Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise aboard Chicago's First Lady
Chicago’s First Lady is committed to taking the proper precautions to ensure the safety and wellbeing…
Recommended Tours
Visiting Chicago
Choose one of CAC’s acclaimed architecture tours, from a selection of our guests’ perennial favorites.
Latest and Greatest
Join us for our one-time-only CAFC River Cruises with top Chicago architects, whose firms designed buildings you'll see along the water!
Skyscrapers
Select a tour of architectural treasures throughout Chicago and its suburbs, brought to life as only a CAC docent can.
Parks & Public Spaces
Explore Chicago’s green spaces and learn why well-designed parks and outdoor recreational areas are essential to the city.
Neighborhood Tours
Choose a tour featuring your favorite architect.
Visiting Chicago
Choose one of CAC’s acclaimed architecture tours, from a selection of our guests’ perennial favorites.
7 Tours in this collection
Must-See Chicago
Must-See Chicago is a fast-paced, 90-minute introductory tour to Chicago featuring some of its most famous…
Chicago Architecture: A Walk Through Time
Want a quick introduction to Chicago’s magnificent architecture? This 90-minute tour takes a comprehensive…
Chicago Icons: Connecting Past and Present
This lively overview of Chicago architecture explores iconic buildings from the 1890s to present. We'll…
Chicago’s First Skyscrapers
Chicago is home to some of the world’s earliest skyscrapers. Get an up-close look at these 19th Century…
Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park
Oak Park is home to the world’s largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. View…
Elevated Architecture: Downtown "L" Train
Explore Chicago’s amazing architecture from the unique perspective of elevated trains and station platforms…
Latest and Greatest
Join us for our one-time-only CAFC River Cruises with top Chicago architects, whose firms designed buildings you'll see along the water!
3 Tours in this collection
Wabash Avenue Arts Corridor
*Premier Tour: Discover a living urban canvas along the Wabash Avenue Arts Corridor in the South Loop…
Helmut Jahn: Architecture in Real Life
*Premier Tour: Helmut Jahn had a profound and lasting impact on Chicago's built environment. This walking…
What's New
Over the course of 90 minutes, explore some of the newest buildings around the Chicago Architecture Center…
Skyscrapers
Select a tour of architectural treasures throughout Chicago and its suburbs, brought to life as only a CAC docent can.
3 Tours in this collection
Chicago’s First Skyscrapers
Chicago is home to some of the world’s earliest skyscrapers. Get an up-close look at these 19th Century…
Mid-Century Modern Skyscrapers
Looking for iconic Mid-Century Modern architecture? What better place than Chicago with its triumvirate…
Art Deco Skyscrapers: The Loop
View Art Deco masterpieces built in the heart of Chicago’s financial district during the Roaring '20s…
Parks & Public Spaces
Explore Chicago’s green spaces and learn why well-designed parks and outdoor recreational areas are essential to the city.
Neighborhood Tours
Choose a tour featuring your favorite architect.
3 Tours in this collection
Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park
Oak Park is home to the world’s largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. View…
Northwestern University
Discover Northwestern University’s stunning, wooded campus on the shore of Lake Michigan. This two-hour…
Fulton-Randolph Market
Discover the fascinating 150-year evolution of the Fulton-Randolph Market District from food wholesaling…
Find a Tour
Tours by type
Tours by Location
Beverly (South): A Castle, Mansions and More
Tour one of Chicago’s most fascinating neighborhoods, Beverly. Explore two houses built just after the Great Fire of 1871, a Frank Lloyd Wright home and a true Chicago castle. This tour showcases part of Chicago’s Longwood Drive Landmark District…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Discover Chicago's Historic Neighborhoods
CAC has partnered with Big Bus Chicago for a tour that explores Chicago's mosaic of neighborhoods. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30am, discover five fascinating communities from a seat on an open-top bus. You'll get an intriguing look at the art…
Note: Scheduled departures for this tour will return next season. To be notified when tickets for our next tour season go on sale, email tickets@architecture.org.
Fort Sheridan
Discover the history and architecture of Fort Sheridan, a former military base listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Designed by one of Chicago's most influential architects, Holabird and Roche, its buildings served military purposes from…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Langue Française: Gratte-Ciel Historiques et Modernes
Cette visite unique, vous offrira un aperçu complet de l’architecture de Chicago. Tout en écoutant l’histoire de la ville, vous verrez, dans l’ordre chronologique, quelques-uns de ses buildings les plus anciens, ainsi que des tours ultra-hautes…
Note: Scheduled departures for this tour will return next season. To be notified when tickets for our next tour season go on sale, email tickets@architecture.org.
Graceland Cemetery
Beautiful and serene, Graceland Cemetery is a treasured oasis in the center of our bustling city. Notables interred here are Chicago's movers and shakers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Daniel Burnham, Potter Palmer, Charles Wacker, George…
Graceland Cemetery: Symbols in Stone
As we explore a venerable section of Graceland Cemetery, we’ll discuss the meanings of and changes to gravestone symbols and shapes, from Victorian times to the present day. We’ll see a variety of obelisks and mausoleums, as well as distinctive memorials…
Graceland Cemetery: Women of Influence
During Chicago’s period of growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women played a hugely influential role by participating in the Underground Railroad, exhibiting the first Modern Art paintings, creating the juvenile justice system and even…
Highland Park
This tour traces Highland Park’s history from pioneer settlement to summer retreat for Chicago’s wealthy to year-round suburb. Encounter a beautiful variety of residential styles and see homes by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and W. W. Boyington…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Hotel Boom: Making Old New Again
Chicago's recent growth as a favorite travel destination has fueled a surge in the creative repurposing of historic skyscrapers into chic new hotels. Learn how and why a former athletic club, silver manufacturer and motor club have undergone this change…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Illinois Center Pedway
Take a warm walk and see the cool architecture of the Illinois Center Pedway. Learn how an abandoned railway freight yard was transformed into an important urban development. You’ll see some pretty and some gritty portions of the Pedway as we travel…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Vice to Nice: Transformation of the South Loop
The story of the South Loop is complete with characters, corruption, renewal and transformation. Explore how an area known for vice, gangsters, a few famous madams and a lot of abandoned railroad tracks has transformed into today’s thriving South Loop…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Lake Bluff
Explore the fascinating history reflected in the unique designs of the North Shore suburb of Lake Bluff. Trace the history from the formation of the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association, and their plans for a resort similar to the Chautauqua movement,…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Lake Forest Cemetery
Experience the Lake Forest Cemetery's park-like setting overlooking Lake Michigan in one of Chicago's most beautiful premier suburbs. Hear stories of Lake Forest's founding and those who made their mark from Civil War to modern times.
Lincoln Park: From Cemetery to Sculpture Garden
Take a pleasant walk through Chicago’s beautiful Lincoln Park—a former lakeside cemetery turned recreation destination. Hear about the park’s history, learn the stories behind famous sculptures and enjoy a stroll through the park’s beloved zoo…
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!
Navy Pier
Explore the ever-changing Navy Pier! Learn how the pier has served Chicago through adaptive reuse since 1916 and why both the pier and theater are such popular tourist destinations.
Note: There are currently no departures available for booking. New tour departures are released on the 15th of each month. Please check back soon!