Art Institute Tour: Explore Iconic Masterpieces

Experience the Art Institute of Chicago like never before with a skip-the-line guided tour. Explore famous masterpieces and learn the stories behind them with an engaging guide.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • The Art Institute of Chicago - Only the highest quality guide is equipped to introduce you to one of the greatest museums on earth. the Art Institute, one of the world’s great art museums, houses a works that cover centuries of Art & History. Its is also known to have the worlds greatest collection of Impressionist artwork (Even rivaling the Musee…
What's Included
  • Exclusive semi-private groups of no more than 8 guests
  • Enjoy a 2.5-hour immersive experience
  • All entrance fees included for a hassle-free visit
  • Benefit from skip-the-line access with a semi-private guided museum tour
What's Not Included
  • Tour price does NOT include gratuities (optional)
  • Tour price does NOT include hotel pickup or drop-off (we recommend UBER or Taxi)
Additional Information

The Art Institute of Chicago draws nearly as many visitors as other top galleries such as the Met, Louvre, and British Museum. During this 2.5-hour semi-private guided museum tour, limited to 12 guests, participants can bypass the line and discover its most renowned artworks with the assistance of an engaging guide.
Highlights typically include:…

Location
The Art Institute of Chicago
South Michigan Avenue
Meeting Point: “To The Lions Left”; next to the iconic lion statues (the lion on the left when facing the museum) outside the main Museum entrance on South Michigan Avenue.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(154 Ratings)
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Pennybo5835uf
Jan 24, 2026
Great! - Amazing! The guide was not only knowledgeable , but he understood how non-art experts view art and helped bring us into his world for a few hours!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
596trevors
Jan 20, 2026
Spiro is a fantastic guide - Babylon's guided tour is amazing. The 2.5 hour tour hits the highlights of the collection, but barely scratches the surface of all they have to offer. Spiro was a fantastic guide. He was very charismatic and knowledgeable, and my wife and I would gladly follow Spiro around the Art Institute all day if an 8 hour tour was offered.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
899noelled
Jan 10, 2026
Great Experience- loved Arnold - Arnold was a great tour guide and gave us great information about the highlights of the Art Institute. The tour was 2.5 hours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
776danad
Jan 10, 2026
Art Insitute & Art brought to life! - Arnold was an amazing guide! We learned so much about the artists and brought the story behind the art to life! We enjoyed every minute!
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Johngo8137no
Jan 9, 2026
great experience - The tour guide was very professional and knowledgeable. Arnold did not rush us and encouraged us to ask questions, which we did. He pointed out some of the more unique art work that we missed on previous visits. He met us on time in front of the Art Institute. The timing of the tour was good, plenty of time was provided to see the highlights. The setting was very peaceful. I think the tour was a bit pricy but worth it after all. We went on the first tour and there were no crowds.The admission fee is reasonable and the tour is best for those who want to learn something about art. We like taking tours with a guide. This is our travel style.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christinadk2387gc
Jan 3, 2026
Great, informative tour - Spiel did an excellent job leading this tour. It was informative and interesting. He moved at a great pace and was accommodating for everyone in the tour. I would recommend this tour to anyone interested in learning more about the art.
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Sherri
Dec 21, 2025
Highly recommend - We had an excellent experience- we had Heath B as a guide an he was extremely knowledgeable and interesting. I loved all his stories about the artists and could not believe the ground we covered in 2,5 hrs. Really get tour - highly recommend!!!!
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Paulpk986qg
Dec 13, 2025
Great tour - Patti was very knowledgeable and passionate about many different eras of art. The experience was personalized for the group too. Very good tour!
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Y978ajamyp
Dec 13, 2025
Great art tour from Babylon Tours - Our tour guide Patti was fabulous! In 2.5 hours she gave us a crash course on art history and pointed out and explained art from each period. She asked each of us our favorite art and then catered the tour to all of our diverse tastes. We each ended up getting a new favorite in the museum that we learned about during the tour! Highly recommend Patti!
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Roving51081748409
Dec 11, 2025
Excellent Tour - Samantha P was a wonderful guide for our Art Institute tour. We live in Chicago and have been to the Art Institute several times before, but in 2.5 hours we saw and learned more about architecture, art, history, background stories, and fun facts than we could have ever imagined. Fantastic experience. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $90
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).