Chicago

African American Heritage Tour of Chicago

Name: African American Heritage Tour of Chicago
Brand: Chicago Personal Neighborhood Tours
SKU: 305473P5
Price: 125.00 USD
Rating: 4.5 (52 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceChicago, USA

African American Heritage Tour of Chicago with Soul Food Meal included

4 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Immerse yourself in Chicago’s rich and dynamic African American heritage during this half-day tour. Highlights include interior visit to an African American museum, a stop at the birthplace of gospel music in Bronzeville, and a look at the Obama home in Hyde Park and Jennifer Hudson's childhood home.

A half-day African-American tour in Chicago with Soul Food restaurant .
Learn about the city’s most legendary Black musicians, politicians, and public figures
Explore several distinct Chicago neighborhoods in a comfortable vehicle
Choose from select pickup locations; upgrade to include airport pickup

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle
If the schedule allows, pick up from airport is an option for 10% less of the price of an Uber ride.

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

The Chicago Theatre
175 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601, USA
Travelers will meet tour guide in front of the Chicago Theatre located at 175 N State Chicago.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

11:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Bronzeville

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Hyde Park

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

South Shore

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
FOR GROUPS OF 12 OR MORE TRAVELERS, 7 DAYS NOTICE IS REQUIRED.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 100 travelers

Operated by Chicago Personal Neighborhood Tours

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

52 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 52 reviews

I've been to Chicago many...

Chedra_B, Apr 2024

I've been to Chicago many times. I loved seeing it in a new light. This is a must see. All of the interesting sights and museum were excellent.

Great African American Chicago Highlights Tour.

Edward_M, Apr 2024

Steve was a great tour guide and it was an excellent tour. I enjoyed the tour and learned so much about Chicago.

The tour did not show any...

Sara_H, Mar 2024

The tour did not show any positive aspects of the current black population of Chicago. The tour guide was courteous but could not hear the people in the rear of the van.

Disappointing and overpriced

Deborah_C, Mar 2024

Whike I did discover new thinngs about black Chicsgo, I expected to see sites tthat were uplifting. Too much focus on the negative aspects of black Chicago. I feel that the tour guide, Steve interjected too much of his personal opinions and not enough facts.

Great experience

amy_e, Oct 2023

Very entertaining and informative! The tour guide was extremely personable. I highly recommend taking this tour.

A Lot of People’s

Sharon_H, Oct 2023

A lot of people’s! will enjoy the tour presentation by a knowledgeable Chicago resident who has no problem doing a very good JOBS

Excellent tour!

Aminah_D, Oct 2023

Mr. Steve Johnson our tour guide was awesome! He has a wealth of knowledge about Chicago in general. He was knowledgeable, friendly and funny! Talked about why people came to Chicago, the industries of the day and the specialness of the South side. Pick up at our hotel was a nice perk. This tour is definitely worth the fee. We went through Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Kenton and other areas. We saw celebrity homes, landmarks and other official homes as well. This is a wonderful tour!

Celebrating Chicago's African American Legacy

Samantha_R, Sep 2023

This tour was a deeply enlightening and moving experience. We thoroughly enjoyed the level of detail and stories being shared by the tour guide. What struck me most was the amount of historical artifacts to discover in the neighborhoods; almost on every corner, there was something worthy to mention. I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite site. For a history geek, it was all great! Book it!!!

Heritage tour

Deborah_B, Sep 2023

Our guide was very knowledgeable.and friendly He made the experience memorable. My best experience was seeing Barack Obama’s home

Enlightening and informative

Veronica_C, Aug 2023

I give the tour and places visited a 5 star but tour guide was late. He then proceeded to tell us before we could close the door of the vehicle that our pickup was out of the zone and it would cost an additional $15 to bring us back. This was irritating since the reservation was made online a week earlier with location noted without any issues. He acknowledged not reviewing the reservation and noting the pickup location but it still would cost $15 to bring us back. Besides that issue the tour was great and we saw many memorable sites. I recommend the tour if you want the Black history of Chicago.

Misleading description

Lamika_W, Aug 2023

Although the tour itself was great, my 3 star review is based on a few things I was not pleased with. First, the tour was scheduled for 11 am, yet I received a call at 10:30 am stating that they overbooked and there was no room for my husband and I in the car. Although the driver did offer to pick us up at 4pm, it was a huge inconvenience, as we had plans we then had to cancel for the evening. My other frustration is that the description of this tour is misleading. It does not include dinner at all. Our tour guide took us to a restaurant of his choosing, and then told us he wasn’t paying when the bill came. This is obviously confusing for others who book this tour, as the waiter commented “this happens all the time.” Please change your description to say “travel to dinner is included, but customers are on their own to pay.”

Outstanding

angela_h, Jul 2023

Steve the guide was excellent and very knowledgeable about Chicago. He willingness to make additional stops and explain more about the history. I recommend Viator to update the website with accurate tour components. Make guests aware the meal is extra and based on time

Get to know Chicago in 4 hours

LaWanda_J, Jul 2023

So glad we booked this excursion. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. We learned so much about Chicago we did not know, and wouldn’t have discovered on our own. Great use of time and money. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the history and current state of this beautiful city.

Awesome Neighborhood Tour!

Cheryl_L, Jul 2023

Tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and personable. Out of all the tours I booked with Viator, this was by far the best tour. Would recommend it to anyone looking for an amazing experience to learn more about Chicago.

Hot Mess

Marissa_C, Jul 2023

Me and my friends were excited to experience a tour that was outlined on this website. Instead we got hustled out of $125 for a tour that did not supply what would be given for the tour. The soulfood tour is falsely advertised and all parties on the tour we were not compensated for that part of the tour. The tour guide argued with us stating you would have to do a $175 tour that doesn't even exist. Don't do this tour as you will waste your money.

The tour guide, Larry,...

Phillip_L, Jul 2023

The tour guide, Larry, was great; knowledgeable. Courteous and friendly. I would definitely recommend this tour to family and friends.

Great Tour!!!!!

Faye_A, May 2023

This tour experience was quite impressive. We stopped off at a ton of historical landmarks throughout the area, as well as riding through many neighborhoods for sightseeing. Steve narrated the entire time, providing us with historical context from as far back as the founding of the area, up to the contemporary, which includes stunningly beautifully designed buildings that adorn the downtown area, along with multi-level streets. This tour was definitely worthwhile! I would absolutely take another tour with this company when I come back to Chicago.

I HAD A BLAST!!!!

Kimberly_S, May 2023

I love seeing the historic homes of African Americans that I admire such as Former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, Louis Farrakhan, and Emmett Till. The old historic black neighborhoods in Bronzeville. Chatman, Kentwood and Woodlawn. This is beautiful city and seen some wonderful sites. Steve, was the best and his knowledge of the city is impeccable. I will take other tours in the future.

Lincoln Park Baby!! LOL and Lake Chicago!!

Sonya_Q, Mar 2023

Mr. Steve was awesome, very friendly and shared so much information. My husband and I didn’t want the tour to end. We plan to return and try another tour soon. Sonya and Greg from Michigan

Dangerous and Disappointing

Ariana_B, Feb 2023

My sister got me this tour as a birthday gift, and I've already apologized to her multiple times for spending money on this experience. I'm Black and from Chicago, and I thought this tour would be a cool way to learn some history that I didn't know. How wrong I was. To begin, the tour guide didn't even know he had a tour at all. I arrived at the meeting point 10 minutes before my 11:00am tour. At about 11:05am, I called the number on my itinerary to ask where the guide was. He said that he didn't have the booking in his system at all. When he finally did arrive and begin driving, his driving was incredibly unsafe. In order to show me points of interest along the tour, the guide would just stop in driving lanes without using his warning flashers. At one point when he stopped in a driving lane, he even had me get out of the car to look at a plaque on the sidewalk. Another time, he drove on a walking path by one of our stops. He would brake so erratically that I ended up getting car sick and ending the tour early. The content of the tour itself was uninteresting and incorrect. For example, he insisted that the Great Chicago Fire happened in 1881 (it happened in 1871). The guide didn't use his seatbelt, but did use his phone for the entirety of the tour. I also didn't receive the included meal. The tour was supposed to include a meal, but the chosen restaurant didn't even open until after my original tour end time, and the guide wanted to wait until about 20 minutes after that. We were already running late because the guide didn't know about my scheduled tour, and I was so car sick at that point that the thought of food was making me feel worse. 😅 The driver was rude. He yelled at me a couple of times about things not really related to the tour (immigration and Chinatown, specifically). When we went inside the museum so that he could pay for my ticket, he was rude to the staff member working inside. The staff member was helping other visitors, and my guide interrupted him multiple times because he wanted to buy the ticket right then. I told him that the staff member was helping other people and that we could wait, but he didn't like that answer. I was so embarrassed that I went back to apologize on his behalf. I have never called customer service with a complaint for anything, but this experience was so negative that I felt the need to call. My experience with customer support was also very disappointing. I requested a partial refund, which they denied. They then ignored any of my attempts to follow up via email. I shudder to think that this guide is sharing misguided information and opinions with non-Chicagoans and black people. I wouldn't feel safe bringing anyone else on this tour, especially children.