The Postcard Tour
Chicago's greatest hits — and the stories behind them. A river that flows backward, buildings covered in stolen rocks, towers that look like corn cobs, and a giant bean made by a man who wishes you'd stop calling it a bean.
What You'll Experience
Plan your walk
Know the route before you buy
- Starts at
- Introduction
- Ends at
- The Reveal
- Walking plan
- 1h 15m · ~2.4 miles
- Schedule
- Start, pause, and resume anytime
Included in the app
- Professional narration
- GPS-triggered stops
- Downloadable tour audio
- Ask the Historian Q&A
- Optional end-of-tour reveal
- All 13 story stops
A taste of what you'll hear
13 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"This is Chicago. You've seen it in movies. You've seen it on postcards. Or more likely, Instagram. Now you'll see it in person. You're going to see a river that flows backward because Chicago didn't like where the sewage was going."
"Look at this ridiculous building. It looks like a tiny castle that got lost on its way to medieval England and ended up on Michigan Avenue."
"That's the tour. You just walked through Chicago's greatest hits — and you heard some things that were absolutely true and some things I made up. REAL: The city reversed the river to send sewage to Saint Louis. They got sued. They won."
Tour itinerary
Every stop on this walk
Explore the route before you go. Each stop has its own story preview, location details, and place in the larger tour.
- 11IntroductionThis is Chicago. You've seen it in movies. You've seen it on postcards. Or more likely, Instagram. Now you'll see it in person.41.8882, -87.6228 Read this stop
- 22Riverwalk — Big FlushYou're standing next to a river that flows the wrong direction. Chicago made it do that. Here's what happened.41.8882, -87.6228 Read this stop
- 33Riverwalk — ModernFor most of Chicago's history, this river was a dumpster. Meatpacking plants dumped animal waste into it.41.8882, -87.6228 Read this stop
- 44Marina CityLook up. Those are the Marina City towers, and yes, they look like corn cobs. Everyone calls them the corn cobs.41.8887, -87.6272 Read this stop
- 55Wrigley BuildingThis is the Wrigley Building, and it's here because a man who made his fortune selling chewing gum wanted you to NEVER forget about it.41.8898, -87.6246 Read this stop
- 66Tribune TowerWelcome to the Tribune Tower — a building that exists because a newspaper had too much money and wanted everyone to know it.41.8903, -87.6234 Read this stop
- 77Water TowerLook at this ridiculous building. It looks like a tiny castle that got lost on its way to medieval England and ended up on Michigan Avenue.41.8970, -87.6243 Read this stop
- 88Chicago TheatreThis is the Chicago Theatre, opened in 1921. Look at that marquee. It's one of the most photographed signs in the city.41.8854, -87.6276 Read this stop
- 99Chicago Cultural CenterGo inside this building. Seriously. Stop the tour, go inside, and look up. It's free. What you're going to see is the largest Tiffany glass...41.8838, -87.6249 Read this stop
- 1010Art Institute LionsThese are the lions. You have to take a picture with them. Everyone does. It's basically a city ordinance. They've been here since 1894.41.8796, -87.6231 Read this stop
- 1111Crown FountainYou're looking at two 50-foot towers with giant faces on them. The faces are going to spit water at you. This is public art.41.8818, -87.6236 Read this stop
- 1212Cloud Gate (The Bean)You made it. You're looking at Cloud Gate — and yes, we're going to call it The Bean, because that's what it is and that's what everyone...41.8827, -87.6233 Read this stop
- 1313The RevealThat's the tour. You just walked through Chicago's greatest hits — and you heard some things that were absolutely true and some things I...41.8827, -87.6233 Read this stop
Stories first
Every stop is built around people, conflict, ambition, and consequences—not a plaque read aloud.
Most of it is true. The extra mischief is just a wink at the end, but the story is what carries the walk.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
Get the AppBefore you go
Quick answers
How much is this tour?
$9.99 as a one-time purchase in the iOS app. The Chicago city pack is $14.99 and includes every currently available tour in the city.
Can I use it with spotty cell service?
Download the tour audio on Wi-Fi before leaving. Cached narration plays without streaming; map tiles and other online features may still need a connection.
Do I have to start at a specific time?
No. Start when it suits you, pause for a detour or meal, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.
Are admission tickets included?
The purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are not included.
Other Chicago Tours
The Loop & North Side
Bootleggers, Bullets & Baloney
Al Capone ran a hundred-million-dollar beer empire, bathed three times a day, and lost it all to a tax form. A singer got his throat cut for switching nightclubs. A bank robber broke out of jail with a pistol carved from wood. Walk Prohibition-era Chicago from the Green Mill — where you can still drink in Capone's booth — down to the vanished hotels of the South Side, past the massacre site that's now a lawn and the cathedral where a man was gunned down in daylight. Most of it is documented. A few small things I slipped in myself. See if you can spot them before the reveal.
Museum Campus
Museum Campus: Landfill of Dreams
Everything on this campus stands on ground Chicago manufactured out of a burned-down city. A marble temple holds the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex on Earth, found because somebody got a flat tire. An aquarium a thousand miles from the sea got filled by hauling a million gallons of ocean up from Key West in railroad tank cars. There's the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, a two-thousand-year-old Roman column Mussolini sent as a thank-you gift, and a downtown airport a mayor erased with bulldozers at one in the morning. Walk the lakefront from Buckingham Fountain to Soldier Field. Nearly all of it is documented. A few small things I mixed into the fill myself. See how many seams you can find before I show you.
The Loop & Magnificent Mile
Steel, Stone & Ego
Chicago burned to the ground in 1871 and stacked the strangest concentration of ambition in America on top of the ashes. A newspaper tower studded with 149 pieces chipped off other people's landmarks. An office whose steel skeleton went up in fifteen days. A brick tower so heavy it sank twenty inches into the mud, so you step down into 1891. Two round concrete towers — the tallest apartments on Earth the day they opened — bankrolled by a union of janitors. And forty stories up, a goddess of grain with no face, because the sculptor assumed no one would ever build high enough to look her in the eye. Walk the Magnificent Mile into the Loop to Cloud Gate. Nearly all of it is documented. A few small details are mine, set into the true ones where they blend in. See how many seams you can find before the reveal.
Lincoln Park
The Best Free Day in Chicago
One of America's oldest free zoos. A Victorian glass house. A hidden garden designed by a man who cashed in his life insurance for flowers. And roughly twelve thousand unmarked graves. All free.
The Postcard Tour
$9.99 · one-time