Avs19

We'll be visitng Chicago for the weekend. The forecase said rain. Kind of hesitant to buy river tour tickets in advance. Is it necessary? Or just walk up and buy depending on the weather? Need local suggestions. Thanks.

joethekay

I don't know wich one you were referring to. There are about 6 companies that offer river tours. The most famous being Wendella, which leaves from under the michigan ave bridge. There are others that that start near navy pier and north pier. This time of the year I wouldn't worry about buying tix in advance. Just show up and enjoy the tour. I love the architectural tour from chicago line cruises which leaves from north pier.

bertaron

No need to buy tix in advance. The architecture cruise has not begun yet but Wendella is in full swing.

Avs19

Is Wendella the only one that offers architecture river tour for this weekend?
Also, can you pls recommend a good place to eat that is within walking distance from the tour?

Vittrad

Wendella offers tours, but if you are an architecture buff, the I would not recommend them (they are fine for a river tour of the city though). The architecure tours are offered by Chicago Architecture Foundation and start April 29th.

http://www.architecture.org/index.html

http://www.architecture.org/tour_view.aspx?TourID=8

KathyK

I can't remember the name of the tour that we took last fall, but i think it was the "official" one by the architectural foundation. I thought that we could just walk up and purchase tickets, but found out that was not the case. Arrived on a Friday, tried to purchase tickets for Saturday and couldn't purchase tickets until Sunday morning, everything else was sold out. So don't plan on walking up and buying tickets.

djkbooks

Highly recommend booking ahead online.

Last September, when we arrived, the entire day was sold out.

"Walking up" involves several staircases...

And, it was supposed to rain the day we were booked - but the weather was sunny and warm...

Avs19

I believe the "official" river tour won't be available until next weekend. And we're not archt. buffs, only interested in the river tour of the buildings and sightseeing. Thanks for the info though. Looks like Wendella it is.