My dear friend was visiting from out of town and I decided to book the Haunted Tales walking tour to kill a few hours in DTLA before his flight home. I'm so happy I did that, as we ended up having a great time! I have already recommended this walking tour to several friends and am happy to do so with anyone else thinking about checking it out. My one suggestion is this: Ask for Brandon! Our guide, Brandon, was simply fabulous. He was knowledgeable and passionate about the macabre, as well as the general, history of Los Angeles. I was surprised to hear that he had only done about 20 tours ... anyone would believe he's been doing this for decades! Brandon was very organized, told us interesting stories and shared personal anecdotes and photos throughout the tour. He was laid back and was able to answer all questions ... it was like exploring downtown with an old friend. Thanks for a great experience! read more

LA Walking Tours - Death Hotel - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

These walking tours are awesome. I have been to a few. You meet lots of great people. You also learn a lot about the city. I remember that my favorite was an evening walking tour in the summer. We went around DTLA to look at the art installations around town. I highly recommend these walking tours. You can definitely enjoy them even if you go alone because everyone is so nice. read more

Great company, great tours. They've been doing virtual tours for a while now (for free--hard to beat that price) but they are starting to do in-person tours once again. We did the Griffith Park tour (from Fern Dell to the Observatory) and it was a blast. Special thanks to Phil who gave a fun and interesting (and educational) tour. The tour lasted about 2 hours and ended at the Observatory so factor in another 20-30 minutes for the hike down and maybe a little more time if you want to explore the grounds around the Observatory. (The Observatory is currently closed.) Prices are reasonable, you will probably learn a lot, you will get some exercise, and, most importantly, you will have fun. read more

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Looking to photograph Los Angeles from a completely different angle? Sure, we love seeing the Hollywood sign just as much as any visitor. But if you are looking for grit and stunning street art, look no further than Downtown Los Angeles' Art District. We recently joined up with LA Walking Tours to do their 2-hour Arts District walking tour, departing every Sunday at 2 PM. What's the difference between mural art vs. street art vs tagging? You'll learn all of this and more, including stops at some of the most influential art galleries in the world. Move over New York and London! You'll find no shortage of fantastic photo spots to capture. And along the way, learn how this area grew from a poor artist community to one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city. If only we bought some real estate here 10 years ago! You can do this on your own, but we really enjoyed the structure and stories with LA Walking Tours. The tour includes old photographs as well as old footage. My favorite part? Seeing the grungy performance club where Nirvana performed one of its first sets (with nearly nobody paying attention in the crowd!). Advanced reservations are required and tickets cost $25 for adults and $10 for children (ages 5-12). Book on their website. read more

I recently took a Haunted Pasadena tour presented by LA Walking Tours. Our tour guide was helpful, enthusiastic, patient, and extremely knowledgeable. It was great to learn some of the history of places I've passed or visited many times over the years. The tour started in front of the Pasadena Playhouse and ended in Old Town Pasadena. My one complaint is that if you say a tour is going to end at a certain time, please try to stick with it. I think our tour guide thought she was doing us a favor by sharing more of her knowledge with us and going longer, but I had to not only walk over a mile to get back to my car, but I also had an hour-long drive to get home. I'm not at all into the paranormal stuff, but this tour was chosen by a friend, so it was fine. If you're not in a group and you're not a true believer in ghosts, this might not be the perfect tour for you. That said, I'm still giving it five stars. read more

LA Walking Tours - The first stop on our Haunted Pasadena tour was the Pasadena Playhouse. - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Had a wonderful afternoon with our guide Edvard, from Belgium. Really enjoyed the pace, explanations, and history!! I recommend the tour!

On January 27 '24 we had the best "Haunted Walking Tour" with Brandon. I have lived in Los Angles since 1990 and I embarrassed to say how little I know about the history of my city. Brandon took us to so many spooky and interesting places. His knowledge runs deep. But even more important he is so enthusiastic about everything he is telling you about. The creepy old hotels were probably the highlight. It was great to take a walk at night. I can't wait till we have out of town company. I think all our guests would love this. The next day I was getting my hair done and I was showing my stylist the photos and tell her what I remembered. She wanted their website and then she shared some Netflix films that mentioned these creepy hotels. The tour also ends at The Biltmore Hotel which is gorgeous. Very nice place to rest up and catch an Uber back to your car. read more

Highly recommend this tour - we did the Old & New Downtown LA. Phil was a great tour guide! Knowledgeable, patient, and friendly. We learned great history of the area and the buildings. read more

LA Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I wanted to do something different in downtown LA on my Friday off and came across Downtown LA Walking Tours. I booked the Downtown Discovery tour and had Julia as our tour guide. The tour itself was awesome!!! It's amazing to see what you actually notice in downtown LA just by walking around as opposed to when you're going out at night or being in your car. We learned so much about the historic Broadway St and all the theaters (many buildings still in tact today!), fashion district, flower district, and the future plans of downtown. Downtown LA is much more fascinating once you know the history behind all the buildings! With that being said, be careful for dog poop on the side walks (my friend stepped in some) and all the homeless people! We had quite a scary interaction with one in the beginning of the tour, but Julia handled it well and just ignored him. I would highly recommend taking a tour here. It's affordable and was actually really fun. The two hours goes by quickly! Will be booking another tour with them in the future, perhaps the Haunted Halloween tour available in Oct.! read more

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This tour was definitely worth my time. Having lived here most of my life, and being pretty culturally-literate, my fear of taking city tours is that feeling that "I already knew this." Neel made sure that he included sights and bites in his tour in which even the historian may not have known. This 2-hour tour which covers central DTLA was great. He doesn't take more than 20 folk, so that all will be able to hear him and take pics (simultaneously). See pics for some of the sights we touched. Recommended. read more

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so much fun on the haunted takes tour in dtla with Brandon! I'm an LA adjacent local and it was Cool to hear history and lore that I never knew about. Brandon was a great guide! read more

My boyfriend and I took the walking tour of downtown LA with Neil and were really happy with how much information and fun facts were shared. We did a a good amount of walking for 2 hours and learned a great deal about the different districts we passed and the history of some areas that we'd never even heard of. We were visiting from San Francisco for New Years and kept telling all our friends about different things we had picked up on the tour. I'd definitely recommend this as a nice quick way to get to know the city and see new sights and areas that you'd probably know nothing about if you just walked by! read more

Over the last couple of years, I have taken many of their fantastic walking tours (Downtown, Pasadena, Chinatown) and have found all the tour guides very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. just yesterday, I took their Haunted Tales tour, and was thoroughly impressed with the tour guide Brandon's knowledge and story telling, he made it super engaging and captivating. I am glad I survived the HAUNTED tour through all the spooky horror and crime stories. I would highly recommend you take their tours and experience it for yourself! read more

We've done about four of these tours so far. Each guide was well informed on the subject matter and easy to get along with. It felt like hanging out with an old friend. Would love to return to do more. They have a lot more options to pick from so it'll definitely be fun to return to do even more. read more

Took the LA History tour yesterday and really enjoyed it. I thought I knew quite a bit about LA but Phil took us to places I'd never visited, telling us history I'd never known. An archivist by trade, Phil knows his stuff. Funny, friendly and personable, I would recommend him and these tours to any visitor... or local. Well done! read more

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Took the "Old and New Downtown L.A." tour today! It was just great. Our tour guide, Aaron, was very knowledgeable and we never felt rushed. He took the time to answer all our questions no matter what! I'm looking forward to taking all their tours! I cannot recommend them enough! read more

LA Walking Tours - Angels Flight! Re-opening soon!! - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I booked the Old and New DTLA tour on Sunday for my boyfriend's birthday. If you have a guy in your life that loves architecture or history, this tour is for them. We met our tour guide, Neel, at the bottom of Angel's flight across from Grand Market. We had a small group of 5 people, which was a great size for walking and hearing Neel. Neel has been doing this since the company started (8 years) is a very good story teller and is very compelling. He also makes sure to talk to everyone and get to know them and where they're coming from. Neel took us through Grand Market, showed us the Bradbury building, gave us the history on Springhill street, the Jewelry district, the old banking district, the Last Bookstore, the shopping district, Pershing square, the beginnings of LMU, and Clifton's cafeteria. The tour was extremely interesting and informative and kept my attention the whole time. Neel and another girl on the tour, who was also a tour guide, even gave me some recommendations for after! I would highly recommend the tour to anyone. The tour was 2 hours and that time flew by fast. We need to go back now and really get to spend time in all those cool places. You really never know what's in your backyard! read more

LA Walking Tours - Part of the Old and New tour. Bradbury Bldg. - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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I've lived in LA for 15 years but, on a whim, decided to spend a gorgeous Sunday afternoon getting to know a little bit more about this city. We met up at the bottom of Angels flight and Neel, our tour guide, took the time to welcome everyone and gave late comers a few extra minutes to arrive. I believe he may offer 3 types of tours and hosts tours 7 days a week. Ours started with some of the history of Bunker Hill and took us through the changing population migration in and out of the city. We walked about a mile and a half in total. Not a fast pace and there are regular stops along the way. As a gauge, the 8 year old in our group was able to keep up just fine. I won't give away any of the details but I did find it all fascinating. If you have friends from out of town, I highly recommend taking them on the tour then grabbing a bite at one of the downtown spots afterwards. Parking: downtown parking is such a crap shoot. Keep an eye out for $5 spots there are a few around. On Sunday's there's some free street parking in places if you're lucky. read more

LA Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Rating this business and writing this review is going to be easy, because Neel was a rockstar!! We took the "LA: Old and New" tour and it did not disappoint. The quality, content, and entertainment value of Neel's tour was on par with some of the high-end Context walking tours in Europe that I've been on that cost 3x as much! My husband and I have been living in Los Angeles for most of our lives and never knew DTLA had such a rich cultural history. Some of the facts were so interesting that I was actually taking notes on my phone! Now you know that's good stuff when as an adult, you voluntarily write down things when it's not required for school or work! I am not going to give away the ending, but the last place that Neel takes you to is a total hidden gem. But here are SOME of the places that he covers on the tour: 1. Old Bank District 2. Grand Central Market 3. The Edison Building 4. The Arcade building 5. Pershing Square 6. Jewelry District Even if you've been to some or all of these places (li, please don't think you know them like Neel does! The stories behind these places will make you see DTLA in a whole new light. My favorite was the history behind the real estate progression in the Old Bank District and how DTLA came to have so many small art galleries. I would highly recommend Neel's walking tours for both locals and out-of-town visitors who want to get a deeper understanding of this culturally diverse city. read more

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Accountant turned Tour Guide. Neil, the owner tells a story of LA which people can relate to and care about. No boring history lesson rather history in the making. I live in LA and I learned so much! Thanks Neil. read more

LA Walking Tours - Restaurant Street in Diamond District. - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I know quite a bit of stuff, and this tour taught me a lot that I did not know! I enjoyed the walk around DTLA, from the pedestrian view and learning new information about buildings that I pass every day. LA has a such an interesting history that we take for granted. It was a lot of walking, but the guide was informative, and we were able to sit twice on the tour while he told stories. I found good value it in and would recommend. read more

LA Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I rediscovered LA from this tour! I learned some in depth history of the theaters in the downtown area. I got a glimpse of the home story of the making of gentrification here and the outpouring of homelessness too. I learned about the jewelry industry and plethora of hidden gems that has been here a while. My friend visiting from NorCal was impressed. We can't wait to take our next tour with DTLA when she visits again. Thank you! read more

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We had Phil takes us on the Old and New LA city tour. We were so lucky that they ran the tour for just the two of us. Phil was so friendly and informative. We enjoyed learning about how LA grew to be the city that it is. We took the subway down. Their directions were perfect! We got there early and ate at the Grand Central Market across the street from the Angel's Flight where the tour starts. We can't say enough great things about Phil! He shared interesting facts and was fun to be around. read more

Brilliant tour - our guide was clearly passionate about his city! We learned a huge amount about the forces that have changed downtown LA over the years, all very entertainingly explained. Our guide (I didn't catch his name) also helped us make the best of the rest of our visit with absolutely on the money recommendations about what to see, where to eat etc. I thoroughly recommend this tour. Great experience! read more

LA Walking Tours - The Bradbury Building - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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It was fun and educational. I'm an LA native and still had no idea about half the things the house told me about. It was excellent. His stories and personalized touches made the tour amazing. If you take the tour in summer, bring extra water. One bottle is not enough. read more

absolutely love this!! I've done it twice and both times were so much fun! would def do it again!

We enjoyed our walking tour with Neel. It started at the information booth in Union Station, and ended at the bottom of Angel's Flight. Neel was very informative and can project his voice, which helps if you are hearing impaired. The pace was lively, but there were many short rests along the way. We enjoyed the stories, and finding out of the way points of interest. It was our first trip on the Metro Link and the ticket was usable for free Metro rides. With Neel's advice and our free ticket we were able to get to Langers Deli with no problems. We intend to sign up for another tour soon. read more

LA Walking Tours - Gregory Peck's Final Resting Place - Walking Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I can not say enough about this tour! I have taken many walking tours, in many cities, and this one is of the best! Neil shared stories, interesting factoids, and related LA's evolution with all of our hometowns. I have an entirely new appreciation for the city and its rich history. Tours are affordable and informative, so be sure to do one when visiting LA! The downtown area can not be missed. read more

Great tour and guide! I have lived in the LA area for over 45 years and have never done a tour in the city. We started at Union Station and then walked from there and ended at Grand Central Market. It's super easy to make reservations. The company is great at confirming your reservation and getting updates to you. On the day of the tour, they give the name of your guide and how to reach them. Phil, our guide, was wonderful. Very knowledgeable, friendly and made the tour so much fun. He really made sure that we were having a great time, and never rushed us. There were 7 of us, and we all enjoyed it so much, that we hope to do another one. We all talked about how great it was for days after the tour. (That is quite an accomplishment).HIGHLY RECOMMEND this tour and company. read more

I am at the moment watching this online (Virtual Tour), this is such an amazing City of Angeles... The hosts are truly giving extensive 411 about each tour. Thank you for allowing us to see this online, I am not able to be outside much (due to heat exposure)... I hope to be able to continue watching online. read more

We did the Old Pasadena walking tour with Chris and it was wonderful. Chris was relaxed, funny, and knowledgeable. I really love his stories and would want to do another tour soon! read more

I went to LA to do a research for my novel about the events and places in the beginning of XX Century. Besides the work at the Central Library, it was the tour with Neil, Downtown LA Walking Tours, that provided me with the volumes of interesting facts related to the period. I was impressed with easiness and flexibility of the captivating presentation. It was not a fossilized script but a live interaction with the participants. Neil is a remarkable guide with a charming personality. I am sure you will enjoy your walking tour with him to learn about LA as much as I did. Highly recommend. Nick B. Rhode Island read more

We did the Old and New L.A. City walking tour. Our guide was Phil. He was very knowledgeable about everything. Super guy. Let us ask as many questions as we wanted. We had a great time and looking forward to doing all the tours they offer. My wife and I grew up in Southern California and never really did much sightseeing around L.A. we were shopping downtown and saw someone giving a tour. That's how we found out about the tours. I highly recommend this business. to. I don't know how many tours Phil has already done, but he made us feel like we were special and really took his time explaining stuff to us. Thanks and looking forward to the next tour. Greg D. read more

Had a great experience with Downtown LA Walking Tours. I was in LA for just a couple days and wanted to learn some history and get a "feel" for the city, so I signed up for the "LA's Beginnings" tour. Phil was a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable, easy to talk to and ask questions. He was so good, in fact, that I stuck around for the next tour "Old & New Downtown LA." Both tours were interesting and informative. If you're a tourist without a deep knowledge of the area and only have time to do one tour, I would recommend the "Beginnings" tour, since it covers broader subject matter. However, you won't go wrong with either. read more

Absolutely loved this. We did the NEW/OLD DTLA for my dad's birthday. I grew up in Laguna and have lived in LA for almost 10 years and learned a ton. Chris was a terrific guide and I will def be back for more. Great price, lots of info an interesting stuff to see and learn about, and a fun unique experience. Please book ASAP and remember to tip your guide. Run, don't walk, to this tour!!!!!!!! read more

Learned so much and had an amazing time. Brought my friends along not expecting to have a good time but it was so engaging. Highly recommended! read more

My teenage daughter and I from Torrance took the Old & New Downtown LA tour yesterday with Chris. We both enjoyed the tour very much. Chris was a constant flow of info and enthusiasm which made the tour all the more interesting. I've lived in LA for 35 years, and I learned a lot about a city in my back yard. I plan to take other tours offered by Downtown LA Walking Tours. read more

The long and short of it is that if you REALLY want to get to know a city, if you're truly curious, a walking tour is the ONLY way to go. DTLA walking tours provides excellent tours and service and I can't recommend them highly enough! Now if you want details - this tour was an Xmas gift from myself to my partner and we redeemed it for the haunted tour last night. DTLA tours took care of us from beginning to end! I was having trouble booking, called the number listed in their website and Neel picked up on the first ring and helped me work it out. Before the tour, I received a text with our guides name and number, meeting location and time, Neel's phone number AND a little info on when the women's March was that day and that it wouldn't conflict - professional and thoughtful. About 20 people showed up so DTLA walking tours had brought in a second guide so we could be in groups of 10 - again, professional and thoughtful. Mariana, our guide, was incredible. I can't speak for all the guides but given the majority 5 star reviews, it seems pretty clear that all the guides are extremely well trained and have a passion for giving these tours. Not only that, but she was verbally accosted by a homeless gentleman at one point and handled it beautifully. I also appreciated the social justice perspective that was offered. This tour didn't glorify or whitewash L.A.'s history. Long story long, book the tour, you won't regret it. read more

My friends and I took a walk on the wild side and attended the Halloween walking tour last Friday nite and had a BLAST. Our tour guide Victoria, was the coolest, extremely informative and a sweetie. Her energy and passion is amazing and she kept us enthralled and I also appreciated the video footage of various locations, it was a nice touch. I am an L.A. native and spent lots of time as a kid in the downtown area either shopping or going to one of the nice movie theatres on Broadway. Never knew there was so much mystery to this area and enjoyed learning tidbits about my fair city, thanks DTLA Walking Tours and Victoria. :-) We will definitely be back for the holiday lights tour !!! read more

Disclosure: I am a personal friend of Neel, who conducts the tours. But this is the first time I went on a professional paid tour with Neel and my review will focus on how I thought of the tour as a paid customer. Since October is the season to be "spooked", I decided to take the haunted tour to learn about the dark sides of downtown LA. The tour group met at the north end of downtown at the Pico House. Neel, our tour guide, showed up and started the tour by giving us history and interesting tales of the Pico House and the cemeteries around the Olvera Street. Neel is an expert storyteller - along each stops he vividly described the people and the events that took place. One almost feels If we're taken back in time. The tour took us almost 2 hours to complete. Neel took us all around downtown and stopped at more than 6 landmarks/buildings. Without spoiling the details, there were tales of murders, mysterious deaths, massacres, and hidden tunnels throughout the tours. Yes it's dark and at times "spooky", but also fun. Who doesn't like a great story, and Neel is one of the best to tell all stories, dark or not, of downtown LA. read more