Chicago Grand Half-Day Tour

Chicago, United States of America

This comprehensive half-day tour of Chicago is the perfect introduction to the Windy City! Discover the highlights of Chicago's North Side and South Side and enjoy a scenic drive along the Outer Drive. Visit Chicago's beautiful Washington Park and Grant Park, and make a stop at the fascinating Lincoln Park Conservatory. Stop for a photo opportunity at the Adler Planetarium, see the impressive Wrigley Building and more. You'll come away with a fantastic overview of the best Chicago has to offer!

Get an in-depth look at the beautiful Windy City on this 4-hour coach tour of Chicago! Take a scenic bus ride through the South Side and travel through the beautiful Grant Park. Visit the Adler Planetarium with its impressive sky dome and pass by the Art Institute of Chicago, which boasts a world-renowned collection of impressionist art. Pass the Orchestra Hall, home of the famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and drive by President Obama's old neighborhood!

On the North Side, travel by the striking Richard J Daley plaza with its magnificent Pablo Picasso sculpture created specifically for Chicago. Take a ride on Wacker Drive, the double-decker thoroughfare that winds its way under the city. Cross the Chicago River and see the famous Wrigley Building and Wrigley Field. Spot one of the tallest buildings in the world, the John Hancock Center, and continue through Lincoln Park's acres and acres of lush greenery and lagoons.

See the Itinerary section below for a full list of sights seen on this exciting Chicago tour.

USD $39.99

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Phillip W	March 2012
This tour was actually two, two hour tours, combined into one. You visit the north and south sides of Chicago. The tour itself was good and the tour driver was excellent. The second half of the tour was a tad boring. However, it is a good overview of Chicago. Especially, like me, if you have never been there before.

Review by: Veronica D	December 2011
This tour was terrible. The bus driver spoke in a monotone the whole time and nobody understood what he was saying. There were some people from Germany on the tour who asked him to slow down because they couldn't understand him and he just kept talking the same. English is my first language and even I couldn't understand him. He let us stop for a 10 minute break. My husband and I were back to where the bus was supposed to be 7 minutes later and the bus driver had left us...in the cold and in the rain. We were sitting right next to the bus driver for 3 hours prior to that. How he could've left us I don't know. I had to call the central desk to send him back. Nobody apologized to us or anything. Overall rating of the trip: TERRIBLE.

Review by: Nancy J	November 2011
Very informative. Best way to get an overall view of the city.

Review by: michele m	October 2011
Enjoyed the North side tour better than the South side....seems to be some repetition...but very worthwhile...

Review by: Patrice B	September 2011
They treat as two different tours. Kept going back and forth to office. What was bad, their was no lunch break. One stop on each tour, but nowhere near food purchase._br/_ Second stop no restrooms.

Review by: Rocio F	September 2011
Tour was good and with alot of information; however you dont get off the buss only at the Lincoln Park and Botanical gardens. So it was a little hard to get pictures. So if you want to get off the bus, you may want to do a double decker bus tours since they stop everywehre and you can get off at various locations. But overall pretty good and with alot of information about the city.

Review by: Mark M	July 2011
When booking my tour I was not informed that pick-up for the tour could not be done from my Hotel! We were in Chicago only for a short time and even if we rented a car, we could not have seen everything that we saw on this tour. On a scale of 1 to 5 I would give it a 4! Our only issues with the tour was first, we had a lot of trouble understanding what our driver was saying, second an unscheduled stop during the tour to change buses, additional stops for pick-ups. Other than that we enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to other travelers sight seeing in Chicago

Review by: W. V	May 2011
Very good and instructiv, enjoyed it, gave a good impression of a larger Chicago than only downtown.

Review by: craig	May 2011
Very interesting and informative. Provided a fantastic insight into the history and culture of this city. Not alot of stops for picture opportunities, but fantastic knowledge of the total history of Chicago.

Review by: Neil D	April 2011
We signed up for 4h tour but no lunch time. We wish have a lunch break. It will be nice if it was more stop and visiting place to see.( not only from bus)

Review by: Angie	October 2010
Oh dear, where to start?. It's 4, yes 4, hours of my life that i will never get back. If you like dirt ingrained, springs coming out of the seats tour buses, then this is the one for you . The first half of the tour is North side which is quite good, and then there is the South side bit. The driver never paused for breath once. I don't need to see every bit of the Uni campus, I don't intend to go there to study. I also didn't need the President's barber shop, his favourite take away shops , the place where he first kissed the wife,his first apartment block. I especially didn't really need to go past the street where he lives when in Chicago 4 times! . I like the guy but it was so overkilled. I think that the tour forgets that non Americans may find this all well, a bit dull. Chicago is a beautiful city and there are plenty of ways to explore. Save your sanity and money. It's a good job that we have never been let down by Viator before, because if this was a first time trip, we would not be returning customers......

Review by: Vicki L	September 2010
There was some confusion as to what time and where we were to be picked up, but everything worked out fine in the end, We enjoyed the tour. Thanks!

Review by: Brent P	September 2010
great look around the city, would recommend this tour, would like to have stayed in Chicago longer.

Review by: LUIS C	July 2010
When you visit Chicago you want to see the buildings, the parks, the lake. You wanna feel the wind on a wind city. You cant get all this in a closed bus with air conditioning. This tour should be a double decker one in order to get your pictures and your videos just as a tourist like

Review by: Ingrid C	June 2010
Struggled to last the 4 hours, guide terrible, nearly aborted in middle, only I had pre paid! Main problem is there are only two short stops with no food or drinks available for purchase and the guide couldn't speak in sentences, had learnt tour off by heart and insisted on trying to talk the entire 4 hours.

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	May 2010
The trip was interesting. Although I should have looked into the trip a little more, my husband and I were expecting to go on one of the tour buses with the open top. Being on a charter bus doesn't allow you see everything that's being pointed out - but on the bright side, it had A/C! Overall, my husband and I enjoyed the trip and thought it was worth doing - you sure do learn a lot about Chicago in 4 hours!

Review by: Gillian R, United Kingdom	April 2010
Very good trip . Guide was very knowledgeable.

Review by: Ma Clara M, Brazil	January 2010
Very good

Review by: Zelia M C, Brazil	January 2010
The guide talks too much. He gave information that is not relevant

Review by: Ma.Clara M	January 2010
The guide talks too much. He gave information that is not relevant

Review by: Ma.Clara M	January 2010
Very good

Review by: Merlin H, United States of America	October 2009
It was a very thorough tour and the driver was extremely knowledgeable with facts, however the bus that picked us up from the hotel was very smokey, that we smelled of smoke when we got out and the trip to the main bus was very long.

Review by: Wayne B, Australia	October 2009
A good, interesting tour.

Review by: Robert B	October 2009
A good, interesting tour.

Review by: Swastik R, India	September 2008
Very good. They picked me up from my hotel. Covered almost the entire city and good value for money.

Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom	January 2008
Best parts of the tour were the Miracle Mile, Lincoln Park, and the view point from the Planetarium. The rest of the tour was disappointing and boring. Several passengers on our bus in fact nodded off to sleep at some point.

Review by: Anne C, Ireland	November 2007
Great overview of the city!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	May 2007
It was a great tour - very informative. We tackled a lot of history and definitely enjoyed ourselves!

Review by: Gary M, United States of America	December 2006
Enjoyed our Chicago Grand Tour but there could have been improvement in some aspects of the experience. Parking was terrible. We had no idea where to find the office therefore did not know which parking garage to pick. Bus driver's comments were very good although we did have a small problem deciding which buildings he was referring to at times. We lost our tickets and employees were very considerate in waiting for us to try to locate them.

Review by: Evaristus I, Nigeria	August 2006
My wife and I really enjoyed the tour. The driver was wonderful. His illustrations added flavor to the tour. This tour will be more interesting if you get off the bus and walk around some beautiful sceneries.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2006
My wife and I really enjoyed the tour. The driver was wonderful. His illustrations added flavor to the tour. This tour will be more interesting if you get off the bus and walk around some beautiful sceneries.

Review by: Mairin R, Ireland	July 2006
We had a very satisfying tour.

Review by: Patrick R	July 2006
We had a very satisfying tour.