We love exploring the local area, but we especially enjoy spending the day taking in Chicago’s bustling metropolitan energy! Today we’re sharing our top picks for great walking tours in the area, so you can see the city from a whole new perspective! You’ll find everything from tours which appease the local history buffs in your midst to the dark, spooky tours that will win over even the most persnickety of brooding teenagers. You can even choose to snack your way around the city with a Food Tour or two!
We’ve done our best to find you as many affordable or free options as we could, and price points to fit even the most frugal budgets. You’ll find it all right here on today’s blog! If you've got a favourite tried-and-true option for walking tours, feel free to give us a shout out on social media with your suggestions.
Remember to wear comfortable shoes and clothing, bring a water bottle for hydration, and charge your phone and camera. You won’t want to miss a minute of these memorable city views and experiences!
Free Tours By Foot offers no-cost and low-cost walking tours of chicago! Connect with the city like never before with a local freelance tour guide. There are numerous tour styles to choose from such as architectural tours, ghost tours, historical tours, nature watching tours, and more all available on a daily or weekly basis, and many of them on a “pay-what-you-can” basis. Check out their current catalogue of events right here!
Free Chicago Walking Tours are led by local guides who know the neighborhoods inside and out for free public tours or reasonably priced paid private tours for groups of more than 6 and up to 20! (Tipping your guide is recommended, especially on the free options.) This group’s tours are perfect for those who do not want to do endurance training via sightseeing, because they’re just 1 to 3 miles in distance! It’s the perfect option for those with kids and teens, because it’s just the right amount of time. It’s a great way to make new friends and socialize with locals and tourists alike. Click here to learn more about upcoming tours or schedule a private group!
GPSMyCity has a great app that allows you to fly solo and take self-guided tours of just about anywhere! You can download the app, select Chicago, and choose from any number of detailed tour maps with navigation and notable attractions. It’s also available offline, so you can save on data and still access your guides. Click here to learn more about it and download the app!
If you’re a foodie we think you’ll really enjoy Chicago Food Planet Tours ! Explore local culinary treats and restaurants as well as an option for purchasing a gift box to enjoy locally sourced snacks. Choose from private or public tours exploring the most delicious neighborhoods and local haunts in Chicago for up to 3 hours. Or perhaps a family-owned and operated local romp around the city with Tastebud Tours will do the trick (they also operate around the country!)
Bizarre Bucktown is where it’s at if you’re looking for interesting, quirky, and memorable experiences of Chicago. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been to the city, you’ve never seen it like this! On your 90 minute walk with a small, intimate group of folks, you’ll learn about the history and hauntings of Bucktown and Wicker Park. Tickets are just $15 per person, but the memories are priceless; click here to book your tour!
Chicago Gangsters and Ghost Tours give you two creative experiences for the price of one, and run four times a day. Explore Chicago’s gangster era of the 1920s and 1930s, and the storied past of its hotels, speakeasies, mysteries, and murder! You’ll get to walk through haunted crime scene locations frequented by the ghosts of gangsters and their victims, and experience some spooky twists. Click here to reserve for yourself or request a group visit.
Weird Chicago Tours is an excellent option for adults, finicky teens and older tweens to experience history with a bit of mystery. With options for Walking tours and Bus tours, you’ll enjoy a wide range of entertainment and education. It’s a dark, mysterious, and dramatic Chicago tour touching on true crime, gangsters and mobsters, and haunted happenings in the city. Click here to immerse yourself in the dark side of Chicago’s historical sites.
The Offbeat Street Tours are the best way to explore the city and its unique characteristics. Celebrate the street scene and indie arts culture that has helped turn the metro area into a living, breathing gallery of murals and drawings. Explore the vibrant arts scene of Wicker Park, Bucktown, and Logan Square and get a background about each artist, their painting styles, and their inspiration. Tickets range from $15-$25 and you can reserve a time slot and tour by clicking here.
The Art Institute of Chicago offers guided tours, interactive experiences, and educational lectures so you can learn more about the pieces on display, and history of the institute. You can choose from a variety of topics and experiences and workshops, such as “American Art,” “Asian Art Through a Global Lens,” “Mindfulness Tours,” “Impressionism: Monet, Degas, Renoir, and More,” and other wonderful experiences! Tours may be limited for the time being due to Covid19 pandemic restrictions and limitations, so be sure to check the schedule frequently for updates. Click here for more info about the tours and rates.
The Loop Mural Walk is a free downtown adventure tour and self-guided journey to view the ever-changing landscape of street art in Chicago. It features more than 20 murals by internationally recognized artists and creatives around the globe. You can use your smartphones to navigate the turn-by-turn directions to view the works in the recommended order, or check out “The Murals” option to take your own path. It’s a colorful, creative, and unforgettable experience for the whole family, and makes a fun day out with pals as well! Be sure to bring your camera or leave extra room on your smartphone, because the murals make excellent backdrops for selfies and portraits. Click here to learn more about the Mural Walk program.
