Los Angeles · SELF-GUIDED TOURS
22 tours in this guide
Good self-guided tours sell out in Los Angeles; great ones sell out first. Ranked below: the 15 best, with current prices and what makes each one different, so you can book before the calendar fills.
A breezy, open-top hop-on hop-off bus across Hollywood, Santa Monica, Downtown LA, and studios, with multilingual audio and live bus tracking.
“Love it, visited all major landmarks in 3/4 days. Fantastic experiences over my expectations, highly recommended.”
Hop-on hop-off buses in Los Angeles with 9-language audio, flexible stops, and routes for Hollywood, Downtown LA, and Santa Monica.
“The pick up location in downtown Los Angeles is non existent. I had to get an Uber ride to Hollywood.”
Self-guided Hollywood celebrity home drive with offline maps and location-triggered audio, plus a finish at the Hollywood Sign.
“Malísimo. No le doy cero estrellas porque la página no lo permite. Muy mala experiencia, el 70 % de las indicaciones de la app son para indicarte si hay vuelta a la derecha o la izquierda y en las pocas en las que te avisa que hay una casa de un famoso, lo hace fuera de tiempo y confundiendo izquierda con derecha. Los 14 dólares pero gastados de mi vida.”
Self-guided offline audio tour of Avalon on Catalina Island. Start at Crescent Ave, last about 50 minutes, and costs $5.24.
“This was a great way to learn about the island, while taking a leisurely stroll! There was lots of interesting and entertaining information. We felt like we got to see and learn about the highlights of Catalina, while exploring at our own pace. Fantastic!”
Avalon Catalina Island golf car loop with an app guide, audio stops, and flexible pacing, plus optional time at key viewpoints and beaches.
“Never drove a golf cart befoe. Great fun, its actually really easy to learn. Comes with an app tour which was easy”
A budget-friendly smartphone audio drive along Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to Santa Maria, with GPS-triggered trivia and offline narration.
“Great narrative. We learned interesting facts about the area. Of course, nothing compares to the natural beauty of the coast.”
Walk Culver City with VoiceMap audio, from the Culver Hotel to the MGM/Sony gate. Offline access, film stories, easy self-guided route.
“This is a fun way to learn about insider stories of Culver City. It is an inexpensive self guided 75 minute walking tour for about $5. I think it can be shared among 3 people. It is a little glitchy on verbal map directions but I can see my location on the map and knew where stops were located and hit play button”
A self-guided haunted puzzle walk through Hollywood landmarks on your phone, playable offline, with flexible start times and no guide.
“I was nice doing a night visit for a change, and this tour provided the perfect support for it. Very pleasant experience!”
Walk Venice Beach at your pace with a smartphone app tour covering the Venice Sign, boardwalk, Muscle Beach, canals, and Abbot Kinney.
“Jeff is a great storyteller! His narration of Venice is amazing! He ties in stories, history and music! Will definitely do again!”
A self-guided Downtown Los Angeles audio walk with offline maps, landmark stories, and a smooth finish at Grand Central Market for $14.99.
“How confusing the maps and the guidance were. Writing tips we got lost several times and the guidance had gaps in it that we couldn't fill. There was one point where we had to choose between two sidewalks one that went up and one that went down – we chose the wrong one”
Self-guided LA to San Diego coastal drive with in-app stories, facts, quizzes, and no signal needed after downloading.
“Take a bit more time next time I would do this over a couple of days. The narration was very informative and fun.”
Self-guided West Coast route with GPS, audio in 6 languages, and pre-built stops from L.A. to Santa Monica, plus park drives and walks.
“La utilize para la ruta de San Francisco. Y sinceramente nos ayudó en todo momento. Ruta auto guiada perfecta y con detalles. La agencia como tal, excelente servicio.”
Self-guided smartphone ghost tour on Hollywood Blvd with live GPS and trivia at 16 stops for $9.99.
“Great Podcast, lots of history about downtown LA. If you love ghost stories this ones for you. Best part of the tour is that you get to do it at your own pace. I love group tours, but sometimes I want to check out the buildings and do some exploring on my own and that’s what you get with this one. You can pause and start up at anytime, and I love that. I was able to stop on the strip and have a slice of pizza and a drink then started back up again. This was a great way to get in a good chill walk and enjoy the…”
Self-guided Los Angeles walk with app maps and free stop ideas from Hollywood to Venice. Optional museum fees extra.
“Ticket did not work, unable to reach anyone for assistance. I purchased 3 extra tickets hoping the code would work but each time I was given an expired code error message. I emailed the help team 3x and still no response 24hrs+ later”
Drive coastal Orange County at your own pace on a self-guided GPS audio route from Anaheim to Mission San Juan Capistrano.
“The tour was highly detailed, however it took about 4-5 hours to complete. The 2.5 hours was greatly understated. Also, would be great if the mapping function connects to Carplay.”
Plan by place and experience
