I am so tired after a long day in L.A. But I feel compelled to hurry up and write a review. I am sad to see so many negative reviews of Starline Tours. Today, they stepped up to the plate twice for us. We are staying at The Garland and they pick up passengers from this hotel. Well, this morning my Mom and two Aussies we befriended were waiting for the bus. It was late. We were getting antsy but the hotel informed us the driver had an emergency and Starline was sending an Uber for us. One minute late later, the Polestar arrived to pick us up Now the ride is tricky on the bus. There is traffic. This is L.A. Overall we were not exactly late for stops. Maybe a few minutes but no big deal. The drivers were nice and gave useful recommendations. The bus was comfortable and riding on the top deck of a double decker bus is one of my favorite things to do in a city I am visiting. The weather was perfect. I was happy. The stops are hit and miss. Some are well worth visiting such as Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, The Grove, Pink's, Olvera Avenue, Melrose Avenue, and really I could go for quite a bit. Others make me go hmm...like the Four Seasons and some unknown streets. Something for everyone. Now to make a long story short we hopped from the red to the yellow back to the red line. This is time consuming and I called telling the lady, Yasmine, I believe that we would not meet the deadline for the last drop-off at Dolby Theater to take us back to The Garland. She spoke with her supervisor, I believe it was Lisa. No problem.....Solomon will take you back to The Garland. Well, let me tell you. Solomon was right there as promised. And guess what? He drove us in his brand new Tesla! No joke. We took a scenic route and saw amazing views of Downtown L.A., the Hollywood sign and through one of the canyons, I forget which one. Solomon was so, so nice. He is a true asset to the company. Now, things did not go 100% smoothly but when does it? Starline Tours stepped up and did right by us. I will recommend them to anyone wanting to see fun L.A. spots without the absolute hassle of driving. And yes, the headset worked on every bus we were on. read more

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I expected to be able to see several sights in one day by using the hop on- hop off tour, but it ended up that I was only able to see one thing each day! I had a two-day pass and I thought that would be plenty of time. The problem was the small number of buses available. If there had been a bus every 15-30 minutes, I could have done more. Instead, the buses ran every hour or less frequently. There was a shortage of buses and drivers, according to the company. One route had only one bus, so we had to wait for it to make the whole circuit before we could get on again. Sometimes the buses didn't show up when scheduled, which made everything longer. I was very disappointed in this tour. I have to say, though, that the audio portion of the tour was good. Earphones were provided and although there was some static, I could usually understand what was being said. read more

Ok I have always wanted to take a tour! And my husband surprised us with one as we were just walking looking at the stars!! Our guide was very knowledgeable he had pictures that went over and above when he would stop at specific locations he just added that extra and it was a nice touch, fun friendly and engaging in joking and just all around fun well being safe and professional. They allowed our little dog to take the tour with us! Even asking questions about him! That was cute! He was a wonderful guide we were very happy we got him! We saw so much in such a great amount of time! I definitely recommend taking this tour if you have the opportunity, we saw others on other tour buses who were not safe they had passengers getting out at red lights, yelling at our bus and just so unsafe and unpleasant to be next to for the short time. I'm not sure what company they were with but I would not recommend any other tour company but this Starline tour! So happy we had the chance to sight see on this lovely tour!! read more

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I booked the night tour for myself with Starline and what a fun tour it was! The website didn't quite make clear what the tour was going to be of but I knew I would have some time to kill so I got myself a ticket. I was really impressed by Brandon who called me about 20 minutes prior to the ride and asked if I needed directions to their office. When I got there, both he and the other person were so polite and nice! I hopped on a bus that had only about 7 other people on it, which was great! Our tour guide was Craig and let me tell you... if you are able to request a specific guide, make sure it is him! He was very funny, very informative about the buildings we were driving by, and shared a lot with us about the local food culture as we got a little stuck in some light traffic. He made a lot of wisecracks, which I found hilarious! Craig definitely has my sense of humor! Turns out - to my surprise and delight - that the tour bus headed up to Griffith Observatory. Normally, I wouldn't venture up there on my own because the traffic gets tough and the parking spots are few and far between. Craig dropped us off right at the entry to the promenade and let us all run off for a half hour. It was a beautiful night and the view was spectacular. All in all, the tour lasted closer to 2 hours than the original 90 minutes that I was expecting, but that was just fine with me, and it was actually kind of relaxing having someone else do the driving so I could be a lookie-loo. And again, Craig is a hoot! After being a SoCal resident and frequent Hollywood tourist for decades, this was the first bus tour I have taken, and it certainly won't be the last! Because of the friendliness and politeness of the Starline team, I'm making this my go-to company and the one that I will recommend to all of my friends when they come to town. A+! ONE IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE: Getting to the office/pickup spot can be a little tricky if you aren't familiar with the Dolby Theater complex (Ovation). You need to take the elevator/escalator or the stairs up to the 2nd level. When you find yourself standing directly in front of the doors to the Dolby Theater, go directly left, past the Chado Tea shop, and all the way to the end of the hall, almost to the street. You will spot their office very easily at that point. And use the bathroom before you go on the bus! read more

Starline Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Everything. The bus did not show up in the morning as was noted in directory and we were waiting an additional 46 minutes for pickup. Sound system on the bus did not work for most of the trip. Ear buds did not work at all. When we mentioned this to the gentleman at the main stop in Hollywood, he had an indifferent attitude. On our way back to downtown we noticed that the narration did not match what we were seeing. Also the stop numbers in the narration do not match the map. And to top it off the narration referred to the staple center and the Microsoft theater. The staple center was renamed 4+ years ago and the theater 3 years ago. I would think that a tour company would keep these things updated. Not impressed. read more

Worst ever. Book two tours today. Hop on off and star home tours. Hop on off head phone broken on first bus and had to jump from seat to seat on other buses to find a head phone that would work. Star tour bus was suppose to be in an open top vehicle. They swapped out with a vehicle that had limit views. Worst ever read more

Great overall experience. Franchel from the office/customer service was very helpful and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend the tour to others. read more

My wife and I went on this amazing tour.And even though she was born and raised in this city, she learned things she never knew before.

We live in LA but have never been on the Celebrity Homes tour. Decided give it a try with Starline after some comparisons. Compared to other sites, it was really easy to find info for the tour, book online, and best of all, they are up-to-par tech wise so they were able to issue a barcode ticket that can be added to your apple wallet. As for the tour itself, the bus is decent. It could use some sprucing up but other than that, seats were okay. Since it was the celebrity tour, it's the smaller hotel shuttle style bus which is allowed to go into the residential areas. For the price, this tour was pretty good. Very reasonable for 2 hours. Our driver was very knowledgeable, friendly, and we did enjoy visiting all the places slated for this tour. The driver recommends $10 a person (adults) as tip so just be prepared to tip, that is if you feel it's warranted. read more

Starline Tours - Hollywood - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

their new Dreams and Nightmares tour is a true crime bus tour focusing on Hollywood and the Sunset Strip area. Have your cameras ready because Brian will warn you before great shots of iconic streets and buildings. We saw Michael Jacksons house, we learned about John Belushi's passing, and got to visit a small hidden cemetery where true A-listers are interned. read more

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We did a 2-hour celebrity house tour. The driver was knowledgeable about the houses and movies but he kept talking about boring things like how much passing cars cost and how much schools cost, so the tour was quite boring. He was extremely rude and made inappropriate jokes in front of kids. He kept on calling other drivers stupid and at one point he said to us "I am showing you this, pay attention, stupid". I wouldn't recommend wasting your time doing this on your next vacation for sure. read more

We had such a fun and amazing time while on this tour! It was a fun-filled day passing by homes of famous Hollywood stars, from the past and present. Our tour guide was just wonderful and was very knowledgeable. It definitely surpassed our expectations. Highly highly recommend this tour! Thank you, Starline Tours! read more

Last night my wife and I took the Griffith Park night tour and it was FANTASTIC!! The view was absolutely incredible, with a clear, bright full moon lighting up the night sky. But what really made the whole experience extra special was our tour guide, Michael! He was so knowledgeable, friendly, and SUPER funny! My memories of this tour will always include Michael! He's such a gem that Starline should treasure! He went out of his way to make sure everyone had an amazing time! Thank you so much, Michael! You made our vacation! read more

Starline was amazing. Joe at the ticket office was extremely helpful on what we were looking for. This was an awesome trip, easy on and off read more

Purchased tickets for the tour from a street kiosk and they directed us to the bus which left on time. They have complimentary headphones to listen to prerecorded tour details but unfortunately the recording wasn't working so it just crackled and had feedback noises. The driver didn't compensate for the messed up recording with any facts of his own over the intercom, he just said it doesn't work. We were thinking of getting off and waiting for the next bus but the next bus would have been 45+ minutes so we decided to just google details about each stop. The city bus would have been better in this regard. We got off in Beverly Hills and walked around a bit, the next bus was 40 minutes later than the time that was listed on the timetable. The driver was very nice but she talked over the recorded messaging with her own facts so we couldn't hear the recorded message. We decided to pull out our headphones and listen to her version but the loudspeaker was messed up so there was squealing feedback on the things that she was saying. We ended up just getting off and ubering to the remaining landmarks that we wanted to see so that we wouldn't miss our flight home. The busses were nice and some seemingly inexpensive upgrades to the audio system could have made this a pleasant experience. The drivers were safe and courteous, nothing bad to say about them. I called the phone number on the back of the receipt and explained the issues about a week ago and the gentleman that I spoke to was very nice and understanding, he asked me to email this to the customer service email along with my receipt number but I didn't hear back. I called and was told that if I didn't hear back then it was determined ineligible for a full or partial refund. read more

We had a wonderful time on the tour bus. The driver Robert on the Red line was so wonderful. He was so patient and understanding with a group of travelers that did not speak English . He was very kind and professional. Thank you for a good time. read more

Waste of time just driving by building without any good opportunities to take iconic photos. Save your money , watch any YouTube tour videos and do the tour yourself! read more

Got tickets with star line for my family and I , JOSEPH at the customer service desk helped us , he recommended the hop on hop off tour ! It was so much fun going sightseeing ! Will book another tour with him in the future ! Thank you ! read more

Starline Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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My family and I got tickets to the hop on hop hop off tour, JOSEPH at the customer service desk was very nice , knowledgeable about all the tours they have and which one he recommends we very much enjoyed our TOUR ! He's kind of CUTE TOO !! He deserves a raise! WE WERRE VERY HAPPY and enjoyed our tour thank you ! will Book again soon read more

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(Date: 6/21/2025) Starline Tours "Los Angeles Hop-On, Hop-Off Tours" provided the worse service ever and you're better off taking Lift or Uber. First of all, the pickup times are not consistent. The bus was late to our initial pick up time (Beverly Hills Mall) and that should have told us something about the service. We paid the driver directly on the bus and driver stated, "we run every 45 minutes and can follow us on the app". We chose to get off at the farmer's market (second stop on red route after pick up) and never got back on the bus for the other stops. I called the customer service several times and they stated the bus was either late or we missed the time. NOT true, bus never came. We found out from customer service that there was an event and the roads were closed on the route; STOP selling tickets if you cannot provide the expected service. I asked for a refund and was provided an email to send my claim (nothing). I was also contacted to provide a review but chose the button to "click here" if I was going to rate the service less than favorable. Stated my claim again and have not received a response. So, this review is not regulated...save your money and use some other service like Lift/Uber. There were 3 of us traveling together at $57 a piece and one drop off. Horrible and a ripoff!! Shame of Starline tours!!! read more

Ross was the best tour guide! As locals who always have wanted to try one of these Hollywood tours, we were not disappointed. Ross was extremely knowledgeable and gave us a fun and thorough tour of various celebrity houses and other worthwhile tourist attractions in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Bel Air. At the end, Ross recommended that we check out the Boardner in Hollywood for some drinks. We took his advice and had a great happy hour there. Thanks, Ross! read more

My family and I just did the Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares Tour with guide Brian Donnelly and it was INCREDIBLE. The tour itself was very informative. Perfect for the Halloween season, but could easily be enjoyed year round! Now, for Brian.. WOW! What a truly WONDERFUL tour guide! Whatever you need to do to keep Brian around, make sure you do so. We couldn't have expected such a wonderful afternoon spent with him. He was brilliant. Wildly knowledgeable and an all around great time! A raise, an award, a monument on Hollywood Blvd.. whatever it is, he deserves it! You can tell he loves his job, which makes the experience that much better! read more

We booked the celebrity house tour from this company because they're supposedly the oldest ones to do the tour so I figured they'd have it together by now. We paid $90 for 2 people for 2 hours. To me the price wasn't bad. Loading all the groups on the buses alone took over 20 mins. Our drivers name was Camila, she was sweet and friendly no complaints about her. She was great. Tip of the day!!!! Even though it is sunny outside, beware it is chilly and since there is no roof you will be cold! Especially in areas where the sun isn't hitting you directly and when you're going up the hills you can literally feel the temperature dropping so bring a sweater. As for the celebrity houses we barely saw any, the ones on the route we took were all covered by trees or very private so you couldn't see much. I have also been on another tour with another company and we went to entirely different neighborhoods and actually got to see some houses so I was disappointed on the route this one took. It did have some pretty cool city views but we booked this to see celebrity houses. They did give us a free coupon to see the wax museum which was a nice touch since the tickets to that alone is $30 each. But to be honest, I wasn't impressed with this tour at all and probably wouldn't book with them again. They're unorganized. read more

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I booked transportation only to and from Disneyland on Christmas eve 2019. They have many packages for tours and some are just transportation so It was convenient for me to choose them. I went online to book a time for a shuttle to Disneyland and they had about 3 options,7am,8am and 10:30am. I wanted to leave as soon as possible because its an hour drive from LA to Anaheim so I could spend as much time at the park. I went on their site on Monday morning and saw the earliest departure time was full and I did not wanna go at the 10.30 one so I decided to book it the next day. I dont know why I did not just book it that day when I saw they still had spots open. Later that night when I went to buy my transportation only ticket from them for Disneyland departing at 7am it was sold out! and so was the 8am one! The only time left was the 10.30 which is what I did not want but at this point didn't really have a choice. It was only $25 roundtrip which is actually a really good deal because if you take public transportation it cost about $18 one way and about 1.5 hours to get there. I would have taken the public transportation but I would have to make at least 3 different transfers really early in the morning somewhere i was not sure made me book with starlines. So listen to my advice and book right then and there when you see the time and date that you want if it's available. December is a busy time for Disney and the tour companies that feed into it. What I did not like about the transportation option is that they only have one pickup time from Disney back to LA. 8:30PM was the pickup time from the park, that's the time you had to be in the parking lot if not you get left behind! The park does not close till at least 11 pm so i really dont see why 8.30 pm was a good time for pick up. The second thing I did not like from them was that I had a hard time finding them at first. On the confirmation email, it said in front of the Chinese theatre. Ok, so I walk there and see nothing, confuse me goes to a lady who was passing out flyers for the company 3 buildings down. I asked her where the 'office' was and showed me a picture of what I was looking for. It literally is a little kiosk on the far right side of the theatre that starlines is located. lol, I felt kinda silly for its tiny! After checking in with them they walked us to the back to a parking lot where the passenger vans were waiting for us. They had an extensive assortment of vehicles for all of their tours. Since I was going to Disney at a later time I was put in a 20 passenger van with about 15 other people. On my way back from the park that same van was there to take us back to LA but a different driver picked us up there. The ride itself was fine, the online confirmation was good but I really dislike how they only have an 8:30 pm pick up from the park when they could easly have a 10pm. read more

Starline Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

We just did the 1 hour trolley tour which was fairly average and the trolley wasn't even in service on that day. We got a giant double decker bus for our tour which consisted of just two people on the 9:30AM departure. Honestly you don't really see anything earth shattering, but our driver was funny and I enjoyed his hatred of stucco and other accents he had in the bucket. Perhaps the highlights were seeing the Hollywood sign and then seeing all the people who live under bridges in LA. It did last an hour and we passed mostly movie studios, some nice houses and alot of urban blight. I also know what the outside of Rosco's chicken and waffles looks like. Still, the weather was cool and the prices was only $18 each (AAA), so it was good enough for a quick tour of LA. read more

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My friend and I wanted to do a celebrity tour so we went with Starline. There's also a tmz bus which we probably should have done, but the girl selling starline of course said "starline was better." She was nice so we listened. DO NOT book with BRUCE. He was a nice older gentleman, HOWEVER, he had trouble remembering almost everything!!! He did not even finish his sentences!! He took long pauses to where i had to ask if he was ok??? He said he was having issues remembering. you can hear him whisper under his breath about wanting to remember. I felt so bad for him but also this is time and money i wasted. I think he may need to be cleared to drive again. He also even hit someone while driving! I wanted to just go back immediately and it wasn't even an hour into our tour. FINALLY on the way back there was traffic, and he started to doze off for a second! I had to ask him plenty of times if he was ok! Definitely NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!!! I did not feel safe in the vehicle or felt like i learned anything read more

I had high hopes for this tour as our hotel recommended it. The convenience of the hop on hop off bus was great, however the bus never showed up at the first stop. We waited almost an hour. The "tour" is a prerecorded audio rather than an in person guide. So we couldn't ask question, or if we didn't hear what was said have it repeated. If I would have know there wasn't a guide (like the tours in nyc) I would never have booked. The owner Lisa was very accommodating and apologized that we waited so long for a bus that never showed up and had another driver pick us up from one spot and brought to another for the bus. She also gave us a discount and was very kind and helpful on the phone. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. I booked the 7 pm tour as this was the only time I could go due to a short trip. My teen son was really looking forward to this. We arrived a little before the recommended 30 minutes before start of tour and checked in with the star line booth located on the sidewalk. He instructed us to just line up at the curb close to the 7 pm time and the van/shuttle will pick us up from there. 7 pm rolls around.... No shuttle. Conveniently, the guy also packs up his sidewalk booth. 10 minutes after, I call the number on our ticket voucher. No answer and of course mailbox is full. Tried again another 10 minutes later..., nothing. We waited until 735 then left. Mind you, there was a total of 6 of us... all out of town travelers who booked and paid for in advance for a company who was a no show for a tour... who does that? Hella sketch. Highly upset, disrespected, and a total waste of time and money. Now I need to be inconvenienced even more to reach out to get a refund if I'm lucky to get that. read more

This tour wasn't what I expected it to be. The homes that was shown to us didn't really seem to be the actual stars home. Maybe they owned it at one point of their lives. The tour guides could be lying and we wouldn't know. Our tour guide just pointed out stuff. We didn't stop at all. The weather was horrible, no ac so pray for the wind. I fell asleep as one point because it was so boring. There is a sign on the top front of the bus that's asking for 15% tip. Overall, I was disappointed about the tour. Our guy sucked at explaining and keeping us entertained. Don't be surprised if they give you the awkward stare when you leave without tipping. read more

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Even though I was born and raised in Los Angeles, I always wanted to do one of these tours! I chose Starline based on the great reviews. We did the Celebrity Homes Tour. Our tour guide, Alan, was personable, knowledgeable, and funny. We saw many houses, neighborhoods, and landmarks. I will take friends and family visiting from out of state on this tour in the future! read more

First of all the ticket seller hype up the tour that we're going to the Hollywood homes of the famous that's a joke the stops need to be more where eateries are & not miles away & have drivers that like their job we didn't really see anything what a waste of time & money read more

Am I the only one giving Starline a 5 star review? Anyways, I wasn't sure from the reviews how fun this would be but I'll have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I bought 3 tickets for my daughters and I and the tour started on time and it was way more than we expected. I would highly recommend Alan as your tour guide and driver. He was fun, funny, and very knowledgeable!!! It's good to get there early to walk the Walk of Fame and see other things because the later it gets the crazier Hollywood Blvd. gets. I hope your experience will be as wonderful as ours. read more

I'm not sure why I haven't written a review on Starline earlier considering how much I loved using them. I usually recommend them for tours (both foreign and domestic - I used them when I was in Paris a few years back) because not only are they convenient, they can get really informative. The whole hop-off-hop-on concept gives you the chance to explore at your own pace and time (just be mindful of THEIR schedule.) It comes really handy when I have tourists coming to visit Los Angeles for the first time. The idea of not chauffeuring them around trying to battle for parking (plus avoiding the horrendous parking fees!) is well worth paying the fees for this tour. This particular tour have a few routes to choose from, all depending on what you want to check out. If you time everything right, you can maximize it by jumping on more than one tour for the day. I'd probably use them again next time I've got visitors wanting to check the Hollywood area out. Or if I'm the one doing the tourist thing outside of California. The point is, they're on my radar. read more

Our driver was on his phone a lot of the time, checking emails, text messages & looking for music to play. I sat right behind him. We even sat at a corner maybe for a minute while he was on his phone, at least it was in the shade so I guess it was ok. The beginning of the tour seemed really rushed. He was speeding up the hill & whiney roads, one of the passengers had to tell him she's about to get sick because he's driving like a maniac! And he was! So he did slow down a bit. Didn't get to see a whole lot of "stars home", was pretty disappointed. SAVE YOUR MONEY!! Not worth it, just buy a stars map and drive yourself. There's a few stops up there you can pull over and take pics. read more

Starline Tours - Saw no where close to 40 celebs homes, maybe not even half that amount - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

BUYER BEWARE: I wish I looked on Yelp before committing. I paid $280 for 3 people, for a tour that was marketed on our ticket for $225. Being that I did not want to cause a scene with my parents, I kept asking that we were going on the correct tour. 2 ladies were talking to the manager, which made our tour start 20 minutes late. The driver was obviously on a time constriction and was driving aggressively. He showed that he was visibly annoyed about them, which I don't think is very professional. He talked very quickly, not clearly, and was not entertaining. We were given: 15 minutes to walk around Venice Beach 20 minutes to walk to the Beverly Hills sign 30 minutes to walk around Garden Grove and get lunch for the Farmers Market I felt stressed the entire time during the tour. We got to Hollywood, where people on the less expensive tour were given 30 minutes to walk up the busy boulevard, get a picture with the sign, go into LalaLand for the gift shop, and use the restroom. Unfortunately, I paid for the more expensive tour and was told we had from 1:10 to 1:25PM to come back to the station for our Beverly Hills Homes tour. I had 2 people with me that are older and was not going to try to rush them with that time constraint. We did not end up leaving until after 1:30PM. We were brought onto another tour guides bus, who was more entertaining than the first tour guide. She also gave us free water bottles. During the part that was assumed to only be the Beverly Hills Homes tour, she also provided another City Tour (minus Venice and Santa Monica). The tour guides are not in sync with who's giving what tour and this was definitely wasting time. The first guy said the second lady, giving the Beverly Hills tour would take us back to our hotels/office. She took us back to Hollywood, where a THIRD guy finally dropped us all off. The worst part about this is each driver had a sign asking for tips. My parents were so nice to waste $50 total on these people. I am not one to complain this extensively but I truly feel that we deserve at least a partial refund. I am so disappointed in the tour my parents were kind enough to pay for and could have driven them around LA myself and showed them a better time. read more

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We have family visiting and we enjoyed the Hollywood stars tour. Carola was such a friendly lady with a wealth of information. Alan our tour guide, was friendly and excellent as well. Very detailed with up-to-date information and very funny. This is our 6th or 7th tour with your service with anyone who comes to visit us. Thank you and keep up the great work Carola and Alan. read more

Irrespectful of the time.schedukr, there was supoised to be a bus at 2.05pm, we ran towards it at 2.00 pm and he just left the station leaving us fir another 50 minutes wait read more

One of the worst tours I've been on! -The driver was rude, -The stops were very hard to find and inconsistent with the map - buses don't run as often as advertised (prepare to waste your precious vacation time) -The rep said there was an app for gps tracking of the buses LIE -The rep gave us a number to call so that we can call and ask about bus info (Doesnt work) -WASTED TIME AND WASTED MONEY -If you do take this tour, I suggest not getting off the bus, that's probably the only way you can get your anything out of this experience. -There's plenty of other cheaper, smaller group tours around the area. DO NOT BE CONNED! THIS IS NOT CONVENIENT AT ALL! read more

Starline Tours - Bus Tours Near Me - Los Angeles, California

For as much as you think I love food (and I do), I have a much longer passion for the movies. I was the one against whom nobody wanted to play Silver Screen Trivial Pursuit because I am a font of useless trivia. When I was able to identify Donald Pleasence in a movie, a friend of mine asked me, "What piece of insight did you have to sacrifice to retain that piece of s#!&? Over the years, I've lost a lot of that s#!& since I'm convinced my brain has shriveled up but not my cinematic interest. Maybe that's why when I saw on TV that Turner Classic Movies was offering a Movie Locations Tour through the Starline company (photo: http://bit.ly/1HdcCH3), I said to myself that could be fun when I'm in LA sometime. Golly, I could be like Lucy Ricardo forcing Richard Widmark to autograph a grapefruit from his backyard. Well, with no fuss at all, I did make a reservation for Jamie W. and me to take the tour last Friday, and I have to admit that it appealed to the cinema geek in me, besides which it was a good way to reacquaint myself with greater Los Angeles without worrying where to park. We checked in at the forecourt of the Chinese Theater and congregated in a sugar-coated shop called Sweets! on the second floor of the Hollywood & Highland Center next door. A group of us were taken to the specialty bus which was decked out with theater-style seating and a high-definition 65"-screen TV in front. Our tour guide Jon was the jovial type who clearly loves Hollywood and quizzed us tirelessly on our trivia knowledge (photo: http://bit.ly/1JVsEsl). Nailed it. The tour started at 12:30PM and lasted for the better part of three hours, a bit overlong even for the trivia-obsessed likes of me though worthy of the $55 ticket. There were clever juxtapositions between the locations we drove past and the corresponding film clips shown on the screen whether it's a bit of "Catch Me If You Can" at the Roosevelt Hotel or a comic scene from "LA Story" at an Art Deco-style gas station which has since been converted into a drive-thru Starbucks (photo: http://bit.ly/1D2pJco). The bus goes through the funkier neighborhoods like Echo Park and Silver Lake, and a good amount of time was spent in the downtown area with only two stops made. The first was at the classic Bradbury Building, the setting for scenes in movies as diverse as "Double Indemnity" and "The Artist" (photo: http://bit.ly/1HPx98s). The second longer stop was at the still-spiffy Union Station where we were drowning in a swarm of travelers as we enjoyed the classic architecture (photo: http://bit.ly/1D2pMoK). What I appreciated was the genuine enthusiasm of the guide even as we were squinting our eyes to see the staircase in the distance where Laurel & Hardy comically lugged a stand-up piano many times over. There were clips of well-connected TCM host Ben Mankiewicz interspersed throughout as he explained the history of the various neighborhoods with credibility. I have to say the seamless tie-in with TCM was quite savvy and not too intrusive, and I recommend the tour to any couch potato who watches the channel with any regularity. My guess is that kids may get pretty antsy since there was only one brief bathroom break over the marathon drive. Consider bringing a bedpan. read more

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I'm picky but loved the convenience and views on top deck. You can't beat it! Drivers have a tough job in the LA traffic. Bus pretty clean. Routes were worth it. Some content on headphone tour outdated, businesses gone. Customer service was good when I called with questions. Only tour I've done in LA. Yes, I'd recommend it so you don't have to drive. read more