Wendella Chicago River Tour Review

I went on this river tour when I visited Chicago (admittedly a few years back). I always see a bunch of questions from people visiting Chicago wondering which tour to go on, if it’s worth going on this particular tour, and what exactly you SEE when you go on it.

Well: here you go!

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Chicago Travel Resources

First, pick up a Chicago GoCity Pass to get discounts on entrance fees and activities!

Second, I recommend staying at HI Chicago, The J. Ira & Nicki Harris Family Hostel which is near the train station, several metro lines and within walking distance to a lot of the major sightseeing stuff. They have dorms and pretty nice private rooms, plus HUGE common areas.

Third, if you need an eSIM then I always recommend getting one from Airalo.

More Chicago Tours

What's In This Post

Wendella Sightseeing River Cruise Info

Tour name: Chicago River Architecture Tour

Duration: 90 minutes

Cost: Adult: $44.00 / Child (4-12): $20.00 / Under 4: Free

Starting/Ending Point: 400 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, USA (show up at least 15 minutes prior)

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River Cruise Itinerary

These are all the buildings we passed by– quite a lot for one cruise, really! There’s actually 3 versions of this cruise, but this is what the 90 minutes cruise sees. The Lake & River tour actually goes further out into Lake Michigan, and the 45 minute cruise doesn’t loop up one part of the river. See the whole map here with the routes (PDF).

Lake Point Tower
Centennial Fountain
NBC Tower
Tribune Tower
Wrigley Building
AMA Plaza
Marina City
Merchandise Mart
333 West Wacker
2 North Riverside Plaza
Civic Opera Building
CME Center
Willis Tower
311 South Wacker

River City
Chicago Board of Trade
77 West Wacker
Leo Burnett Building
35 East Wacker
Carbide and Carbon Building
London Guarantee Building
Aon Center
Aqua Tower
Chicago Riverwalk
100 N Riverside Plaza
150 N Riverside Plaza
River Point
LaSalle/Wacker Building

Kinzie Park
Goose Island
Residences at River Bend
Wolf Point Development
Old Post Office
Chicago Marine Safety Station
Vista Tower
Crain Communications Building
The Southbank
Reid-Murdoch Center
The Domain
The Amtrak Rail Bridge
The 78
Union Station Power House

My Experience

First, the boat: it was pretty nice, looked well-cared for and not too worn down. The chairs were metal folding chairs (not great, but I guess easy to clean) and there were TONS available because this is a very big cruise with lots of tourists.

Inside there was a snack bar (with alcohol), a toilet, some tables and some chairs if you wanted to stay indoors.

Next, the ticket: I got mine online and went to the tour office to redeem it about 20 minutes before the tour started. It was very easy to do, and there’s signs everywhere showing people where to go. There were also some staff standing at the stairs area guiding guests to the right spot.

Boarding was very orderly, and I managed to find a decent seat. The tour shows buildings on both sides of the boat and there really isn’t a “better” side, but if you want to be as unimpeded as possible for photos, then get to the front as fast as you can.

And the tour itself: pretty good! I enjoyed getting to see the different styles of buildings on the river, from classical art deco and gothic designs to modernistic German stuff. Going down the river gives you a different viewpoint than just walking down the street, and it was cool to see these famous buildings from a new angle.

Our guide was Alyssa, and she was very good. It was obvious she’d been doing this tour for a long time but she still had a good energy and was interested in the topic. Like every river tour I’ve ever been on, there was plenty of corny jokes and puns to keep the flow going.

Got a good intro to the history of Chicago, as well as very detailed info on architects for each building we passed. Maybe too much, honestly? It was very informative, though, and if you’re into architecture you’d for sure enjoy this tour.

Besides the architecture info, we also got a little bit of general Chicago history. Some repeated stuff from other tours I went on, so if you’ve taken a few you may recognize some stories as they’re pretty standard.

Total narration time was about an hour, with a half hour intermission for buying snacks/drinks/etc.

Skyline view from Lake Michigan. You can see how overcast it was that day!

Some other things to note:

It was about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) colder on the water than on land, so I highly recommend bringing an extra sweater so you don’t freeze like I did. I went in April but it was still VERY chilly for this California girl. The lounge was supposedly heated, but I didn’t find it to be particularly warm. I did appreciate finding an electrical outlet where I could charge my phone during the break.

Once we got to the end of the river, we went a bit out into lake Michigan and turned around so everyone could get skyline photos, which was neat!

Was the Tour Worth It?

Overall, I think this is a good river cruise tour and I recommend it, especially if you’re really into specifics about architectural details of big city buildings. I liked that it covered the new skyscrapers as well as historical old buildings with interesting pasts.

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If you don’t care about buildings, then don’t go on this– as the history part is rather slim and you can get the same stuff on a walking tour. If you just enjoy going on the water and looking at buildings, and don’t need a guide to tell you any info, then take a water taxi instead.