James Froese

This tour provided an excellent overview of western architecture and a very comprehensive description of Chicago's major buildings. The tour guide Bob was incredible and provided a fascinating picture of Chicago's architectural history, the individual story of many buildings, and general timeline of Chicago's development. This tour is suitable for everyone, those with a passing interest in architecture will learn a lot about various styles and eras, and those with more knowledge of the field wil enjoy the many references to famous individual elements, architects, and firms.

This experience provides a guided tour of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore museum and skip the line tickets to the cathedral and Dome. The guided tour provides excellent context for the museum and is a great prelude to climbing the Dome and viewing the city. Many of the original statues, reliefs, and pieces of art from the cathedral are displayed and preserved in the museum, it's certainly worth the extra effort. The Dome climb is also excellent, though may not be appropriate for people with a fear of heights or small spaces. The climb takes you up through the walls of the church, gives great architectural insight into how the dome was built, gives a great up close view of the painted interior of the dome, and allows for a view of all Florence from the top of the dome itself. If you pay for one tour in Florence, this should be it.