Top California Architecture Tours

Balboa Park is a must-do for most San Diego visitors, but many don't appreciate the long and rich history of this treasured cultural center. Go deeper into the park's many museums, gardens, and attractions on a guided walking tour that will help you plan where you want to go and appreciate how Balboa Park came to be. Plus, stay energized with an included coffee drink along the way.

Seeing celebrity homes is the highlight of many visitors' trips to Los Angeles, but you need to know where to find them. Rather than traveling around by crowded tour bus, take this self-guided driving tour and explore at your own pace, from Sunset Strip to Bel Air, Rodeo Drive and the Hollywood Hills.

Sophisticated and glamorous, Carmel-By-The-Sea sits on the Pacific just two hours south of San Francisco. The town isn’t all ritz, though—11 fairytale cottages line the hilly streets like something from a children’s book. On this self-guided audio tour, you’ll escape the crowds and explore the houses at your pace, led by a knowledgeable guide right in your pocket.

See all of Los Angeles without worrying about traffic, parking, or directions with this half-day guided city tour. Start the day with an opportunity to fuel up at The Original Farmer's Market. Then, sit back and learn about Los Angeles' most iconic landmarks, such as Rodeo Drive, The Sunset Strip, and Hollywood. Add to that, you'll have the opportunity to see LA from two of its most epic viewpoints: The Getty Center and The Griffith Observatory.

See the sights of Hollywood on this tour by open-top Mercedes minibus or Ford Van with a canopy, which allows you to enjoy unobstructed views as you go. Traveling with an on-board guide, you'll pass by attractions such as the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood Sign, Rodeo Drive, and movie studios. Plus, get a look at some of the mansions where past and present stars have lived.

Spend your day exploring the ‘City by the Bay’ before a scenic drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods National Monument and the nearby waterfront of charming Sausalito. This narrated small-group tour takes in all of the San Francisco highlights, from Golden Gate Park and Haight-Ashbury to the Palace of Fine Arts and Presidio. Then wander on foot under California’s giant coastal redwoods before exploring the gift shops and galleries of Sausalito.

Spend an evening on the San Francisco Bay during this dinner cruise, including a multi-course gourmet meal of fresh, local ingredients prepared on board. After dinner, dance to the DJ's music or enjoy the nighttime views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the city skyline from the exterior deck. This romantic tour offers a one-of-a-kind experience of the City by the Bay.

Discover San Francisco on your own schedule with a 1-day electric bike rental. Hop on a regular bike or an electric bike, for an easier ride, and pedal past all of the sites on the top of your list. Visit the crooked path of Lombard Street, North Beach, Haight-Ashbury, the Golden Gate Bridge and more. This self-guided trip gives you the opportunity to create your own itinerary as you explore the beloved City by the Bay.

Experience San Francisco sights and Napa Valley wine tasting on a full-day private tour in a luxury vehicle. Create your ideal itinerary with visits to local wineries, a tour of Muir Woods and a stop for lunch or diner (own expense). Add group photos with Golden Gate Bridge backdrop if you choose. Don’t worry about a designated driver, navigating, or logistics, as you relax, take in the views, taste some of the world’s best wines, and get to know the Napa Valley.

Explore San Francisco with a local insider and experience an extraordinary afternoon. This half-day tour takes you sightseeing around the city with a guide to offer commentary. Neighborhoods include Fisherman's Wharf, Presidio, Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, the Castro, and North Beach plus the Golden Gate Bridge. Free Wi-Fi is available aboard the vehicle so you can post your snaps to social media en route.

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.

Uncover the scandalous, high-society history of San Francisco's most illustrious hill on a walking tour of Nob Hill. Hear the stories behind the grand hotels and stately mansions built by the city's powerful 19th-century business tycoons and politicians, and learn how the advent of the cable car and the disastrous 1906 earthquake shaped one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.

The ultimate audio tour of San Francisco, this self-guided, app-based driving tour covers the city’s most iconic attractions—from the Painted Ladies of Steiner Street to the Golden Gate Bridge. Follow a live GPS map down a curated route. Park and explore wherever you wish. Email, phone, and chat support are available if needed.

If you want to truly understand LA, you need to visit downtown. This is where it all began! Over 3 hours, you'll learn so much about LA and the downtown area. We'll discuss history, architecture, food, city planning, shopping, art, and more! Guests frequently walk away from the tour amazed by how much they underestimated downtown LA. This tour focuses on a few major parts of DTLA. We will cover the Historic Core, Little Tokyo, the Civic Center, and Bunker Hill. These areas will give you a deeper understanding of how much variety there is in downtown. Every block in downtown has its own unique feel. In Little Tokyo, you'll get to try traditional Japanese sweets from a family owned confectioner that has been around since 1903! This is the only tour in LA that visits this legendary institution. See LA in a Day offers the best walking tours in LA, heavily researched and delivered by guides with a passion for sharing the city they call home. See you on the tour!

The Getty Museum is home to so much art that it can be hard to know where to start. This private tour does the planning for you, while offering a choice between an overview of the highlights with a focus on a particular period of art history—think the Renaissance, Baroque, Decorative Arts, or Impressionism—or taking a close look at special collections.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a self-guided audio tour Discover the seaside charm of Carmel-by-the-Sea—and enjoy an independent way to explore—with this self-led, smartphone audio tour. Upon booking, download the tour and set off at a time that works best for you. Your GPS-assisted tour works offline, and will guide you directly to the town’s top attractions, from local landmarks and art galleries to public parks and more. As you go, learn more about the town’s rich history.

If you’d like to explore Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Scenic Road but don’t want to be stuck in a group tour, try this Carmel-by-the-Sea Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour. This tour allows you to download the VoiceMap app on your smartphone and listen to the tour as you walk along the road at your own pace. Highlights include the Clinton Walker House - Frank Lloyd Wright, Carmel Beach Overlook, and La Playa Carmel Hotel.

Guided tours are relatively expensive and can follow rigid itineraries with tight schedules. This self-guided audio tour of La Jolla, a coastal town known for its rugged coastline and posh shopping, helps travelers save money and explore completely at their own pace. Follow your downloaded map app past art galleries, historic churches and hotels, and parks, finishing at the Sunny Jim Sea Cave. Start, stop, and pause the tour whenever you’d like.

Harken back to San Francisco’s days as a Gold Rush boomtown on a 2-hour walking tour of the Financial District, once known as the rowdy Barbary Coast of California. Hear tales of buried ships, fortune hunters, and Wild West saloons as you explore the city’s former waterfront, and learn how it transformed into the business hub of modern-day San Francisco.

Explore two of San Francisco's most distinctive neighborhoods side-by-side on a walking tour of Chinatown and Union Square. Learn the fascinating history behind the oldest Chinatown in the United States, and be immersed in the city’s contrasting cultures as you stroll alongside cable cars through Union Square’s chic hotels, architectural landmarks, and luxury boutiques.

Are you looking for a way to discover Old Sacramento's Historic District and Waterfront without joining a tour group? Explore at your own pace with this self-guided walking tour. • Find out how Sacramento was finally saved from yearly floods by raising the town 22 feet in the 1860s • Hear from producer Lynn Momboisse a local who's created over 20 VoiceMap tours under her belt • Do it all in 90 minutes or linger at stops along the way with complete control over when you start and finish • Get unlimited use before your booking date and after it • Use the virtual tour option at home Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a ticket with instructions and a unique code listed under “Before You Go”. Then simply install the Voice Map app and enter your code. The app displays directions to the starting point, and when you’re in the right place, pop in your headphones, and just tap start. Voice Map has automatic GPS playback, with turn-by-turn directions. It also works offline.

Alamo Square Park is one of the best-known parks in San Francisco, with views of the city skyline, the Painted Ladies of Postcard Row, the University of San Francisco, and more. This walking tour brings together the historic with the modern in one of the most recognizable places in the world. You’ll learn about the role Alamo Hill played during the 1906 fires, its status as a watering hole before that, and the implications of the Van Ness Ordinance. As we walk around the park, you’ll hear about what makes City Hall so special and get a sense of the different housing styles in this neighborhood that boasts the second-highest concentration of 10,000-square-foot homes in SF. We’ll also explore the William Westerfeld House and the Archbishop’s Mansion. We’ll even get the opportunity to step inside the Historic Chateau Tivoli, one of the grand Victorian homes in Alamo Square. We ended up in the Fillmore District, after visiting Third Baptist Church, the first Black church in the city.

Learn about the history and culture of the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco with this puzzle game. Download the game onto your smartphone and use it even when you are offline. Solve clues and puzzles all over the neighborhood and learn about the history along the way. Play the game at your own pace.