Chicago Detours
Chicago Public Domain
Founded in 2010, Chicago Detours provides one of the best overall tour experiences in the city, the founder of the company bringing over 12 years of experience in the field as a tour guide and researcher with Rick Steve's Europe team. The many different tours offered through this tour company are fun and educational, making them great for school groups and adult private groups. There are walking and bus tours, public and private.
Chicago Neighborhoods and Cultural Diversity Bus Tour
For a look into the diverse communities of Chicago, past and present, this is the tour you need to take. The Chicago Neighborhoods and Cultural Diversity tour is a tour hour 'people's history' tour, a journey capturing the spirit of the people through history, architecture, and religion. You will travel through such culturally rich neighborhoods as Hyde Park, Bridgeport, Chinatown, Pilson, Greektown, South Loop, and many more. Immigration, industrialization, and social segregation are among the particular topics discussed, and you will also see the 'sunken houses', Mexican mural art, and a few beaches and parks along the way! You can opt to stop for a full family-style Mexican lunch, too.
Changes and Spaces in Pilsen
Walk around Chicago's South Side in what is considered to be the heart of Chicago's Mexican community, Pilsen, in this fun 3-hour walking tour. The tour focuses on the last 50 years of history, which is mainly Mexican immigration. 'You will discuss local factories and the working class of the past, and most of all the tour focuses on the complex and sensitive forces at hand in the gentrification of the area into one for young, creative professionals.' This is all meant to put community changes as far as society, in general, goes in perspective, plus you will get to sample some seriously tasty wares along the way. Try grilled skirt steak, plantains, and ancho chilis as you discuss the irony of 'gourmet tacos'.
