Where to Get the Best Tours of Los Angeles

If you’re visiting for the holidays and looking for a tour of Los Angeles, Hollywood or any of the surrounding areas, these guided tour companies can show you the sights you want to see, with your schedule and budget in mind — and maybe with a little extra entertainment on the side.

Open-topped van tours circle around the Hollywood area throughout the day, and the colorful vans can be seen every day of the week from central Hollywood to Beverly Hills and beyond. Traditional shuttle-bus tours may venture further away, to areas like Long Beach or Orange County, and small-group walking tours are available for those who want to stay around the sightseer-friendly downtown or Hollywood Boulevard.

There are other types of tour available as well, so scan the options below and see what grabs your interest. Happy sightseeing!

Starline Tours
1-800-959-3131
www.starlinetours.com

The tour company whose open-top vans can be spotted everywhere, Starline Tours specializes in the greater Los Angeles area, including 2-hour driving tours of the stars’ homes starting at $39 for adults, as well as longer tours throughout Los Angeles and the state. They do hotel pickups / drop-offs, and meet every half hour in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Ask for Little Larry.

L.A. City Tours
1-888-800-7878
www.lacitytours.com

This company tours the Los Angeles and Hollywood area as well as Las Vegas. The main fare is the 2, 3, and 5 ½ – hour driving tours of the city and stars’ homes, starting at $36. Customers can choose from the large-windowed minibus or the open-top van. Tours meet in front of the Hollywood and Highland Metro station.

American Riviera Tours
1-800-761-1775
www.latraveltours.com

Besides the traditional Los Angeles and Hollywood area sightseeing tours ($69 per person for 5 hours, or $59 for 4 hours), American Riviera also offers a unique shopping tour, where guests are taken to three of LA’s biggest shopping areas — The Grove, Melrose and Third Street Promenade — for a day of allowance spending and shopping-bag slinging. ART has the option of picking up passengers from the San Pedro and Long Beach cruise ship terminals, and even goes so far as to offer a 9-hour Santa Barbara County wine-tasting tour. This is definitely how the pros do it.

Guideline Tours
1-800-604-8433
www.guidelinetours.com

Guideline Tours offers an array of options including sightseeing tours of downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills, plus no-waiting entry to Universal Studios or Disneyland. Tours start at $49 for adults, and pickup is available at several area hotels. Tourists can book online at the company Web site.

All Star Showbiz Tours
1-888-908-3311
www.allstarshowbiztours.com

Showbiz, guided by singer-actress Shellee-Ann Kellee, offers entertaining tours of Hollywood, Los Angeles and the west side. Her calling card is a “touch of class and pizzazz,” potentially throwing in a song or two on the way back to the drop-off location. This red-bus tour takes guests on 2 ½, 5, 8 and 9-hour tours, meeting across from Grauman’s Chinese Theater near the Rooseveldt Hotel.

Architecture Tours LA
323-464-7868
www.architecturetoursla.com

This tour company is operated by a well-educated art and architecture buff who knows Los Angeles like the back of her hand. Tour groups are taken on an informative driving tour of the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, where seemingly commonplace buildings are transformed into fascinating works of architecture. One specialty is the Frank Gehry tour, which showcases the local work of the well-known architect, and others.

Red Line Tours
323-462-7400
www.redlinetours.com

This unique tour company offers walking tours of Hollywood, focusing on the film and acting history of the city. The $24.95 (adult) Behind-the-Scenes walking tour goes onto the Hollywood filming locations of several well known movies, venturing into places normally closed off to the public, and the On-Location tour showcases the many filming locations hidden throughout downtown Los Angeles.

Tags: hollywood tours, los angeles tours