{"id":47870,"date":"2025-07-08T05:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47870\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T05:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:22:10","slug":"a-pope-leo-bus-tour-is-coming-to-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47870\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pope Leo Bus Tour is Coming to Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Move over, mob tours\u2014Chicago\u2019s newest sightseeing sensation is all about the real boss: the pope.\u00a0Starting this August, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagopopetour.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Chicago Pope Tour<\/a> invites you to hop on a four-hour guided bus ride to explore the South Side roots of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/chicago\/news\/chicagos-own-just-became-pope-heres-what-to-know-about-leo-xiv-050825\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pope Leo XIV<\/a>, the first American-born pontiff and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/chicago\/news\/chicago-reacts-to-the-election-of-pope-leo-xiv-050925\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a proud son of the Windy City<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/chicago\/news\/this-is-apparently-pope-leos-favorite-chicago-pizza-joint-051425\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This is apparently Pope Leo&#8217;s favorite Chicago pizza joint<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Born Robert Prevost at Mercy Hospital and raised near Dolton in the St. Mary of the Assumption Church parish, Leo XIV&#8217;s unlikely journey from Chicago kid to leader of the Catholic Church is the stuff of local legend. Now, it\u2019s a fully narrated experience, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/chicago\/restaurants\/best-pizza-in-chicago\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pizza<\/a> included. (Duh.)<\/p>\n<p>The tour starts and ends in Lincoln Park, looping through major stops from the pope\u2019s early life from his childhood home to his parish church and seminary. Guides share behind-the-scenes stories, lesser-known facts and even a few papal puns.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Before he led millions, the Pope was just another Chicagoan,&#8221; the tour website said. &#8220;Our unique bus tour hits the real places where he lived, studied, prayed\u2014and yes, ate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But what\u2019s a pilgrimage without pizza? Each ticket includes a slice at Aurelio\u2019s, the beloved south suburban institution and one of Leo\u2019s favorite haunts. They&#8217;ve even added a cheeky &#8220;Pope-a-Roni&#8221; pizza to the menu in his honor. (Despite the recent closure of their Chicago location, suburban pride still stands.)<\/p>\n<p>Tour tickets are $59 on weekdays and $79 on weekends. The price covers transportation, a live guide, bottled water and the aforementioned holy slice. Tours run rain or shine, and they do fill up fast\u2014so punctuality and early booking are key.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re a history buff, lapsed Catholic, Chicago superfan or just here for the pizza, the Chicago Pope Tour promises an unexpected, feel-good ride through one of the city\u2019s most quietly remarkable stories.<\/p>\n<p>Tours begin August 2025. Book now at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagopopetour.com\/book-a-tour\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">chicagopopetour.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Move over, mob tours\u2014Chicago\u2019s newest sightseeing sensation is all about the real boss: the pope.\u00a0Starting this August, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[10336,960,5386,1818,10337,1072],"class_list":{"0":"post-47870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-categories-things-to-do","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-news-city-life","13":"tag-things-to-do"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114815942161730276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}