LA: TMZ Celebrity Tour & Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off Tour

Impossible to hop on and off when using both red and blue loops

1.0

(tripadvisor)

2025-04-18

We recently paid 180$ for two 2-day “Essential” Big Bus Tour tickets to visit LA. Having previously been on BB tours in other big cities (Dublin, Boston, London) we were confident about BB quality and didn’t shop around. Saying we were disappointed is quite the understatement. The only star we’re giving goes to the staff: everyone was very nice. But that’s about it for pros. Here goes for the negatives: 1) LA is obviously a VERY large city. BBT offers two main routes that connect (blue in the beaches area and red in the Hollywood area). It takes at least one hour to go from the blue to the red area. And the timetable that BBT offers is very very tight: the earliest pickup time in the beaches area is 11AM and the latest bus to return to that area is at 3:45 from one specific point. Factoring in the time it takes for a complete tour in the Hollywood area (at least 2 hours) and that you may want to hop off at least once for lunch or something, this makes it absolutely impossible to hop “on and off” as is advertised. You are stressed with the schedule and any missed bus is fatal because the next one will be there in at least 45 minutes. 2) there is absolutely no sign indicating the bus stops. You have to look at a photo of the spot on your smartphone app to make sure you’re at the right place. 3) there were many spots indicated on the recorded comment along the route that I couldn’t locate 4) the “Essential Tour” included a guided tour of celebrity homes. It was nice but we were in an open top Sprinter van and there were no headsets for that tour so with the wind and traffic noise, I couldn’t hear large portions of the comments 5) also included in the tour fee was a guided tour of the Chinese Theater, supposedly between 9AM and 7PM. When we got there at 4PM on day 2, we were told there was no more tours available that day for BBT tickets owners. So that was that.
So think about what you’re looking for in a tour before booking this one and if you need to connect between red and blue lines, you should know that you won’t be able to hop on and off as you would expect to.

Wonderful experience!

5.0

(viator)

2025-03-26

This was so exciting and a wonderful tour. We saw all the hot spots where celebrities hang out. It was an amazing experience.

Fun time!

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2025-03-17

Great fun. Lots of info. Rodney clearly loves his job! Would recommend for anyone visiting Las Angelas. Check it out!!!

Fantastic Tour with Rodney on Big Bus Los Angeles

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-12-28

Rodney was an amazing guide! His energy, knowledge, and passion for Los Angeles made the tour unforgettable. He shared fascinating stories, fun trivia, and gave great tips for exploring the city. Rodney’s enthusiasm brought the landmarks to life, and his friendly approach made everyone feel welcome. Highly recommend taking a tour with him—he’s the best!

Amazing Tour

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-10-19

Our tour guide was a comedian, she was funny, and kind. Very detailed at her job. Had her camera and was ready to spring into action.

Awasome

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-09-13

Amazing tour with a wonderful conductor, Rudbey explain very well, I really like the tour and my family too cause the conductor was really friendly and really nice to us

Buyer Beware - Not accommodating for last minute change requests no matter what the circumstance.

2.0

(viator)

2024-08-31

We booked a tour but one of our party members was ill and so we contacted the operator to find out if we could move our reservation to the next day. We had checked ahead to see if there was availability before asking and there was so we didn't feel like it should be an issue since we already paid in advance. They said we could not change the date, no exceptions. I don't think that this is the way one should conduct business but I'm only a consumer, so what would I know. Regardless, I probably will be very weary using viator in advance and it won't be my first option for certain.

Entertaining tour! Very knowledgeable & friendly tour guide!

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-08-24

What a fun tour this was! So much celebrity info packed into our two hour tour! Our TMZ tour guide was so knowledgeable about all the celeb gossip and hot spots on the strip! My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our time on the bus! And we even won a TMZ T-shirt!! Thx!!

TMZ Celebrity Tour

1.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-07-16

The tour guide Serenity appeared visibly bored and tired throughout yawing loudly into the microphone. Also from a tour content perspective I found the Paris Hilton tape story really dated and not in keeping with the current environment. The footage showing a very young woman visibly upset about a private tape being sold in a store was very disturbing and by no means represents entertainment. This content has not aged well.

God bless Mr Rodney

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-07-13

Mr Rodney was very good guide very happy man I enjoyed so much with him his presentation was good and very meaningful I enjoyed

Fun time

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-07-12

Ian at check in was great...hyped up the group and got us ready for fun. Tour guide was great but I would have liked to see more sites probably wouldn't do it again

Amazing mansion tour and an amazing tour guide

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-07-05

Rodney our driver was amazing funny and extremely entertaining give him a pay rise!!!! Definitely worth it the houses/mansion we saw where spectacular. Highly recommended

Terrible

1.0

(viator)

2024-06-19

TMZ tour was boring and hard to hear. Explanations of things were given as we passed them, didnt generally know which direction the tour guide was talking about. She only spoke loud enough for the first several rows. No celebs and tidbits were EXACTLY the same as the hop on hop off except you could hear thru the microphones

Rude staff - Do not use this company !!

1.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-06-08

We bought the ticket via the companies app and that gives the option to install into the Apple wallet.

On boarding the blue bus in Santa Monica, the driver Shaun tried to scan the ticket in the wallet which didn't work. He then went on to insist we must have a ticket ready as he has a schedule to keep. When we told him that it's his companies system that doesn't work he didn't care. He was rude and just repeated that he just drives the bus.

On another stop, a lady was asking if this was the correct stop for somewhere they wanted to see. As this took extra time, the driver was getting more and more inpatient.

We've used many hop on buses in different cities, this one doesn't work for two reasons.

TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!

5.0

(viator)

2024-06-06

Meeting new people and finally getting to ride the TMZ BUS, been a fan of TMZ for years!!!
Had fun but haven't seen any big celebs!!

Amazing, great driver and experience

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-05-25

Rodney is an awesome tour guide driver. Took his time and really explain everything. He’s very well knowledgeable and knows his stuff.

Rodney was the best

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-05-25

Rodney didn’t rush us on our tour showed us a lot of celebrities houses and explained everything well and was also a good driver and safe driver I’ll definitely be coming back

Celebrity tour with Rodney

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-04-27

We took the Celebrity tour in LA on Monday 22nd April, our driver and host Rodney was really helpful and informative. It was a lovely trip, thanks so much Rodney, 1st class service. 😀😀

It was like talking to tracy morgan

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-04-08

Ya’ll better give rodney a damn raise. He was amazing. He was hilarious and taught us a lot about the celebs and their homes and other stories. I could also listen to him talk for hours and he has an iconic personality. He seems to really love his job and meeting new people. Great tour guide but also a super cool dude and hope I get to see him again someday. Take care rodney brother I’ll send ya a fish when I gets back home!

It was awesome!….

5.0

(tripadvisor)

2024-04-01

Rodney was excellent and he did a good job with answering questions and showing house he was very careful with driving….

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LA: TMZ Celebrity Tour & Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off Tour

What You Will Do

What's Included?

What's Not Included?

Cancellation Policy

Itinerary

Meeting Point

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 1 Big Bus Tours Los Angeles

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 2

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 3 7425 Sunset Blvd

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 4 8433 Sunset Blvd

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 5 1019 N San Vicente Blvd

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 6 9385 Santa Monica Blvd

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 7

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 8 675 S Curson Ave

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 9 110 S Fairfax Ave

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 10 7280 Melrose Ave

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 11 5353 Melrose Ave

Route Hollywood Loop - Stop 12

Route Beach Shuttle - Stop 1 9385 Santa Monica Blvd

Route Beach Shuttle - Stop 2 1540 2nd St

Route Beach Shuttle - Stop 3 Barnard Way Linear Park

Route Beach Shuttle - Stop 4

Route Beach Shuttle - Stop 5

Additional Information

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