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On phlf tours you visit real places with real people..

Our expert guides know and love the Pittsburgh, PA region. They will help you see significant places in three dimensions: each with a rich past, present, and future— that’s our goal !

Questions? Contact Mary Lu Denny: [email protected] or 412-471-5808, ext. 527.

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Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Phone: 412-471-5808  |  Fax: 412-471-1633

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The shift is part of a broader movement of hybridization — the intermingling of business and personal Downtown spaces.

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Tours & sightseeing.

​However you like to roll, Pittsburgh is sure to have the sightseeing option for you.

By land or water, on four wheels or two, tour and experience Pittsburgh first hand.

Tag along with knowledgeable guides for free walking tours of Downtown, or take food tour to sample Pittsburgh's authentic culinary prowess . Get out on the water aboard the Gateway Clipper or the Rivers of Steel Riverboat. Keep active with a bike tour or keep it interesting on a Segway , there's something incredible to see in Pittsburgh, no matter how you get there.

Bike, Boat & Bus Tours

There are a wide variety of bike, boat, and bus tours available throughout Pittsburgh, with options to meet the needs of every sightseer.

• Golden Triangle Bike - Rent a bike and go for a guided or self-guided bike tour.
• Gateway Clipper Fleet - The Gateway Clipper Fleet has been sailing Pittsburgh's three rivers for more than 50 years. Sightsee, dine, celebrate and relax aboard a cruise unlike any other.
• Bike the Burgh Tours - Learn about the city's history and culture on a Bike the Burgh tour.
• Cruisin' Tikis - Bring your camera on this two hour cruise with plenty of photo worthy moments.
• Pittsburgh Pirate Ship - Sail on Pittsburgh's only pirate ship for an unforgettable tour of Pittsburgh's three rivers.
• Rivers of Steel - This sightseeing cruise highlights the region’s steel heritage.
• Molly's Trolleys Pittsburgh - Enjoy a narrated sightseeing tour in a comfortable trolley.
• The Burgh Bus - Laugh your way through the city on this comedian-led bus tour.

Art & Architecture Tours

Gain a deeper understanding of the impressive architecture and stunning works of art that make Pittsburgh such a vibrant city on one of these tours.

• Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater - Explore this UNESCO site on a guided interior tour of Fallingwater, the only remaining Frank Lloyd Wright house with its setting, original furnishings and artwork intact.
• Antique Skyscrapers: Talks & Tours - Learn about Pittsburgh's skyscrapers on a customizable group tour.
• Nationality Rooms - Head to the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Rooms to admire the architecture and decor depicting the ethnic heritages of the city.
• Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation - Go on this walking tour of Downtown and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods to learn the local history.
• Hartwood Acres Mansion - This Tudor mansion offers daily tours to visitors as well as special events, outdoor trails, and more.
• The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka - Gaze at the awe-inspiring murals of Croatian artist Maxo Vanka on a guided tour at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church.

Brewery & Food Tours

Foodies and beer lovers rejoice! Take one of these tours to try mouthwatering bites from local restaurants and sample craft brews at local breweries .

• ‘Burgh Bits and Bites Food Tour - This food tasting and historic walking tour guides guests to incredible restaurants throughout Pittsburgh's neighborhoods.
• Penn Brewery - Go behind-the-scenes at the oldest brewery in Pittsburgh.
• City Brew Tours - Hop from brewery to brewery sampling expertly crafted beer.

Explore all of the different tour options below, then get out and explore Pittsburgh!

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East Bay home tours feature architects from Berkeley and Oakland

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The houses on this year’s home tours sponsored by the American Institute of Architect’s East Bay chapter have one thing in common: home offices. Some of the homes even have two.

“Five or six years ago, nobody cared about the home office in the same way,” said Mike Wilson, the chapter’s executive director for the past four years. The pandemic changed that, as home-based workers turned an empty nook, an extra bedroom or a guest room into a full-time home office. 

“That’s our new normal,” Wilson said. “Everybody’s working from home a couple of days a week.”

That’s just one of the characteristics shared by the five homes on this year’s tour, which will take place on Saturday, May 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Out of more than a dozen submissions, five houses made the cut because they fit this year’s theme, “Lifestyle-Centric Living: Designing Homes to Suit Unique Needs,” and had enough street parking for visitors. 

Four out of the five houses are what Wilson called “radical remodels” that practically rebuilt the entire home. Three houses are in the hills — in Berkeley and Oakland — and were redesigned to make the most of their views.

What distinguishes East Bay’s tour from other architectural tours is that both the architects and the homeowners will be on hand, so visitors can have their questions answered or inquire about particular approaches or the use of materials. 

Tickets for the tour are $125 ($85 for AIA East Bay members; $25 for students) and can be purchased online in advance or on the day of the tour at any of the homes on the tour.  

Here are highlights from this year’s offerings:

Architect: WA design , Berkeley

When it was built in 1937, this was one of the first homes in the then sparsely populated hills above the Claremont Hotel and was rumored to have incredibly expansive views of the San Francisco Bay.

A 1969 renovation made the building’s street view more modern, but also created “a jumble of rooflines and walls,” said architect David S. Wilson, principal of WA Design. 

“We came in and really contemporized it,” he said, “opening the plan up entirely on the main floor and simplifying the roof lines to give it a little bit of architectural clarity.”

A 27-foot-wide series of sliding doors that open onto a wooden deck now afford expansive views. Natural light floods the entire space and filters down into the lower floor via a stairway with a glass railing.

 Architect: Mikiten Architecture , Berkeley

Architect Erick Mikiten has traveled the world, advising his peers on making work and living spaces more accessible to all, a concept known as universal design. Mikiten, who uses a wheelchair due to osteogenesis imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease, understands the needs of those who often can’t access certain spaces due to their design. 

“If you don’t have the ability to get out to enjoy the yard without needing assistance, you end up being excluded,” he said. 

Mikiten is the architect of a new home in Albany built for a family of four who had to abandon their Berkeley Hills home after their daughter was diagnosed at age 5 with a degenerative brain disease. Though they loved the lushness of their previous home, “it was not going to work and couldn’t be modified,” Mikiten said. 

The new home reflects the hallmarks of universal design: no thresholds between rooms and an openness of spaces to accommodate wheelchairs; and flexible spaces that can be adapted as needs change or homeowners wish to age in place. The family now uses three bedrooms on the main floor, but an upstairs room accessible by stairs could become a bedroom for a caregiver in the future. 

 “This is the house of their dreams,” Mikiten said. “They’re going to stay here for a long time.”

To recreate a lush landscape for the family, Mikiten turned a steep hill behind the house into a bucolic backdrop for a Zen-like garden. The common spaces are arranged around an atrium courtyard that opens up to the garden.

“Even if you don’t get outside, you feel very strongly connected to the landscape,” Mikiten said.

Architect: Eisenmann Architecture , Berkeley

The classic California bungalow often proves too small for the needs of 21st-century families. Many have been expanded, usually by adding another flat-roofed, stucco story to the original home.

This expansion by architect Stacy Eisenmann deviates from the norm. She designed the second-story addition with two peaked roof sections, one of which boasts dark wood siding, contrasting with the white stucco. Another noticeable change from the curb was her choice of a metal roof over the entrance instead of the traditional terracotta, adding a more contemporary look. 

A large portion of the existing house was gutted and reorganized. Most significantly, the main floor layout was completely rearranged. Breaking from the bungalow’s traditional layout, Eisenmann placed the kitchen between the living and dining areas, which “creates a compression that naturally organizes the different spaces,” Eisenmann wrote in a project description. A lower level was also created, creating additional public spaces.

Architect: Ogle Design & Architecture , Berkeley

“Most people buy houses because they are dying to live in them,” Karen Hartwig said in a n interview about her Montclair home remodel. “I was dying to tear it apart and bring our dream house to reality.” 

Hartwig, an Oakland-based general contractor, purchased the mid-century home with her partner in 2019. The previous owners had lived in the house for 60 years. 

“The goal of the remodel was to expand the size of the house, create a more harmonious flow, and feature the pretty incredible views — one of the best I’ve seen,” said architect William Ogle, the principal of the firm. 

The project’s crowning achievement was to almost double the size of the house (to around 4,000 square feet) without increasing its footprint. That was achieved by carving out spaces downstairs that Hartwig called “pretty useless:” a long narrow room from one end of the house to the other that included an area without finished floors and one with a mound of dirt. 

Additional square footage was also gained after the chimney for the fireplace was removed from the lower level, requiring a massive beam to hold up the rest of the fireplace, which remains in the living room above. When combined, the freed-up space created a media room, a gaming room, two home offices, a guest room and a bar. 

Architect: Design Draw Build , Oakland

At this Oakland Hills home, the architect Tyler Kobick took a hands-on approach to the redesign. Kobick apprenticed as a stone mason in his youth, started his own construction company at 16 and ran it while getting his architectural degrees. The house reflects his dual background, which is echoed in his firm’s makeup. Half of his staff are architects; the other half are makers.

On a site with a two-bridge view, the house was built in 1949 for jazz musician Virgil Muhler. Kobick gutted the home, updated its systems, and moved the kitchen from its dark, back-of-the-house location into the central space, which he opened to the view. He added a living room with a 13-foot ceiling and a main bedroom, increasing the 1,250-square-foot home by 700 square feet. 

For the exterior, Kobick discovered copper flashing from a former World War II airplane hangar in Alameda on Craig’s List. “When I saw it, it blew my mind,” he said. 

His staff turned the former roofing material into siding, which Kobick helped install.

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Joanne Furio

Joanne Furio is a longtime journalist and writer of creative nonfiction. Originally from New York, she has been a staff writer, an editor and a freelance magazine writer. More recently, she was a contributing... More by Joanne Furio

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