Sure, the narrated tours that ply the Chicago River have their merits, so long as you understand that their marquee points of interest — the Riverwalk, the dazzling skyscrapers — are the architectural equivalent of church clothes, pristine and of little relation to Chicagoans’ daily life. For a fuller picture of the city, hop aboard the Chicago Water Taxi. Created for commuters in the ’60s, the line continues to service workaday users with cheap fares (10 bucks buys an all-day pass) and six stops that link to onward public transport. But riding from its southern terminus in Chinatown’s lovely Ping Tom Memorial Park to its northerly endpoint at Goose Island also affords a low-key tour of multifaceted Chicago: All the glittering jewels are on show, but so too are its unpolished bits, from rough-and-ready industrial stretches to hulking bascule bridges striking for their peculiar rusted beauty. chicagowatertaxi.com