Chicago River Architecture Boat Tour

Badge of ExcellenceChicago, USA

Chicagos Best 90 Min Architecture Boat Tour on The Chicago River

1 hour 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Chicago is famous for its architecture, and the best way to see it is on a cruise down the Chicago River. Glide by historic and modern marvels like the Civic Opera House, Wrigley Building, and Willis Tower from the comfort of an open-deck boat. Live narration reveals each building’s fascinating history, so you'll learn more than you would just observing on your own.

See Chicago's most famous buildings on an architecture cruise
Learn history and trivia about skyscrapers and civic buildings
Cruise down all three major branches of the Chicago River
Boat has a covered deck and open-air options to suit any weather

What's Included

Restroom on board
Outside seating available (seating is first come first serve basis)
Guided architecture cruise of the historic Chicago River
Fully enclosed interior with air conditioning, seats, & windows

Full bar & snacks (available for purchase)
Gratuities
$12 to $15 discounted parking lot connected to marina

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

900 S Wells St, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Please enter 900 S Wells Chicago, IL 60607 to your GPS for directions to the boat dock. Go through the parking lot behind the River City condominium building. The parking lot is located across from the soccer field on 9th St and Wells.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Wrigley Building (Pass By)

Willis Tower (Pass By)

Aqua Tower (Pass By)

Chicago Chinatown (Pass By)

Merchandise Mart (Pass By)

Navy Pier (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Tour times cannot be changed
Cruises are on rain or shine

Minimum drinking age is 21 years
Please arrive 30 min before your cruise time
Seating is first come first serve. If you have a large group, arrive early
Child Ticket (3 and under) is for free but needs a registered ticket
Youth Tickets available on our main ticketing page
Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of cruise ship
Vessel has full bar and restroom
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 80 travelers

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

Featured review

Jenny_P

Excellent tour guide, we learned so much about the city .. highly recommend if you are going to Chicago!

Reviews

5.0

1,071 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 1,071 reviews

Must Do if Visiting Chicago

Hanif_R, Oct 2023

Visited Chicago for the first time from Canada. Tour was awesome. The key I believe is having an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and humorous guide - which fortunately is what we had. Dave really made the tour great. The views were spectacular and the architectural overviews were really interesting. Was glad we had a lower deck to 'warm up' as it does get very cold up at the top (even for us Canadians! lol). However, if you bundle up head to toe then upper deck is great. All in all was a great trip and the Viator experience was great - from the text updates to the ease of having the Viator tickets added to our Apple wallet, to the communication provided. Two thumbs up. Hopefully this review helps other viewers as it helped me in deciding to do this excursion.

A conversation on the Chicago River

Debra_G, Oct 2023

Our guide Dave was funny, knowledgeable, and articulate. I learned that architects design new buildings to have a conversation with existing structures, and I love that image and idea. The boat was comfortable and clean. Great value for the price.

Best value tour of Chicago river

Robyn_I, Oct 2023

Our guide David - very informative without being at all boring - extremely well spoken and fun dialogue for the entire trip. Captain also had an engaging and pleasant manner while still briefing us thoroughly on the safety “rules” of the boat

Would do again 1000%

Amber_B, Oct 2023

The twilight tour was amazing!! Hillary was a great guide. The buildings were so so beautiful as it got darker.

Fun, beautiful and interesting!

jolyn_b, Oct 2023

Our guide told us so many interesting facts and stories. The views were amazing! It was chilly, so dress warm!

Excellent way to see the city - made even better by tour guide Billy!

Edwin_S, Oct 2023

This tour was excellent. Our tour guide, Billy, was exceptional and really made this experience what it was. He was very informative but also casual enough for the tour to remain fun. Pausing now and then to take a sip of coffee or describe some of the dogs he could see on the Riverwalk really boosted the atmosphere on what originally started out to be a grey, dull day. As the tour went on, the weather improved significantly and we saw incredible views of some of the city's stunning structures - with history and trivia about them that added so much to the experience. Without the guide, this would not have been anywhere near as enjoyable. The tour was well worth the money.

Best tour!

Minjin_K, Oct 2023

Our guide billy is so kind and nice! He knows a lot of things about architecture in Chicago. I went there by myself but it was the best tour I have ever done! Don't be scared to do something by yourself! It is worth it:)

Truly the best tour!! Sooo memorable ❤

Andrea_F, Oct 2023

Hillary was the best. I plan on doing the tour again and would like to have her as my guide. She was that great!!

Great Tour

Angela_V, Oct 2023

Hillary did a wonderful job narrating the architecture tour. It’s a great way to see Chicago’s beautiful buildings.

October 8, 2023

Lydia_S, Oct 2023

Truly enjoyed this experience! I have lived in the Chicago suburbs for most of my life and coming into the city has always been special, but I never understood what I was looking at. The tour guide timed her talk so well as we past each building and explained the information in a very memorable way. A quote she shared by German Poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was “architecture is frozen music.” I captured a small understanding of the city’s beauty and the notes strung together in a sky line of buildings creating a dramatic melody. Now when I come into the city, I can identify the time period a building was built in or a story about a certain sky scraper. I definitely recommend you take 90 minutes of your time to go on a tour!

Thank you for a fun and...

Patricia_S, Oct 2023

Thank you for a fun and educational experience. It was my first time to Chicago and I highly recommend running the marathon and doing a boat tour! We had a blast!

Best riverboat tour

Tara_B, Oct 2023

Learned a lot about Chicago architecture and the guide made it fun. We all enjoyed seeing all the buildings

AWESOME

Melissa_C, Sep 2023

It was a great time!! Hillary our tour guide was AWESOME!!! We learned a lot from her & had fun!!!!!!

Wonderful guide with...

Jagadish_K, Sep 2023

Wonderful guide with great sense of humor. An experience to remember. My California friends are very happpy

Best thing to do in Chicago!

Emily_E, Sep 2023

Our tour guide, Billy, was funny, personable, and had great, unique stories to share about the city!

The guide was great!...

Linda_S, Sep 2023

The guide was great! Knowledgable, funny, entertaining. I lived in Chicago 20 years but learned new things about the city.

Great trip and very entertaining and educational!

John_B, Sep 2023

Great trip and very entertaining and educational! Our guide Hillary was fantastic. A little off the beaten but well worth it.

Beautiful ride

Jamie_A, Sep 2023

This was a great experience. I actually used this to propose to my now fiancé! Very beautiful!! I will definitely do this again!

Great tour!

Pamela_C, Sep 2023

David, the docent, made every word count. He is incredibly knowledgeable (and funny.) All nine of us thought he was amazing and covered so much of the story of Chicago, not just what we saw from the boat. As Chicagoans, we enjoyed it tremendously but tourists would also get so much out of it.

Best Architecture Tour!

MariMarie_N, Sep 2023

Great Tour on the Chicago river. Informative, engaging and funny guide that made the whole Tour much more interesting than What it could have been. Great view.

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