Walking Tour with Food: Old Polonia and Wicker Park

On our walking tour of the Noble Square and Wicker Park neighborhoods, we will explore the past and present of the people, architecture, and foods of these vibrant and very much changing communities. Studied by sociologists around the world for its rapid transformation in the '80s and '90s, the Wicker Park neighborhood had previously been home to gang bangers, drug addicts and prostitutes. Today it is often ranked in lists of "Coolest Neighborhoods" in America, and now neighboring Ukrainian Village and Noble Square are going the same direction, too.

The Chicago Detours kind of food tour means that beyond just eating, we are going to really learn. To have a more meaningful connection with the places we visit, stories on this walking tour range from the voyage of Polish immigrants to the "bard of the down-and-outer" of Nelson Algren, to the "Die Yuppie Scum" graffiti of gentrification.

Our walking tour starts at the former "Polish Broadway" with a visit inside a stunning Polish Catholic Church, filled with paintings, gold leaf details, and sweeping arches. Our walk around the neighborhood reveals clues to incredible contrasts of old and new, like a taqueria in a building from a 1930s hamburger joint or one of Chicago's last newspaper stands. Over a huitlacoche quesadilla with home-made tortillas, we consider Mexican immigration to Chicago and Ashland Avenue's "taco row." Then we sample home-style Polish food in a restaurant that feels just like going to visit your Polish grandmother.

We take the CTA up to the Damen stop to stroll through the blooming park of Wicker Park. In this vibrant park we begin to see the neighborhood mix of people, before wandering down "Beer Baron Row" to see massive 19th century mansions. For this Wicker Park walking tour, you'll hear the history of the Turkish Baths, which often peeks interest from Blue Line riders. We'll consume the new school vibe of the hip neighborhood with a gourmet doughnut from Stan's Donuts. And our tour concludes by the massive gears of a bank vault, now a Walgreen's Pharmacy.

Polonia and Wicker Park Walking Tour Highlights

Step inside a dazzling Catholic Church
Walk by Gilded Age Mansions on "Beer Baron Row"
Eat Polish Food Like Grandma Used to Make
See Writer Nelson Algren's home
Step Inside a Bank Vault, Now a Pharmacy

Polonia and Wicker Park Walking Tour Stories and Ideas

Old Polonia, aka "Polish Downtown"
What Old Wicker Park Was Like
Mexican Immigration to Chicago
The '90s Gentrification of Wicker Park
Inevitability of Change in Neighborhoods

Wicker Park Walking Tour with Food Includes

• Authentaco
• Podhalanka
• Stan's Donuts

CTA train fare - one train ride

Walking Distance: 1.2 miles.

Chicago Architecture Crash Course Walking Tour Overview

What does Michael Jackson’s Thriller have to do with the design of a post-modern skyscraper? Or Andy Warhol’s soup cans with modernism? The Architecture Crash Course Walking Tour is designed for curious people. In just 90 minutes, you will learn about architectural styles from Chicago's earliest days to the present, and make fun connections with art and pop culture. You’ll look at lots of gorgeous buildings while expanding your understanding of architectural styles and Chicago history, right in the heart of downtown Chicago. Tour starts at the Michigan Avenue Bridge, where the city began, and finishes at Maggie Daley Park. 
All arts are a reflection of an age. Styles in creations like architecture, graphic design, fashion design, and pop culture have similar qualities when they come from the same era. In order to learn how to contextualize and identify architecture, this tour compares buildings with works from other media like these. Your tour guide will also explain how advancements in technology and engineering have shaped building designs. 
The fun and creative educational approach makes this unlike any other architecture tour in the city. The tour appeals to people looking for an introduction to Chicago architecture, as well as guests who are well-versed in art history. Book now!
Architecture Crash Course Walking Tour Highlights
-A gold-topped skyscraper
-Jeanne Gang's Aqua Tower
-A monument to modernism
-The fun and contemporary Maggie Daley Park
-Images of art history and pop culture comparisons
Stories and Ideas
-Fort Dearborn and the “simple life”
-The Chicago School of Architecture
-Art Deco and the Roaring ’20s
-The fun shapes of post-modern forms
-Recent trends in city living

Walking Tour Tickets Include

• Engaging tour guide commentary
• Special gifts
• Discounted flat-rate parking at Grant Park North Garage ($15)

Walking distance: 0.6 mile

Architecture of Money and Power Financial District Walking Tour Overview

This walking tour in the heart of Chicago’s financial district will take you and your private group to discover opulent architecture and secret stories. We explore architectural interiors of bank and insurance buildings from the turn of the century and beyond. You’ll hear about the flamboyant characters of the past, including stories of both greed and generosity. We’ll visit what was the largest and most technologically advanced building of the 1930s, and consider the background of skyscrapers as a symbol of financial power.

Architecture on this financial district walking tour will range from sleek art deco to glittering post-modern, with buildings constructed from the late 1800s into more present times. We’ll consider the roots of why bank buildings often look like temples. We’ll see ornate carved stone details and massive murals. Buildings include the Chicago Board of Trade, The Rookery, Union League Club, the Federal Center, Field Building and more. 

We also venture to the “back door” of the Board of Trade. Here a time-warp exists in the middle of downtown Chicago, with historic bars, an old school pizza joint, a pawn shop, and the rickety tracks of the El train.

In keeping with Chicago Detours’ mission to explore stories and places locals don’t know, this tour will either tell lesser known stories behind famous buildings or take guests into buildings they might not normally notice right in the heart of the financial district.

Walking Tour Highlights

• The art deco glamour of the Bank of America Building
• Glittering architectural interiors of the post-modern 190 S. Lasalle Building
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s opulent remodel of the Rookery
• The Union League’s residential-inspired architecture

Stories and Ideas

• A vibrant history of open outcry
• The gorgeous building cursed with the worst bank collapses in American history
• A surprising story of disappearing sculptures from Chicago Board of Trade
• The armed militia of Northern Trust Bank
• The story of the eccentric self-made billionaire John D. MacArthur

Walking Tour Tickets Include

• Engaging tour guide commentary
• Special gifts
• Discounted flat-rate parking at Grant Park North Garage ($15)

For this architecture walking tour, you’ll step inside magnificent lobbies, corridors, and the underground Pedway system for an in-depth, personal approach to a Chicago architecture walking tour downtown. The Loop Interior Architecture Walking Tour takes you on a creative route that weaves through buildings and secret short-cuts. Most of the tour takes place inside, making it great for any kind of winter or spring weather.

As one of the top-rated tours of Chicago, the Loop Interior Architecture Walking Tour has received plenty of five-star ratings on Yelp.

Our fun and passionate tour guides are highly trained professionals with degrees in architecture, design, art history and history. They know how to connect with a group, spark imaginations, and communicate new concepts in relating to architecture.

Looking at the outside of buildings, such as with architectural boat tours, can be a great first step in engaging with Chicago architecture. For the next level of connection with Chicago architecture, go inside of the buildings. You will appreciate Chicago architecture from new perspectives. From the interiors, you can truly experience architectural space rather than from the more isolated perspective of a downtown sidewalk.

If you are looking for a Pedway-only tour, this walking tour is much more than just a Pedway walking tour with visits into beautiful lobbies and corridors of both Chicago landmarks and lesser-known historic sites. Walking through the Pedway is like walking through a modern basement, and it is generally not very visually enticing. A portion of this tour takes you into Pedway passages, and you get the gift of our color-printed map of the Chicago Pedway System so that you can explore on your own.

For drivers, Chicago Detours offers tour guests a special discounted flat-rate parking for $15 at the Grant Park North Garage right at Millennium Park (ask for voucher at tour). This Chicago architecture walking tour is also available as a private group tour.

• Church in a Skyscraper with Stained Glass Windows
• The “Chicago Picasso” Sculpture
• Chicago Underground Pedway System
• Marshall Field’s Department Store
• Sparkling Tiffany Mosaics
• Chicago Cultural Center

• How to read Chicago architecture to understand history
• Stories of corruption and generosity
• Why the “El” is elevated
• Design psychology behind interior space
• A surprising history of shopping
• Religion and social diversity

• Engaging tour guide commentary
• Professionally printed Chicago Pedway Map
• Special Chicago gifts

Walking Distance:  0.7 mile

The  All Ages 1893 World’s Fair Walking Tour digs into how and why the World’s Columbian Exposition still captures imaginations more than 125 years later. This 2-hour mostly indoor walking tour visits beautiful historical buildings in downtown Chicago that still remain from the time of the World’s Fair. You will learn more about the history of this incredible event while playing interactive, educational games like visual scavenger hunts.

This downtown tour visits some of the few remaining and spectacular buildings from the time of the World’s Fair. The fairgrounds themselves were in Jackson Park and on the Midway. You can best see the impact of the fair right in downtown Chicago. Here the architecture and landscape still show the World’s Fair imprint even today. Stepping into a glittering lobby of a 19th century hotel allows you to step into the past in your imagination.

Along with commentary illuminating the World’s Fair’s history, your guide will show you archival photos and images on shared iPads that help bring it to life. You’ll even get a chance to ride in a human-operated elevator, one of the last left in the city. In between tour commentary, the guide will lead you in interactive, educational games, including a visual scavenger hunt with historic clues. This is a fun way to learn about history, making it a good tour for guests of all ages, from kids to senior citizens!

This is a streamlined version of our regularly-scheduled 1893 World’s Fair Walking Tour with Bars. The All Ages version of the tour focuses on the educational games and architectural explorations and does not include a drink stop.

Highlights

• The sweeping grand lobby of the Auditorium Building
• Ride an old elevator with a human operator
• Interactive, educational games like a visual scavenger hunt
• Beautiful 19th-century architecture
• A secret alleyway with a hidden building
• Magnificent architecture of a landmark department store

• The rapid changes in culture around the turn of the 20th century
• All the different exhibits, from transportation to fine arts
• The 1893 Fair’s array of foods and even food sculpture
• Parlor songs of the past
• Amusements on the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair
• The magnitude and brevity of this influential event

• Professional tour guide commentary
• Shared iPads with historic photos
• Small snack
• Game prizes and gifts

Guests will experience incredible architecture among the famed historic districts of Motor Row and Prairie Avenue. Beyond the architecture, guests will discover the unexpected stories of the people who lived and worked in Chicago’s South Loop from 1871 to 1971.
The neighborhood’s Prairie Avenue once boasted “Millionaire Row.” At the peak of the Gilded Age in the late 19th century, some of the wealthiest people in American history built palatial mansions in this bucolic area.
By the 1970s, the neighborhood was spattered with industrial buildings, shuttered train stations, parking lots, and McCormick Place, the just-opened, colossal convention center. Despite this unbecoming state in the 1970s, the choices made and forces unleashed at that nadir of urban decay led to the vibrant and redeveloped neighborhood of today.
1971 was a crucial and overlooked year in Chicago history, a time of transition. City leaders opened America’s biggest convention center, a Modernist corporate acropolis. The roots of the historic preservation movement were taking form mere blocks away. The closure of passenger railroad lines marked the end of an era that defined Chicago’s role in the country, and began the era that we now live in.
Learn the massive histories and inside stories at mom and pop factories and visit both the famous and less-known locations of Chess Records. Guests will learn of the dramatic fall of the mansion district, as beautiful greystones went from high-class soirees to flophouses and publishing offices. This walking tour presents new perspectives on how the South Loop became the vibrant neighborhood it is today.

On this special holiday tour, we’ll see some classic Chicago holiday traditions and hear off-the-beaten path stories that you expect from Chicago Detours. Instead of whizzing by Christmas lights from a bus, we’ll walk (in mostly heated indoor spaces) to fully enjoy the spirit of the holidays in downtown Chicago. While we can’t predict the weather, we can promise you won’t get too cold! We’ll venture into a few cozy locales and talk history over couple drinks. Non-drinkers are more than welcome, too, as this is more than a drinking tour.

We have some inside stories on our holiday lights tour! Hear about how Mayor Richard J. Daley saved the Christmas Parade, and then how his son, Richard M., was almost awarded a stocking of coal for his affront to the holidays. Your guide will share the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’s birth in Chicago. We’ll even have an overview of the development of consumerism for Christmas. This walking tour is not your typical holiday lights tour of Chicago!

The holiday tour has some classic experiences, too. We’ll go into the former Marshall Field’s Department Store, where Chicago holiday traditions have a rich and long history. You’ll have your choice of a beer from the local Revolution Brewery or a glass of wine. While enjoying those drinks, you’ll gaze at the giant holiday tree in the historic Walnut Room and discover forgotten stories and make new memories. We'll even gaze from a cozy place at the holiday and not holiday lights on State Street, and consider the nostalgia of old Chicago. We end across the street from the Christkindlmarket, where you can choose to explore on your own and perhaps get a steaming serving of German mulled wine!

Holiday Tour Highlights

• Sip on local brew while gazing at the Macy’s Holiday Tree
• Understand the artistry of department store window displays
• See the new Muddy Waters mural and discover Chicago blues connections to Xmas
• Hear the story of the “Christmas Tree Tragedy”
• Learn of the cute gimmicks of holiday seasons past and a history of consumerism
• Drink a “Tom and Jerry” cocktail at the historic Miller’s Pub

Holiday Tour Sights
Historic Miller’s Pub
Palmer House Hotel
State Street and its Holiday Lights
Macy’s Department Store
The Chicago Christmas Tree in Millennium Park
Chicago Theatre and its Famous Marquee
Christkindlmarkt in Daley Plaza

Please be aware that these locations have crowds during this holiday season. We will have to navigate crowds and there may be a wait to get our drinks. Because it is difficult to predict the traffic flows, the duration of the walking tour will be between 2.5 and 3 hours.

Bundle up!
We’ll be inside half the time, and the other half we’ll be in warm, cozy places having drinks.

Ticket Price
Ticket price includes tour guide commentary, candy gift, and printed Pedway map. 

Guests bring $25 cash to cover two drinks and server gratuities: 1. a holiday cocktail 2. A glass of wine or local beer. Non-drinkers don't need to bring cash. 

1893 World’s Fair Tour Overview

This very special walking tour digs into how and why the 1893 World’s Fair captures imaginations more than any other event in Chicago history. Unlike other World’s Fair tours and Devil in the White City tours, which likely revolve around facts and trivia, you’ll dig deeper on this tour.

On this fun and insightful walking tour, you’ll venture into beautiful architectural spaces from the era. You will play a few thoughtfully designed games, like visual scavenger hunts. Along with guide commentary, your guide will show you on shared iPads material from archives and photographs that illuminate this event, also known as the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

This downtown tour visits some of the few remaining and spectacular buildings from the time of the World’s Fair. The fairgrounds themselves were south of downtown, but you can best see the impact of the fair in the Loop. Here the architecture and landscape still show the World’s Fair imprint even today, nearly 125 years later. And beyond just looking at buildings from outside, our mostly indoor walking tour sees the beauty of architectural details within. Plus, you can opt to get drinks (on you), too!

You can think of this 2.5-hour-long walking tour as being 5% outdoors, 95% indoors, 20% clue-based games and visual scavenger hunts, 10% drinking time, and 100% awesome historical tour time. We know the math doesn’t add up – we hope you get the idea!

With just intermittent walks outside, the 1893 World’s Fair Tour makes for a great walking tour in all seasons. This tour makes the World’s Fair’s lasting impact come to life. We hope you’ll join us!

Walking Tour Highlights

• Colorful mosaics in a hotel built for the 1893 World’s Fair
• The sweeping grand lobby of the Auditorium Building
• Ride one of the downtown’s last human-operated elevators
• A secret building hidden in an alley
• See the Monadnock Building, a landmark early skyscraper
• The opulent Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, once an exclusive men’s club

Stories and Ideas

• The rapid changes in culture around the turn of the century
• The 1893 Fair’s array of foods and even food sculpture
• Parlor songs of the past
• The beginnings of consumer culture and advertising
• Amusements on the Midway at the 1893 World’s Fair

1893 World’s Fair Tour Includes:

• Professional tour guide commentary
• Shared iPads with historic photos
• Light snack
• Game prizes and gifts

Reservation Does Not Include:

• Drinks: At the tour meeting spot, we welcome you to get a drink at the bar before check-in. To streamline the tour, we take your order and cash for your second drink at check-in ($8 for beer, $10 for wine, includes gratuity). The tour concludes in a building with several drink options.
• Dietary restrictions: One small snack is included. It is vegetarian. We cannot accommodate other dietary restrictions.
• Tour guide gratuity.

Walking distance: 0.9 mile

See it all on this half-driving, half-walking private tour! Your expert tour guide will share stories and places that even locals don't know. Your driving tour gives a macro perspective of history and architecture, and the walking tour in downtown gets you inside for a close-up view of Chicago.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Experience a dramatic skyline view and stop for photos.
  

• Ogle glamorous historic mansion in the Gold Coast.

• Step inside the glitzy Art Deco lobbies of Financial District skyscrapers.

• Learn about Chicago music history under the giant tribute to Blues legend Muddy Waters.
  

• Grab a classic lunch at a historic restaurant.

• Enter jaw-dropping landmarks like the Cultural Center, the Rookery and Medinah Athletic Club.
  

• Visit iconic works of public art like the Chicago Picasso and the "Bean" in Millennium Park.
  

TO BOOK

Rates here include itinerary curation, professional tour guide commentary, taxes and gratuities.

On the next page you may add transportation options with an additional charge.

We will confirm availability within 24 business hours.  

WHY US

Featured in Entrepreneur, NPR, TimeOut, NBC, and more, we have been sharing stories and places even locals don't know since 2010. Come see why our passionate tour guides have gotten our small business voted "Best Tour of Chicago" runner-up for the past two years.