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!
Rodeo Drive & Beverly Hills Tour
Price
Free/Zilch/Nada
Just like the best things in life
Walking
2 miles
An easy walking distance
Time
Do it when it suits you
Take as long as you like
Start this self-guided Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour at the storied Beverly Wilshire Hotel and stroll past the designer boutiques of the famous shopping district, then check out some high culture, before ending the tour at another famous hotel, the Beverly Hilton. You can of course do this as a driving tour, but why bother? Park the car and go on foot – it's better. You'll see more and you can go into places.
BEVERLY WILSHIRE HOTEL
Where better to start your Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour than the “Regent Beverly Wilshire” (as it was known then) from Pretty Woman. In addition to that movie it’s appeared in countless other films and way too many famous people have stayed to list them all, but Elvis Presley, Warren Beatty and John Lennon have all spent extended periods of time living here. If you’re looking for the Beverly Hills experience this is it. It’s also at the bottom of Rodeo Drive, so it’s a great place to start the tour. Take a moment to sit in the café off the lobby and watch the world go by as you sip your drink. It's expensive, but so what? You’re in Beverly Hills baby!
RODEO DRIVE & ANDERTON COURT SHOPS
Now walk straight up Rodeo Drive. These days it's seen as the premiere high-end shopping district, but it wasn’t always. Until the 1970’s it contained the usual stores you’d find on any Main Street back in those days. It was only then that the Rodeo Drive Committee decided to create a Mecca for the “culturally elite lifestyle.” As you window-shop you’ll pass the Anderton Court Shops (on the right). They opened in 1952 and are the last buildings designed by celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright to be built in Los Angeles. By no means considered his most important buildings, they nevertheless bring an interesting aesthetic quality to the area, even though much of the original design has been changed. If you’ve come here hoping to spot movie stars swanning around designer boutiques with decaf soy lattes you’re probably going to be disappointed – they don’t shop here. If seeing someone famous is high on your list of things to do in Los Angeles then check our guide to guarantee seeing a ‘celebrity’.
NATE N' AL'S DELI
Just a block from Rodeo Drive, is this old-school Jewish Deli. Still sitting like Marley’s Ghost on N Beverly Drive, there are moves afoot to sell this Beverly Hills landmark – so pause your Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour for a moment here and get a(nother) coffee quick. In spite of its location the menu is very reasonable and many of the waitresses have been working here since Nate N’ Al’s opened in 1945 (or at least it seems very possible that they have), bringing a lot of character to this fine establishment. Funnily enough this is one of the best places in Beverly Hills to actually spot a celebrity.
PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA
Culture may not have been something you were looking to get from your trip to Beverly Hills, but there is culture to be consumed here too – in this case popular culture. The Paley Center has a great program of events, including panels with the casts of popular TV shoes (see top photo), such as Dear White People and Homicide: Life on the Streets, and exhibitions. Check the program before your visit, so you can make the most of it.
BEVERLY HILLS CITY HALL
Next stop on your Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour is this iconic Beverly Hills landmark. Beverly Hills City Hall was the location of the Police Department in Beverly Hills Cop and it’s appeared in many other movies, as you’d expect. Opened in 1932, the Los Angeles Times described it as the “largest and most expensive City Hall of any municipality its size in the country.” Well, it is Beverly Hills! The design is Churrigeresque (or Spanish Revival), which was all the rage back then and it’s a beautiful building.
WALLIS ANNENBERG FOUNDATION
This building was once the Beverly Hills Post Office (opening in 1934), but it was deemed surplus to requirements in 1993 and in 2013 reopened as a performing arts venue. They have some important productions, with heavyweight actors (such as Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville in Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill in June 2018) as well as dance and other events. Check it out!
BEVERLY GARDENS PARK
This is a beautiful spot to take a breather on your Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour and take everything in – right in the heart of Beverly Hills. The gardens stretch for 22 blocks (nearly 2 miles) along Santa Monica Boulevard and you can walk through the park all the way to the Beverly Hilton (the next stop on the tour). Also the Beverly Hills sign here could almost have been made for Instagram – it’s going to go viral!
THE BEVERLY HILTON
Finish your Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour at another hotel, the famous Beverly Hilton. The hotel opened in 1955 and has hosted the annual Golden Globes (the ever so slightly less glamorous sister of the Academy Awards) every year since 1961. Tragedy struck here in 2014, when Whitney Houston was found dead in the bath in her suite, but on a brighter note several stars have been discovered lounging around the pool. Although the Beverly Hills Hotel pool is better known for launching stars’ careers (Raquel Welch is probably the most famous star discovery there), that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a shot. So throw on the Speedos, or bikini, and dive in. You’re in Beverly Hills, home of the stars!
For more information about the area read our article Beverly Hills and the Stars Houses tour.
If you're thinking about hiking to the Hollywood Sign read this article, which will tell you the history of the icon and give you the best options for how to hike there.
Planning on visiting Venice LA? Then read this article.
We hope you enjoyed this free Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills tour. For more information on things to do in Los Angeles and how to navigate the city take a look at L.A. Info, and check in with us on social media to see what else we're doing.
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