Some of your best bets for touring downtown and other spots are the
two-and-one-half hour walking tours offered by the LA Conservancy (Sat
10am; $8; tel 213/623-CITY, ), which concentrate on various aspects of
the city's architecture, history, murals and culture. If you'd rather
take a ride, innumerable bus tours introduce the city, though only the
specialists we list show you anything you couldn't see more cheaply
yourself. Costs are $30 minimum; most will collect you from your hotel.
The mainstream bus tours whiz you past the main sights and the homes of
the stars (though you often don't see much more than the gate at the end
of the driveway), padding out the experience with views of palm trees
and wide boulevards. Operators include Casablanca Tours , at the
Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, 6362 Hollywood Blvd (tel 323/461-0156, ),
which focuses on the golden age of cinema; Tour Coach , 6922 Hollywood
Blvd (tel 323/463-3333), which points out the houses of Marilyn Monroe,
Barbra Streisand and Charlie Chaplin, and also runs shopping trips to
the Mexican border town of Tijuana; and Hollywood Fantasy Tours , 6671
Hollywood Blvd (tel 323/469-8184), which shows off Beverly Hills and
Hollywood only. Even if you don't call or drop by their offices, you can
pick up a tour flyer or brochure by standing outside Mann's Chinese
Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Blvd, where discarded advertisements litter the
sidewalk.
Specialist toursBlack LA Tours tel 323/750-9267. Black historical and
entertainment tours of once-famed Central Avenue and key African-American
history museums and cultural attractions.
The California Native 6701 W 87th Place (tel 310/642-1140 or
1-800/926-1140, ). Go sea-kayaking, tour the uninhabited islands off the
coast of California. Adventure tours $195 and up.
Googie Tours (tel 323/980-3480). Groovy treks to space-age glass and
formica diners, quirky cocktail lounges and classic fast-food joints, as
well as touring tributes to LA's primo pop architecture.
Haunted Hearse Tours PO Box 461145, Hollywood (tel 323/782-9652). Better
have a strong taste for the morbid to spend two and a half hours in the
back of a Cadillac hearse, tracking down the location of every eventful
death, scandal, perverted sex act and drug orgy ever to have tainted
Hollywood.
Neon Cruises 501 W Olympic Blvd, downtown (tel 213/489-9918, ). Three-hour-long,
eye-popping evening tours of LA's best remaining neon art, once a month
on Saturdays, sponsored by the Museum of Neon Art.
SPARC tours: the Murals of LA 685 Venice Blvd, Venice (tel 310/822-9560,
). Expert tours through the "mural capital of the world." Pointing out
remarkable neighborhood landmarks all over the city - community art in a
cultural context.
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