Drive Past Hollywood's Scandals, Then Stop Where Its Stars Rest
A private car tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills scandal sites, with timed stops at two star cemeteries and Greystone Mansion.
This tour is private: one party, one guide and one black SUV with room for seven. The listing calls it a scandal or ghost tour covering events from Manson to Menendez, with the places where stars lived, partied, were arrested, died and are buried. Nobody else is in the car, so the mix of scandal and ghost story is yours to set.
It is priced per person on a sliding scale, because the car is yours either way. Booking closes 24 hours before the start time, and the operator confirms each request itself.
Private Scandals and Ghost Tour of Hollywood and Beverly HillsPrivate black-SUV tour for up to seven, with hotel pickup in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Hollywood.www.viator.comTwo Star Cemeteries, About Ten Minutes Each
The listing times four stops for a total of 55 minutes and drives past everything else, including Rodeo Drive and the Golden Triangle. Two of the timed stops are cemeteries: Hollywood Forever, beside Paramount Studios, and Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park. If you book an afternoon tour, ask to visit the cemeteries first: Hollywood Forever closes its grounds at 5:00 PM (5:30 PM in summer). From the window along Sunset Boulevard, the drive also passes filming locations from the original Halloween, American Horror Story and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Greystone, Then the Homes Behind the Hedges
The third timed stop is Greystone Mansion and Park in Beverly Hills, which the listing calls a 1928 mansion used as a filming location and loaded with Hollywood mysteries. The longest, about 25 minutes, is in the Hollywood Hills for celebrity homes and scandal sites. Many of those homes sit behind gates, so the operator keeps an iPad in the car to show aerial views of what the street hides. A traveler wrote in 2021 that the guide used a tablet to show what lay beyond each mansion's walls. The operator's FAQ adds that it cannot promise a celebrity sighting.
Your Party, Your Route
The operator's note on the listing calls the stop times a guesstimate and says the time can be fully customized. Guides work in English or German. Travelers in 2022 wrote that guides shaped the route around what they wanted to see.
Where It Can Start, and What the Car Rules Out
Pickup is at the hotels on the booking list, such as The Peninsula, the Beverly Wilshire, The Beverly Hills Hotel, the Chateau Marmont and The Hollywood Roosevelt, or anywhere inside the city limits of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The listing will not start or end a tour in Downtown Los Angeles, at LAX, or in Santa Monica, San Pedro, Long Beach or Anaheim.
- No drinking or smoking in the car. The operator's FAQ says it can stop at bars along the way instead.
- Only service animals as defined by the ADA and California law are allowed. Emotional support animals are not.
- Infant seats are available, and the operator's About page says each SUV carries a booster and a baby seat.
- A collapsible wheelchair with removable wheels can be accommodated if someone comes along to help the rider in and out.
Budget three hours for the booking, though the operator notes the drive itself runs a solid two and a half. Gratuities are not included, and the operator's FAQ puts a typical tip at 10 to 25 percent of the bill. Cancel at least 24 hours before the start time for a full refund. The same FAQ says it avoids touring during the West Hollywood Halloween Festival, the Los Angeles Marathon, Oscar Sunday and LA Pride.