No Illusions Tours
No Illusions Tours
5
Full view
About
Buffalo's story is about more than snow, and rust and chicken wings. At No Illusions Tours we are here to provide a glimpse into our city's larger story through the lives and events not often discussed. Our tour shed light on the story of Buffalo through 5 different walking tours of various lengths and in different areas of the city. These include, Buffalo's Favorite Daughters (3 separate tours), Buffalo Lit and Buffalo Annomalies (held in the fall). Our season runs from May- October.
Buffalo, United States
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2024
Why book with No Illusions Tours
- I have history and teaching degrees from Canisius College and years of experience as both a tour guide and a teacher.
- English
- Professional tour guide
Similar Experiences
No Illusions Tours
Booking unavailable on Tripadvisor
Want other options you can book now?
Show optionsTravellers talk about
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
56 reviews
Excellent
56
Very good
0
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Zoe K
1 contribution
Jul 2020 • Friends
Learning the history of various buildings, who lived there and all these interesting facts! Incredible! Maria is so knowledgeable about history. I went on the Women’s Historical Tour and had a great walk through the City of Buffalo and learned so much about so many important women. She is fun to listen to and answers questions. She also carries an I-pad with pictures to expand on what she’s discussing. I highly recommend!
Written 16 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carrie K
1 contribution
Oct 2023 • Friends
The Anomalies Tour given by Maria Blair this past weekend did not fail to impress with historical stories, local gore, and humor. Maria is a charming tour guide that makes the city come alive from the past to the present in a fun manner. This fully booked tour was clearly enjoyed by all, and is recommended to locals and out of towners.
Written 25 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CM
1 contribution
Oct 2022 • Friends
My boyfriend and I attended the Buffalo Anomalies tour with some friends on Halloween weekend, and we couldn't have had a better time! The walk took us to interesting spots around downtown Buffalo where we learned city history we'd never heard before. Our guide, Maria, was so personable, knowledgeable, and eloquent in presenting her tour. You could tell Maria has a great passion for this, and I'd recommend a tour with No Illusions anytime!
Written 2 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carm K
1 contribution
Oct 2022
Maria Blair’s Anomalies Tour is just terrific. Maria is extremely knowledgeable about Buffalo , Western NY history, and cultural and historic topics. All of the information she imparts is well researched, interesting, and presented in an enjoyable manner. We spent 2 hours observing Buffalo’s phenomenal architecture, while learning about the city’s unique past and even more unique inhabitants. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy the flavor and history of this city, than a walking tour on a balmy October day with Maria and No Illusions Tours.
Written 23 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Renee
1 contribution
Aug 2022
I would like to start by saying we belong to the Zonta Club of Buffalo. A women's club formed to provide service and advocacy for women and children.
With that being said Maria's famous women's tour was the perfect outing for the club. She spoke of some famous and not so famous women in Buffalo's past. It was fantastic! Maria loves to talk about history and is very good at it. Everyone in the group loved it!
We all plan on taking future tours and want to hear more. Maria is so cute and fun to be around!
Thank you, Maria! We will see you again! 😊
With that being said Maria's famous women's tour was the perfect outing for the club. She spoke of some famous and not so famous women in Buffalo's past. It was fantastic! Maria loves to talk about history and is very good at it. Everyone in the group loved it!
We all plan on taking future tours and want to hear more. Maria is so cute and fun to be around!
Thank you, Maria! We will see you again! 😊
Written 7 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jennifer G
1 contribution
Oct 2021
My husband and I, who are both history buffs, have taken two tours with Maria and both were great. Maria is very energetic and very knowledgeable about history (it is clear that she spends hours doing research for her tours). She is amazing tour guide. I learned a lot and had fun. Highly recommend!
Written 17 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Marisa W
1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Friends
We took part in the No Illusions Buffalo Lit tour. Maria collaborated with Buffalo Bike Tours for this amazing 2 1/2 hour bike ride around the city of Buffalo. We met with area book shop owners, community organizers, and artists. Maria’s knowledge about Buffalo authors is impressive. She knew exactly what to say about each author and their connections to Buffalo. I will definitely take another tour with her soon.
Written 31 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kristi N
1 contribution
Oct 2023 • Friends
Did the ghost haunting tour with Maria & friends last evening. Had a blast! Maria is amazing, her recall of Buffalo history and storytelling made this tour so worthwhile. Maria not only educated on American, New York and Buffalo history but Buffalo architectural history and famous ghost stories. Looking forward to participating in many other No Illusions Tours!!
Written 22 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mamacrookie
2 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
After moving away from Buffalo in my early 20's, I realized I took so much of this amazing city for granted. The No Illusion's tours are the perfect way to reconnect with a place I love. Maria's research is impeccable and her passion for the region obvious. We have enjoyed her anomolies and lit tours. Looking forward to more in the future.
Written 3 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amy M
1 contribution
Jul 2023
The No Illusions Tour ‘Buffalo’s Favorite Daughters’ was…
Fabulous! Informative. Fun!
Maria Blair guided us through downtown Buffalo and Allentown, stopping at historical sites relevant to a number of ‘Badass Buffalo Babes’. At each stop, Maria shared her wealth of knowledge, delivered in a personable manner and complemented with many photos. Maria gained her knowledge by digging into primary sources, newspapers of the ages, books, and whatever source that could bring to life these remarkable women of Buffalo. Bottomline: An excellent tour. Highly recommended! And, it’s like touring Buffalo with a cool friend. Enjoy!
Fabulous! Informative. Fun!
Maria Blair guided us through downtown Buffalo and Allentown, stopping at historical sites relevant to a number of ‘Badass Buffalo Babes’. At each stop, Maria shared her wealth of knowledge, delivered in a personable manner and complemented with many photos. Maria gained her knowledge by digging into primary sources, newspapers of the ages, books, and whatever source that could bring to life these remarkable women of Buffalo. Bottomline: An excellent tour. Highly recommended! And, it’s like touring Buffalo with a cool friend. Enjoy!
Written 9 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience