This walking tour of Downtown LA takes in the city's finest architectural monuments including the city's tallest building, the Broadway Theater District, Central Library, the NoMadHotel, and more. As you explore, hear a guide discuss the history and architecture of this vibrant city.

Take an architecture tour of Downtown Los Angeles
See examples of beaux arts, Renaissance Revival, art deco, and modernism
Spot landmarks like the LA Central Library and the Fine Arts Building
Great for first-time visitors to Los Angeles

What's Included

Local guide

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

630 W 5th St
630 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90071, USA
We meet at the Flower street entrance of the LA Central Library (630 W. 5th Street 90071) within the Maguire Gardens courtyard. Nearest Metro Rail station - 7th Street / Metro Center. Nearest Parking – There are private garages between 4th and 8th on Flower Street. Rates will vary.

Start time

10:30 AM

End point

617 S Olive St
617 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA
The tour ends at the James Oviatt Building (617 S. Olive Street 90014), which is a 10 minute walk back to the starting point. The guide can point you in the direction.

What To Expect

Los Angeles Central Library

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Fine Arts Building

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Jewelry District

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Historic Theater District

25 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Eastern Columbia Lofts

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The NoMad Hotel

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Oviatt Building

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
The tour ends at the James Oviatt Building (617 S. Olive Street 90014), which is a 10 minute walk back to the starting point. The guide can point you in the direction.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

If you are staying downtown or near downtown I would recommend going on this tour to get a goo overview of the city.

Reviews

5.0

61 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 61 reviews

Fun and informative tour around LA!

Stacie_B, Jun 2023

I highly recommend the Downtown Los Angeles architecture tour. Our guide, Phil was knowledgeable, personable, and really brought a new perspective to the city. The tour was interesting and informative; even introduced new spots to us as native Angelinos. We enjoyed the tour so much that at its conclusion, we went back to a passed restaurant Bottega Louie to enjoy lunch and pear martinis. Highly recommend this tour and company. Thanks Phil for a wonderful two hour adventure around LA.

LA history came alive

Gillian_L, May 2023

Our guide inspired us with his stories that made downtown L A come alive for us. Many thank - the highlight of our few days there. Gill and John

Great tour

Jan_L, Feb 2023

The tour was about architecture, but also history. The LA library piece was especially stimulating. Phil was knowledgeable and engaged.

Illuminating details that differentiate architectural styles.

Leslie_S, Nov 2022

Phil was an excellent guide. The details that distinguish the architectural styles was really interesting. The buildings were beautiful. The history and architecture of the central library were most interesting!

Our guide for the...

John_R, Aug 2022

Our guide for the architecture tour Phil was very knowledgeable and personable and gave a great tour

Clearly worth the time, all enjoyed the walk.

Arthur_Y, Jul 2022

There are fine examples of architecture seen on this trip and to see the few that have had their exteriors restored takes one back to old LA.

Really good way to see LA history through a walking tour of the CBD of LA

Jacqui_H, Jul 2022

Phil was very good he has a brilliant memory and very good at the job of tour guide. Very enjoyable. The buildings chosen highlighted the history and architecture extremely well. Great thing to do.

Great walk with knowledgeable guide!

Daniel_D, May 2022

Interesting walk with Phil, our knowledgeable guide, through historic downtown LA and theater district… never knew LA had such an area!

Phil was an excellent...

Jonathan_H, Apr 2022

Phil was an excellent tour guide! His knowledge of Downtown LA architecture was very impressive. I would recommend this guided experience to anyone.

Enjoyable and educational tour

Kathleen_O, Mar 2022

I had great time on this tour! Phil is a friendly and knowledgable guide and did a good job of covering a lot of ground. I learned some new things and enjoyed getting the lay of the land in DTLA.

Everything was great!...

Svetlana_Z, Feb 2022

Everything was great! Phil is very knowledgeable and fun. Highly recommend this tour. We were able to see a lot of interesting places

Nice one

Waneka_C, Feb 2022

Great tour! I’m from LA and am very interested in the history and development of the city. This was a perfect walking tour that highlighted some historic buildings and streets. Phil was a wonderful guide!

We really enjoyed Phil...

Sophie_D, Jan 2022

We really enjoyed Phil and his expansive knowledge of the downtown architecture and history. Beautiful & fascinating morning.

Phil is cool

Sophie_D, Dec 2021

Phil was awesome! Super friendly and knowledgeable. Felt like a field trip with your best friend! 10/10 would recommend

Enjoyable, historical and factual downtown tour

mmreisman, Nov 2021

We’ve been to LA many times but we haven’t ever spent much time in downtown. Our tour guide was excellent. He combined LA history with the discussion of the architecture of the buildings we viewed. We definitely learned a lot.

Phil took us around...

Abdulrahman_A, Oct 2021

Phil took us around unique buildings in downtown LA in 2 hours I wish if we could have passed by walt disney consert hall

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Thanks for joining us. We visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall on another downtown LA tour. Due to the vast size of Downtown LA, we have 3 historical tours with different itineraries and highlights. We try to prevent overlapping among all 3, so we've had to feature only select buildings on certain tours. To see more buildings of Downtown LA, check out more tours we offer.

Extremely worthwhile!

Sarah_W, Aug 2021

Great tour with knowledgable guide -- honestly a can't miss opportunity to really see and learn about downtown Los Angeles in all its architectural glory

Great tour

andrew_b, Mar 2020

Chris was very knowledgable and a great tour guide. As I was solo, tour was flexible and very enjoyable.

Great tour of downtown

David_M, Feb 2020

This was a great tour of Downtown LA. Phil was a great tour guide and very knowledgeable. I ended up going on two other tours with him during my stay. If you are staying downtown or near downtown I would recommend going on this tour to get a goo overview of the city.

Downtown LA Architecture Tour FANTASTIC Experience!

Monika_C, Jul 2019

Our guides were knowledgeable and very nice. We live locally and did not realize how much interesting architecture there was in LA. So happy to see and learn about it. Will recommend to others for sure.