Chicago Architecture River Cruise
Recommended by 97% of travelers
Chicago, USA
+27
- 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Admire some of the Windy City's most iconic views—and enjoy a time-saving, relaxing way to sightsee—aboard this pet-friendly Chicago River architecture boat tour. With commentary from your onboard guide, watch the spectacular skyline glide by, including dozens of notable buildings, like the Wrigley Building and the John Hancock Building. In just one tour, you cover multiple branches of the Chicago River and learn insider facts and stories you'd otherwise miss.
- Pick from numerous tour times available all throughout the day
- Capture some of the Windy City's best views
- This tour is ideal for first-time and time-pressed Chicago travelers
- See more of the sights than you could exploring at street level
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
This ultra-flexible cruise runs multiple times daily from Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue.
What's Included
- Guided architecture cruise of the historic Chicago River
- Live expert commentary on board
- Restroom on board
- Pet-friendly
- Drinks (available for purchase)
- WiFi on board
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
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End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Make your way to either Navy Pier or Michigan Avenue (depending on option chosen) for your cruise departure. Board your riverboat and find a comfortable seat; a restroom is available on the boat.
Listen as your guide, an architecture expert, gives you an introduction to the city's landmarks. Along the scenic route, see buildings by world-famous architects including Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn, and beyond. A boat on the river is the best vantage point to admire the distinct city skyline.
Pass by dozens of classic Chicago buildings, including the John Hancock Center, the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), the Wrigley Building, and more. Learn about how the invention of balloon-frame construction revolutionized how homes were built, and hear the dramatic story of Chicago's rise from the Great Fire of 1871. Both of these milestones led Chicago to become one of the cradles of modern American architecture.
Your cruise ends at its starting point.
Listen as your guide, an architecture expert, gives you an introduction to the city's landmarks. Along the scenic route, see buildings by world-famous architects including Mies van der Rohe, Helmut Jahn, and beyond. A boat on the river is the best vantage point to admire the distinct city skyline.
Pass by dozens of classic Chicago buildings, including the John Hancock Center, the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), the Wrigley Building, and more. Learn about how the invention of balloon-frame construction revolutionized how homes were built, and hear the dramatic story of Chicago's rise from the Great Fire of 1871. Both of these milestones led Chicago to become one of the cradles of modern American architecture.
Your cruise ends at its starting point.
1
Chicago River
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
Chicago Skyline (Pass By)
Navy Pier (Pass By)
Tribune Tower (Pass By)
John Hancock Center (Pass By)
Marina City (Pass By)
Skydeck Chicago - Willis Tower (Pass By)
Aqua Tower (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- All boats have full restrooms and a full bar.
- Some boats are single deck vessels, the type of vessel you are placed on cannot be guaranteed.
- Wheelchairs or other walking assistance equipment are not provided.
- Cruises are dog-friendly.
- Tours can be rescheduled through Viator 24 hours prior to the departure dates.
- Wheelchair accessible from Navy Pier dock only.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 250 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Chicago at night 10/10 beautiful city! Sam was an amazing tour guide, it helps that he is tripled degreed in history but also loves the city of Chicago! Although I already love the city this tour gave it an extra 🫶🏽
Reviews
4.8
based on 17,192 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The river cruise was fantastic. Our tour guide was excellent and taught us a lot about Chicago in a fun and interesting way. I highly recommend going during sunset. You get see the city from different perspectives, day time and night time. The buildings sparkle as the sun goes down.
Sam was super nice and educational. It made me fall in love with the city. It was the perfect amount of time and the drinks weren’t crazy priced
Bring a hat and jacket as it gets cool on the water. Put your phone down and ENJOY this cruise. You learn a lot!
When planning your Chicago itinerary, put this tour at the top of your list. The Chicago Architecture River Cruise was a must-see experience. The weather was great. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the city and its buildings, which made the experience enjoyable. It’s nice for all ages. Make sure you dress warmly.
Good Tour of the water front properties. Guide was informative and fun personality. Made the tour very good for my 7 yo. I also enjoyed the tour. Great information about the history of the city as well.
This is my second time on this tour and I will do it every time I go to Chicago. It’s totally worth it, and the guides are always fantastic
The architecture tour is really amazing! The architecture is so amazing and the tour guide was very knowledgeable and kept the conversation moving. He had a lot of exciting facts and also great emotion to his voice.
Sam was a fantastic guide! I learned so much, and it was beautiful. This is definitely something everyone traveling to Chicago needs to do at least once.
Best thing to do in Chicago. Very knowledgeable boat tour to explore the city from the river. Amazing history of second city.
We loved this cruise! Our docent was knowledgeable and fun. I took 8 and 10 year old boys who were not engaged the entire time but did not mind being on the boat just looking around (mom tip- bring a fidget!).
Great experience. First time on an architectural tour. Definity recommend taking the night tour.
It was chilly so I wish i would have dressed for the weather. My bad.
The guide was super fun! We enjoyed the architecture of old and new Chicago! The price is very competitive!
Very interesting! Great detail about iconic architecture. Well worth the trip. We took the evening tour and the lights were magical.
Very peaceful, educational and beautiful skylines. A great outing for families, couples and friends.
This is my 3rd time doing this tour in the past 15 yrs. It is definitely one of the best tours I’ve ever taken. The narrators are wonderful, full of interesting facts, great speakers, personable and pleasant. The buildings are beautiful and only enhanced when hearing all the details. It is a pleasant 90 min ride and smooth sailing. I would definitely recommend anyone visiting Chicago to book this tour!
Sit back and enjoy the ride. Family oriented. An opportunity to know the history behind the buildings.
Excellent trip. The guide was very informative and entertaining. The sunset time slot is the best time.
It was a great day on the water with a lovely tour guide. Would recommend for anyone interested in architecture or getting to know Chicago.
Dylan, our tour guide was excellent and had a good sense of humour. I highly recommend this tour. They give you a very discounted rate for an additional boat tour on Lake Michigan that you can use that day or anytime for the rest of the year.
The experience was absolutely amazing from the timelines and photos along the walls as you embark on the trip to the 94th floor to the actual experience of the tilt.
It was very informative, we learned so much about Chicago and architecture. It was fascinating. I would go again.
Highly recommend this tour if you are visiting Chicago. Sam S was awesome! Kept us all engaged. The tour was beautiful, we are glad we did it. It wasn't too long but you do get to see a lot.
Great tour. Relaxing. Great tour guide. Fun way to spend the day without being on our feet all day before the marathon
It was an amazing way to see Chicago. Our guide was terrific and SO informative! Everything about it was wonderful!
Wonderful tour on the river to get a close up view of all the buildings and get a good understanding of Chicago's history. Our tour guide Sadie was funny and informative. Highly recommend this to anyone visiting Chicago and hasn't done this before.
Fun and interesting. Highly recommend to anyone visiting the city. And so many bridges! Just beautiful.
Took clients some of whom was their first time in Chicago and the boat tour. It did not disappoint! Sam, our tour guide was not only knowledgeable, he was funny! Between him and the beautiful day and scenery, it was the highlight of our trip.
Great experience. There are wonderful views from the boat and our guide (Victor) was very informative and entertaining with his storytelling and historical facts.
The architecture tour really brought the history of Chicago to life through the changing structures and styles of the buildings.
This was a really cool experience and a great way to see the Chicago River and the Chicago skyline. The history was interesting and Mac our guide was great and super informative. We traveled with our 2 dogs and the boat was gentle enough that you barely felt like you were moving. Money well spent!
The views were absolutely breathtaking but what made the experience 100% better was the speaker giving the history behind each building. He was amazing and very witty. Will be booking this boat tour again if he’s on board.
Member Pricing
From
$37.05
per personWas $39.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Chicago Architecture River Cruise
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