Chicago City Tours
 

We will be driving in from Kalamazoo, Mi on Sunday Aug 26, and will probably stop and stay somewhere outside of the city..to avoid paying to sleep in Chicago that night...(any suggestions?)Then we want to drive into the city and take a tour on Monday..Tuesday we will sightsee on our own and leave Wed...could anyone recommend a city tour? We have taken Grayline tours in NYC and elsewhere...

Maybe you want to take an architectural boat tour? This is unique, only in Chicago, I believe.

If the weather is nice (and not too hot), highly recommend a two day pass for the hop on/hop off buses. Views of the beautiful skyline, buildings, waterfront, are magnificent from seats on the open air upper deck. With only two days, they're a fairly good way to get around as well, keeping in mind that they go in one direction only, so you'd want to plan hopping off accordingly.

You might want to check hotel rates on Quikbook. We got an amazing rate for the Comfort Inn/Suites (which was very nice and conveniently located).

Thanks for the tips..DH's RA is acting up again :( which pretty much doesn't allow for a lot of walking which is why we like to do bus tours...he doesn't want to deal with getting on and off of a boat either...

Definitely suggest checking out the observation deck at the John Hancock building and dinner at Bandera's on Michigan Ave next door to the Chicago Tribune building.

Arbut, you can assure your husband! I have walking problem. It's an easy slightly inclined walk to/from boat, like 3 yards, and the rest is sitting on a chair. Some of them start from the Navy Pier, flat area, and there is a free shuttle running.

Hello, DJK, I got my Comfort Inn through Quikbook, too! Great minds think alike :)

If you are looking for a town outside of Chicago to spend the night, try Gary, Indiana. It would be on your way from Michigan and would be reasonable, I would think.

Definitely recommend the Architectural Boat tour (First Lady is the best!). Keep in mind though that in August, you should inquire about shady seating (Chicago gets very hot in the summer!) If this does not rock your boat (sorry, couldn't resist!), there are many bus tours available. If you are into Chicago's mob past, there is a tour called "The Untouchables". Never been on it, but have heard good things about it.

John Hancock over Sears Tower any day. If the boat tour does not

Sorry about the previous typo. Was supposed to end at "John Hancock over Sears Tower any day." :)

Hope you have a great trip!

arbutusbeach, I don't know if the previous poster was joshing or not, but Please! Don't stay overnight in Gary, IN!

You could stay somewhere more easterly and take the South Bend and South Shore Railroad (an electric train that runs parallel to the southern shore of Lake Michigan). However, you are looking at a 1.25 hour commute each way from Chesterton, IN; from Michigan City, a little less than a 1.75 hr. commute. South Bend is the easterly end terminus (at the airport) but only certain trains run that far during the day. (See the NICTD website for details and fares.)

Instead, why not look at Hotwire, Priceline - and Travelzoo sometimes posts some very good specials (changes daily). For example, some good friends recently got a room at the Swissotel for $109 per night (plus tax).

Faina, I've gotten a lot of invaluable tips from your posts!

Agree with taking a boat tour from Navy Pier. Easy on - fantastic views of the skyline!

The architectural boat tours involve lots and lots of steps to get to the docks.

Note, however, that there is a narrow curving staircase to get to the top deck of the double decker buses.

DJK, sorry, I am confused now. I think when you talk about boats from Navy Pier - you talk about tour boats, not architectural tours.

But there is, at least one, architectural tour from the Navy Pier area... Not sure how to explain exactly, I walked along the grass lawn or park to it, if you stand at the Pier entrance with your back to it, the dock is on the left in front of you.

There are several companies to do architectural tours. The one I took, don't remember the name, does not require to take stairs to get on the boat. It's maybe one block away from the Pier's entrance.

http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/

Shoreline offers an Architectural Tour from Navy Pier. We did the skyline cruise with them, but wished we had also done the architectural cruise with them as well (our guide on the CAF tour was a huge snooze).

I highly recommend the architectual boat tour offered by the Chicago Historical Society called Chicago Line Architecture Cruise (google it).

Even easier to get on a boat than a bus. This is the dock located about 3 blocks from Navy Pier.

The Silversmith Hotel is offering an $89/nt deal. I got the email today from Hotwire. I looked at the website and the hotel looks lovely and is across from Milennium Park. Promotion code:TTCK

Priceline and Hotwire are great sites to use when booking Chicago hotels but for $89, I would try the Silversmith.

There is also a free trolley that you can take around the city.