Shuffle Off to Buffalo: A Walking Tour of its Historical Highlights

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Shuffle Off to Buffalo: A Walking Tour of its Historical Highlights

(12 reviews)
Buffalo, New York audio tour: Shuffle Off to Buffalo: A Walking Tour of its Historical Highlights
This is a 2.3mi walking tour
It takes an average of 120 mins to complete.
Buffalo, New York
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$11.99
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About the Tour

Buffalo might often be overshadowed by New York City, but its distinctive character and history as a Rustbelt City set it apart. On this walking tour, we’ll delve into Buffalo’s architectural heritage, showcasing iconic structures designed by renowned architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan.

This captivating journey starts (and ends) at the Erie County Library, where you‘ll find out how Mark Twain edited the Buffalo Express newspaper from 1869-1871. From there you‘ll discover Lafayette Square’s alluring Art Deco features, and hear intriguing snippets from the city‘s history. You‘ll also discover Buffalo‘s vibrant cultural scene as you promenade down Main Street, where the Theatre District’s numerous performing arts venues welcome you, before circling back to the nightlife hub of Chippewa Street. At City Hall, you‘ll discover the origin of Major League Baseball‘s iconic baseball cap. The tour wraps up with a quick judicial history lesson. (It‘s more interesting than it sounds!)

Along the way, you‘ll be able to:

  • Discover when Buffalo was at its zenith
  • Admire the Hotel at Lafayette Square built by the United States‘ first female architect, Louise Blanchard Bethune
  • Pass the elegant Gothic Revival-styled Old Post Office which now serves as a community college campus
  • Learn about Marquis de Lafayette, a French General commander who aided George Washington during the American Revolutionary War
  • Hear about the City Beautiful Movement
  • See Sahlen Field, home of Buffalo‘s Minor League Baseball team, the Buffalo Bisons
  • Trace the fortunes of the Town Ballroom from the city‘s upper class’s former playground in the 1900s, to a firm favorite for headlining musicians
  • Find out about the assassination of beloved President McKinley at Buffalo‘s Pan-American expo
  • Find the best BBQ and Buffalo wings in the city at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
  • Learn what led Buffalo to become a Rust Belt City

At the end of our two-hour tour, you‘ll have a strong sense of what makes Buffalo so special and worth exploring!

Tour Producer

avatar

Phil Biedron

17 tours

Hello I'm Phil. A Chicagoan by way of Los Angeles and now in Atlanta. In addition to hosting tours, I am also a working actor; probably on some shows you have seen!

Preview Location

Location 11

Roosevelt Plaza

Find a place to stop in the park. Straight ahead of you is the most iconic skyscraper in the city: The Electric Tower.

Why is it called that you might ask?

Well, let's revisit the history of the Pan-American Exposition which took place in Buffalo in 1901. Modeled afte... Read More
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Major Landmarks

  • Fountain Plaza Station

  • Theater District

  • Plaza of Stars

  • Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

  • Chippewa Street

  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York

  • Buffalo Police Headquarters

  • George Washington Monument (Joseph Turkalj

  • 1976)

  • The Police Apartments

  • Guaranty Building & Interpretive Center

  • St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral

  • Mini Bison

  • Ellicott Development

  • Greyhound: Bus Station

  • Braymiller Market

  • Hyatt Regency Buffalo / Hotel And Conference Center

  • Buffalo Savings Bank

  • Market Arcade

  • Irish Classical Theatre Company

  • Shea's Buffalo Theatre

  • Town Ballroom

  • New Era Flagship Store - Buffalo

  • McKinley Monument

  • Guaranty Building & Interpretive Center

  • Ellicott Square Building

  • Sahlen Field

  • Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

  • The Electric Tower

  • Lafayette Square

  • Liberty Building

  • Buffalo City Hall

  • Old Erie County Hall

  • Nikola Tesla Park

  • Casimer Pulaski Monument

  • Old Post Office

  • Rand Building

  • Hotel at the Lafayette

  • Brisbane Building

  • Hyatt Regency Buffalo / Hotel And Conference Center

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.
  1. Start location
    1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
  2. Total distance
    4km
  3. Final location
    225 Ellicott St, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
  4. Distance back to start location
    67.41m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins at the main entrance of the Erie County Public Library. You are welcome to begin the tour inside the building (if within business hours) and you can get a cup of coffee or protect yourself from the elements before you venture outside.

The address to the starting point is:

1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY 14203

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

I can't recommend Dinosaur Bar-B-Que enough. They are splendid and relatively affordable.
The M&T Bank Rotunda deserves some exploration for the fabulous design elements inside.
If it's theatre season, revisit Main Street and see what's playing at the myriad of theatres that surround it.
A bit off the beaten path, the Albert Knox Gallery is a highly sought after art gallery for a reason.

Best time of day

I highly recommend beginning the tour no later than 3pm so you can visit the interiors of some of the amazing structures highlighted on the tour.

Precautions

As you might know, it does get brutally cold here in the wintertime so please bundle up. Also, just like any other major American city, there are panhandlers. I advise you to graciously decline and motion to your headphones; no time to stop, you are on a walking tour!

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”
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Questions and Reviews

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12 Ratings
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