Touring L.A. : Whether Your Interest Is Shopping, Dining or Clubbing, Someone Can Lead You to the Hot Spots

The Los Angeles area has far more to offer tourists than movie studios and theme parks. Beaches, Beverly Hills, Melrose and the imbedded Cadillac at the Hard Rock Cafe are on almost every visitor’s must-see list. But the city is so vast it’s often difficult to figure out how to experience all it has to offer.

Perhaps the best way to see Southern California is to choose an interest and devise a tour around it. Several companies have already done that, offering packages and custom tours of shopping districts, restaurants, architectural wonders and area beaches.

But it’s not a bad idea to get an overall view of the city first. Gray Line’s Tour 28 is a daylong view of the city that includes Beverly Hills, Farmers Market, Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, Olvera Street and Chinatown. The company, based just outside of downtown, offers other tours, including Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm and the San Diego Zoo. Prices vary, but tours include pick-up and delivery to and from local hotels.

Touring the Stars’ Homes

And Gray Line also offers a tour of the movie stars’ homes. It’s a half-day tour for $23 per person, done in a van because tour buses are not allowed to cruise Beverly Hills.

Not all are luxury minibuses; the van for one tour had ripped-up carpeting and trash stuffed in the back of the padded seats. The first stop was the Hollywood Bowl, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic was rehearsing for that evening’s performance.

Next was a 30-minute stop at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, where the driver/tour guide mentioned a certain souvenir shop several times, and suggested checking out the hand and footprints at the theater.

From there, the tour headed to Beverly Hills via Sunset Boulevard, where the guide pointed out the Comedy Store, “where lots of famous comedians got their start, like Redd Foxx and Rodney Dangerfield.

“We’re not allowed to stop at the homes,” he continued, “but we can do a slow roll. But if you see somebody famous, let me know and we’ll stop.”

No one famous was spotted, although the guide offered some amazing bits of information about the city. For instance, everyone who lives there is an investor, director, producer, singer or movie star; there are no apartment buildings; the Beverly Hills Hotel is the most expensive hotel in the world, and there is nothing available at the Rodeo Collection for under $200.

The van drove by the last home of Paul Lynde, the last honeymoon cottage of Marilyn Monroe, and the current residences of Michael Caine, Lucille Ball, Bill Cosby, Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Stewart and Sidney Poitier.

Barbra Streisand’s home was shrouded by tall trees. “But she likes it that way,” the guide suggested. “She never must come outside.”

Despite these dubious tidbits, the tour seemed worthwhile to some.

“To drive around, you’d be all over the place,” said Bill Hartigan, a banker from New York City on his first trip to California.

“You don’t waste your time going places you don’t need to go,” added Mary Smyth, a computer specialist from New York. “The bus could be a little better, but (Gray Line) gives you a big selection of tours.”

Smyth said she took a tour on her last visit as well, and did have a close encounter with a star. “We saw Pat Boone jogging by the bus,” she said. “He was about as thrilled to see us as we were to see him.”

The following specialized tours are just some that the city has to offer. They range from a mere $5 for a walking architectural tour to hundreds of dollars for a guided limo tour to the city’s hot spots.

CUSTOM TOURS: Two L.A. companies arrange custom tours; one is L.A. Today Custom Tours, run by Elinor Oswald. Oswald, based in Pacific Palisades, specializes in tours for senior citizens, but will arrange anything for individuals or groups. Her tours include area museums, the Rose Parade, theater productions, Victorian homes, boat trips and walking tours of the old and the new downtown Los Angeles.

Fees are determined by the tour and whether lunch or dinner is included. The walking tours of downtown start at $10; (213) 454-5730.

Alexander & Associates/Dreams Come True, an L.A.-based live-your-fantasy company, offers eight tour packages for large and small groups and corporate accounts. But owner and “adventure planner” John Alexander will fine-tune any tour according to the customer’s preference.

“If they have a specific interest, be it French toast or rubies over 40 carats, then the tour is designed around that,” he said.

Packages include Los Angeles’ beach towns, the Westside, Orange County, the new Atlantis, the back roads to San Diego, L.A. by air and trendy L.A.

Trendy L.A. may begin by shopping for hip sunglasses on Melrose Avenue, for example, then continue to the downtown artists’ lofts, Beverly Hills’ designer boutiques, interior design showrooms, exercise salons and chic Westside hangouts such as 72 Market Street and Chinois on Main. Small groups are squired around in a ’59 Caddy convertible.

Tours are $75 an hour (regardless of the number of people) for a minimum of two hours (meals are extra and the L.A.-by-air tour is higher); (213) 661-1300.

NIGHT LIFE: L.A. NightHawks bills itself as a “VIP entertainment service” that arranges a night on the town for small or large groups. Two to six people are taken in a limo (and are treated to a bottle of French champagne) and larger parties ride in a tour bus.

Owner Charles Andrews says his previous career in the music business left him with myriad contacts at local clubs and night spots; he uses these contacts to make sure his clients don’t have to wait in line or arrive long before a performer takes the stage.

“One of our guides is there to accompany them,” he explained, “but it’s just to make sure all the arrangements are made. We don’t sit at the dinner table with them.”

Favorite hot spots include the downtown nightclub Stock Exchange, the Improv comedy club and the Vine Street Bar & Grill jazz club. Andrews is in the process of putting together packages such as a jazz evening, a dance evening, a comedy evening and a romantic evening. He recommends making arrangements at least a week in advance.

Fees range from a “rock-bottom” price of $99 per person (that’s 10 people in a super-stretch limo for dinner, champagne and two clubs) to a “typical” evening for one couple for $650, which includes the limo, dinner and a few hot spots; (213) 859-1171.

DINING: Eat your way across the Southland with Ultimate Dimensions in Dining, the Northridge-based dining-tour company. Founder Bill McColloch takes guests in a limo or a tour bus to three top restaurants--for appetizers, the entree and dessert.

“People tell me what they like to eat and what their budget is, and I’ll suggest where they go,” McColloch said. “They could have a French appetizer, an Italian entree and a continental dessert, and start in Pasadena, then go Downtown, and end up in Beverly Hills.”

McColloch takes care of all restaurant bills, transportation costs and tips, so guests pay those charges, plus McColloch’s fee, in one tab. Fees vary according to the restaurants, and trips normally last from four to five hours; (818) 349-1895.

SHOPPING: There’s more to shopping Los Angeles than cruising the gallerias. Let’s Go Shopping offers customized tours of discount houses, Rodeo Drive, Melrose Avenue, Montana Avenue, as well as malls. Shoppers are taken on guided tours in buses, minibuses or a limo.

Owner Luella Johnson said she likes to have at least two weeks notice to plan an expedition, “because things change so quickly. I like to scope out an area, especially if they’re looking for something specific or want to see a certain area.”

Johnson, who has lived in Los Angeles for four years, used to work in entertainment publicity in New York. Part of her job entailed taking celebrities shopping for stage outfits and other items. “It just occurred to me that this is something I could do for other people,” she said.

For a customized tour, Johnson charges $250 for the first four hours, and there’s an extra charge for a limo. But prices do vary, depending on the size of the group and the type of transportation; (213) 830-2933.

ARCHITECTURE: The Los Angeles Conservancy offers walking tours of downtown Los Angeles every Saturday, led by docents who offer history and anecdotes about the local architecture. Tours of Pershing Square and the theaters on Broadway are given every Saturday.

In addition, the Terra Cotta tour is on the first Saturday of the month; the Art Deco tour is on the second Saturday; Spring Street: Palaces of Finance is on the third Saturday, and Seventh Street: Mecca for Merchants is on the fourth Saturday of the month.

All tours begin at 10 a.m. and meet at the Biltmore Hotel (the 515 S. Olive St. entrance), and last two hours. Comfortable shoes are recommended. Reservations should be made the Monday before the tour and there is a $5 charge; (213) 623-CITY.