Buffalo River History Tours

Buffalo River History Tours

Buffalo River History Tours
5
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 8:30 PM
About
Take a cruise through history and join us for a 90-minute narrated Buffalo River History Tour! Hear the story of the Erie Canal, Buffalo’s history as the largest grain port in the world and experience the nation’s largest collection of standing grain elevators from just a few feet away. Come travel along the waterway that made Buffalo one of the biggest and richest cities in the world.
Buffalo, United States

Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023

Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Travellers talk about
(52 reviews)
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
2,219 reviews
Excellent
2,037
Very good
145
Average
20
Poor
9
Terrible
8

Jim K
Saint Paul, MN54 contributions
Oct. 2023 • Family
Was lucky to get in on the last Buffalo River History Tour of the season for 2023. Because it was the end of their season, the tour company had already put away their normal tour boat for the season. This meant that our tour was on their Tiki party boat, which was a bit disappointing. We had been looking forward to sitting on the top deck of the normal tour boat.

While the information provided by the tour leader/narrator was interesting, his "dad" jokes were a bit much and his "shtick" was a bit annoying after a while. In addition, he also spent quite a bit of time joking around with two women who were drinking by the bar on board. Plus, there was an issue with the sound system, so that if the guide did not have his microphone right by is mouth, it was difficult to hear him at times.

But the thing that turned us off was that as the captain was getting the boat docked, he started talking about a couple of past tours where they had gotten some large tips, specifically mentioning some people that had given them each $100 because they had enjoyed themselves so much. While we realize that tipping is normal and appreciated by people providing tours, we thought it was really tacky to be dropping specific tip dollar values. We felt it was an attempt to guilt us into giving a tip. Needless to say, we did not give a tip.
Written 16 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

zig13zig
Alden, NY9 contributions
Oct. 2023 • Family
I had taken this tour in the past, it frankly was looking at old grain factories with a lot of history. However we had a very talented tour guide who made the trip enjoyable for the myself and our out of town friends. The history mixed the humor made the tour very enjoyable. Thank you Bruce for an enjoyable day in Buffalo!
Written 15 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BuffManh
1 contribution
Oct. 2023
This tour had been good in past visits. This time I brought friends from out of town and was embarrassed. The guide kept interrupting the narrative of Buffalo's wonderful history with stupid jokes and blather. I found myself explaining to my friends what we were seeing -- luckily I knew. If this guide thinks history and Buffalo's resurgence are too boring to talk about, he shouldn't be doing this tour. The boat ride itself was pleasant on a beautiful day. Too bad the sound track was ridiculous.
Written 7 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Joseph L
1 contribution
Sep. 2023
We brought 120 high school students on the tour and we couldn't be more pleased. From the moment we arrived the crew was very welcoming and provided our students with a top notch field trip. The knowledge of the docent and owner was outstanding. They bounced back and forth intermingling the history of Buffalo along with how their business began and runs to this day, The owner of the company even made it a point to visit each group of students to chat with them about their goals as a business student. We intend to make this an annual trip for our students. If you get a chance to take this trip, you will not be disappointed.
Written 6 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

cdudich
1 contribution
Sep. 2023
Our group of 25 people from Chicago were on a study tour in Buffalo to visit all of the amazing art, architectural, and historic sites that Buffalo has to offer and we included the Silo City Tour as part of our experience, and we were not disappointed!! The tour was interesting, and our guide was extremely knowledgeable!! Thank you so much for contributing to our wonderful visit to your city!!
Written 2 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Roger W
1 contribution
Sep. 2023
Very informative. Interesting history presented to us during a beautiful day on a river that is making an ecological comeback.
Written 27 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ABearcroft11
Johnstown, NY1 contribution
Sep. 2023
Had a wonderful Silo City Tour on the boat and walking. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and really led to an enjoyable day. Would definitely suggest to friends and family.
Written 25 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

czirnheld77
1 contribution
Sep. 2023
Our guide was very good - knew the history and had lots of stories about the history - Throughly enjoyed the trip
Written 24 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Narinder Mohan
4 contributions
Sep. 2023 • Family
Very boring. They showed ancient ruins and old buildings. Guide was talkinf non stop and bored a lot.
Written 24 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

John G
Orchard Park, NY15 contributions
Sep. 2023 • Couples
We had friends visiting from out of town so we booked this cruise. We all absolutely loved the tour. It was a very informative tour of the Buffalo River and all of to history that it has. Another great thing is the crew on board, they were the friendliest people that we’ve ever had on a tour. We would definitely do this again. A++++
Written 24 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 2,216

Buffalo River History Tours: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)