Chicago Christmas Walk: Magnificent Mile Lights to the Christkindlmarket
Follow Michigan Avenue’s holiday lights past landmarks that span Chicago’s history, then turn toward State Street’s festive windows.
United States
Self-guided tours in Illinois
3 tours in Illinois
Route 66 in Illinois: Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge
Follow the Mother Road south from Chicago past diners, service stations and a towering astronaut.
Chicago Loop Architecture Walking Tour
Walk the Loop’s canyons and see how Chicago’s architects made height a symbol of commercial ambition.
About Illinois
Illinois runs from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan, but its most famous skyline grew up in a few blocks of downtown Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871. The rebuilding gave Chicago architects the chance to work out the tall office building, and many of the experiments are still standing in the Loop, within an easy walk of each other. Our Illinois tour is the Chicago Loop Architecture Walking Tour, eight stops over 2.2 miles from the Chicago Board of Trade to the Michigan Avenue Bridge. You hear why the first Board of Trade building had to come down, how the Rookery got its name, why the Monadnock's owner wanted no ornament, how the Marquette got its cornice back, how the Reliance Building came to be nearly all glass in 1895, what Louis Sullivan put over a department store's door, how the city's first central library became the Chicago Cultural Center, and how one bridge pulled downtown north across the river. The walk takes about 1 hour 19 minutes with the stories, on flat sidewalks. It's best on a clear day, when you can see the tops of the buildings, and it ends by the river.
Where to go in Illinois
Illinois: questions people ask
What audio tours are there in Illinois?
The Chicago Loop Architecture Walking Tour: eight buildings and bridges in downtown Chicago, 2.2 miles and about 1 hour 19 minutes with the stories.
Which Chicago buildings are on the tour?
The Chicago Board of Trade, the Rookery, the Monadnock, the Marquette, the Reliance Building, the Carson, Pirie, Scott Building, the Chicago Cultural Center and the Michigan Avenue Bridge.
Is the tour self-guided?
Yes. Start whenever you like. unlock the rest to hear it on the web or in the Stories app, which also works offline.
Is there a self-guided tour of Illinois?
Yes. 3 tours, including "Chicago Christmas Walk: Magnificent Mile Lights to the Christkindlmarket", are on Stories. Unlock it once for your group for $4.99 and play it in your browser; the app plays each story as you arrive.
Every Stories tour plays in your browser, no app needed. How it works
Know someone headed to Illinois? Give a walk as a gift, emailed on the day you pick.