Pasadena Heritage lecture "Tribute to Julia Morgan, Architect", was held January 21, 2012 in honor…read moreof Julie Morgan's 140th birthday, the 35th anniversary of the founding of PH and to raise awareness for the possible preservation, renovation and restoration of JM's YWCA (1921) located at Marengo and Holly in Pasadena which has been listed on PH's most endangered list for many years. This was a very informative, well attended presentation on the City's historic civic center plan, JM's bio and body of work, architecture and construction of the YWCA as well as the past and present function of the structure and possibilities for reuse. The second part of this program may be scheduled in the Fall of 2012. Julia Morgan, California's first licensed woman architect, is known for her work at Hearst Castle, in addition to her work in SF, Oakland, No. California and for the design and construction of YWCA buildings throughout California, Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii including 14 structures at the Asilomar Conference Grounds (originally YWCA) in Pacific Grove. Bernard Maybeck was her mentor.

For the past 16 years, Pasadena Heritage has been hosting the annual Craftsman weekend, which…read moreaccording to their website is "the largest and most comprehensive celebration in the Western United States." Throughout this weekend, you can take both bus and/or walking tours of historic neighborhoods, but the highlight of the weekend is the Craftsman House Tour where you get to visit six distinctive period homes, Not only do you get to see the interiors of these beautiful homes, you'll also have trained docents inside who will give you historical facts and architectural info about the home itself. So if you have a love of the American Arts & Craftsman movement, than why not take advantage of being local to a part of the country where you can see beautiful examples of this distinct architectural and design style. I certainly did last year and with Annual Craftsman Weekend coming around again in October, you can too. To see the pics I took while on the 2006 Craftsman House Tour, check out the link below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594566541113/

Chris happened to be someone we already had used for a wonderful tour on the sunset strip last…read moreyear. So right away, my wife and I were excited to see him again because he's just awesome. A wonderful experience for her birthday. Wandering the streets of downtown and hearing some fun and gruesome tales.

We had a great day with our guide, Paul! Very informative filled with a chock full of interesting…read morefacts! We are native Los Angeles peeps and never rode Angel's Flight. Paul treated us to a ride which made it special! I definitely recommend this tour company!

I debated with myself whether to give two or three stars and decided to be generous…read more The experience didn't start out too great. When we made reservations for a certain date, Mr LA surprisingly didn't even take down a name. When we arrived at the appointed place and time, Mr LA wasn't there. We called him and he said he'd be there within 15 minutes. Well, he approximately arrived after that time. We took Mr. LA's Culver City Food tour. For a food tour, I'd expect at least three tastings, hopefully more, but we got only one. We walked by many restaurants and he had something to say about several, but we never went in for a little snack. I got hungrier and hungrier hearing about the diversity, food and otherwise, in Culver City. Near the end of the tour, he finally took us into one place and bought so much of one thing that we couldn't even finish. He could have easily made us much happier by getting only one serving to share at this and two other places, maybe not even with the added chai tea. He wouldn't have spent any more money, but would have made us much happier. Other than the food, he started with some interesting facts, but towards the end, his knowledge kind of fizzled out. At one point, he told us one thing, but the sign next to the place said something different. I assume that whenever he mentioned years or dates, they were only approximate. He was a nice guy and I still learned a bit about Culver City, so I wasn't too disappointed, but I wouldn't take another one of his tours. Especially not for regular price; we had a Groupon. I should also mention that the tour only lasted about two hours, when it was advertised as a three hour tour.

I've been on a couple of MrLA Tours. Tom (the owner of MrLA Tours) is a walking encyclopedia of…read moreLos Angeles. It is astounding how much he knows, and his presentation is interesting and entertaining all at the same time. If you want to take a great walking tour in Los Angeles then you must do a MrLA Tour. I highly recommend it.

Very cool in every way even for locals and natives of L.A…read more The tours for Destination DTLA are no longer available, but a lot of similar groups have taken it upon themselves to emulate and offer great experiences. We stumbled into two and enjoy our day, but also made our own tour based on DDTLAT. Lot of amazing architecture, art, history, and fun/ From the Spring Arcade to Saint Vincent Court, views from the Westin, eats at Garo's, a stroll near Angel's Flight and loaded more. Your LA Tours seems to have taken over - but they also do tours throughout greater Los Angeles https://www.yourlatours.com/ Parking is easy with several paid lots throughout. If staying at a hotel or closeby you can't go wrong with getting some extra steps in to the start of the tours.

What a fabulous walking tour! I was doing a good friend a favor by taking his friend, who came to…read morevisit from New York, to walk around LA since my friend was working all day. I thought it would be a cool idea to do a walking tour in downtown since it has so much history and great restaurants. We met at the Arcade in the Spring Arcade Building. The tour was about two hours with a mini break at the grand central market. Our tour guide did such a great job at telling the history, of the beautiful buildings and streets around the downtown of LA. This tour was Totally worth it. Thank you Carmen for helping us set up our tour!

I'm totally into anything paranormal. Ghost, aliens, Bigfoot, La Llorona.....I like! Don't get me…read morewrong I will sleep with my night light on. After watching stuff on TV I decided to Google, not expecting to find a group in my backyard! (practically) So I jumped at the chance to go on a local History & Haunt Tour with them. We walked around the Mission museum (behind the Playhouse), HS, church, cemetery and ending at the doors of the Playhouse. As we were walking up to the doors of the Playhouse their was a strong floral scent. As the organizers thanked everyone for attending they walked towards the sidewalk. My daughter, Michelle (organizer), and myself stayed behind. I love old buildings so I asked my daughter to take a few pictures. As we walked away we heard the Playhouse doors open and slam shut!! Now these doors are huge. So you can imagine how loud that was. Before the tour ended Michelle had pulled on the doors and they were locked. We stood still for a second, turned around expecting/wishing someone to be standing there. The 3 of us ran up to the doors, we tried pulling on the doors again and they were locked and now the inside lights were on. My daughter and I stared at each other and then at Michelle. It was the weirdest feeling. We eventually caught up with everyone else and told them what they missed. We've also attended their Scary Movie Night at Savannah Cemetery. That was cool. We also made it to Paranormal Night II which I convinced my husband to attend. We're planning on going to the meet-up at Devils Gate Dam. I listened to Michelle's GB session on Facebook, can't wait! On the car ride home from their events I always tell my daughter...."we found our people"! So believers and non-believers attend one of their local events. You may never know what you'll see/hear/experience.

From the owner: Ghost Tour Dates: Sept 28, October 5, October 12, October 19, and October 26…read more This tour is centered around the Historic Mission San Gabriel Ditrict. This is a two hour tour that is designed to amaze you. Fisrt, you will see actual photos of ghosts on a big screen. This presentation takes place in one of the historic buildings that is actually haunted. After this you will walk through the Historic Ditrict to the most haunted buildings where some of the ghosts still reside. Most guests capture orbs, mists and other unexplained phenomena! Keep that camera handy! Book early. We only take about 20 guests at a time. San Gabriel Ghost Seekers Private tours upon request.

This review is for the January 2026 Thailand tour…read more What an amazing trip, as we are still talking about it. Supera did an excellent job in showing us the highlights of this beautiful country. We were spoiled and treated like VIPs throughout. Highlights include: Temples - so many Buddhist temples, beautiful and unique. Elephant sanctuary - A highlight! Up close and personal with these majestic creatures. We walked with them, made and fed them medicinal treats. Tuk Tuk tour - a VIP tour of the streets of Chang Mai. So fun and enjoyable. Hotels resorts - beautiful, elegant and top service including massages and buffet breakfasts. Food - Supera goes out of their way to handpick local specialties that most tourists don't know about. The food was unique and delicious. A real treat. Transportation - buses, longboats, flights - all handled for us, including all luggage transfers. Our tour guide Betty Tsai. What a pro! She's the perfect mix of organization and keeping it fun. Her attention to detail kept us moving smoothly through the trip. She even managed to work with the Mandarin Oriental to get me a personal item I accidentally left at the hotel after checkout. Ms A - so cute, with excellent knowledge of Thai culture and history. This was our third Supera tour, and it won't be our last!

My wife and I have been very happy travelers with Supera/Signet tours in the past. But they…read moredemonstrated awesome above-and-beyond customer service for our latest trip to Hokkaido. A family emergency necessitated my cutting my trip short and return to the U. S., and as soon as the tour staff learned of my predicament, they reached out to me and had the return flight arranged for me within 2 hours. I cannot describe how valuable it is not having to find my own flights during that stressful period. They made sure I was taken care of from the hotel taxi all the way to the airport drop off. Many thanks to Roy, Junko, and Eriko for their 5-star customer service! We will be back!

We booked a tour with Urban Adventures which was awesome! We had a really good time with our tour…read moreguide Jennie. We are all from southern Ca but decided it would be fun to play in our own back yard and it was the best! We leaned things about LA that we did not know! We got to ride the metro the bus and we were gonna ride a bike but we just ran out of time because we took so many pictures and stayed at the farmers market longer than we should have but that was ok because we were really enjoying ourselves. We also went to the LaBrea Tar Pits which was nice because I had never been there! All in All A very good time was held by everyone. We will definitely be signing up for more tours and hopefully Jennie will be out tour guide.

Born and raised in LA I thought I have seen it all. My family and I decided to do this little…read moreadventure to see our city from a different perspective. Well I'm so glad we did. So many things I have never noticed before. Things that I passed by hundreds of times and never paid attention to. Jenny was our tour guide and I could have not asked for a Better guide. I have gone on these types of tours in different cities and always felt very rushed. Jenny was awesome about time she didn't push us to make every location at a specific time. We did the entire tour except for the bike portion and our group was okay with not going that. So we ended up grabbing some dinner and drinks! I will be booking the different tours in the future!

Review for " A Journey Through Time in Film Tour" in Downtown Los Angeles…read more You don't have to be a movie buff or an out-of-town visitor (I'm not a film person and I've lived in Downtown LA for 10+ years) to enjoy this fun tour through numerous historical landmarks in Downtown Los Angeles. Our tour guide, Jared, was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the landmarks and neighborhood, and the current states of the spaces that we visited. The tour was very engaging and I loved the use of personal headsets and the big tablet he wore to show us clips of the films while we were standing right at the spot where the scene(s) were shot. Fun!

We did the Los Angeles Hollywood Movie Experience where our guide pointed out areas where films…read moreactually made and had the movie clips to help you see. Beyond that though learned so much more...lived in CA my whole life and learned many fascinating things in just 90 minutes. It was an easy walk, not difficult at all. Appreciated too that we had audio devices to hear the tour without guide having to scream. What a fun day in LA!

Had a fantastic Nature herb walk with William this morning in Griffith Park…read more I'm just beginning to learn about natural Medicinal herbs. William was SO informative about everything he was talking about. I had such a fun time!! We even got serenaded by a group of coyotes, wandering in the hills. I would recommend this to anyone ! ! ! !

From the owner: Learn about local medicinal and edible plants on wonderful botanic adventures and talks read more

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience here at Rubel Castle. Our host, guide,…read moreand local "Rubelligent" volunteer, Ms. Kathleen had all the intel about this historical property. She was so knowledgeable and helped set the stage for us to slip into a forgotten era and get a glimpse of how imagination met inventiveness with a DIY charm. ~ A LITTLE BACKSTORY FOR YOU ~ It's not pronounced Rubel as Barney from Flintstones. Rather, it's like Target is to Targét when we are trying to be fancy. So that's Rubel as in "Roo-bell." Unlike modern-day construction, Rubel Castle wasn't built overnight. It was made of collected recyclables and construction rubble that spanned many decades and took several friends and volunteers to build it. For Michael, however, the lifetime inspiration was first sparked at the age of 9. His love for canons was where it started and the rest is history you can hear about on the tour. But don't just show up like we did randomly one day. To book, visit RubelTours.org and make a reservation. ~ OUR TOUR EXPERIENCE ~ It's as if Michael Rubel, the creator and mastermind of this enchanted dominion had intended it to be--magical. Built in the castle period of wood and tin, every corner captured our interests, from antique cars to the 1890's Seth Thomas Tower Clock with a unique backstory (and only six in existence today). There were old vending machines, tools, trinkets, and machinery that time had long forgotten. Did I mention there was a drawbridge? Yes, and a dungeon too. I was just waiting for a dragon to come swoop down on us next. Walk in the footsteps of famous visitors like Alfred Hitchcock, Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope. It's a feast for the eyes no matter where you glance. I particularly enjoyed the bottle house that Michael built in 1968 as his "home" as a kid. That independent spirit was quite charming to see. ~ WATERCOLOR NATURESCAPE ~ We were fortunate to have our gracious host lead us on a tour and organize a special art crafting experience outdoors. It was absolutely lovely beneath the trees and between rusted vintage cars from the turn of the century. We each got a small canvas to paint our flowers in watercolor. (This particular experience takes place in the Spring and Fall, weather permitting.) We heard the squirrels rattling in the leaves and birds chirped and sang in the trees above. We discovered that peacocks apparently originated from this property, compliments of Michael Rubel. And did I mention that on the far side of the property, a custom garden was in full bloom? BOOK A TOUR Help support the Glendora Historical Society and keep this magnificently unique city-castle maintained. It's worth it.

A castle in Glendora? Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you--Rubel Castle is real, it's magnificent,…read moreand it's gloriously eccentric. Thanks to the sheer persistence (and probably delightful stubbornness) of Michael Rubel, we now have this quirky, towering State Treasure sitting right in the middle of Glendora like a fairy tale that accidentally took a detour through a hardware store. This place is beautifully done, and part of its charm is that it's a full-on hodgepodge of relics, antiques, crystal trinkets, and "wait... what is that doing here?" moments tucked into every nook and cranny. You'll marvel, you'll laugh, you'll squint in confusion--honestly, it's everything you'd want in a castle built with love, imagination, and a dash of madness. And let's talk about the makeshift cemetery. Quirky? YES. Fun? Absolutely. Slightly spooky? Only if your imagination is over-caffeinated. But it fits the vibe perfectly--like the castle whispered, "You know what I'm missing? A tiny cemetery." The tours are fantastic, the guides are passionate, and the whole experience feels like you're stepping into a living scrapbook of California history and charming chaos. Overall: Amazing, amazing place. Book your tour. They only do tours every first Sunday of the month, so set your alarms, mark your calendars, tie a string around your finger--just don't miss it. Rubel Castle is truly a California State Treasure, and an absolute must-see for anyone who appreciates creativity, history, and a little eccentric sparkle.