After talking with the locals we decided that Chicago's First Lady was the best & most accurate tour if you want in-depth information on Chicago's many famous buildings. You board the boat approx 20 mins before the appointed time at Michigan Ave & Wacker Dr at the Southeast Corner of the bridge. Go to the upper deck for the best view & dress warm. The cost is $28 ticket Mon thru Fri & $30 Sat, Sun & Holidays.

Volunteers from the Chicago Architecture Foundation provide commentary on more than 50 significant buildings including the architect, the style & the period it was built.

I liked that I could get pictures of many of the buildings & also pictures from the water of the Navy Pier buildings, ferris wheel & other attractions.

My family ranging in age from 62 to 14 went on this 90 minute architectural tour of Chicago. The boat has 2 decks. We sat upstairs for the best view. The tour was narrated by a volunteer docent from the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Every building on the Chicago River (and sometimes a bit beyond) from the mouth and up the north and south branches is described on the tour along with who the architect was and why buildings were built a certain way and their style along with a local history lesson. VERY interesting and you see a ton of Chicago this way from an angle you won't get on land. Worth the $28 it cost on this Sunday morning in late September. The teenagers thought it was okay, but not great. I would suggest the morning departures, 9, 9:30, 10am and afternoon 4, 4:30 or 5 so the sun isn't shining in your eyes too much. We took the 9:30am and there
were only a few times the sun was shining on us the wrong direction.
Very easy to get to, just off Michigan Ave on Wacker Dr.

After using TripAdvisor's travel forums, I decided the best architectural cruise in Chicago for my family would be the one offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation and Chicago's First Lady Cruises. I was right!

The boarding location at Michigan and Wacker is clearly marked, the staff and crew are extremely helpful, the boats are clean, comfortable and safe, and the trained CAF docents seem to know practically everything about Chicago's architecture.

Not only was our tour guide well-prepared with her "script", there wasn't a question thrown at her for which she didn't have a pretty good answer.

While my son is the real architecture buff, I'm an amateur photographer. As a photographer, I couldn't have asked for more, getting shots of Chicago's magnificent buildings from angles and perspectives that I could have never gotten any other way.

The cruise was about an hour-and-a-half long, and made a loop from the loading location west, then north on the Chicago River to Duck Island, south to River City and then out to the mouth of the river before turning around and completing the loop at the dock.

The CAF Cruise may cost a few dollars more, but, for the true architecture buff -- or even amateur photographer -- those dollars are a great investment in "first class"!