Art Institute Tour: Explore Iconic Masterpieces

Experience the best of the Art Institute of Chicago on this skip-the-line guided tour. Explore famous artworks by Caillebotte, Seurat, O’Keefe, Hopper, Picasso, and more with an engaging guide.

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • The Art Institute of Chicago - Only the highest quality guide is equipped to introduce you to one of the greatest museums on earth. the Art Institute, one of the world’s great art museums, houses a works that cover centuries of Art & History. Its is also known to have the worlds greatest collection of Impressionist artwork (Even rivaling the Musee…
What's Included
  • Duration 2.5 Hours
  • Professional Tour Guide Exclusively For You
  • Wheelchair Friendly
  • Skip-the-Line Private Museum Tour
  • All Entrance Fees
What's Not Included
  • Tour price does NOT include hotel pickup or drop-off (we recommend UBER or Taxi)
  • Tour price does NOT include gratuities (optional)
Additional Information

The Art Institute of Chicago draws a crowd comparable to top-tier museums such as the Met, Louvre, and British Museum. On this special 2.5-hour guided tour, you get the advantage of bypassing the queue and exploring its most eminent displays under the guidance of a knowledgeable guide.
Typically Featured Works Include: (Subject to artworks’…

Location
The Art Institute of Chicago
South Michigan Avenue
Meeting Point: “To The Lions Left”; next to the iconic lion statues (the lion on the left when facing the museum) outside the main Museum entrance on South Michigan Avenue.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(264 Ratings)
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Cathleen_r
Oct 1, 2025
The Skip-the-Line Guided Tour Will be the Highlight of Your Visit to Chicago - Our guide, Heath, led us through the museum and told us fascinating stories about the art movements throughout history. For each movement, Heath showed us illustrative works that are part of the collection. He was so familiar with the collection that he knew which pieces we would and wouldn’t be able to see during our visit. He was thrilled when a few of the pieces had returned to the museum. This guided tour was the highlight of our visit to Chicago!
Review provided by Viator
Sharonpaca
Oct 1, 2025
Don’t miss this tour! - Our group of five agreed that in our collective experience with museum tours (easily over 100 tours over the decades we all have lived!), the tour guided by Spiro Dousias was absolutely the best museum tour any of us have ever been on. Spiro was able to share his deep knowledge and love of art with us in a way that made the evolution of art over the centuries make sense…helped us see even art that we were familiar with in a new light…and he did it all with a sense of humor and warmth that made the whole experience memorable. Spiro took the time to determine what specific interests had brought each member of our group to the Art Institute and devoted a portion of the tour to those pieces of art. All in all a terrific experience that left each of us wanting to return to the Art Institute on our next visit to Chicago…preferably with Spiro as our guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Climber08838461444
Sep 28, 2025
Excellent and informative - Spiro was very knowledgeable and accommodating. Hitting all the art stops the group was requesting including the modern art section
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carol_b
Sep 27, 2025
Well worth it. - Takes the guess work out of where to go, what to see by hitting the high points. Heath was great and I appreciated the insight about the works he shared with us.
Review provided by Viator
Sally_b
Sep 26, 2025
Best art tour we’ve ever taken - Spiro was amazing. It was like taking an art history class on site!! He took us through so much and was so knowledgeable. Would recommend it wholeheartedly!!
Review provided by Viator
Babeof69
Sep 25, 2025
Art Served Up With Knowledge and Humor - Our Skip-the-Line private guided tour was fantastic! Our guide was Robert and he was knowledgeable and informative -- sharing insights and anecdotes about artists and art in an entertaining manner with a dose of humor. He was also very considerate -- pointing out restrooms and including stops for anyone who needed them. Our tour started with the Miniature Rooms, something I wasn't even aware of and one of the most delightful, fascinating parts of the museum. We saw all the major pieces the Art Institute is known for from American Gothic to Nighthawks to A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte. And artists, including Picasso, Van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Warhol and Georgia O'Keeffe. Robert was skillful in navigating the museum, getting us from one artist to the next. He was open to questions, even from non-tour people attracted to his explanations. (A guy started following us until one of the tour members told him we'd all paid for a private tour.) This truly was one of the very best tours we've ever done and well worth the cost. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting Chicago. If you're lucky, you'll get Robert.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sue_c
Sep 25, 2025
Fabulous Tour of Art Institute - Got a great macro and micro view of the Art Institute with our trusty guide Heath. It was perfect in pace, depth, and tone.
Review provided by Viator
840tl
Sep 24, 2025
excellent and efficient tour of an otherwise overwhelming collection - This was a fantastic way to see the highlights of this enormous collection. Our tour guide Heath was stellar - very informed and also entertaining. He pointed out several things that would not be covered by self audio tours. highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Safari62207990046
Sep 20, 2025
Great information - Heath was a wealth of information. More about the background of the artists, which we found very fascinating. Would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
591sandeel
Sep 17, 2025
The guide shared interesting facts and humor, which added another layer to the experience. - We had the best experience with our guide Heath. Five stars.He was knowledgeable, funny, and share some history of early Chicago it was amazing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $90
up to 12 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).