Architecture walks with kids
Children will not care who Daniel Burnham was, but they will care about a tunnel under the street and a hot dog halfway through. What matters is choosing a walk that matches their legs and their patience. This guide goes through each tour's rules on age and strollers, then gives you ways to keep young walkers looking up.
Match the walk to the child
Length is the first filter. The CAC's Must-See Chicago walk, from ~$35, is a 90-minute loop that starts and ends in the same building, which suits a school-age child who likes to keep moving. Its catch is that most of the route looks at buildings from outside, which means fewer indoor breaks. Most other walks take two hours, a stretch many children manage when lobbies break it up. Chicago in a Day, from ~$99, runs 4.5 hours, a long afternoon by any measure, though four tastings along the way do a lot for morale.
Then think about wheels. A stroller rules out some routes and suits others, and the listings differ more than you might expect. The table sums them up.
| Tour | Length | Strollers | Children's prices | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago in a Day (Urban Adventures) | 4.5 h | Stroller and wheelchair accessible | Under 4 free, child price 4–11 on Viator | Long, 12 places, books up early |
| Dazzling Interiors (Inside Chicago, our pick) | 2 h | Stroller and wheelchair accessible per Viator | Child discount on Viator | Starts and ends in different places |
| Pedway and the Loop (Inside Chicago) | 2 h | Not suitable, staircases | Not stated | About 1.5 miles (2.4 km), enclosed spaces |
| Secret Interiors (Empire Tours) | 2 h | Stroller accessible per Viator | Kids' rate on Viator | Groups up to 30 |
| Historic Treasures and Must-See (CAC) | 2 h and 90 min | No stroller storage | Not stated | No large bags, service animals only |
The food walk keeps them going
Urban Adventures' Chicago in a Day solves the biggest problem with an architecture walk, which is hunger. The listing calls it child-friendly and lets children under 4 go free, and Viator sells a child price for ages 4–11. The tastings run from deep-dish pizza and Italian beef to a Chicago-style hot dog and Chicago-style popcorn, which together make a full meal. Between bites the route usually takes in the Riverwalk and the Bean in Millennium Park, and when the weather allows it dips into the Pedway.
The catch is length and price. Four and a half hours asks a lot of small legs, and the architecture shares the afternoon with food and stories of Prohibition. With only 12 places, it also books up early, about 39 days ahead on average on Viator.
Lunch built into the route
Chicago in a Day meets under the Chicago Theatre marquee at 175 N. State Street and ends in River North 4.5 hours later, with tastings that add up to a full meal, from ~$99. Strollers are welcome and children under 4 go free. Cancel on either site without charge up to 24 hours ahead.
Where a stroller can go
Inside Chicago's interiors walk, from ~$35, is the easiest two-hour choice with a stroller, since Viator lists it as stroller and wheelchair accessible and shows child and senior discounts. The walk is one-way, from the horse sculpture plaza at 425 S. Financial Place to the Cultural Center, so plan your ride back to the hotel from the finish.
The Pedway walk, from ~$35, is the tour most likely to win over a ten-year-old, because it slips under the city into corridors set with stained glass, with an underground swimming pool on the way. It is no place for a stroller, with a handful of staircases over about 1.5 miles (2.4 km), and it does not suit anyone uneasy in enclosed spaces. Leave the stroller at the hotel and bring a carrier for a toddler.
Empire Tours' Secret Interiors walk, from ~$30, is listed as stroller accessible on Viator, with kids' rates. It meets in Union Station's Great Hall, and the listing asks you to arrive 15 minutes early. The catch for families is group size, up to 30 on Viator, so a small child near the back may see more coats than ceilings.
The CAC runs Historic Treasures from ~$35 and the 90-minute Must-See. Neither offers stroller storage or room for large bags, and only service animals may come along. Their bonus is the start. Both begin at the Chicago Architecture Center at 111 E Wacker Drive, where the ticket includes the exhibits, and the scale model of Chicago with some 4,000 buildings can keep children busy hunting for their hotel. Ask the CAC about wheelchair access on Historic Treasures, because the listings conflict.
Games that keep them looking up
A guide talks to the whole group, so give children a job of their own. These work on most routes.
- Creature hunt. Loop facades hide carved and cast animals and faces. Ask them to spot gargoyles and owls before the guide points any out;
- Count the glass. Under a Tiffany dome, such as the one in the Chicago Cultural Center, set them counting the pieces in one small section. Nobody finishes, which is the point;
- Guess the Picasso. The steel sculpture in Daley Plaza (1967) never got an official subject. Ask what it looks like to them before anyone explains. The Pedway walk usually passes it;
- Find yourself in the Bean. Cloud Gate in Millennium Park bends every reflection, and Chicago in a Day stops there. Several walks end nearby, so it makes a good reward after the tour;
- Spot the film set. Older children can look for street corners they know from movies, which guides on some walks point out.
Restrooms and breaks
Plan the stops before you start. The Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E Washington Street is free to enter when open and has restrooms, and both Inside Chicago's interiors walk and the CAC's Historic Treasures end there. Union Station, where Empire's walk begins, has restrooms too, so use them before the guide sets off. Between those points, lobbies are working buildings with security desks rather than public facilities, and some close without notice, so do not count on one mid-tour. Summer heat and winter wind both shorten a child's patience, and the best time for an architecture walk helps you pick the season.
Teenagers and film locations
Teenagers who roll their eyes at cornices often perk up at Gotham City. Empire's listing points out that South LaSalle Street served as a backdrop in the Batman films, and the stone canyon ending at the Board of Trade looks the part. Reviewers of Inside Chicago's interiors walk also mention the film references their guides drop along the way. For a teenager who likes engineering, a reviewer says one of the Pedway guides is a structural engineer, and where the skyscraper was born gives the background on why the towers went up here first.
When a walk is too much
Some days the legs give out before the interest does. A river cruise keeps everyone seated. Wendella's 90-minute architecture cruise, from ~$45, leaves from near the Wrigley Building with indoor or deck seats and scores 4.8 from 9,739 reviews on GetYourGuide. The catch for families is that the boats are big and busy in summer, and small children may tire of the narration long before the boat docks. River cruise or walking tour? weighs the two formats.
The other answer is a guide of your own, who can usually slow down for a child or trim the route. Urban Adventures' private Hidden Chicago walk, from ~$178, runs 2.5 hours from the Chicago Theatre through the Pedway and along the Riverwalk, with a popcorn tasting on the way. The catch is price. The listed price covers a single guest, and although it drops per head as the group grows, a small family will likely pay more per head than on a shared walk. About half the stories are also about Prohibition rather than buildings. Private and small-group architecture walks compares the options, and what a Chicago architecture walk costs prices a family of four.