cost $100 million to build. Also, try not to smirk as she pronounces the last "r" in "Cartier". read more

Had a great tour with our driver Mitchell. Mitchell gave us a great tour of the city and was very informative on Chicago's rich history. I encourage anyone who is visiting Chicago for the first time to take this tour. read more

Awful. Use a different tour company if you can. Had a two day pass, and thought that my bad experience the first day was an isolated incident. Late buses and an uninformed tour guide were just part of the problem. The second day? More waiting and waiting for a pickup and a real jerk of a tour guide. Spend your money elsewhere. read more

Do not use this tour service! They are awful. We mistakenly purchased tickets online and we should have waited and purchased the trolley tour instead. The Trolly tour had 6 to 7 trolleys for 1 of the Grayline trolleys. We waited and waited and waited at each stop while the other line came and went multiple times. In addition, it was almost impossible to hear the tour guides (depending where you sat) but they really didn't have much to say anyway. At one stop an Indian passenger traveling with small children had the bottom fall out of a bag he was carrying full of food for the kids. One of the containers broke on the stairs, making an awful mess. The tour guide actually made the passenger, who was getting off the bus, get back on and clean up the mess himself with paper towels!! It was really awful. Never again Grayline...... read more