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. Pass by Chicago's beautiful Washington Park and Grant Park, and make a 20-minute stop at the fascinating Lincoln Park Conservatory. Stop for 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. 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.
First half of the tour going to museums and university of Chicago was excellent. Second half of the tour going through neighborhoods was boring.
Review by: Dave V, March 2018
Great trip seeing all the Chicago sites.
Review by: Lucero A, March 2018
I was really excited to learn about the city in this four hour long tour, two hours touring the North side, two hours touring the South side. Unfortunately it wasn't the greatest. The driver was also the tour guide. The main issue was the loud noise coming from the engine of the shuttle, which made it VERY difficult to understand the driver the whole 4 hours! Also, the noise of the streets and cars was distracting from what he was saying. I think I probably understood about 30 of what he said, and the information I caught was very interesting. I just wished I could understood him clearly. During the first North side tour, he made a stop at the Lincoln Park Conservancy, which was nice to take pictures. During the second part of the South side tour, he stopped by the aquarium where there was a beautiful view of the city._br/_ The tour had the potential to be a very successful and informative for those who really want to know about the city but unfortunately it was not worth the 48 I spent.
Review by: bradw, January 2018
Not what we expected, it was an informative and really enjoyable tour, gave us a great insight to Chicago rich history and lots of stories to tell friends back home.
Review by: Shona B, December 2017
This was a boring tour. I am a avid traveler and this was not worth the amount paid. The north side is better then the south side of the tour. In the North it would be nice if you could get out at Wrigleyville to see the stadium and get souvenirs. The best part of the south side is to take a picture
Review by: Diana M, November 2017
Not worth the money or time. The driver was clearly knowledgeable but most of the time you could not understand him. Microphone not good???? It is not fun to circle the same sights more than once, The bus jerked and never came to a smooth stop.. It was from 10-2 with no built in stops around noon to grab a bite to eat. I left with a headache, hungry and exhausted from a tour I thought would be fun,
Review by: Jennifer G, November 2017
didn't love this, do the bike tour instead
Review by: Beverly B, November 2017
They went out of their way to make it fun.
Review by: Ann S, November 2017
Great tour and very informative
Review by: Denise B, November 2017
The best tour I've had in a long time. The best of everything in Chicago.
Review by: Sandra R, October 2017
Very good introduction to Chicago. It made it easier for me to get around and navigate the city. Some tips on what to see.
Review by: Deirdre B, October 2017
Great tour of both the North and South sides of Chicago. Fantastic overview and lots of information of the city for a first-time visitor. Driver/guide did a good job.
Review by: Pamela N, October 2017
The beginning of this experience was AWFUL. I was told to select a hotel for pickup. I was not notified that there had been a change and there would be only one pickup point. Good thing I called Gray Line, but the lady who answered the phone was extremely rude and practically shouted that, I don't care what you booked, Lady, you have to go to this hotel. So I went there and waited outside until 5 minutes before the tour was to leave. Finally asked the concierge if I was in the right place and was told that I had to go to an office INSIDE the hotel. DUH! Could the rude lady at Grayline not have told me that???? The bus was clean and comfortable and the guide was good, except for repeating every sentence multiple times. The first half of the tour, the Southside, was very good. The second half, the Northside was mediocre at best. I enjoyed seeing Wrigley Field, but not stopping for 45 minutes at the zoo which was a total waste of time. 45 minutes is enough time to walk to and from the bus and see two animal habitats and no animals. The zoo should be a separate tour. It would have been much nicer to tour Wrigley Field._br/_ Viator, correct your web page concerning pick up locations, and Grayline, get rid of rude employees who do not deliver the information needed to get to the tour.
Review by: pq55, October 2017
Good tour.
Review by: PATRICIA R, October 2017
Fantastic
Review by: Vicky B, October 2017
Southside was nothing but an Obama rally. Could have done without that. He was a good driver. Northdside was very interesting.
Review by: David H, October 2017
A 4 hour bus ride around the city with commentary. Wouldnt call it grand.
Review by: Cathy T, September 2017
The bus was clean and comfortable. The driver was very knowledgeable. So much so, that we almost experienced whiplash from swiveling our heads back and forth to see various sites. I realize traffic in downtown Chicago is impossible to navigate at the best of times, but some parking accommodations would be nice or the chance to exit the bus for a brief walkabout. It has to be negligent driving when the driver is expected to navigate the huge bus through traffic and narrate the tour information. How about an assistant on board?
Review by: Alexandr K, September 2017
It is a good tour if you have just a few hours to explore Chicago or as an introduction to the city during a longer stay. You will see many landmarks which you may want to take a closer look at later. It does not replace walking streets of Chicago. There were two nice stops. Narration was limited to announcing what's on your left and what's on your right, with very little of history. I personally would like a deeper guidance. Guide on my tour, Anton, was pleasant, humorous, friendly, offered to take photos. I would recommend to take an additional architectural river tour on First Lady. This one is excellent.
Review by: William G, September 2017
Difficult to find start of tour. Person selling and collecting tickets was indifferent. Had to walk 1/2 mile from ticket sale place to tour bus. No tour guide on bus, just driver who drove by places too rapidly. Also everybody had difficulty hearing what he was saying due to poor sound system which he wouldn't turn up, and his accent. Left tour half way through.
Review by: rossgiro, August 2017
It's a 4 hours I suggest to do as first thing if it's your first time in Chicago. Allows you to orient better in the town and decide then what to visit and where to spend your time. You visit also areas which are far from down town and you have a good and complete view of the town
Review by: Radhe M, August 2017
Very poor -waste of time and money. Driver drove too fast before we could peek thru the bus window what the guide was uttering the name of building. In the second half of the tour thru south side of Chicago THE GUIDE sat on his rear and the driver drove the BUS with ONE HAND AND HOLDING THE MIKE IN ONE HAND UTTERING THE NAME THE BUILDING AS HE DROVE thru the whole one and half hour . IT WAS QUITE UNSETTLING TO GO THRU THE LAST ONE AND HALF HOUR.Very untrained and irresponsible crew . Bad choice of closed in bus for this kind of tour - hard to see any thing on the other side of the road. I would never buy another trip thru Viator.
Review by: Jean S, August 2017
We enjoyed this tour. We recommended it to another couple.
Review by: Kelly D, August 2017
The South Side tour was a joke. Driver was horrible. Could barely understand his erratic robotic black William Shatner sounding voice that ranbled on like a broken record. Even worse was his heavy short stopping brake foot turning the bus into a painful roller coaster ride through Hyde Park.
Review by: Kelly D, August 2017
The north side tour was great. Dwayne and his driver did a great job explaining the sights around the north side. Enjoyed the tour alot.
Review by: GLORIA M. M, August 2017
We never did the tour because THE GUIDE NEVER PICKED US UP!!! The day before the tour I called about 20 times since 7 am to 6 pm to the phone number the reservation vaucher indicated and ALWAYS got a mail box. The day of the tour we waited at the hotel lobby and the main door since 7:30 am to 9:10 am and NOBODY SHOWED UP or called us the tour began at 8 am. To this day, NOBODY has contacted me to apologize nor to return me my money!!! When I reserved and paid the tour I indicated the hotel we were going to stay from the list the tourism company has when you buy a tour.
Review by: Patricia H, July 2017
Very much enjoyed that not only family members, but the driver who got us several hundred miles to Chicago, got to sit back and simply enjoy the scenery of parts of Chicago we likely would not have seen, if not for the tour. Seeing the Ferris Beuller house, Chinatown, University of Chicago, Lakeshore Drive, Museums, Lincoln Park, etc. was a pleasure. Driver was not always intelligible, partly due to not speaking loudly enough, enunciating, etc. But it still was a good tour.
Review by: Marco W, July 2017
Our tour guide knew the city well and took us through to some nice places in the city. This included the high school of a few celebrities, ex-president Obama's neighborhood. We were able to get an authentic Chicago style hotdog. The air-conditioned bus was clean and had plenty of room. Highly recommended
Review by: Vivian R, July 2017
This was a great tour. I have been to Chicago before and on different tours, this one was the best. Our tour guide knew what he was talking about and loved his job. He made the tour interesting and great fun.
Review by: Donald B, July 2017
POOR!!!!!! Bus never showed up... When calling customer service I received the absolute poorest excuses...
Review by: Edith R, May 2017
ZERO STARS... Terrible, awful most boring and uninformative tour I've ever experienced. The uninformative part is what makes me the most upset, because I purchased this tour to learn about Chicago and that did not happen in any capacity. Bus driver doubled up as tour guide, and it was clear that he didn't want to be there to do either. Boring, and the bus was hot due to broken air/ spewing hot exhaust smelling air that gave me a headache. So disappointed and will NEVER purchase anything through Viator or Greyline Tours ever again.
Review by: Jeanette A, May 2017
It could have been better. I did a tour in Singapore by Viator and it was amazing. However, our tour guide/driver in Chicago was totally boring! His tone, intonation and accent were crazy. It was so hard to understand what he's sayin! I was the only one awake during our trip. In fact, when we stepped out for some pictures near the Shedd Aquarium, our group decided not to finish the tour and instead just get inside the aquarium. So we requested the driver if we could come off the bus at the aquarium and he did. It could have been better. I wish you guys train your tours guides better to make sure that the tourists understand what they are saying. I would love to learn about the history and the culture but it was just so hard. It was not worth all the money that we paid for. Wasted time!
Review by: The Muro Family, March 2017
Really loved the tour... excellent sights!
Review by: Tony S, March 2017
well worth the price. Get to know a wonderful city in a relaxed informative way.
Review by: TODD ANTHONY R, March 2017
great overview of the city
Review by: Keith B, March 2017
The tour didn't happen and I didn't know it until no one showed up at our hotel to go on tour. I would not recommend this agency!
Review by: Roland G, January 2017
Miss the bus miss the tour wrong address
Review by: louise r, December 2016
This is infact 2 tours in one - the north side 2 hr tour followed by - Just stay on bus -2hr south side tour ._br/_ Guide who is your driver was Excellent ._br/_ Enjoyed both - north is more outside scenery and south is more President Obama and Mohamed Ali _br/_ Excellent
Review by: saul h, December 2016
Great tour! Saw a lot of Chicago and the guide knew a lot about the things we visited. I would highly recommend this tour.
Review by: Diane W, December 2016
I was waiting in front of the Palmer House Hotel at 10:00AM and didnt see a Gray Line bus, so I asked a door man from the hotel if I was at the right spot. I was instructed to go to a convenience store past the hotel lobby, where I would find the Grey Line kiosk. I should have been told this information when I called Grey Line Tours 2 days prior to confirm the pickup time and location. On the bright side, I found this tour an excellent way to see areas of the city, because I had a limited amount of time. A few times it was difficult to hear to hear clearly, but overall the driver/guide was knowledgeable and made the tour pleasant.
Review by: Hugh O, November 2016
This would have been a great trip were it not for the fact that we were unable to understand half of what the driver was saying. He was extremely knowledgeable and the parts I did catch were fantastic but I had to tune out most of the time as it was such a strain to try and piece together what he said. He just spoke too fast at the end of his sentences and with the accent/way he spoke, which was obviously just the way they speak from where he came from, it was just a pity it affected our ability to completely enjoy the trip. I would however recommend the trip if you have only a few hours to spare as you do get a great flavour of Chicago from it.
Review by: Hernan D, November 2016
It was a good tour, only wish the bus windows were not dirty. It was very difficult to take pictures. Also, the tour narrator could have done a better job of indicating the history of some Chicago locations..
Review by: Vadim Y, November 2016
My wife and I were looking forward to the 4 hour Grand tour of Chicago on October 7th at 12PM. Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience and left the tour early. The tour guide spoke unconventional English using incomprehensible pronunciation and intonations. During the tour stops, we spoke with the other tour participants - the native English speakers understood about 50 to 60, others about 10 to 20._br/_ Please reconsider working with this local tour operator in the future.
Review by: Stephen B, October 2016
Picked up 10 minutes early good, drove around in pickup bus for one hour prior to tour not so good. Tour started about 20 minutes late, and finished 10 minutes early not good. Guide Anton was amusing and informative good, but could not see out our window due to the condensation no good._br/_ All in all, barely got our money's worth.
Review by: Rod M, October 2016
Very good customer service
Review by: Diane G, October 2016
Anton did a great job. We took the north side tour and the south side tour.
Review by: Gregory M, October 2016
WOW what a great way to see the city. The staff was very knowledgeable and made it veryinteresting by adding personal information . We took both the North and South tour , saw multiple pieces of art ,
Review by: kmcrose, October 2016
The bus was shabby and it was difficult to understand the driver.
Review by: Lorne W, September 2016
Bus and driver good._br/_ Tour guide was not that great - to many colloquialisms._br/_ Rate 3
Review by: Fabio C, September 2016
Good way to see the north and south side in one day. _br/_ Driver was also the guide , he was knowledgeable and funny ,
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