We took the tour with Josh. Before we were out of hollywood we had about 4 places we wanted to go eat before leaving LA, and a handful of places where we could enjoy drinks, music and 'see or be seen'.
Josh was really knowledgeable and had a great way of weaving the history of hollywood, from silent film and corrupt police to rapid growth and real estate opportunities... all with a sort of playful banter that left me wondering how anyone could talk so freely and effortlessly from topic to topic while managing to weave facts, humor and insights into what I could only describe as a "show". I don't know how he manages all that information but we left the tour feeling like we knew so much more about the city... like we got the insider knowledge that a couple from the midwest would never get!
I guess there's a lot of these tours but I noticed the open bus we were in was maybe a bit bigger/taller than the others? We had good views the whole way except coming down out of the hollywood hills - it was a bit cold so we tucked in Missouri style with our caps and scarves. Anyway, I felt like it was the right choice. The salesman Anthony was really pleasant and professional, the bus seemed like it was in good shape and I had a comfortable "aisle seat" where I could stretch my legs for what turned out to be a nearly 2 hour tour.
Highlights: Mike Tyson's mansion, Ringo Starrs hideaway, the cool 'factoids' and trivia about the various hollywood famous people - from founders like Edward Doheny and early actors like Buster Keaton to more current stars like my daughter's favorite singer Selena Gomez and one of my favorite actors, John Travolta.
I'm sure there are more traditional tours, but I felt like Open Bus really jazzed it up and gave us a super unique tour without failing to stop and include what you'd expect... like the Hollywood sign, the oldest Beverly Hills sign and some of the more recognizable film sites like Beverly Blvd with all those super tall palm trees.
Anthony was right though, we got all our vacation photos done between that and an afternoon wandering around Hollywood and got to spend the rest of our vacation cruising Pasadena and exploring the beach!
Go find these guys... they're right next to some bar/restaurant called Pig and Whistle. 5-star all the way! And if Josh reads this, thanks for all the advice on restaurants, I hope you get that date with Katy Perry some day! LOL.