Chicago Trolley Tours, Chicago

I figured this would be our best bet to get around since we took the train into town. It was such a pain waiting in the cold for each trolley. And we waited MUCH longer than 20-30min. There wasn't any room and we had to stand most of the time, even on the double Decker. The trolley workers at the stands never know when the next trolley will be coming around. I got a migraine the first day we rode on it from the woman tour guide. It was better on our second day, we were able to sit and had a decent guide and got where we needed to be, but the only reason we caught that trolley was because we ran! We also got left down by the Field Museum and the Shedd aquarium. We waited over a hour and never seen this companies trolley make one round. It was very frustrating. We ended up having to take a cab back to our hotel. Maybe we just had a bad experience, but I will never take the trolleys again, we would have been better off walking everywhere by the time the trolley arrived to the stop. I also wouldn't recommend this to anyone. You also have to try and catch the last trolley before they are done for the day which is pretty early. 5 o'clock.

Where to start? If you would like to see Chicago you are better off walking - we went through 3 buses (due to mechanical failure) and averaged nearly 20 min per stop so the tour guides and drivers could socialize. If you have kids you will be equally embarrassed when the tour guide starts talking about "Viagra Triangle" or her ability to rehearse lyrics from the Black Eyed Peas - oh, and after waiting for our 3rd bus to be delivered we asked about refunds at which point we were told - "there is no refund policy." This was before our "new" driver decided to jump the curb to get around the failed bus only to cut off several other vehicles and other tour buses while driving with his knees while talking on the phone - and no, this is not a joke.

We stayed in the suburbs for a change, took the train in to the city. Got out at Union Station, walked across the street, and there was the trolley company. Very comfortable seating, and we enjoyed the fact that we could get on and off all day long. Only had to wait about 20 minutes for them to come back at any destination. For the money, this was a great deal. We got on and off, and enjoyed our day, and the drivers were very informative. I have company coming next June, and we will do this tour again. We loved it, and ended up back at the Sears Tower, right across from the Union Station, so we could catch the train back. Best way to see Chicago. Highly recommend this tour.

Last summer I decided to take a city tour on a double decker. There are 2 companies working out of Navy Pier. My husband and I took a look at the two companies and decided to go with the sharper looking company and that was Chicago Trolley. The staff at Grayline looked like that had a rough night of drinking and their "uniform" was wrinkled and not at all professional. On the other hand Chicago Trolley was very professionally dressed with their shirts tucked in looking very clean and the red vest just made them stand out so much better than the blue shirts that the other company wore. We purchase the tickets from a very knowledgeable ticket agent who answered all our questions about the tour and the city. It seemed like we were taking a tour already without even getting on the bus yet! We were told the bus would get there in about 5 to 10 minutes and that she would walk us to where the bus actually picked up. There were many more people waiting, so she got us to line up and made sure they had the right tickets, some did not have them so the line got a little bit shorter. Not even 5 minutes pass by when the red double decker shows up! She told everyone how they would really enjoy the tour so much more because the guide was Walt. She was right! He was a delight to listen to and really knew his stuff! I was also amazed at the sheer amount of vehicles this company had going. I don't think I ever had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus or trolley to show up! I highly recommend taking this tour. next time I come to Chicago I'll definitely take this tour again!

This had to be the worst city tour I've ever taken. I found the excursion to be boring and far from what I had expected. The narrator's descriptions of what myself and the other customers were viewing lacked details about the city of Chicago, something I'd been hoping to learn when my husband purchased our tickets for this tour. The company approach to the public is not at all personal and the employees seem to be doing their jobs without little or no interest in the people whom they sell their tickets to. The other thing I found extremely uncomfortable was the ticket agent themself. She pressured my husband into purchasing the tickets and lied about what time a trolley bus was to pick us up. We wanted a refund although the ticket agent kept promising us a trolley "within 10 minutes". I would not recommend this company for site-seeing to anyone. The ticket agents lie to their customers and high pressure them into ticket sales. The $50 my husband and I spent was a total waste of money. If you should plan a trip to Chicago please avoid this company because you'll be terribly disappointed in what they have to offer. Dianne

I loved it!!! Was a very good value because it was more economical and convenient than taking taxis or buses, especially if you're staying in the Downtown/Gold Coast area.

The Chicago Trolley and Double DeckerCo. tours are great (espically if you're short on time). This way you at least see all of the important landmarks that Chicago has to offer. Every tour guide that I've had has been personable and informative. But, you'll have a even better time if you get a tour guide by the name of Jesus (pronounced hay-zeus). He's does a great job with guiding the Chi-town tours, very funny. Absolutly great Chicago tour, espically when you're on the double decker bus. Have a good time.

I had the best time on the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker tour!! On top of a Double Decker is the only way to see the city. My elderly father had come to visit, and we were looking for convenient ways to sight see around the city that would minimize the amount of walking he had to do. This tour was the perfect fit! Not only does it stop at all the attractions that we wanted to explore all day long, but also the drivers and guides were extremely knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. They tours that we got were highly entertaining and suitable for every age in our group. I would definitely recommend a trip on the Chicago Trolleys and Double Deckers!!!

Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying the sites and sounds of Chicago. I was going to tackle the city by walking around with a map and see what I can find but along the way I was given a leaflet about the Chicago Trolley & Double Decker tours. At first glance I wasn�t going to go but after listening to the very cheerful sales agent I gave in and was on my way. What sold me were all the great bonuses, like heresy bar, garrets popcorn and another tour that takes you out of the downtown area into near ethnic neighborhoods. The tour itself was wonderful. It really hit all the major attractions i.e. Millennium Park, Sears Tower, Museum Campus, etc. Not only did it take me to these attractions it allowed me to get off and get lost for a little, then later get on board to continue my tour. So in retrospect not only was it a tour but also a means of transportation, which saved me on my travel budget. But the best part of the experience were the very knowledgeable tour guides giving the information. They always seemed to know the answer to my question before I even asked it. I would not change anything at all. I would highly recommend this to everyone looking to get the most of the city. But beware there is a competitor company, Grayline, that seems to offer the same tour but without all the extras and vehicle numbers. I was talking to one of their passengers and they shared with me that my company already had 4 vehicles come by before she even got her one.

My family and I took a trip to Chicago during the Memorial Day weekend. We arrived to our Hotel early in the day and decided not to waste anytime to see this beautiful city. Our hotel�s concierge recommended a tour on Trolley or a Double Decker bus to appreciate the beauty of the city. As we arrived at the Water Tower place, we found out that there were two different tour companies. It didn�t take long for us to figure out which company we were going to select for our tour. In one company, staff were dressed in blue jeans and flip flop sandals which made them look like they had just woken up. The other company had staff in clean-cut uniform well-dressed young men & women with white shirts and red vests. As we approached the sales stand we asked a young men named Javier in a white shirt and a red vest about the different tours that they had to offer. They had two great tours, one of them was their main tour that covered all the major sites in the downtown area and the other went into the different neighborhoods like Chinatown, Greek Town and Little Italy. You get both tours for the price of one. Since we were only going to be in town for the weekend we asked if there were different prices for maybe a two-day ticket or so. To our surprise we they had a three-day pass that we could use during our stay. This was the best deal that we had during our visit, not only did we get transportation for the rest of our stay but we also got the best tour of the city. This was our first time on top of a Double Decker and this was truly the way to see the city. Our driver and tour guide greeted us and introduced themselves as George and Marilyn. Marilyn being our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the city and was hilarious. She made sure that we felt comfortable and answered any questions that we had with a smile. We went as far as Navy Pier and got off to do some sightseeing on foot. When we returned 2 � hours later we took the next Double Decker that arrived. This time we had a different driver and tour guide their names were Shirley and Walt. Walt was also very knowledgeable about the city and funny. He had his own different style tour and it was refreshing to hear that his tour was different from Marilyn. Even though they were both excellent it is good to know that it is not a script that they are reading out of a book. In all we had a fantastic time with Chicago Trolley & Chicago Double Decker Co. and would highly recommend them!!