Private Walking Tour Groups

Group Walking Tours

Explore Buffalo is happy to provide private walking tours to groups on request at a date and time of your choosing. Please see our wide selection of available tours below to find one that will best suit your group’s interests.

Please note: there is a minimum fee of $100 for a private group tour.

Walking Tours: 90 minutes unless otherwise noted
Less than 20 people: $20/person
20 or more people: $15/person
Season Sponsor Members $12/person

Silo City Tours: 90 minutes
$22/person
Season Sponsor Members: $12/person

For private tours of the Richardson Olmsted Complex, please contact them directly. 

Tour Logistics:

After requests have been processed, groups will receive a tour information document with details on their specific tour. This document is the official confirmation of your tour booking. Final head count for all private group walking tours is due at least 10 days before the tour date.  Please note that starting locations are listed below for all tours, however, these may be adjusted for some tours, upon request.

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Walking Tours

Below are our most requested walking tours.  Please note that we offer any of our regular public tours as private tours.

Best of Buffalo

The buildings included on this overview tour help to tell the story of Buffalo’s rapid rise to prominence, from the opening of the Erie Canal to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. Buildings seen on this tour were designed by both nationally and locally significant architects, including Louis Sullivan, Richard Upjohn, Louise Bethune, and EB Green. Perfect for both visitors and residents alike, this tour is an excellent introduction to Buffalo’s architectural heritage.

  • Beginning Location: Hotel at the Lafayette, 391 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203

Canalside: Then & Now

Buffalo grew from the water’s edge, as the Erie Canal and later the railroads brought unprecedented commerce and industry to the city. The waterfront walking tour will explore some of the oldest neighborhoods of Buffalo, many of which have gone through numerous transitions and are in the midst of yet another change as the city returns its focus to the water. The redevelopment of Canalside and new waterfront attractions are featured in this tour, along with the history of the opening of the Erie Canal and development of the grain elevator and other waterfront industry.

  • Beginning Location: African American Veterans Monument: Erie Street & Marine Drive, 236 Erie Street, Buffalo NY 14202

City Hall 

Buffalo City Hall is a masterpiece of Art Deco design that is a symbol of the City of Buffalo. Completed in 1931, City Hall features ornamentation celebrating the City of Buffalo and its people, history, and values throughout both its interior and exterior. The lobby features murals by William de Leftwich Dodge, and the Common Council Chambers are highlighted by an extraordinary sunburst skylight.  Enjoy stunning views of Buffalo and Lake Erie from the Observation Deck at the top of the building (weather permitting).   This tour is 1 hour in length.

  • Beginning Location: Lobby of City Hall by the elevators.  Note: There is no wheelchair access to the Observation Deck.  65 Niagara Square, Buffalo, NY 14202

Delaware Avenue Mansions

The richest of the rich in Buffalo put their wealth on full display on this section of Delaware Avenue, home to the grandest collection of mansions built in the city. Marvel at these grandiose monuments of the Gilded Age and enjoy the intriguing stories of the families who built them on this tour of Delaware Avenue from North Street to Bryant Street.

  • Beginning Location: Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202

Downtown Murals

Buffalo is being transformed by murals, both outside and inside. Some are scenic, like “Wildflowers for Buffalo,” and some are geometric, like “Optichromie,” both on Washington Street. Some murals are sponsored by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, such as “Noodle in the Northern Lights” on Tupper Street, while others are privately financed, such as “Greetings from Buffalo” on Ellicott Street. On this downtown walking tour, we will explore many of downtown’s murals. More murals are being painted each year, so this tour will evolve as new murals emerge downtown!

  • Beginning Location: Hotel at the Lafayette, 391 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203

Masters of American Architecture

At the turn of the twentieth century, Buffalo was the eighth largest city in America and the city’s businesses, organizations, and citizens had the financial resources to hire the best architects and craftsmen and use the finest materials available. See signature works by some of America’s greatest architects on this downtown walking tour, and learn about the prominence of Buffalo on a national scale.

  • Buildings included as part of this tour include: St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Old County Hall, the Guaranty Building, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Ellicott Square Building, and the Old Post Office. Depending on the private group’s chosen date, not all buildings will be available for interior access.
  • Beginning Location: Hotel at the Lafayette, 391 Washington Street, Buffalo, NY 14203

Scandalous Buffalo

On this tour, you’ll learn about the role some of Buffalo’s lawmen played in maintaining civil order, including a popular anti-Prohibition Mayor and the Erie County Sheriff who became the only American President to have executed a prisoner by hanging. The architectural landmarks of downtown Buffalo provide a magnificent backdrop for these stories, many of which sound straight from a movie script – but they’re all true!

  •  Beginning Location: Spot Coffee, 227 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202

Silo City

At ground level, experience the monumental scale of the grain elevators constructed in Buffalo in the first half of the twentieth century, and also see how they are now being repurposed. On this guided walk around the grounds of Silo City, you’ll learn about the history of the grain trade in Buffalo and the development of the grain elevator, including the construction methods used to build such massive structures. You’ll also learn about how the Silo City campus is being creatively used for arts and culture today and see the redevelopment of some of the historic buildings currently in progress.

  • Beginning Location: 120 Silo City Row, Buffalo, NY, 14203

Allentown Mob Tour

When Italian and Sicilian immigrants came to Buffalo, many of their local customs came with them – and so did the Mafia. Through much of the twentieth century, the Allentown neighborhood was a hotspot for Mob activity. Do you want to know how a Rembrandt painting stolen from a French museum found its way to Buffalo? Or how one Buffalo mobster got the nickname “Lucky Pants”? Book the Allentown Mob Tour to find out!

  • Beginning Location: Café 59, 62 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY 14202

West Side Mob Tour

Buffalo’s West Side was once a hotbed of mob activity and government surveillance as law enforcement tried to make a dent in the criminal underworld, often with little success. Find out how the mob succeeded at eluding the government men for decades on this entertaining tour. This tour is adapted from Mike Rizzo’s book “Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo.”  This tour is 2 hours in length.

  • Beginning Location:  Providence Social, 490 Rhode Island Street, Buffalo, NY 14213