Explore Buffalo

We went on the «Masters or Architecture» tour today and had a great time! My family and myself are all Buffalo natives but thought it would be fun to be tourists in our own city for a change. This tour did not disappoint! Our docent, Judy, was organized, friendly, and very knowledgeable. The walking tour lasted 2 hours. It was well mapped out and showcased structures built from 1850-​early 1900s (with one M&T plaza being the only exception). I was glad we took this tour on a Saturday afternoon as well because we avoided heavier street and sidewalk traffic that’s common during the work week. This was great way to spend a weekend afternoon! I highly recommend this tour to out of town visitors and to locals alike-it’s amazing to really slow down and see all the beauty these building have to offer while gaining a bit of Buffalo history.

Had a wonderful experience my first time kayaking. Joined Explore for their tour of Silo City. Fun, informative-​learned so much about what is going on now as well as the history of the waterfront. Staff v accommodating to this neophyte kayaker!

This is a review of the Allentown Mob Tour Explore Buffalo puts on.
The weather was perfect. The group meets in front of café 59 on Allen. You can’t miss the guides because they are wearing explore buffalo shirts and name tags. Funny one of the guides wore the name tag «The Godfather» very suitable for the tour.
What you need to know:
Pros:
— relatively inexpensive adult 15 $ and student only $ 5 (great for a student like me!)
— guides are quite knowledgable and friendly. The guide does use note cards on occasion to refer back to but understandably so — there is a lot of information to remember!
— walking tour suitable for all (let me explain…) you are standing the whole time but the walk is certainly not fast paced and you really do not walk that far. Start at Allen and Franklin walk down to Day’s Park back up Elmwood just a few buildings past cantina loco and then back to Allen. Really it’s not far at all. I wore flip flops but comfortable walking shoes are best.
— you learn a LOT about the city particularly Allen and how the mob formed in this area /​the crimes that took place
CONS:
— this tour is 2 hours so you definitely get your money’s worth but really I think it could have been done in 80 – 90 minutes
— the guide mentioned he had a micro phone but since it was a small group he decided not to use it –just use it! We are outside and it can get loud. I had trouble hearing «the Godfather» at times.
Overall this tour was good I think with some minor changes (perhaps a more upbeat, outgoing tour guide, use of microphone, and cut down on the time) a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon on Father’s Day.

We were treated to a personal tour with one of the founders of Explore Buffalo, Brad Hahn. We’d already nosed around a bit on our own — Buffalo has rich and accessible architecture — but Brad’s tour, which encompassed history, economics, and the social fabric of the city, tied it all together. I’m leaving Buffalo with a broad sense of this former industrial giant and once again thriving American city. Much fun, and left us wishing we had another three-​plus hours to spare seeing all that Buffalo has to offer.

This is a review of their Silo City Tour only. I cannot speak to any others, yet. Yep, Id consider taking another one of their tours. They are interesting themes, its easy to sign up and they start on time.
The check-​in was well done. They started on time. They were clear about their expectations of us, the guests, (closed toed shoes (they checked)), need to be able to hear the guides voice at all times, don’t stray too far from the group etc.
Our guides (we had three, sort of) were knowledgeable. One of them used to work in one of the Silos, and he was super informative from a «this is what you are looking at» type of thing, but he’s not always there, he has a day job still. Our tour leader was very knowledgeable, however a little disjointed. I’m guessing that he shares different info each tour, so what I come away having learned you may not, but you may know a different set of things. Nothing wrong with that, nothing was «rote», but still made it a little disjointed. The third guide was more in the background, making sure we all stayed in a group and taking care of lunch details and the like.
This is the tour where you go to the top of a few of the silos. The views are terrific. There are a large amount of stairs in the tour, both up and down, and you need to be prepared for that if you sign up. Many of the stairs are winding round ones, not large. There are a lot of confined spaces on this tour as well, and its probably not for the claustrophobe or anyone who is not comfortable with heights. Its hot in the summer too. No AC here. Be prepared for that. And you need to pay attention to where you walk, these spaces were abandoned and have debris on the floors. But if you can handle all that, its a great thing to do.
I have been to the silos many times before and am familiar with the history of them. As well as the current uses some of them have, a few are operational, and one may become a rock climbing space if the crowd-​funding campaign works out.
The Buffalo River runs by here and you will see large barges travel it at times. Also kayakers often paddle by.
This tour offers lunch. I suggest they rethink their lunch plans and order a sub from somewhere instead of using Gene McCarthys. Our food was not really edible. But you are not there for lunch, right? Other than that, this tour was well done and Ill take another one of their tours.
I’m a Fan, but the rather disjointed guide and the lunch knocked a star off here.
Also, this tour cannot really be done in 2 hours. It takes time to climb the stairs with all the people, the ladder is a slowdown point and more. Maybe our group was bigger then most, but it seemed to me we ran out of time when we moved at a fair pace. Id make the tour three hours to be safer. That way people can plan accordingly.