Signed up for a haunted walking tour at night. My group was the only one that signed up for that…read morenight so we got to choose our own walking pace. We went through mostly old town Pasadena. The guide, I forgot her name, was wonderful and knowledgeable. I've lived in the area most of my life and learned a lot about Pasadena's history during the tour. Was hard to hear at some points because of the cars passing by. It did run a bit long so be aware if you get tired early like me. Overall great experience.

Last weekend we enjoyed an amazing tour of Pasadena's Saloons and Speakeasies. This tour was very…read morewell researched; and the tour guide, Julia, presented two hours of fascinating tidbits about the history of pre-and-post Prohibition drinking establishments in Pasadena. The walking was easily paced, and covered a lot of different locations. Julia provided lots of historical photos on her iPad that supplemented what she was telling us, which made the tour that much better. Most of the tour guests were from Pasadena, which goes to show how much we can still learn about our beautiful city's history. I would highly recommend this tour; and you can find out how The Blind Donkey on Union Street owes its name to this interesting period in our history.

Thanks again to our food guide Nancy for the K Town food tour! Delicious and minimal walking as…read moreeverything yummy is so close by & learned some new Korean facts (like the silverware!) It was a memorable work outing & will be back! The only tricky part was figuring out parking nearby but it all worked out. Thank you!

We had an awesome Six Taste Tour today with Darlene in Downtown LA!! We learned a lot of history…read morethroughout our walk and had so much tasty food along the way! Love the commitment to family-owned businesses! For five people who all grew up and live in LA - we re-discovered DTLA today! Can't wait to check out which Six Taste Tour to try next!

Pasadena Heritage lecture "Tribute to Julia Morgan, Architect", was held January 21, 2012 in honor…read moreof Julie Morgan's 140th birthday, the 35th anniversary of the founding of PH and to raise awareness for the possible preservation, renovation and restoration of JM's YWCA (1921) located at Marengo and Holly in Pasadena which has been listed on PH's most endangered list for many years. This was a very informative, well attended presentation on the City's historic civic center plan, JM's bio and body of work, architecture and construction of the YWCA as well as the past and present function of the structure and possibilities for reuse. The second part of this program may be scheduled in the Fall of 2012. Julia Morgan, California's first licensed woman architect, is known for her work at Hearst Castle, in addition to her work in SF, Oakland, No. California and for the design and construction of YWCA buildings throughout California, Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii including 14 structures at the Asilomar Conference Grounds (originally YWCA) in Pacific Grove. Bernard Maybeck was her mentor.

For the past 16 years, Pasadena Heritage has been hosting the annual Craftsman weekend, which…read moreaccording to their website is "the largest and most comprehensive celebration in the Western United States." Throughout this weekend, you can take both bus and/or walking tours of historic neighborhoods, but the highlight of the weekend is the Craftsman House Tour where you get to visit six distinctive period homes, Not only do you get to see the interiors of these beautiful homes, you'll also have trained docents inside who will give you historical facts and architectural info about the home itself. So if you have a love of the American Arts & Craftsman movement, than why not take advantage of being local to a part of the country where you can see beautiful examples of this distinct architectural and design style. I certainly did last year and with Annual Craftsman Weekend coming around again in October, you can too. To see the pics I took while on the 2006 Craftsman House Tour, check out the link below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594566541113/

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience here at Rubel Castle. Our host, guide,…read moreand local "Rubelligent" volunteer, Ms. Kathleen had all the intel about this historical property. She was so knowledgeable and helped set the stage for us to slip into a forgotten era and get a glimpse of how imagination met inventiveness with a DIY charm. ~ A LITTLE BACKSTORY FOR YOU ~ It's not pronounced Rubel as Barney from Flintstones. Rather, it's like Target is to Targét when we are trying to be fancy. So that's Rubel as in "Roo-bell." Unlike modern-day construction, Rubel Castle wasn't built overnight. It was made of collected recyclables and construction rubble that spanned many decades and took several friends and volunteers to build it. For Michael, however, the lifetime inspiration was first sparked at the age of 9. His love for canons was where it started and the rest is history you can hear about on the tour. But don't just show up like we did randomly one day. To book, visit RubelTours.org and make a reservation. ~ OUR TOUR EXPERIENCE ~ It's as if Michael Rubel, the creator and mastermind of this enchanted dominion had intended it to be--magical. Built in the castle period of wood and tin, every corner captured our interests, from antique cars to the 1890's Seth Thomas Tower Clock with a unique backstory (and only six in existence today). There were old vending machines, tools, trinkets, and machinery that time had long forgotten. Did I mention there was a drawbridge? Yes, and a dungeon too. I was just waiting for a dragon to come swoop down on us next. Walk in the footsteps of famous visitors like Alfred Hitchcock, Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope. It's a feast for the eyes no matter where you glance. I particularly enjoyed the bottle house that Michael built in 1968 as his "home" as a kid. That independent spirit was quite charming to see. ~ WATERCOLOR NATURESCAPE ~ We were fortunate to have our gracious host lead us on a tour and organize a special art crafting experience outdoors. It was absolutely lovely beneath the trees and between rusted vintage cars from the turn of the century. We each got a small canvas to paint our flowers in watercolor. (This particular experience takes place in the Spring and Fall, weather permitting.) We heard the squirrels rattling in the leaves and birds chirped and sang in the trees above. We discovered that peacocks apparently originated from this property, compliments of Michael Rubel. And did I mention that on the far side of the property, a custom garden was in full bloom? BOOK A TOUR Help support the Glendora Historical Society and keep this magnificently unique city-castle maintained. It's worth it.

A castle in Glendora? Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you--Rubel Castle is real, it's magnificent,…read moreand it's gloriously eccentric. Thanks to the sheer persistence (and probably delightful stubbornness) of Michael Rubel, we now have this quirky, towering State Treasure sitting right in the middle of Glendora like a fairy tale that accidentally took a detour through a hardware store. This place is beautifully done, and part of its charm is that it's a full-on hodgepodge of relics, antiques, crystal trinkets, and "wait... what is that doing here?" moments tucked into every nook and cranny. You'll marvel, you'll laugh, you'll squint in confusion--honestly, it's everything you'd want in a castle built with love, imagination, and a dash of madness. And let's talk about the makeshift cemetery. Quirky? YES. Fun? Absolutely. Slightly spooky? Only if your imagination is over-caffeinated. But it fits the vibe perfectly--like the castle whispered, "You know what I'm missing? A tiny cemetery." The tours are fantastic, the guides are passionate, and the whole experience feels like you're stepping into a living scrapbook of California history and charming chaos. Overall: Amazing, amazing place. Book your tour. They only do tours every first Sunday of the month, so set your alarms, mark your calendars, tie a string around your finger--just don't miss it. Rubel Castle is truly a California State Treasure, and an absolute must-see for anyone who appreciates creativity, history, and a little eccentric sparkle.

This review is for the January 2026 Thailand tour…read more What an amazing trip, as we are still talking about it. Supera did an excellent job in showing us the highlights of this beautiful country. We were spoiled and treated like VIPs throughout. Highlights include: Temples - so many Buddhist temples, beautiful and unique. Elephant sanctuary - A highlight! Up close and personal with these majestic creatures. We walked with them, made and fed them medicinal treats. Tuk Tuk tour - a VIP tour of the streets of Chang Mai. So fun and enjoyable. Hotels resorts - beautiful, elegant and top service including massages and buffet breakfasts. Food - Supera goes out of their way to handpick local specialties that most tourists don't know about. The food was unique and delicious. A real treat. Transportation - buses, longboats, flights - all handled for us, including all luggage transfers. Our tour guide Betty Tsai. What a pro! She's the perfect mix of organization and keeping it fun. Her attention to detail kept us moving smoothly through the trip. She even managed to work with the Mandarin Oriental to get me a personal item I accidentally left at the hotel after checkout. Ms A - so cute, with excellent knowledge of Thai culture and history. This was our third Supera tour, and it won't be our last!

My wife and I have been very happy travelers with Supera/Signet tours in the past. But they…read moredemonstrated awesome above-and-beyond customer service for our latest trip to Hokkaido. A family emergency necessitated my cutting my trip short and return to the U. S., and as soon as the tour staff learned of my predicament, they reached out to me and had the return flight arranged for me within 2 hours. I cannot describe how valuable it is not having to find my own flights during that stressful period. They made sure I was taken care of from the hotel taxi all the way to the airport drop off. Many thanks to Roy, Junko, and Eriko for their 5-star customer service! We will be back!

We booked a tour with Urban Adventures which was awesome! We had a really good time with our tour…read moreguide Jennie. We are all from southern Ca but decided it would be fun to play in our own back yard and it was the best! We leaned things about LA that we did not know! We got to ride the metro the bus and we were gonna ride a bike but we just ran out of time because we took so many pictures and stayed at the farmers market longer than we should have but that was ok because we were really enjoying ourselves. We also went to the LaBrea Tar Pits which was nice because I had never been there! All in All A very good time was held by everyone. We will definitely be signing up for more tours and hopefully Jennie will be out tour guide.

Born and raised in LA I thought I have seen it all. My family and I decided to do this little…read moreadventure to see our city from a different perspective. Well I'm so glad we did. So many things I have never noticed before. Things that I passed by hundreds of times and never paid attention to. Jenny was our tour guide and I could have not asked for a Better guide. I have gone on these types of tours in different cities and always felt very rushed. Jenny was awesome about time she didn't push us to make every location at a specific time. We did the entire tour except for the bike portion and our group was okay with not going that. So we ended up grabbing some dinner and drinks! I will be booking the different tours in the future!

After all the rave reviews here on yelp, we booked a Claremont food tour back in February for the…read moremiddle of March. Well this little thing called coronavirus happened in the meantime, and so our March tour was shut down. They offered us a full refund or to postpone the tour for a later date. We opted for the full refund. This was in mid to late March. At the end of April, after weeks of delays and still no refund, I wrote a review on yelp expressing my frustration about this situation. That same day, the Fun Belly owner Carlos got in touch with me and over the next few messages basically told me that Fun Belly themselves don't handle billing/refunds (instead employing a company called EzTix), but that he would get in touch with his rep at EzTix and try to make things right. Within 2 days our refund had been issued. Wow. So while I didn't have the opportunity to go on the food tour, I still think it's important for prospective customers to know that Fun Belly has an owner with some real integrity. It would have been so easy for Carlos to say, "Well, the refund is out of my hands, go deal with it yourselves", but he went the extra mile to make things right. Once this shutdown is over and I'm actually allowed to leave my house, we'll definitely rebook for the food tour we never got an opportunity to go on. I know we'll be in good hands. Five stars for Fun Belly, 0 stars for EzTix.

I had such a grea GREAT time on this food tour. When I signed up to attend, I anticipated sampling…read morefood from different restaurants. What I did not anticipate was the insightful history and background of the area, each restaurant we toured and all the witty dialogue. Because you attend these restaurants with Fun Belly, the owner's and management come out to speak with you and it makes you feel like some sort of food critic, or Mafioso, because they showcase their craft just for you. This made the experience so much better than what I imagined. Oh one last thing, samples, hardly. Several of us on the tour could not finish our food at some of the venues by the end, we were all stuffed. My friends and I booked again for another tour offered in a different location. :D

Be very careful when you deal with this mon and pop company, they are every thing is non refund…read moreable, I mean every thing every thing non refundable, they book hotel with experian.com pay for cheap non refund able room, then they wouldn't tell you!! I do have very very bad experiences with this travel agent, if I can give them a minus star I would do it, terrible company, irresponsible company, I want file a small claim against this company's but it is not worth my times and energy for few hundreds dollar!! If you give them any money think "NON REFUND ABLE", they would take advantage of senior people like me without blinking of the eyes, I am so disappointed it, when deal with this horrible company!! following picture is what travel agent call city view In Ho Chị Mình City in Việt Nam.

Cali Travel has been wonderful. They've been very helpful, concise and extremely responsive…read more Especially Han. She's been a delight to work with. I highly recommend Cali Travel for all of your travel needs!

We had a great day with our guide, Paul! Very informative filled with a chock full of interesting…read morefacts! We are native Los Angeles peeps and never rode Angel's Flight. Paul treated us to a ride which made it special! I definitely recommend this tour company!

We booked the Hollywood Speakeasy Tour for Valentine's Day 2025. On the day of, they cancelled it…read more Nice. Don't rely on these guys. While I appreciate things come up, a professional operation has contingencies in place to manage those risks. I guess not here. A suggestion: if you're going to cancel at the last minute, at least offer the customer something so that working with you wasn't a complete waste of time.

I've been an active member of the LA County arboretum for years and FINALLY got to explore the…read moreinterior of the Queen Anne cottage this holiday season (2025)! The inside is as beautiful as the outside and full of local history. The guides were thoroughly knowledgeable and enthusiastic in discussing the details as we meandered through the cottage - and I especially loved that they were dressed in Victorian era clothing! Elias Jackson Baldwin (aka Lucky Baldwin) was a very prominent figure in this area in the late 1800s. He owned over 13,000 acres here - land that included the present day cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and San Marino. I always enjoy hearing about history involving Lucky Baldwin because he still technically has an easement on our property and his name is on the title to our house haha! He built this cottage and coach barn in the late 1870s for his 4th wife but apparently they split up not long after they were married so he turned it into a memorial for his 3rd wife who had passed away (drama drama lol). It was then used as a guest house for visitors to the ranch. The cottage is quite opulent with ornate fireplaces, ceilings, and chandeliers, as well as some of the most intricate and colorful stained glass window pieces I've ever seen! I absolutely loved them! They are all original to the house - as well as all the beautiful tile accents in the floors and around the fireplaces. There's some original redwood paneling in the bathroom that you'll also find in the coach barn which is gorgeous and in excellent condition. Unfortunately, Baldwin's daughter who inherited the house after his passing, threw out all their furniture and belongings. So all the other items you see are not original to the house - but are still period appropriate antiques belonging to the era. I believe they do suggest children not do the tour as there are many fragile items in cramped spaces so be aware. The tours are pretty brief as you can only explore the downstairs rooms and there aren't that many - the receiving room/entryway, the music/entertainment room, a small hallway room, a bedroom, bathroom, and the library with butlers pantry. But still definitely worth a visit! The stained glass windows in the library have portraits of Shakespeare and Lord Byron in the glass - those alone are worth going on the tour if you ask me! Several movies and TV shows have been filmed in parts of the cottage as well (of course) - such as Fantasy Island (from the 70s) and even an episode of American Horror Story! The coach barn is always open during garden open hours, but the cottage has been closed as long as I've been visiting (over 5 years now). So when I saw the member email saying they were offering tours, I jumped on it lol! The tours aren't available very often from what I read. So far, they've only offered the tours on weekends during the holiday season starting in November this year and it looks like they are sold out online for the rest of the season. But when I visited, they were offering tickets for tours on site so you may still be able to tour. There are staff in a blue tent outside the cottage to ask when you arrive. Online tickets do include entry into the garden as well, which is worth exploring in its own right - would make for a great day out! If you're at all into Victorian era architecture and culture and the local history, I'd suggest signing up for the arboretum newsletter and keep an eye out for when they offer tours of the cottage.

I have been a member of the LA Arboretum in Arcadia for several years now. There is so much to see…read moreat this garden. I'm sure I haven't seen every cranny of this place as of yet LOL. Never once did I checked out the Queen Anne Cottage, Coach Barn, and Adobe until most recently. The cottage, barn, and adobe are located along side and/or around Baldwin Lake. Cottage was not open for tours at the time so I wasn't able to go inside. I admired its beauty from the outside and walked around its serene and calming perimeter. I did take a peek inside through its windows and snapped a few photos. Funny, I was actually hesitant to take photos of its inside... wasn't sure if an alarm was going to sound off LOL. Whew, no alarm! One thing I found peculiar is how small the bed is. It's not even the size of a full size bed... I think it's in between a twin and full size IMHO. Anyway, I read the cottage didn't even have a kitchen so the meals were prepared at the adobe. I walked around the abode, but didn't peek inside for some reason. I may have the courage to do so next time LOL. I also got a chance to walk inside and through the coach barn. Saw some displays of antique carriage and stuff. There were a few horse stalls. I didn't walk towards them for some reason. I guess the energy didn't call for it at the moment. Maybe I will next time. Be brave Linh! LOL Definitely, a lot of history surrounding the cottage, coach barn, and adobe. If you haven't been at the LA Arboretum or have been and just haven't seen the cottage, barn, and adobe, it's time to make it happen! Go get your cool morning stroll or a sunny afternoon walk or just an evening sit around visit!! I'll see you here...