2009 marks the third year of The Campaign for Greater Buffalo's Open-Air Autobus tours of Buffalo history and architecture. The bus was a hit from Day One with both riders and people in the streets.

You'll get commentary from the experts in architecture and historic preservation, conveyed in a memorable way. There is really no better way to see the city, and we have hosted not only individuals, but businesses, block clubs, classes, alumni groups, and others who find it a great bonding experience.

All tours last two hours and are $20 ($16 for Members of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo), and only $5 for children 11 and under. You learn a lot, and have a lot of fun. Groups of 20 or more save 20%. We also have over 30 walking tours in our portfolio available to groups of 20 or more.

CALL 716-854-3749 FOR LATEST INFO OR TO RESERVE TODAY.

We strongly recommend reservations, and accept MasterCard and Visa.

We thoroughly enjoyed our few days as tourists in Buffalo, but the Open-Air Bus tour was definitely the high point. Thank you for offering an event that was eye-opening about the history and architecture of Buffalo, and a fun time too. We had a blast!

             Your neighbors down the Thruway,

                                 S.S and M.S.

                                      Rochester

You, too, can see Buffalo in a totally new way on The Campaign for Greater Buffalo's fabulous Open-Air Autobus. The Whirlwind Tour on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is a great introduction to all that is great about Buffalo, while Thursday evening tours go in-depth on Frank Lloyd Wright, the industrial heritage of the Buffalo waterfront, the fabulous residential architecture of three historic districts, and the heritage of the Niagara River and Old Black Rock.

EVERYONE LOVES THE OPEN-AIR AUTOBUS!

Buffalo: The Whirlwind Tour
Give us 2 hours and we’ll give you the whirl
Fri. 6:00pm June 26-Sept. 4
Sat. 10:00am June 27-Sept. 19
Sun. 11:00am June 28-Sept. 20
Meet at Bidwell Pkwy. @ Elmwood Ave.

 Pound for pound, Buffalo is one of the most architecturally interesting cities in the country. Population-wise, Buffalo is squarely in the middle of the pack, yet, because of historical circumstance, it has an architectural richness unmatched by any city its size and by many much larger.  Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building and the soaring Art Deco mass of City Hall are just two highlights of 150 years of local history and architectural styles. You’ll see scores of beautiful buildings and houses by prominent national and international architects. Skyscrapers, music halls, parkways—you’ll see why it is hard not to brag about Buffalo’s architecture.

Some other notable buildings on the tour are the 1876 City & County Hall, Daniel Burnham’s Ellicott Square, and Richard Upjohn’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, and significant buildings by H.H. Richardson, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the parkways of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Historic Neighborhoods: The Allentown, Delaware, and Linwood historic districts
6:00pm Thursday June 25, July 16, August 6 & 27. Meet at Elmwood Ave. at Bidwell Pkwy.

 The 40-year period from 1860 to 1900 can be described as the Buffalo’s Golden Age. In 1880 Buffalo was the thirteenth largest city in a country of exploding cities. In 1900, it was number 8, its wealth and power at its peak. Buffalo’s elite hired the best architects for their houses, office buildings, and churches. We even sent our mayor — Grover Cleveland —to the White House. Twice.

Titans of commerce, legions of laborers, and masses of managers all had to live somewhere, so Buffalo’s housing stock of this period, and extending through World War I, is rich at all levels and styles.

See Buffalo’s historic neighborhoods up close on this tour of the Allentown, Delaware, and Linwood historic Districts, plus the grandeur of Chapin and Lincoln parkways and Bedford Avenue, the buckle of Buffalo’s bungalow belt! Beautiful examples of everything from Italianate to Second Empire, Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne, Craftsman, and ‘Stockbroker Tudor.’

The Historic Harbor: People and Places
6:00pm Thursday July 9 and August 16.  Meet at Commercial Slip, foot of Pearl St.

 Travel through a panorama of waterfront history with Tim Tielman, author of Buffalo’s Waterfront. Discover the people and places of Buffalo’s waterfront, a window into national social, economic, and architectural history. From the newly restored terminus of the Erie Canal, to the soaring grain elevators that are the foundation of Modern Architecture itself, all along the streets once thronged by immigrants, sailors and ruffians, Grover Cleveland, and the “saloon boss” of bosses, Fingy Connors.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Buffalo
Thursday 6:00 pm July 2 & 30, Sept. 3.  Meet at Elmwood Ave. at Bidwell Pkwy.

 Buffalo is noted worldwide for its role in the career of Frank Lloyd Wright. See the Martin, Barton, Davidson, and Heath houses, as well as two recently built designs for a magnificent boathouse for the venerable West Side Rowing Club and an open-air mausoleum in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

The Niagara River & Old Black Rock: Military, architectural & industrial heritage
Thursday 6:00pm July 23 and August 20.  Meet at Niagara St. and Porter Ave.

 Nearly 200 years ago, the tiny but promising villages of Buffalo and Black Rock, on the American frontier across the Niagara River from the Canadian dominions of the British Empire, found themselves in the middle of a continental war. Buffalo was burned to the ground, and Black Rock was the site of numerous skirmishes, fortifications, and naval activity. Join us as we peel back the layers of time and espy the Niagara Frontier as it was seen by Lt. Jesse Elliott, the first naval hero of the war to receive a Congressional medal, for his daring nighttime raid to capture two British warships on the Fort Erie shore.  

From there, we go to 1825 and the completion of the the Erie Canal and the development of Buffalo, including the beautiful and threatened neighborhood of Prospect Hill. Black Rock has the largest concentration of 1850’s houses in the city. There's industrial heritage, too, from steamer car factories to aircraft plants. We'll see the home of You'll also see some beautiful but seldom sought-out vantage points from which to behold the beauty and power of the river itself.