No. No no no no no no.
I'll elaborate.
I'm the veteran of hundreds of walking tours all around the world, from the French Quarter in New Orleans to Wall Street in NYC. After two decades in LA, inspired by the wonderful Marilyn Monroe bus tour I took August 5th (see review above), I decided to try a Red Line Tour. This is by far the worst tour I have ever taken, and I found it to be downright offensive.
The tour starts at the 1922 Grauman Egyptian Theatre and over the course of an hour takes you in a very short loop to the courtyard of the Chinese Theatre, up into the shopping mall at Hollywood and Highland, past the El Capitan Theatre and then back again.
The tour guide is some kid who obviously knows absolutely nothing about her subject and seems to want to be somewhere else as she fills the time giving you 1) obvious information you could easily figure out for yourself (for example, showing you stars on the Walk of Fame and telling you that the record symbol is for people in the recording industry, the TV symbol is for people in the TV industry, the movie camera is for people in the movie industry...) and 2) downright wrong information.
I'll give the most entertaining example of said misinfornation. She showed us the hand and footprints that stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson and director George Stevens left for the movie "Giant" and told us, "This is for the movie "The Giant" with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. James Dean was supposed to be the third set of prints, but he died before the ceremony (quite possibly true) and so another actor in the movie, George Burns left his footprints instead (George Burns was in Giant? Hahahahaha). The first couple of mistakes I corrected her, but eventually I decided I didn't want to be a jerk and ruin it for the other guests, so I just bit my lip.
The guide had a microphone and we all had ear buds. I can see the advantage of this, as it makes it easier for the guide to talk to us without yelling - and increases the number of guest$ they can take on each tour. But the disadvantage -- especially when the guide is already totally disinterested -- is that it takes away any sense of intimacy and human contact. It was less like having an actual human being who's excited about Hollywood telling you anecdotes and responding to questions and looking you in the eye and more like taking a self-guided tour where you're being directed by a pre-recorded message read from a script that was written by someone who doesn't know squat about Hollywood.
This is my first negative Yelp review, as I'm from the school of if-you-can't-say-anything-nice-don't-say-anything-at-all. I feel that if a restaurant or tour or play is trying its best and falls short, who am I to criticize, and I always stay silent. But Red Line Tours is in a whole different category. They are obviously all about taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists and are in the game to make as much money as they can.
The worst thing for me is that most of the people taking the tour are in Hollywood for one day, and this company is robbing them of their only chance to experience this unique place in the manner they deserve. If this company in not ashamed of itself, as an Angeleno, I'm ashamed for them.
There was only one positive aspect of the tour. Usually when a tour is over, the customers will clap for the tour guide and some will give tips. When this "tour" ended, the guests were visibly pissed off, especially when the tour guide had the nerve to ask for tips (at which point her enthusiasm showed up for the first time). She received not a cent, proving that tourists are not as dumb as Red Line thinks.
Here's my tip -- find another tour. If you can't, just walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard and learn its history from the historical markers placed all over the place. It's cheaper, you'll learn more, and there are old pictures! read more
