Cruising the City on the Architecture Boat Tour in Chicago, Illinois
Possibly the best 90 minutes your tourist dollar can buy in Chicago, the hour and a half Architecture River Cruise gives you an unusual perspective on a fascinating city, combined with the innate leisure of traveling by boat. Administered by the Chicago architecture foundation, the cruise is narrated by docents who will point out standards like the Civic Opera House, Sears Tower, and Marina City, as well as lesser-known locations and points of particular interest to locals.
My favorite vantage point to view and learn about Chicago's architecture...from the river on the Chicago Architecture Foundation's information rich architecture cruise. As a local, this is one of the first things I treat my out of town guests to, and I enjoy it and learn something new every time. This is an amazing introduction to this beautiful city. You'll walk away with a good amount of Chicago history and an understanding of architectural styles used through the years in the city and what inspired them.
It's bone-chilling cold outside, with wind slicing through the streets and snow, check that, grimy ice and slush covering the ground. A perfect day for pulling the covers over your head and hibernating. Well, forget it. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Chicago is the city that works, and plays, and laughs at winter, even when it stretches from November 'till May. It's beautiful in every season, and there's so much to see. Get yourself down to the atrium at the Chicago Architectural Foundation and take it all in. Downtown Chicago, laid out and built to scale, with all the important landmarks -- the Sears, oops, Willis Tower, the Art Institute, even a tiny replica of the Bean, polished to a shine. Free and open to the public, the exhibit features scheduled "gallery talks" by trained docents who interpret relevant features of the 3-D-printer-created model, down to the timed light sequence simulating day, twilight and night.
If you could take just one photo:
Chicago Architecture Foundation Boat Tour
The skyline of Chicago was built by some of the great names in architecture, from Daniel Burnham to Mies Van De Rohe, and their amazing feats still color the landscape today. There's no better way to experience all their different styles than through the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Boat Tour along the Chicago River. Grab at cocktail from the onboard bar and sit back and enjoy a 90-minute experience through Chicago's history, all told from volunteer docents who love to tell the city's story. The tour not only educates and entertains, but it is also a great way to experience Chicago in a completely unique way.
Possibly the best 90 minutes your tourist dollar can buy in Chicago, the hour and a half Architecture River Cruise gives you an unusual perspective on a fascinating city, combined with the innate leisure of traveling by boat. Administered by the Chicago architecture foundation, the cruise is narrated by docents who will point out standards like the Civic Opera House, Sears Tower, and Marina City, as well as lesser-known locations and points of particular interest to locals.
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