Best Segway Tours in Chicago

The Windy City, as Chicago is also known, hides many stories, streets and sites worth exploring. However, many tourists miss out on this experience due to lack of time. Walking for hours doesn't seem like a good plan when you are on vacation for a few days, that's why one of the things you must do in Chicago is a segway tour.

If you have never ridden a segway and you think it is difficult to handle, let me give you good news, it is the easiest thing in the world! Your guide will always tell you what to do at the beginning of the tour. After a mini lesson, you will be able to glide like an expert along Michigan Avenue, near Chicago's lakefront and many other sites.

Are you looking for a different experience in Chicago? If so, I invite you to take this 2 hour and 30 minute Segway tour around Chicago's lakefront. You will live the whole experience with a small group and a certified local guide. This person will tell you curious and historical details of all the sites you will see in the Windy City.

You will start your day by meeting your group on Michigan Avenue. I recommend you arrive on time, as the first few minutes of this activity are important. You will receive instructions on how to use a Segway correctly, and the guide will explain the dynamics of the tour.

As you progress on this tour you will be able to see Grant Park, the Field Museum, Buckingham Fountain, Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field and the Adler Planetarium. Please note that you will only pass in front of these sites. The idea of this tour is to avoid the long walk and make the ride shorter and more fun.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 75 €.
• Duration: about 2 hour and 30 minutes.
• Advantages of this option: with this segway tour you can see the city in a short time and avoid long walks in the sun, or being cooped up in a tourist bus without getting fresh air.
• Disadvantages of this option: the tour only passes through the sites mentioned, it does not include entrance to any attraction.

Are you a sunset lover? If this is your case, then I invite you to enjoy a segway tour to admire the sunset of the Windy City. This experience has an average duration of 1 hour and 30 minutes and a cost of approximately 60 €. At all times you will be accompanied by your guide and a small group of people like you.

The meeting with your group is usually around 4 or 5 pm. After your guide hands you your helmet and explains the use of the vehicle, you will start the tour. You will start by gliding along Chicago's lakefront in Millennium Park.

This tour will give you an outside view of attractions and s ights such as the Shedd Aquarium and Buckingham Fountain. You will also see Soldier Field, the Field Museum (one of the largest natural history museums in the world) and the Adler Planetarium. All this while the sky is tinged with the beautiful colors of the sunset, perfect time for you to take pictures.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 60 €.
• Duration: about 1 hour and 30 hours.
• Advantages of this option: being a sunset tour, you will be able to see a different side of the city. It is a very relaxing plan that you can complement with a night activity.
• Disadvantages of this option: the tour is quite simple and only stands out for being done at sunset, so it can be a little incomplete.

If you are traveling in the summer to Chicago I recommend taking this tour. During the night you can walk along the lake shore and finish watching the fireworks show. In addition to the 4th of July, on Saturdays throughout the summer at 9pm you can watch the fireworks display at Navy Pier.

Before watching the light show, your guide will take you and your group to glide along the lakeshore. This will give you a night view of the city. Generally, you will be accompanied by a minimum of 9 people, which guarantees that the guide will be able to answer your questions and give you a personalized treatment. The tour will be done after a short training session. When the tour begins, you will glide into Grant Park. Enjoy the quiet, nocturnal atmosphere as you pass by Buckingham Fountain. There you can stop to take some pictures.

You will also tour Chicago's lakefront and the museum campus. If you wish, the next day you could take a cruise on the lake and continue enjoying the wonders of this city. Finally you will approach the Navy to see its light show.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 80 €.
• Duration: about 2 hours.
• Advantages of this option: besides knowing part of the city, you can see a light show at the end, a detail that other tours do not offer.
• Disadvantages of this option: you only have the opportunity to enjoy it during the summer. But don't worry, there are many things you can do in Chicago in winter if that is the time you plan to travel.

Want a slightly different experience? If you like scary, suspenseful and ghostly stories, this is the tour designed for you, so you should include it in your list of things to do in Chicago at night. For about two hours you will ride a segway through the streets of Chicago that are home to spooky stories. The average cost of this tour is 75 €.

The tour will start, as always, with your guide giving you directions on how to ride the segway. When the whole group is ready, you'll start heading out into the night to explore Chicago's history. You will pass by State Street and Dearborn Street, where the Iroquois Theater used to be and where a fire occurred that claimed about 600 lives in 1903.

Another important stop is the S.S. Eastland Memorial, a small part of the city near the Chicago River that commemorates the lives lost in the Eastland Disaster of 1915. About 800 people died in this tragedy and its history is somewhat linked to that of the Titanic. Your guide will tell you the real story and many of the myths surrounding this tragic event.

Chicago, although a beautiful city, has been the center of gangster networks. Even the Outfit, an Italian-American organized crime syndicate is based in Chicago, Illinois. For a time there was a series of murders in the city because of this network. Your guide will tell you the details of these chilling, movie-like stories.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 76 €.
• Duration: about 2 hours.
• Advantages of this option: with this tour you have the opportunity to learn things you would never have known about if you took a normal tour.
• Disadvantages of this option: as it is a tour that takes place at night you may be scared while listening to stories of real events that happened in Chicago

Traveller Tip

This type of tours are much better when they take place during the month of October. Although you can do it any time of the year, on Halloween eve the atmosphere is more terrifying, making every story your guide tells you feel more real.

If you plan to travel to Chicago in December, I recommend you add this tour to your list of things to do in Chicago at Christmas. Your guide will take you around all the best Christmas decorations in the city. Riding a segway and for about 2 hours and approximately 70 €, you will soak up the Christmas spirit in Chicago.

You will start the tour at Millennium Park, where you will see many visitors skating on ice under the reflection of the Bean, Chicago's Christmas tree. You can also go around Buckingham Fountain and pass by The Art Institute of Chicago to take pictures next to the iconic Christmas-decorated lions at the entrance. Then you can glide down Michigan Avenue and see all the storefronts and stores decorated with Christmas lights.

In Daley Plaza, located in the Daley Center, the German Christkindlmarket is organized year after year. There you can stop with your group, get off your Segway and explore the food stalls. If you wish, you can buy sweets, drinks or souvenirs from this place. Without a doubt this is one of the things you must do in Chicago in December.

After about 15 minutes in this market, it will be time to return to the starting point with the rest of the group.

Details of interest

• Price: approximately 75 €.
• Duration: about 2 hours.
• Advantages of this option: in addition to seeing the decorations of the city, you can get to know part of the German culture at the last stop of the tour.
• Disadvantages of this option: it is a tour that can only be done during December.

Booking a segway tour in Chicago is not complicated. You can usually find them with a quick Google search. If you want to make the most of your time, I invite you to see this list of tours in Chicago and choose the one you like the most.

Normally you just hit the buy or book button, then confirm the date and time you want. You will quickly receive confirmation from the site. Please note that some tours are only available during specific months of the year.

As you may have noticed, the average duration of a Segway tour is 2 hours. This time is quite convenient if you are coming to tour Chicago in less than two days as it allows you to do more things during the day. In addition, you invest much less time compared to the tours you can do on foot.

During those two hours you can listen to multiple stories told by your guide, ask questions and see many sites. Some of them you may not even have in mind before doing a tour like this. Thanks to the vehicle you will be able to see many more sites than on other tours.

A Segway tour is one of the things you can do with kids in Chicago. However, keep in mind that the child must be older than 12 years old and weigh at least 100 pounds. Only in this way will it be safe for them to ride a segway. On the other hand, pregnant women are not allowed to take this tour. This is a precautionary measure to maintain women's health.

If you are traveling with older adults who cannot walk for many hours, but can stand up, this may be a good idea. Aboard a Segway you will be able to enjoy the outdoors and see all the tourist sites of interest. Not only your parents or grandparents can benefit from these tours, anyone with reduced mobility can use the segway.

For these tours I advise you to always check the weather before you go out. If there is a bad forecast such as a lot of rain or snow, it is likely that the tour will be cancelled. However, if it will only be cold, I advise you to bring a good waterproof coat to keep you warm. Don't forget gloves and a hat.

If you are traveling in summer, never forget your sunscreen, as well as comfortable clothing. No matter what time of the year you do this tour, don't forget to wear comfortable shoes. These will help you to be more steady on your segway and to be able to drive more freely.

In any guided tour the main advantage is that your guide knows the way better than you do. This person is certified to tell you stories about the city and take you on the most popular trails. He or she can even point out places you never knew existed and bring you pleasant surprises.

If you go on your own, you probably won't pass many interesting places. In addition, you will waste time checking directions on Google Maps. If you take a segway tour you won't have to worry about that.

The main attraction of segway tours is that they avoid long walks. If you do a walking tour you have to invest more time as you will need to stop for a rest. If you don't have time for that, the best option is a segway tour. With the time you have left in the day you can visit museums and other attractions in the city.

Most of the classic tours take place in tourist buses in Chicago. Although these are a good option to get to know the city, they keep you a bit away from the attractions and sites, giving you little opportunity to interact with the city.

Aboard a Segway you can be part of Chicago, the "best big city" in the United States, according to Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Parking and getting off a Segway requires less time and space than a bus. Plus, you get to feel the fresh city air without having to walk and sweat.

If you like exclusive experiences, then you're best off opting for a segway tour. Most of the tours are done in small groups of minimum 8 and maximum 10 people. This makes the guide's job easier and it is much better for you because you can ask the questions you want.