Reviews for Chicago River Kayak Tour: Guided Architecture Paddle

Such a fun and beautiful kayaking experience!!! The staff were great and a lot of fun!

Urban Kayaks provided an amazing experience on the water—smooth, scenic, and well-organized. Elias was especially fantastic—friendly, knowledgeable, and made sure everyone felt comfortable and safe. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun and memorable adventure in the city!

Highly recommend kayaking the river! Scott D was our tour guide and he was awesome and super knowledgeable. Would do the kayak tour over the boat tour any day

Had a great time on our kayak tour through the Chicago river! Hannah was very patient, an excellent tour guide

Second time with Urban Kayaks….never disappoints. It’s very worth the money for the experience. Such a unique, beautiful, and fun vantage point to see the city from. Would recommend anyone who’s able to, do it. You’ll love it. Shout out to Sasha and Liam for being badass guides.

Great kayak experience! You have to cross the River 2x but the views are totally worth it! Light boat traffic!

Urban Kayak along the lakefront it's the best, very clean Kayak , great staff. The guy that helped me was awesome the young ladies. The video is great, but I have one small recommendation, that the staff should point out on the map the perimeter of where you can kayak . Put a sticker says you are here. And show people I did it but didn't realize I can do more until I got back and saw the map. Other than that, great experience. 5 stars without a doubt.

These folks are so fun! Mendy was an amazing kayak guide with a great sense of humor. The Chicago historic tour we took was pretty tiring for all our shoulders but well worth it because we all wanted a day on the water and that's exactly what we got. Rewarding!!

Even though it’s already a bit cold, the kayak experience was amazing, you get warm by exercising and while you enjoy the amazing Chicago views. I will do it again.

Had an amazing time during our kayak tour with Urban Kayaks. Liv and Tyler were amazing guides and I definitely recommend this experience.

Quinton was great. My family and I went on our first kayak tour and were a little nervous going in, but he made it easy and enjoyable from the start. He gave clear instructions, kept the mood light, and made everyone feel comfortable. What stood out most was how informative he was—he shared so much about Chicago’s history and pointed out landmarks we never would’ve noticed on our own. It added real value to the experience. Quinton made our time on the water fun and memorable. He took our trip to another level. If you're booking a tour, ask for Quinton.

Had a wonderful kayaking experience, staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Instructions and video was very helpful to understand the safety measures to be taken while kayaking alongside the river. Definitely will come back.

Wow! This was such a fun experience and definitely one I'll never forget. I've walked the riverwalk and I've done an architecture boat tour, but doing the ultimate fireworks tour on a kayak was absolutely my favorite way to look at the chicago skyline and skyscrapers. I was very nervous since I'm not the best kayaker and my fiance has never kayaked before. However, our tour guide did a great job to keep us at ease and keep us safe at every turn. We did the ultimate fireworks tour which was about 2 hours and it's definitely doable for beginners. The views were unforgettable and 100% worth the time and money. We kayaked towards the navy pier at the end of our tour to watch the fireworks. It was very peaceful and stunning from our view. I'd highly recommend this activity for any tourists and locals alike!

Urban Kayaks ended up being one of the highlights of our quick weekend trip and was such a fun last-minute decision. Their location right on the Riverwalk is incredibly convenient and surrounded by gorgeous architecture, bars, and restaurants, making it easy to turn into a full evening downtown. The check-in process and safety/education class were simple, informative, and very beginner friendly. Our tour guide, Drew, was absolutely phenomenal. He was kind, funny, incredibly knowledgeable, and did a fantastic job making sure everyone felt comfortable and had a great time. He kept the group moving at a pace that worked well for everyone, which made the experience feel relaxed and enjoyable. We chose the sunset tour and highly recommend it. Seeing the golden glow reflect off the Chicago buildings from the water was stunning and such a unique way to experience downtown Chicago. The tour lasted about two hours and covered roughly two miles, making it the perfect light workout before heading out for late-night sushi afterward. You should definitely expect to get a little wet from paddle splashes, but that's part of the fun. Overall, it doesn't require a ton of physical effort, just a willingness to laugh, paddle, and enjoy yourself!

Me and my wife did a sunset kayak paddle. It was great Trinity our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the city and shared great stories. I would highly recommend the tour especially with Trinity.