Kansas City Fun Tours visit upwards of 17 locations on every 75-minute tour of the city. Hopefully, among the mix of museums, tourist attractions, architectural sites, and shopping plazas, there will be three or four places that visitors can't wait to explore on their own. That's the challenge—and the reward—of discovering a new city, and Kansas City Fun Tours makes it so sightseers don't have to resort to any truck-stop crystal balls to show them the way.

If the company's primary mission is to convey the lay of the land, its second job is to make the excursions as fun and comfortable as possible. For each tour, passengers hop aboard classic red-and-green trolleys, which are old-fashioned in every way save the air conditioning, cushioned seats, and sound system. As the trolley rolls along, charming guides narrate the entire journey, illuminating the history of Kansas City with facts and local anecdotes that you couldn't hope to find just by digging up the time capsules at a local park.