If you have already done a Chicago architectural boat tour and loved it what can you do on your next trip?

Chicago was one of our last trips for pre-2020 travel. I was in Chicago in December of 2019 for my very first time and had such a fantastic time in this city. This year I had just over 24 hours to explore Chicago as I tagged along my husband’s work trip and we were staying at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco. I asked friends and family on instagram what I should do with my 24 hours in Chicago and so many people told me to do an architectural boat tour. (My guess this is probably the most popular tourist activity in Chicago, maybe?)

But I’ve already done a Chicago architectural boat tour….

It was chilly and cold when I went on the boat tour in December 2019, but I did it and it was fascinating to learn about all the buildings in the area. I was born in Canada and didn’t really know much about the history of this city-I think my kids will have a lot more of a background when they visit. And they so want to visit one day.

But I also think I should have booked my boat tour from the Chicago Architecture Center. This was only a 5 minute walk away from the Kimpton and I found out that you can pair a visit to the Architecture Center with a 1.5 hour river cruise and save a little bit on admission to the museum too.

The Chicago Architecture Center is full of information about Chicago’s building history

When I visited the Chicago Architecture Center they were featuring an exhibit on sustainability. It was cool to see Seattle’s Bullitt Center in this exhibit (and now I better book a tour to the Bullitt Center too!). Solar panels, wind turbines for homes, and a floor made of materials that could harvest the energy from the kinetic movement from dancers at a nightclub were all really intriguing products in this sustainability exhibit.

I took a photo of the 10 buildings you need to know in Chicago at the Architecture Center. I think this really helped me learn a lot more about the city and I was going to try and see as many of them as I could while I walked around. I watched a video about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and about the new buildings that were built after it. This museum did a really great job of explaining the major players who shaped the city as well as how Chicago architecture came to be.

There are also architectural walking tours in Chicago

I stumbled upon a really cool walking tour when I was researching buildings I wanted to see. I had heard about the Rookery building and saw reviews on Google Maps that said you could take pictures inside. But then I saw that they have tours on Mondays and Wednesdays with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation so I signed up for the “Enhanced Tour” and I think it cost me a little over 15 dollars. (The Chicago Architecture Center also has a Rookery tour but I’m not sure if it also includes a visit to the library or the 2nd floor inside the building and this one is 30 dollars but includes Chicago Architecture Center admission.)

The Rookery tour with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation was such an intimate way to learn about Chicago architecture. There ended up being 4 of us on the tour and we were all Canadians from Vancouver Island, Vancouver (via Seattle-me)and Montreal. Our tour guide brought us to the 2nd floor which is made of glass so we could see the spiral staircase. We also rode the elevator past the Rookery Post Office and up to the 11th floor to the Burnham Library where the original plans for the Rookery building live. You can get a little bit of a feel for this Chicago Rookery tour on this reel I made too.

But what is the coolest building to visit in Chicago?

I have spent less than a week total ever in Chicago so who knows if I know what the coolest building in the city actually is, but MY favorite building on this trip didn’t cost me ANYTHING to visit and I am glad I stumbled into it. I took a wrong turn and ended up at the Chicago Cultural Center. There I asked all about what the building is about at the info booth and was told that it had just been renovated and that I could visit the Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Rotunda. They were spectacular and empty. You can see the details in the ceilings of these rooms in this video. And you can sign up for free docent-led architectural tours with the Chicago Cultural Center or even a zoom tour as well.

And yes, there are some new cool buildings all over Chicago too-I visited a few of them last time with my Chicago CityPASS and they were fun to see. But it’s pretty incredible when you can see some of the oldest buildings in the city for free. I talked to a volunteer guide at the Chicago Cultural Center and he was worried about all the new buildings popping up and didn’t want the older buildings to get forgotten either.

So another free and amazing piece of architecture that’s not new but getting a bit of a makeover?

I need to learn more about the Tribune Tower building the next time I visit. The Chicago Museum of Ice Cream is in the new Tribune tower, along with a cool grocery/coffee shop/east-coast delivery concept called FoxTrot where I had breakfast one morning. My husband overheard another tour walking by this building and they were being told about the different stones that were imbedded in the outer walls of this place. Sure enough, this building is covered in nearly 150 pieces of historical significance including a piece from the Great Wall in China, the Grand Canyon, a piece of the World Trade Center, the Berlin Wall, a moon rock and so many other famous places from all over the world and beyond.

And if bridges fascinate you too make sure you see the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum

And maybe you’ve been following along and remember that I may have booked a hotel in London just to see a famous bridge that coils up into a spiral? I was so curious to learn more about the Chicago bridge systems too. Next time I want to visit when the bridge near the bridge house museum can actually move and if you want to try it to you need reservations. In this post 2020 world, we totally need reservations for everything…….

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)