Chicago Detours
One of our absolute favorite ways to the Windy City is with Chicago Detours, a tour company that explores Chicago's history, architecture, and social culture in a really fun and engaging way!
This company was founded in 2010 by an experienced tour guide who had worked with Rick Steve's Europe team as a researcher in Italy for 12 years. This experience certainly shows with the many different Chicago Detours options, with both walking and bus tours, custom private and basic public.
Here are some of our favorites for groups:
- Chicago Neighborhoods and Cultural Diversity Bus Tour
- This tour is all about the 'peoples history', a two-hour bus ride through neighborhoods that reflect the past, present, and future of the people who live there such as Greektown, South Loop, Hyde Park, Chinatown, Bridgeport, Pilson, and Little Italy. Learn all about immigration, cultural immersion, homelife, local industries, and religious mainstays.
- Fulton Market Factories, Galleries, and Calories Tour
- This is a new tour in 2018, a much-anticipated walking tour of the 'Boom Neighborhood'. From a meat-packing past to a more gourmet present, this tour will focus on how the history and industry of food affect the culture of a particular place. Learn about the meatpacking plants, see new 'industry-chic' art deco buildings, and get a taste of local community delicacies such as a famous donut, 3rd generation Italian sub shop, and a micro craft brewery.
- Wicker Park Food Tour - Seasonal
- What better way to immerse yourself in a community than by tasting its foods? With the Wicker Park Food Tour, you will learn all about the neighborhoods Polish immigrant influence, 90's gentrification, and exciting new culinary adventures. A 30s hamburger joint, taqueria, and Podhalanka await!
