Hp108
TripAdvisor
Did a full day walking tour of LA. Our tour guide Damien was very knowledgeable & passionate about giving us all the information in a clear & concise way. The tour was very well planned & organised & was not tiring.
Lisa Montesanti
We did The Real Hollywood tour & loved it! The tour was at a great pace & the guide (Vicky) was very knowledgeable & made the tour fun. Thank you!
Steph S.
Yelp
Stuart was so knowledgeable & was worth the day with him. I had been to LA multiple times before but this is the first time I had taken a tour – so thrilled to have this experience with my mom & sister. I would recommend this tour again & again.
Lucrezia Scamarcio
We had an amazing DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour with Damien & Dante… thank you very much from the Italian girls… very interesting & funny… absolutely recommended!
Passport17369220499
TripAdvisor
This tour was awesome! Stuart is very knowledgeable, likeable & fun. The stops on the tour were very interesting & I learned a lot. I’ve been on quite a few tours of this nature & this was one of my favorites – highly recommend!
Mel L
Did a walking tour of LA (LA in a Day). Vicky started us off with the Hollywood tour & Damien (who is also the owner) was our guide for the rest of the day. The entire day was awesome, I suggest this tour. There isn’t that much walking, to be honest. It’s very fun!
Michelle B.
Yelp
My boyfriend & I took the DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost tour with Stuart as our guide & had the most amazing time! We had experiences we will never forget! We were able to see parts & people of Los Angeles that we never would have without Stuart. I give this 10/10. If we visit again, this will be at the top of our to do list!
Sara Pozueta
Absolutely amazing! Highly recommend taking both The Real Hollywood Tour & the Central Downtown LA tour! Our time in LA wouldn’t have been the same. Great way to learn about the city, see it from a different angle, explore the local life & learn about its history & filming industry. Damien our guide was fantastic!
Gregory
Airbnb
Sylvie was our host & was fantastic. She had a lot of local knowledge & gave her unique perspective as someone who had moved to the area many years ago, so she had an outsider’s as well as an insider’s perspective. The tour gave us a great overview of Santa Monica & Venice & set us up for a great rest of the day.
Paula Lindgren
We took 2 tours, the Santa Monica & Venice Bike tour (with Sylvie) & the Real Hollywood tour (with Damien). Both were great & highly recommended. Sylvie & Damien were informative, knowledgeable & easy to talk to. They were like you were with friends. We were traveling as a family of 4 with 2 boys (15 & 12). We all enjoyed the tours.
Where to Drink in Los Angeles
Drinking in L.A. It’s a well-known song by Bran Van 3000. It’s catchy. But seriously – where to drink in Los Angeles? Of course everyone who lives here is likely to have their favorite neighborhood bar, perhaps a Los Feliz hipster hangout or maybe a divey Valley watering-hole, but what we’ve tried to do here is give you a brief list of the interesting/cool bars in the areas most often visited by tourists. As with all the information we give you we get no financial consideration for listing an establishment here. All the bars on this list are just places that we like and feel comfortable recommending.
Here’s a list of the best bars we know here, so you know exactly where to drink in Los Angeles when you find yourself in need of an alcoholic beverage during your visit.
Venice
We pass these fine establishments on our Santa Monica and Venice Bike Tour – unfortunately you’ll have to wait until after the tour to check them out though! In general Venice is nowhere near as alternative – or seedy – as it was even a few years ago, nevertheless it does still have a more laid-back and down-to-earth vibe than most other beachside communities (especially compared to Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica).
RECOMMENDATIONS
Beach + Brew
You saw it here: 40 self-serve beer and wine taps. Just a couple of blocks from the beach.
The Venice Whaler
Right on the beach. Enough said!
Baja Cantina
Right by the Venice Canals, a couple of blocks from the beach. Great beach hangout (with a Thai restaurant).
Santa Monica
Wondering where to drink in Los Angeles after our LA in a Day tour? Look no further than these cool bars. Santa Monica is a great place to hang out at any time of year. The busiest area is around Third Street Promenade, but if you prefer to hang out with the locals, instead of the many tourists who flock to the area, check out Main Street (to be found due south of the Promenade) which is full of independent bars and pubs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Shangri-La Hotel
You can’t do better than the art deco rooftop bar here, with its ocean views, anywhere in L.A.
Father’s Office
The most extensive beer list known to mankind. Enjoy reaching its outer limits.
Culver City
Cool area in between downtown and Santa Monica and very easily accessible on the Expo Line, so you don’t even have to worry about drinking and driving! Culver is also good because there are quite a few nice bars along the main drag on Washington Boulevard. It’s an established center for night-life so the area is always pretty vibrant, especially on weekends.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Backstage
Best dive bar in the world – according to their website. Definitely the darkest bar in the world.
The Culver Hotel
One of the nicest, most elegant, bars in L.A. Often have (good) live music.
Hollywood
Where to drink in Los Angeles? Obviously Hollywood is a magnet for visiting tourists, but it is also a place where Angelenos go in the evening, drawn by the lively bar scene just off the Walk of Fame.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Frolic Room
Dive bar from back in the day, right by the entrance to The Hollywood Pantages.
Yamashiro
Stylish, historic, establishment with incredible views of Hollywood.
Boardners
Historic restaurant in Hollywood. Skip dinner and just hit the bar.
Hollywood Roosevelt
Sit at the bar in the lobby here and drink in the history. If those walls could talk!
Mama Shelter Rooftop Bar
Great views over the city from this very cool hotel bar above Hollywood.
No Vacancy
Why not sip a cocktail in the oldest house in Hollywood (where Charlie Chaplin’s kids once went to school), which has now been turned into a Speakeasy bar?
If you want to visit the neighborhood and see a different side of it why not join our Hollywood Speakeasy Bar Tour (top video)? You’ll be able to drink in some very interesting bars and learn some LA and cocktail history.
DTLA
Downtown is definitely the best area in Los Angeles for bars. If you’re doing one of our downtown tours you absolutely should hang out in the area after for at least one drink. There are two things that make downtown extra special in terms of the drinking establishments there. Firstly because it has a lot of nice bars in historic buildings. Los Angeles bars often tend to gravitate towards either being high end uber bars or lower end dive bars, whereas downtown occupies a happy middle ground. Secondly, making use of many of the tall buildings, there are a lot of rooftop bars with amazing views of downtown and the surrounding area.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Grand Central Market
There are various establishments you can get a drink here. They’re all good.
The Varnish
At the back of Cole’s is this cool dive bar hiding behind an unmarked door.
Clifton’s
There are several bars in this fantastic and fantastical looking establishment. We can’t explain it. Just go!
Seven Grand
After you’ve eaten as Mas Malo downstairs head up to this cool pool table infused bar for some drinks. Even better check out the whisky bar behind an unmarked door on the way to the restrooms.
Golden Gopher (top photo)
The longest continually operating bar in Los Angeles. And one of the most fun.
The Little Easy
New Orleans French Quarter inspired bar in the heart of a historic hotel in the heart of downtown.
Perch
Rooftop bars. They’re quite the thing in L.A. and this is one of the best.
Beelman’s Pub
The closest thing L.A. has to the great British local pub. Which is absolutely perfect if you actually want to talk to the people you’re with in a nice bar.
The Rooftop at The Standard
Another rooftop bar. One of the first in downtown and still one of the best.
Le Petit Paris
Bars don’t come more beautiful than here, upstairs, at the back of this stunning restaurant in downtown. There’s no better place to sip a cognac in style.
If you have any feedback on our recommendations on where to drink in Los Angeles, or if you have some recommendations of your own, please email us and let us know. We’ll be sure to take it into account.
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