Legends of Hollywood Tours

What They Are and Where They Operate

Legends of Hollywood Tours is a family-owned tour company established in 2010, based in Los Angeles and specializing in sightseeing tours of the city, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. The company runs its own tours with its own guides; the homepage introduces Mark Morrow as owner and tour director, a former guide for what the site calls the largest tour company in Los Angeles before he started his own. Its one public tour, the City Tour of Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills, sets off from Downtown Los Angeles, with pickups from LAX, the cruise ports in San Pedro and Long Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Downtown. All guests join the same tour regardless of their starting point, which is what makes it usable as a shore excursion or a layover tour.

What the Tours Offer

The company's signature is live narration paired with a multimedia presentation. Guests ride in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter fitted with a 43-inch flat-screen display, which plays film clips shot at the locations outside the window, theme songs from movies and television, historic photographs, archival footage and sound effects. The about page describes this as transforming a traditional sightseeing tour into a fully immersive Hollywood history experience.

The City Tour runs daily, departing Downtown Los Angeles at 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM, and the sightseeing portion lasts approximately 4 hours, not counting transfer time from the pickup point. The homepage lists the route: Downtown Los Angeles, the Victorian homes of Angelino Heights, Hollywood Boulevard with a 30-minute stop, the Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Hills Sign with a 15-minute stop, celebrity homes, and a 10 to 15 minute photo stop with the Hollywood Sign. The morning tour also has a 1-hour stop at The Original Farmers Market. Included are the Sprinter ride, bottled water, photo stops, luggage storage and the option of being dropped at LAX. The about page adds complimentary professional digital photos, with the tour director taking personal shots at the Hollywood Sign and Beverly Hills Sign.

Prices on the homepage vary by pickup point: $69 to $89 from the Farmers Market, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Downtown, $99 to $129 from Santa Monica and LAX, and $159 from the cruise ports. The Private Tour of Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills is listed at $790 for 4 to 5 hours for up to 13 people. A step-on guide service and Sprinter rental with a driver are priced on request.

Pickups and How the Day Works

Pickup times depend on location. On the pick-up page, the morning tour collects guests in Santa Monica, at LAX and at the cruise ports between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM, and in Hollywood and Beverly Hills between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM; the afternoon equivalents are 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM. The homepage says the exact pickup time is confirmed no later than 24 hours before the tour.

Guests who drive can use The Original Farmers Market at 6333 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036, meeting in front of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf 15 minutes before the 8:30 AM or 1:30 PM departure. The page suggests the Fairfax lots at $40 all day with validation or the Grove parking structure at a maximum of $30 all day. Complimentary hotel pickups are listed hotel by hotel for Downtown (general point at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live), Beverly Hills (the Sofitel) and Hollywood (LA LA Land on Hollywood Blvd), and guests at a hotel not on the list are asked to call. For the LAX area and Santa Monica the page lists hotels where it can send an Uber service to guests, and marks pickup there as complimentary on the private tour.

The Hollywood Tours page says standard group tours take no more than 13 guests. Its practical list asks guests to bring a charged camera or phone, comfortable clothing and shoes, and sunscreen and sunglasses. Private tours are pitched at couples, families with young children and corporate groups. The site does not state which languages the narration is given in, a minimum age, or whether the vehicle is wheelchair accessible.

Booking, Payments, and Cancellation

Booking runs through the site's "Book Tour Now" buttons, where guests pick the tour variant by pickup location, or through a contact form asking for dates and number of guests. The homepage states "Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)." The site does not say whether any refund applies to a cancellation inside that 24-hour window, and it does not mention deposits.

The Hollywood Tours page lists online reservations, last-minute availability and gift certificates among its booking options, and says customer service is available seven days a week. The company can be reached by phone at +1(323) 928-2024, by text or WhatsApp at +1 (323) 919-0099, or by email. The pick-up page lists office hours of 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM every day.

Recognition, Gaps and Who It Suits

The homepage lists a 2020 Travelers' Choice award and a Hall of Fame entry from TripAdvisor for Certificates of Excellence from 2013 to 2019, a 2019 "People Love Us on Yelp" award, 2017 Travel Awards by Viator, a 2010 Success Story from SBDC Santa Monica, and a Tripadvisor Travelers' Awards 2024 certificate. The site links to reviews on Yelp, Facebook, Google and GetYourGuide.

A few things stay open. The price ranges from each pickup point are shown as ranges, and the site does not explain what moves a ticket from the low end to the high end. The Hollywood Tours page also describes celebrity homes tours reaching Bel-Air, Holmby Hills and Malibu, and full-day private tours in luxury SUVs, but the only priced private option is the 4 to 5 hour Sprinter tour. The homepage refers to a 42-inch onboard TV while the about page says 43-inch, a minor inconsistency.

The tour suits first-time visitors who want Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Downtown in one half day with a movie-history angle, and it works well for cruise passengers and layover travelers because of the port and LAX pickups and luggage storage. Travelers who want to walk and linger at length in one neighborhood will find the stops short, and those who need a guided tour in a language other than English should ask first, since the site does not address it.