Quirky City Bus Tours

Tours of the city, amusement parks, celebrity homes, and well-known landmarks are ubiquitous in L.A. But how about forays to crime scenes, the hangouts of cutting-edge literary figures, and the big, huge L.A.’s more “interesting” neighborhoods (or ‘hoods).

Unordinary and extraordinary tour company Esoteric offers “Bus Adventures into the secret heart of LA.” Led by smart and funny guides, tours are rolling “urban studies” educations with themes such as crime, fine art, film and literature, and architecture. Snack stops, also full of surprise, might consist of cookies and lemonade at a UFO sighting spot.

Upcoming tours:

• The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain’s Southern California Nightmare (May 30):  Explore the L.A. world of this former New Yorker who penned “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” “Double Indemnity,” and “Mildred Pierce.”

• Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South Los Angeles (June 7):  Head for untraditional L.A. neighborhoods that yield such treasures as Pueblo del Rio (1942), L.A.’s first African-American housing development); Gage Mansion (1808), L.A. County’s oldest adobe structure that sis in the middle of a trailer park; and the Downey Space Plant (1929-present), castor bean field turned North American Aerospace hub turned motion picture sound stage.

• Blood & Dumplings–Vroman’s Special Edition (June 13): Buzz around Monterey Park, Rosemead, Temple City, and other San Gabriel Valley areas on this fascinating criminal and gastronomical excursion.

Esotouric
Phone: (323) 223-2767
Most bus tours cost $58 per seat