About Mike

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Tours With Mike. I’m Mike (he/him)!

Buildings and cities have been the focus of my adult life. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000 with a degree in real estate, urban planning, and finance. I then moved to Chicago, the architectural capital of the United States, and this has been my home ever since. For 17 years, I worked as a real estate investment professional, seeing dollar signs attached to buildings and shaping how we all interact with them. I did not understand the design of the buildings I saw around me, so I started going on a lot of architecture tours in 2004 and was immediately hooked. For the next 15 years in my free time, I volunteered as a docent for the Chicago Architecture Center, the largest architecture tour operator anywhere, giving tours to countless people from around the world, developing some of the most popular tours for the organization, and winning several awards for these efforts.

I started Tours With Mike so I could focus on my passion: creating and delivering special tours. This is now my full-time job, and I could not be more excited to offer you these different kinds of tour experiences:

• I offer a rotating mix of in-person tours, including Architecture’s Greatest Hits, Incredible Interiors, LGBTQ Stories, Play Ball: The Wrigleyville Tour, Ugly Buildings, and Underground Chicago (Plus Rats!). Check out the public walking tour schedule to book your tickets.

• These aforementioned in-person tours are also available as private tours either in-person for your group or virtually for up to 1,000 attendees. If you’re looking for a customized experience, email Tours With Mike.

• Check out my virtual tours on Facebook Live. They are fun, live-streamed, interactive, donation-based experiences.

I hope to see you soon either virtually or in-person!