Book a Private Tour
Schedule a Historic Milwaukee walking tour for your group or request our step-on guide service to lead your next chartered tour! We have several pre-planned walking tours and bus tours available for you to choose from. Please contact us at least 3 weeks prior to your desired tour date. A $50 non-refundable deposit is required for all private tours.
You could also consider booking your group on an existing public tour. You are welcome to purchase as many tickets as you like but we are unable to hold spots without payment.
Contact
Julia Griffith
414-277-7795
Program Director
julia@historicmilwaukee.org
Private Walking Tours
HMI offers several private walking tours led by a knowledgeable HMI guide! Our private walking tours have minimum of six people, or $90 (whichever is greater). Additional people beyond the six are $15 per person. Reservations are required and we ask for at least three weeks notice as our guides are all volunteers. We recommend these tours for ages 12 and older. Most of our walking tours are available - these are some of the most popular!
Brady Street
This East Side neighborhood, with its Polish and Italian working class communities, briefly became Milwaukee’s counter-culture stronghold in the 60’s and 70’s.
German Heritage
Old World Third Street has buildings from the late 1800’s with a distinctly Teutonic flavor. Learn about businesses and locales that were instrumental in making the city into a “Deutsche Athens.”
Milwaukee’s Downtown
Explore downtown Milwaukee's diverse architecture from the 1850s to today. Ends at the Milwaukee Art Museum to view stunning architecture and lake vistas.
Historic Third Ward
Learn about the area’s early immigrants and explore the warehouses that once housed a diverse group of industries. Today, the area is home to trend-setting businesses and condos.
North Point Mansions
From Tudors to Frank Lloyd Wright, see the impressive mansions of the North Point Neighborhood! The area is known for its intact early twentieth-century architecture and historical importance. (Tour is exterior only.)
Riverwalk
Discover the design concepts used to create the Riverwalk’s path and enjoy sculptures dotting the landscape. This tour also highlights the architecturally significant buildings that flank the Milwaukee River.
Step On Guides (Bus Tours)
We have step-on guides available! You choose the topic, book the transportation, and HMI provides a trained guide to direct your chartered tour. Each tour is a minimum of one hour long, but most are recommended at 1.5-2 hours. The base price is $100 per hour per bus and additional time can be added in hour or half-hour increments. You must provide your own motor coach transportation. Tours are not available using private vehicles.
In Search of Milwaukee’s Beer Barons
Time: 1.5 hours to 2 hours
Join us as we journey in search of the men who made the “Brew City” famous – the original Milwaukee Brewers. See the sites where the Blatzes, Gettelmans, Millers, Pabsts and Uihleins brewed their famous beers, built their palatial homes and raised their families.
Milwaukee Neighborhoods & Highlights
Time: 1.5 - 3 hours
Explore Milwaukee's downtown and surrouding neighborhoods. Learn more about architecture, city planning, urban renewal, neighborhood development and more. Includes Yankee Hill, the East Side, North Point Mansions, the Third Ward, Brewer's Hill, Harambee and Walker's Point.
South Side Churches
Time: 2 hours exterior view only; 3-4 hours with interior tours.
Discover Milwaukee’s South Side churches and the ethnic groups that established them. Interiors can include Serbian Orthodox Cathedral and St. Josaphat’s Basilica.
Slideshow Presentations
$50 for a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation, $75 for a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation where HMI provides A/V equipment.
Early History of Milwaukee
This exploration of Milwaukee history, covering the Prehistoric, Village and Commercial periods of Milwaukee’s early development, is intended to build upon a basic understanding of Milwaukee’s development. Sharing stories about familiar figures and introducing lesser-known players, this presentation will take you back in time to where Milwaukee began.
You Know You Are a Milwaukeean
From five baseball teams to the Polish Moon, You Know You’re a Milwaukeean celebrates the quirky history that made Milwaukee unique. Nostalgia for lifelong residents and a quick education for those new to the Cream City, the architecture, pop culture and history highlighted here are not to be missed!
A Stroll Through Milwaukee's Downtown
Unable to get out in Downtown Milwaukee? Explore the history, architecture and development of Milwaukee with a 45-minute highlights presentation.