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.

Braeden was a great tour guide providing lots of historical facts and lore with pictures too! He…read morewas honest, entertaining and knowledgeable! It's a fun and worthwhile tour!

Baylor walked around town telling us all sorts of spooky and gruesome stories. Now, I've been to…read moreChicago several times, but I learned more about locations I thought I already knew! I recommend this tour with hesitation.

My grandmother and I were in Chicago for 3 days, and decided to do the walking prohibition tour on…read moreMonday. We were a bit apprehensive due to the weather - it was supposed to be very rainy with scattered thunderstorms. It ended up raining for only an hour, I'm so glad we did it! John, the tour guide is very knowledgeable in all things prohibition. We ended up being the only people who booked so it became more personable and conversational than a normal tour might go. We had a fabulous time overall! All 3 establishments had wonderful service and spectacular drinks! 100/10 would recommend this tour to anyone! You'll find it interesting regardless if you consider yourself a "history buff" or not.

Best tour I've ever been on. I recommend it to anyone going to Chicago. We learned so much and had…read morea great time.

Bruce was a great guide on our Lincoln Park tour! Lots of info about Chicago's gangsters. Thank you…read moreBruce!!

While the tour started out good led by Bruce and we were excited to hear about the Gangsters it…read morequickly turned into a very boring commercial for things within Chicago - pizza, hot dogs, theatre .... Bruce had a list that he kept referring to and items that he had to plug. It was a very disappointing tour -- and Even more so because I've been on FTOF all over the world and have never experienced this before, anywhere. Oh well. Weather was beautiful and enjoyed my time with my friends.

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

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.

Amazing amazing amazing! My best friend and I absolutely loved the "Yes Chef! Chicago: A Bear…read moreInspired Food Tour". Casey, our guide, was phenomenal. So fun and witty, and he really went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience. All the places we visited were very special and iconic, including a bakery that's 115 years old and an ice cream shop that's 105 years old. It was really fun remembering where these places appeared in the show. Another perk of the tour was skipping lines and having special areas and service just for us. And not having to drive and look for parking. The air conditioned bus was lovely and comfortable, and it was fabulous to be driven around different neighborhoods. We went to so many great places and it's a fun way to get to know the city better. We ate so much good food!!! Italian beef sandwich, charcuterie, pepperoni pizza, hot fudge sundae, strawberry donut and more. Great drinks too! Beer and cocktails, or soda. I didn't need to eat for the rest of the day! Everything was delicious! I highly recommend this tour! It was exceptional and worth every penny.

What a fun and filling afternoon! We went to restaurants associated with The Bear, ate delicious…read morefoods, and learned fascinating back stories about the show, the restaurants, and Chicago. Our tour director, Casey, and our driver, Joe, set the mood for fun and community. Definitely recommend!

What's up with this visitor's center?…read more Today, I had stopped in this visitor center to pick up some items at the Chicago Public Library. As soon as I walked in, I noticed the "stillness in the air". There is something really lacking. In the past, there were always visitors in this center checking out various tours, brochures or maps. Today, I noticed lack of tour information and maps. The shelves are pretty empty. Even the attendants look bored and I noticed one on his phone. I guess I will continue to check out various tours on line instead of going into this quiet center.

***This is okay but not great visitor center; Baltimore's visitor center in the Inner Harbor…read morefeatures a much more comprehensive selection of things to do and places to see; this visitor center does feature several different maps for free (better than paying the high prices for maps at one of the pharmacies in Downtown Chicago)*** I am not sure what the parking situation is around here.