Inside LA
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The Los Angeles Lowdown
For locals who want to experience LA like a visitor and visitors who want to experience LA like a local.
The Los Angeles Lowdown is designed by us to take you inside LA, whether you’re visiting or you live here. From current-affairs inspired articles on Southern California’s history, to our suggestions on the best things to do in LA every month, via inside information on authentic experiences and events, we give you the essential lowdown on the city of Angels.
And if you’re a visitor looking for more specific information related to your trip here, such as where to stay, where to eat, a list of the best family activities in Los Angeles or how to navigate the city using public transport, don’t forget to check L.A. Info.
LA History
Los Angeles’ Hispanic Heritage
People from the Spanish-speaking countries of Spain, Central and South America have had an enormous impact on Los Angeles. Which isn’t at all surprising when you consider nearly fifty per cent of the population of Los Angeles today has a Hispanic background. In fact Los Angeles County’s five million people of Hispanic descent works out…
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The Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre
Los Angeles has a lot of fascinating history – many great things have happened here – but, then again, a lot of VERY bad things have taken place here too and one of the things we strongly believe in at The Real Los Angeles Tours is talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly.…
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Musso & Frank Grill: Hollywood Institution
This week Musso & Frank Grill announced that they are reopening on May 10, for Mother’s Day celebrations and, having originally opened up just as the Spanish Flu pandemic was finally petering out in 1919, it seems hugely appropriate that this venerable and much loved institution should be one of the first to reopen as…
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Los Angeles Union Station
Los Angeles Union Station is to LA what Grand Central Station is to New York. It’s our major rail terminus, designed and built to reflect the history and feel of the city back at us as we pass through. It opened in May 1939 with much fanfare, ironically just as the US was falling out of…
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Outbreak: Spanish Flu In Los Angeles, 1918
It’s hard to think about anything other than Coronavirus or Covid-19 right now. It’s taken over the news cycle and our lives. Los Angeles is almost entirely shut down – schools, movie theaters, restaurants, bars and most businesses (including The Real Los Angeles Tours). Most of us have never experienced anything like it before. Life…
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The Night Stalker At The Cecil Hotel
The toughest part of developing our DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour was reading about all the horrible murders that have taken place in and around downtown Los Angeles while I was researching it. I couldn’t get the gory details out of my mind. Of all the serial killers that I researched arguably the worst was Richard Ramirez, aka…
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Crime Seen: The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in criminal history and a subject for numerous documentaries, books, TV episodes and movies. law enforcement agencies, criminal experts, on-camera presenters and amateur sleuths have all attempted to solve the case – all without success. Rather like the Jack the Ripper murders in…
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Los Angeles On A Layover
If you’re booking a flight and the chance presents itself to visit Los Angeles on a layover, or stopover, you probably aren’t going to refuse the opportunity, especially if you’ve never been here before. LA is a place that most people would like to visit, at least once, in their lives. And why not? Forgetting…
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A Day In Hollywood: Myth & Reality
In 1923 when the Hollywood Sign was erected, the town below was home to what was by then already the fifth biggest industry in the US, moving pictures. The sign was a billboard, not for the film industry (which was at the time only just becoming known as “Hollywood”), but for the housing tract in the hills under the…
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How To Guarantee Seeing A Celebrity In LA
Some people have become obsessed by “celebrities”. It can get very unhealthy and the news is full of stories of celebrities who’ve found themselves being stalked by overly-fanatical fans, so the first thing to know about famous people is that they’re just people, exactly like you and me (well not exactly like me – I’m not rich…
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The 10 Best Things To Do In LA In March 2020
There are always a ton of things happening here – but what are the best things to do in LA in March 2020? Check below to find out. 1. CONTEMPLATE THE NOTHINGNESS OF EXISTENCE (ALL MONTH). Visit this new kid on the block that’s no longer the new kid on the block – the museum’s now their…
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