Chicago Architecture Center Cruise on Chicago's First Lady

See Chicago's skyline from the water on a 1.5-hour cruise narrated by a Chicago Architecture Center docent. The tour runs in partnership with Chicago's First Lady Cruises and has been a city staple since 1983.

Why this cruise stands apart

Most Chicago boat tours rely on crew commentary. This one is different. Since 1983, the Chicago Architecture Center, formerly the Chicago Architecture Foundation, has run this cruise with volunteer docents trained specifically to explain the buildings along the river, and it operates in partnership with Chicago's First Lady Cruises. As you pass more than a century of architectural styles, your guide connects the skyline to the engineering story underneath it, including the 1900 reversal of the Chicago River. That project, completed with the opening of the Sanitary and Ship Canal on January 2, 1900, sent the river's flow toward the Mississippi basin instead of Lake Michigan, protecting the city's drinking water from typhoid and cholera outbreaks. The locks and controlling works built to manage that flow are what keep the river navigable for tour boats today. Current pricing and departure times are shown on the live booking page.

Questions people ask before booking