Who We Are & What We Do

The Real Los Angeles Tours is an independent, family run business. It was founded (as Free LA Tour) in 2013, inspired by the global trend towards walking tours. Why did we start a walking tour company in L.A.? Because when we looked at the tour companies here we realized that the offering was totally dominated by bus tours, mostly of the stars’ houses. What’s wrong with that? On a tour bus you can’t experience the city in any meaningful way and anyway the houses they’re showing you almost certainly don’t, and never did, have a star living in them. And even if they do, who cares? L.A. is so much more than that! It seemed a great shame to us that so many people were coming here to see our city, a place they had seen and heard so much about, but were leaving without getting any idea of what makes it such an amazing place. We decided to change that by showing tourists the real Los Angeles, the one that we know and love.

Our mission has always been to give our guests an immersive experience of Los Angeles, with its unique history, different cultures, beautiful architecture and great street art. On our tours we walk the city and ride the Metro, to authentically experience L.A. We have tours of Hollywood and downtown, all day tours (of Hollywood, downtown and Santa Monica), Layover tours (if you’re stuck at Los Angeles International Airport for a day), Ghost tours and self-guided tours. We’ll take you inside some of the most beautiful and important buildings here, like Union Station, the Bradbury and the Fine Arts Building. We’ll bring you the best street food in California (such as at Grand Central Market) and reveal L.A.’s incredible history, from when it was a tiny settlement in the vast Spanish Empire, to the world famous mega-city it is now. So if you’re a curious person, who wants to get a true feel for the city, join us – and let your L.A. adventure begin.