Thursday, October 14, 2010

Virtual Tours of Chicago

Chicago has hundreds of ways to tour the city – bus, walking, trolley, Segway, bicycle. And any tour might highlight any category of them – history, architecture, theater, food, film, pizza, cemeteries, etc.While doing research for another of my writing projects (Street Advisor reviews), I've found links to many sites where you can actually take a virtual tour from the comfort of your computer! The tours include a set of MP3 audio files along with an annotated map of the locations on the tour. The idea is to download and print the map, and to download the audio files to your favorite listening device. With those two items, you are fully prepared to walk (or in some cases take a taxi or public transportation) to each location. However as part of my research, I used the interactive map (when available) to travel to and listen to each audio clip from my laptop. I highly recommend doing a virtual tour in preparation for your own in-person tour. When you do it virtually, you'll see a small photo of each location and its address, so that you'll know where you're going and what you're looking for when you go in-person. You can also design your own tour – albeit manually – by visiting locations that are close to each other but on different audio tour tracks. (See notes in the list below.)

All the audio clips are narrated by professionals and include commentary by local subject matter experts such as Tim Samuelson (Chicago Historian), Ed Uhlir (Millennium Park planning expert), and Buddy Guy (Blues legend).

I have yet to find a central website for all these tours, so in I'm in the process of building my own, starting with this list. Stay tuned. I'm sure I'll find more as my research continues!

Source: Chicago Loop Alliance
All three of these tours are in Chicago's “Loop”/Downtown area, and they are the easiest to combine since they cover the same basic area.
17 stops; approximately 2 miles.

23 stops; approximately 2 miles.

10 stops; approximately 2 miles.

Source: Enjoy Illinois “Onscreen Ilinois”
This is a FABULOUS site for movies made in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois. The Chicago film tour is narrated by Bill Kurtis (famous newscaster, and narrator of TV and Cable documentary shows). Site includes info and photos scattered throughout the state (Peoria, Galesburg, Galena).

15 stops; about 10 miles between Uptown (North) and Bridgeport (South).

Source: Explore Chicago (www.downloadchicagotours.com)
These tours are available from the Explore Chicago website.

1 Millennium Park Tour
Gives you the “backstory” and history of this jewel on Michigan Avenue, and its infamous icons.
http://www.antennaaudio.com/millenniumpark.shtml

2 Chicago Blues History Tour
Best to take this tour virtually or with a knowledgeable tour guide as the locations are in a “dicey” neighborhood. Narrated by blues legend, Buddy Guy himself!
http://64.78.16.63/citytours/chicago/blues.html

3 Chicago For Kids Tour
Yes, there is even a tour designed for the young (and the young at heart)! Narrated by a “tween”, this was a fun tour even for this “pre-senior”. The website also has 8 interactive, low-tech, Chicago-centric games.
http://www.chicagoforkids.org/ChicagoKids/
Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/explore-chicago-audio-tours-chicago-for-kids


Source: Macy's/Marshall Field's
An inside and outside tour of this iconic State Street landmark. So much more than a retail store!
http://www.visitmacyschicago.com/tours.cfm
Full review at: http://www.streetadvisor.com/illinois/forums/macysmarshall-fields-virtualaudio-tour2






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