Chicago: Steve’s Segway Tours (August 2011)

My spouse and I participated in a Steve’s Segway Tour one day during August 2011. There are several segway tour companies in the downtown area, but we chose Steve’s because it offered the possibility for a private tour (billed as three hours, but it lasted a bit longer) as well as a tour that focused on an area other than the museum campus area, which we had already seen (although not via segway). The cost for the private tour wasn’t too much more than a group tour, and we were glad that we splurged. (It was difficult enough to keep the two of us and our guide together on the city streets, so we could not imagine keeping a group of 10+ people together, although the group tours do not venture into the city but stay in less-trafficked areas, so I’m sure that it is possible.) The architecture tours take place only on Sunday mornings and afternoons when the pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the downtown area is at its lowest volume. The only downside to this time, that we could tell, was that we weren’t able to go inside the Rookery Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (we had been to his home and studio in Oak Park the previous day, so it would have been a nice addition to what we saw there). The segway tours operate rain or shine, and it was a cool and drizzly day when we were there; we had brought rain gear, so the weather didn’t really impact us at all. It is necessary to wear a helmet on a segway tour. They can provide you with a little backpack-type thing to attach to the handlebars that can hold some small items; it is not recommended that you wear a backpack while taking a tour because it throws off your balance. The tour was a bit more physically challenging that I thought it would be - standing in the same spot in the same position while riding (and even stopping to look at different sights) was tiring! So don’t be afraid to step off the segway when you are stopping at different points to give your legs a break. (There was no recovery time after the tour, though - five minutes afterward, we felt terrific and not at all sore or strained.) Bill Elliott, of Redcap Walking Tours, was our private guide, and he had great knowledge of the neighborhoods and buildings in the Downtown Loop area. The segways are really fun to use, and it is easy to “get the hang of” how to operate them. We will definitely take another segway tour should the opportunity present itself (a place like Central Park in NYC would be ideal, however, the “vehicles” aren’t allowed in Manhattan; another great place would be the museum and monument area in Washington, DC, but I don’t know that they are permitted there either). Steve’s has an extensive website, with lots of great information on the segways, why to choose their company over another, available tours, and so on. Be sure to read the directions to the location - it isn’t as easy as it sounds, although it is right in Millennium Park across from the Art Institute. Steve himself went to great lengths to return our phone calls and answer all of our questions; he seems like a business owner who truly cares about his guests having a pleasant experience. The other guides that we met (April and Autumn) were very high energy and positive, so I’m sure they make entertaining guides as well. Highly recommended!