For those who don’t believe it, I strongly recommend that everyone take the Shoreline Sightseeing 75-minute Architecture Tour, starting at Michigan Ave., just downriver from the Apple Store. It takes you a little up the North branch of the river, and more along the South branch.
The tour’s route overlaps the swam route, so you’ll be able to see the river’s cleanliness yourself. When I took the tour in May, the river was great! I’m really happy to see it so clean.
They also talk about the reversal of the Chicago river so the sewerage went down the Des Planes and onto the Mississippi instead of the great lakes. This was of benefit to Chicago residents since they drank out of lake Michigan. All the towns and cities on the Mississippi were never too pleased about this though :).
Whenever people visit during the warmer months, I almost always recommend or take them on the Architectural tour. The tour guides are knowledgeable, friendly, and tell great stories. The actual tour is a treat - even if you don't care about the architecture or history, it's a nice way to spend some time on the river. And there's a bar on the boat. My 5-year-old even sat still for the whole ride last month (and there's a place to get ice-cream you can eat while waiting in line to board).
There really isn't any need to recommend any specific tour company's tour. There is a ton of history on the river and the tour guides are all very proud of their city. I did the tour once on a visit and it was great, but once I lived there it became a thing I did for friends and family and never tired of it. They all find something great to bring to the tour and there are so many buildings and history I never heard an interesting fact more than once.
The river tours are almost like a complete opposite of taking family to the top of the empire state building.
We did this boat tour over Labor Day. 100% highly recommended. Our guide was a fount of fun and interesting knowledge, guiding us through the history of the river.
The tour’s route overlaps the swam route, so you’ll be able to see the river’s cleanliness yourself. When I took the tour in May, the river was great! I’m really happy to see it so clean.