Downtown Los Angeles: History and Architecture Tour

Discover the rich history and stunning architecture of downtown Los Angeles on this engaging and informative tour. Explore the Historic Core, Little Tokyo, the Civic Center, and Bunker Hill, and indulge in traditional Japanese sweets from a legendary confectioner. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to truly understand and appreciate the heart of LA!

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Angels Flight Railway - Start the tour by learning about the shortest train in the world! We will discuss Angels Flight and its connection to Bunker Hill. The tour will end by riding Angels Flight down to our meeting point.
  • Pershing Square - The architecture deep dive begins at Pershing Square. The historic core in DTLA is home to some of the…
What's Included
  • Complimentary snacks
Additional Information

If you want to truly understand LA, you need to visit downtown. This is where it all began! Over 3 hours, you’ll learn so much about LA and the downtown area. We’ll discuss history, architecture, food, city planning, shopping, art, and more! Guests frequently walk away from the tour amazed by how much they underestimated downtown LA.
This tour focuses on…

Location
341 S Hill St
South Hill Street
We meet at the BOTTOM of the Angels Flight trolley. This is right across from Grand Central Market. Your guide will be standing off to the side, near the stairs.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(47 Ratings)
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Anca2017
Dec 10, 2024
The best tour guide ever - Chris is by far the most knowledgeable guide we’ve ever encountered. His ability to recollect historical facts and dates is amazing. He’s a walking encyclopedia! Make sure to bring some cash with you because you’re going to want to give him a huge tip after his walking tour of LA.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marion_m
Nov 6, 2024
Wonderful tour- don’t miss it! - Chris was a wonderful, engaging and hugely informative guide. We learned so much and he has such a lot of knowledge and love for this area!
Review provided by Viator
Nicholas_d
Nov 1, 2024
Excellent tour of downtown and beyond - Chris was an excellent tour guide. We saw several locations in the downtown and surrounding areas from the civic center and Little Tokyo to Grand Central Market and The Last Bookstore. I was fascinated by Chris’ knowledge everywhere we went. Highlight for me was Angels Flight as it’s something I always wanted to check out. Highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Mika_n
Oct 31, 2024
Extremely knowledgeable... - Extremely knowledgeable of the area. We appreciated the historical stories and side streets that we were guided to and otherwise would not have known about. Chris is also a talented story-teller making the entire experience amazing. We're looking forward to booking with Chris on another tour in the future.
Review provided by Viator
Gjest-kristiansand
Oct 29, 2024
Highly recommended! - This was pure delight! Our guide Chris was extremely knowledgeable and a great storyteller. The 3 hour walk gave us enterraining insight in downtown LA’s culture, history and architecture.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kamila_p
Oct 3, 2024
Priceless - My husband and I really enjoyed the History and Architecture of Downtown walking tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, respectful, funny and kind. We learned so much! I definitely recommend this tour to everyone, especially for lovers of cities and architecture.
Review provided by Viator
William_a
Sep 23, 2024
Great Walking tour - Really informative tour. Our guide Chris was wonderful. Covered a ton of history and ground in 3 hours.
Review provided by Viator
542reitaf
Sep 19, 2024
Amazing way to learn about LA - This was the first tour we (husband and I) had on our California vacation. This was an amazing tour. The guide was extremely knowledgeable of Los Angeles history and architecture, and presented the information in a clear and engaging manner. We have taken many similar tours in other travel locations and the quality can vary. The guide carried a tablet that allowed him to show historical photos and other support materials of historic significance without fumbling with a binder as we have experienced on other tours. We walked at a pace that was reasonable for the participants. His breadth of knowledge was impressive and he shared many random details about the historical buildings. For buildings of significance we did not go into, like City Hall, he provided pictures and pertinent information about how to access for a closer view on our own later. He showed us many hidden gems within the downtown district that would not have been found on our own. While it is a great tour, there is a LOT of walking and may not be ideal for small children that get tired of walking easily. The tour was well-timed and ended perfectly at Grand Central Market where there were almost endless options for lunch.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anonymous
Aug 30, 2024
Great tour! - Chris has full of knowledge of LA and it was fun to walk around with his talk. History of the city and buildings light me up about LA Downtown. It was absolutely fun!
Review provided by Viator
877sz
Aug 29, 2024
This tour is worth doing, so book it! - Chris is a fantastic tour guide! He is knowledgeable, friendly, and gives you a great perspective on downtown LA's history and architecture. Thanks Chris for your expertise.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
January 2025
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