Chicago Walking Tour: Exploring Historic Skyscrapers

Discover the historic skyscrapers of Chicago on a walking tour. Learn about the innovative construction techniques and how they transformed the city into a center of skyscraper design. Support education and community engagement projects with your ticket purchase.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Fine Arts Building - Meet here to start the tour.
  • Auditorium Building - View the building from the outside
  • The Rookery Building - View the building from the outside
  • Chicago Board of Trade Building - View the exterior of the building
  • Marquette Building - View the building from the outside
  • Monadnock Building - View the…
What's Included
  • Access to the Chicago Architecture Center Galleries
  • Guided narration by a certified professional
  • Explore Chicago’s historic architecture on a walking tour
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Coat check
  • Storage for luggage and strollers
Additional Information

Chicago boasts some of the earliest high-rises globally. Explore these 19th Century architectural wonders, understand the cutting-edge methods used to construct them, and discover how they revolutionized Chicago into a hub of high-rise design and engineering.
This walking tour’s highlights include Burnham and Root’s Rookery (1888), a unique structure…

Location
410 Michigan Ave
Michigan Avenue
This tour meets at 410 S. Michigan Ave., outside the Fine Arts Building.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.8
(70 Ratings)
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Hockeymom001
Sep 29, 2025
Great Architectural Tour - Excellent tour of some historic skyscrapers in downtown Chicago. The docent was very knowledgeable about the history of skyscrapers and was able to point out building details that I would have missed on my own. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roam236944
Aug 31, 2025
Chicago’s First Skyscrapers - Anthony was an excellent guide, made the history of the buildings come alive! Now I see all the elements we discussed referenced in so many buildings all around Chicago. LOVED the inside and outside aspects, the hidden lobby gems!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kylesm579jv
Jun 17, 2025
Chicago's First Skyscrapers! - This was a wonderful tour of Chicago's First Skyscrapers. Our tour guide was great! We visited the Auditorium Theater building, the Marquette Building, the Monadnock Building, the Rookery Building, the Fisher Building, the Manhattan Building, and a couple of others. Our guide told us about load-bearing buildings versus metal-frame buildings, beams and spandrels, the importance of windows (particularly bay windows) for light and ventilation, and much more.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
613michaelag
Apr 18, 2025
Great tour with a really nice guide! - A very interesting tour with John, our enthusiastic guide who gave us a really insightful view of Chicago architecture. Definitely recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Matthewcb340sr
Dec 28, 2024
Great Tour of The Reliance - Really loved the Reliance Building tomorrow. Docent was very knowledgeable and made tour interesting! Will definitely do more tours soon. Thanks!
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Giapet333
Sep 30, 2024
A gorgeous walk thru time - Our guide was friendly a knowledgeable and gave us a great crash course in early Chicago architecture, we absolutely loved it!
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Pdxbbtravelers
Sep 22, 2024
You will love this tour. So interesting! - We have taken many walking tours with the Chicago Architecture Center, and loved every one of them. This tour about Chicago’s first skyscrapers was the best of the best. The guide was fantastic. We highly recommend the tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
H36cdalexisb
Jul 20, 2024
Must see - You can’t understand Chicago without understanding its historic first skyscrapers. These gems are worth seeing and preserving for many generations. I learned so much on this tour. I highly recommend!
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Clarep654
Jun 18, 2024
Look up!! - We saw some beautiful architect on this tour. Lesson learned: look up! There is a treasure trove of beauty on the ceilings in Chicago. Matt did a great job and seemed as bummed as we were that certain buildings were not included. Maybe it's time for Part II? Thank you for a nice afternoon.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chi_explorer312
Jun 9, 2024
Marvels in plain sight! - Our docent was excellent! The buildings we saw were beautiful and their history was interesting. I’ve passed the buildings many times and hadn’t ever take the time to really look before. So glad to have done this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $35
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).