Paramount Studios or Hollywood bus tour?

[jsoren11]

Which one should we do if we only have one day, The paramount studios walking tour, or the bus tour that takes you to all the spots and star's homes.????

 

[gotrojansgo]

I think it depends on what you're more interested in seeing.

I'll admit, I'm now a jaded Angeleno who thinks the star tours are bogus, but my mom loved the one that she went on. She, however, enjoys seeing celebrities' homes and things like that (and she loves when I point out celebrities to her in LAX). I'm more of a historical person, so I think the Paramount walking tour is more fun, plus, if you get lucky, you'll see something filming or a star on the lot (they film a TON of stuff there still).

Hope you enjoy your visit!

 

[Miss SD]

I haven't taken the Paramount tour, but did do one at Warner Bros. and also have been on a "movie star home" bus tour. We absolutely loved WB and hated the bus tour. Granted, I'm from San Diego and have been to LA a million times, but my husband and daughter hadn't spent much time in SoCal. They didn't like the tour either. Maybe it was because we were on a large bus that wasn't allowed down some of the streets where the "stars" live. We ended up ditching the tour at Hollywood and Highland and walking back to our hotel.

If you're planning on a bus tour, I'd research the company to see exactly where they go and what they do. For instance, we stupidly booked with a company that picked us up at our hotel (Magic Castle in Hollywood) and drove us all the way to Santa Monica, which is where their hub is, so we could pick up a bus back to Hollywood, etc. (That's why we could ditch them and head back to our room. Couldn't bear the thought of driving all the way to Santa Monica again and back to Hollywood. On a Friday night. Ugh!)

 

[jsoren11]

souds awful, what was the WB tour like?

 

[Miss SD]

We took the five-hour Deluxe tour, which was a wonderful experience. My favorite part was going on the set of the "Cold Case" police department. We also saw an exterior shot of "The Mentalist" being filmed. The longer tour isn't for everyone but, at the time, we had been to LA a few times and still hadn't done a studio tour because my daughter was too young. My husband stumbled upon the Deluxe tour description and he HAD to do it. I'm sure the regular tour takes you cool places, too, because they have so much to see, including a museum.

We also liked the Universal tour, but if you're not going to the park, I wouldn't bother.