Let’s go for a short boat cruis today, in Chicago Illinois. Architecture Boat Tour is one of the top recommended activity to do when in Chicago and I wouldn’t pass on that. I love the water view much more a better view of the architecture from afar. I made a video, less than 15 minutes to show snippets of the tour.

The tour was for 90 minutes and although I would want to have it video the entire time, that will be too long and you might get bored. So about 12 minutes of video is what I was able to make to show the highlights of what I saw. Have a look and let me know what you think. If you’ve been to Chicago and have done a similar tour, please share you experience, I would love to hear that.

Facts About Chicago

• Chicago is the largest city of Illinois and third largest city of the United States after New York City and Los Angeles.
• Chicago has various nicknames including “Chi-town”, “Windy City”, “Second City,” the “City of Big Shoulders”, and “American of big cities”.
• A unique downtown Chicago feature is its multi-leveled streets, the most well-known of which is Wacker Drive. This double-decker street comprises an upper-level riverfront boulevard and a lower-level roadway for commercial and through traffic.Chicago’s downtown area is known as “The Loop,” which refers to the area encircled by the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated (‘L’) train tracks.The CTA operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system. In an average year, the CTA provides more than 450 million bus and train rides.

Source: choosechicago.com

One of the thing that Chicago is famous for is their amazing architecture by the River Walk. You can definitely appreciate the view by just walking by the River Walk, but it would be a better experience taking a boat tour in the Michigan Lake for an architecture tour.

From my research about things to do in Chicago, the architecture boat tour is one item in the must do list. There are of course a lot more recommended attractions like the 360 Sky Deck, The Bean at Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, Navy Pier, Museums, Aquariums just to name a few.

There are a lot of company and family owned businesses doing boat tours in Chicago and one of them is the Wendella Boat Tours which is the one that I selected for my Architecture Boat Tour. This was one activity that I looked forward to when I was in Chicago and If I have to choose only 1 thing to do, this is definitely the one that I will choose.

General Information

• Address: 400 N. Michigan Avenue
• Website: https://www.wendellaboats.com/
• Hours of Operation:
• Duration: 90 minutes

How to buy ticket

Online, in their website mentioned above. You can choose the time that you prefer. The tour duration is 90 minutes (more or less). I picked a 10:00 AM tour on a Sunday which is my last day in Chicago.

Best Time for the Tour

If personally prefer an earlier tour, say 7:00 AM when it is still not too hot, but sadly they were already full for that time. The time you choose is important as it affects your experience. If you are visiting Chicago at the peak or end of Summer, consider the weather and temperature when you do the tour. The boat that was used in the tour that I joined was a double level boat but most people stayed at the top to have a better view. There were plenty of plastic chairs set-up at the 2nd level and there was also sitting area at the lower deck. Be aware that the 2nd level is an open area and could really get hot and toasty during Summer. I stayed a lot of times in the 2nd level but I go down in the lower deck from time to time to be in a shaded area. I would suggest an early morning or late afternoon when the sun is about to set. I also did a night tour and I have to say it was stunning. Although you will be seeing the same area, the impact was different seeing how the area and architecture look during the day and night. I have a separate post for my night architecture tour, have a look at that.

How long do you need to allocate for the visit?

The tour is set to 90 minutes (more or less) but they recommend to be at the meeting place 15 -30 minutes before your schedule. They will have you check in and then take you to the departure area. Give an allowance of 30 minutes because sometimes that boat wait to exit and enter the Michigan Lake could take a while depending on how many boat are waiting. In my day tour, we were able to make the entire tour 90 minutes but the night tour took a bit longer for because of the wait.

They recommend coming in early at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. I came about 15 minutes before and it was still ok. There were quite a few people already lined up. It was a nice sunny day perfect for the boat tour but It was a hot day.

The boat tour started on time which was great. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, I can tell by the way he talks that he really knows what he is talking about, it does make a huge of difference. I am not the type of person who is very keen to listening or reading history, but the tour guide made it interesting so I was able to get bits and pieces of information while I was there. Just don’t ask me know what as it seems I left it there as soon as I left Chicago 😉

Boat Facilities

There is an upper and lower deck area where people can stay during the tour. Most people were in the upper level as it gave a better view. The only thing you have to consider, during a hot sunny day, it is really hot in the upper level as it is open. I stayed alternately in the upper and lower level to get some shade especially at th elater part of the tour when the sun and heat is scorging hot.

The boat have washroom and drink bar at the lower level and a sitting area outside for people who wants a shaded area during the boat tour. It was not a huge boat but moe than enough to accommodate a lot of people. Amenities are just as what I have mentioned, as long as there is a washroom on-board that is all I need.

I had a great experience with this tour, the only thing that could made it better is if I was able to do it earlier so that it was not too hot. The view was amazing, and the architecture are really impressive. It is really worth doing this tour, I highly recommend it. if you are interested to see the night tour, have a look at a video below.

The tour finished on time, 90 minutes. Sometimes this could be delayed depending on how long the wait is in exiting the Michigan River.

Chicago Video Playlist:

Click the item to see the full post

Featured Video: Architecture Evening Boat Tour 

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