Fascinating mix of tunnels under the streets of Chicago and art and architecture above the streets. Colm is an accomplished guide and a pleasure to be with.
Excellent tour! Well worth the time. Pullman is a fascinating place— full of history. Colm was on time, informative, and pleasant
When looking for interesting architecture tours for our visit to Chicago, we were excited to find Colm’s Louis Sullivan tour. It far exceeded our expectations. Colm enlightened us on all things Sullivan and his unique connection to Chicago. Being an architect, and a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan, it was interesting to get a window into Wright’s early work, while apprenticing for Sullivan. Colm’s knowledge of Sullivan is amazing. We highly recommend this unique tour of some beautiful buildings.
Colm was super friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. I was skeptical as to how he would fill three hours of a tour of Pullman, but his depth and breadth of research were fantastic, and he left me wanting more! In particular, I would take any tour with Colm having to do with history or architecture – you can tell he’s a lifelong learner, passionate about Chicago, and delivers a nuanced, informative, and unique tour.
Colm is great! I am a TBL tour guide myself in Florence, Italy and I know how complicated it is to condense the history and the architecture of a such vast city in a few hours. Still we covered so much during our tour, there are no words to express my gratitude for such an outstanding experience!!!
Colm is a great tour guide, from the moment he met us at our accommodation he kept us entertained and informed with stories of Chicago, the railway and the Pullman experience. His knowledge of architecture is encyclopaedic and he made the whole day interesting. Pullman is a work in progress and would be greatly enhanced by examples its railway coaches. On our return to the city Colm pointed us in the direction of ‘Eataly’ – an emporium of Italian food with a choice of restaurants inside. A ***** day
Colm Ronan is an excellent guide and we learned a lot on his tour of Pullman. My niece and I are History buffs and we heard about some very interesting tidbits about George Pullman, his family, people involved with the town, and stories about other happenings in Pullman after George’s death. I would recommend this tour to anyone who would like to learn about this original company town.
I cannot recommend this tour highly enough. Despite 30 years in Chicago, I was unaware of the Pullman Factory on the South Side. Colm’s tour was an absolute delight. Colm was friendly, charming, and extremely well-briefed on the history of this fascinating site, designated a National Monument by President Obama in 2015. Colm used the train ride down (about 25 minutes) to give us fascinating biographical background, allowing us to focus on the various buildings that remain when we reached the site. 5*
With only 3 days in Chicago, we wanted to see as much as we could, but did not want to do a standard bus tour. We chose Colm as our guide based on him being a local, but having lived in other cities and countries, which enables him to also see Chicago as an outsider. Our tour took us into places we would never have found. Coupled with his depth and breadth of knowledge and his ability to share the information in an interesting way. We covered a lot of ground and learnt so much. Highly recommended.
Colm was a treat, and thoroughly versed in his subject material. His ability to negotiate the material and Chicago traffic at the same time was quite striking. His sidebar stories were interesting and informative. I was left with the feeling he had enough material for a full day’s tour on the subject….a totally enjoyable afternoon I would readily repeat!
I had a pleasure to see the architecture of Chicago with Colm mid Sept 2022. The tour was custom designed to cater to my needs, and it could not have been more perfect. The incredible attention to my heart netted T and ability to modify the tour on the sport resulted in my inevitable love for the city. Colm was able to show and explain the most beautiful buildings, mosaics, suggest on restaurants, shopping districts, and all of that based purely on Chicago architectural legacy. The best tour. Grateful
Outstanding tour/guide. Professional, on time, very polite with expansive knowledge on the subject. The tour has a good flow, the formate, the support materials, the walking, the interactive elements. Well prepared and executed. I have to say, for a demanding customer, well travelled and well educated, this is the only tour guide that can deliver to your standards. Very grateful.
Column knows so much about Chicago. I loved how he brought pictures to show us movie scenes. It was also raining and he brought three umbrellas for us. Millennium Park was too crowded to visit, so immediately we changed plans and visited the Lake Michigan waterfront. Meeting place was made to accommodate our Willis Tower visit. I highly recommend this tour. One thing to note, we walked a total of over 5 miles. So be prepared to walk a lot, and at a brisk pace.
Colm provided a fabulous tour for us. He was very knowledgeable, personable, and considerate. We learned so much about the architecture in this area. I would definitely recommend him and this company for anyone wanting a similar experience.
Colm is an excellent narrator/guide and told us the story of Pullman, his company, and the company town while heading south on the Metra. On arrival we did a walking tour of the site, had lunch, and returned to downtown while Colm discussed other items that might interest us on our trip. We stopped to see an amazing building that was not on the tour just because he felt we would enjoy it. We had an amazing time and highly recommend him. DON’T go on your own! The NP is new and not well developed yet.
This is an amazing tour with an amazing guide! Colm was incredibly knowledgeable, answered a zillion questions, and left us wanting to know even more about the Pullman Historical District. Do not hesitate to book with Colm!
Colm R taught me there is far more to the story of George Pullman revolutionizing train travel. An engaging storyteller, with visuals to support key points, Colm R painted a picture of a very complex man who is viewed by some as a visionary supporting the rights of workers and by others as a union breaker focused solely on profit. Colm R is passionate about the subject and has put a great deal of time and research into uncovering little known insights into the duality of George Pullman. Well worth it!
Colm is very knowledgeable about Chicago history and architecture. We learned and saw much more in and around the Pedway (underground) than we expected. Very enjoyable, highly recommend!
We could not have asked for a better day for our Pullman tour. Colm was on time, knowledgeable and fun to do this tour with. Everyone enjoyed our tour, from the 70 year old down to the 10 year old. He kept us engaged and knew the answers to all questions asked. Great day! Would definitely use your service again. 5 stars all the way.
Colm was a real treasure to have four our introduction to Chicago. Riding the L was a real treat for us. In addition his advice on how to take the subway to Wrigley Field and back was really helpful. His knowledge of the history and the architecture of the city made this tour very special.
