Los Angeles tours for non-English speakers include Hollywood Bus Tours, where the tours pair a live English guide with an audio guide app in 10 languages, from Spanish and Japanese to Korean and Catalan. This guide covers which tours include the app, how the app works on tour day, and how to plan a day for family visiting from abroad.
When you bring your parents or grandparents to LA, you want them to enjoy the Hollywood Hills, the celebrity neighborhoods, and the Santa Monica Pier as much as you do. But if they speak little English, you might be wondering how much of the tour they’ll be able to follow.
The good news is our driver-guides lead every guided tour live in English while our audio guide app narrates the ride in 10 other languages, so the whole family hears the stories from the same seats. Our multilingual app is included with your ticket.
Below you’ll find the tours that include the audio guide, how to set up the app at check-in, and what to plan around when the group splits between English and another language.
Once you’re ready to book, our Half Day Best of LA Tour puts a local guide behind the wheel and the audio guide in everyone’s pocket. We cover stops like Rodeo Drive, The Grove and the Original Farmers Market, and Griffith Observatory for Hollywood Sign views.
See all of our tours and pick the one that fits your day.
LA Bus Tours in Your Own Language
Our top-rated LA bus tours from Hollywood and Santa Monica come with a live driver and tour guide who shares the stories and history of Los Angeles in English, plus an audio guide app that plays the commentary in 10 other languages. The app runs on your own phone, so one person can follow the guide in English while the person beside them listens in Japanese or Portuguese.
The 10 Audio Guide Languages
The audio guide comes in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, Catalan, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Catalan sits on the list next to Spanish, so a family from Barcelona can pick whichever one they’re most comfortable in. To explore Los Angeles beyond the tour, LA’s official tourism site, Discover Los Angeles, is published in seven languages, including Spanish, Japanese, and Korean.
How the Audio Guide App Works
You’ll get the audio guide as an app on your phone. It’s included with your ticket. Our team helps every guest get it set up before the bus leaves. Once the tour starts, the app uses GPS to play each part of the commentary as the bus reaches that stretch of the route, so what you hear lines up with the part of LA you’re riding through, while the guide up front keeps talking in English.
Choosing a Los Angeles Bus Tour With the Audio Guide
Every one of these sightseeing tours includes the audio guide, so the choice comes down to how much time your group has and whether you’re starting in Hollywood or Santa Monica.
Hollywood, Beverly Hills & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour
The Hollywood, Beverly Hills & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour runs 2 hours from Hollywood or 3.5 hours from Santa Monica on an open-air bus, with a photo stop at the Beverly Hills Sign. From Hollywood, the tour covers Mulholland Drive, the celebrity neighborhoods of the Hollywood Hills, Rodeo Drive, and the Sunset Strip. At 2 hours from Hollywood, it’s an easy first look at the sights of LA for parents who’ve just landed.
Keep your cameras ready, you might spot a celebrity. Our Celebrity Sightings page shows the stars our guides and guests have seen around LA.
Half Day Best of LA Tour
This half-day tour of the best of Los Angeles runs 5.5 hours with four stops and free time at each one, so your group can wander and eat at its own pace. From Hollywood, the stops are Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, the Santa Monica Pier, The Grove and the Original Farmers Market, and Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park for Hollywood Sign views. From Santa Monica, the Walk of Fame takes the place of the pier. Lunch at The Grove is on you.
The Perfect Day in LA Combo
For a full-day tour of Los Angeles, our Perfect Day in LA Combo bundles the Hollywood, Beverly Hills & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour and the Half Day Best of LA Tour into 7.5 hours of touring. You buy both tours in one booking. It costs less than buying them one at a time. After you book, we’ll email you instructions to choose a date and time for each tour, and you can take them on the same day or on separate days.
Malibu Beaches, PCH & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour
Departing from Santa Monica, the Malibu Beaches, PCH & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour is a 2-hour open-air drive along the California coastline. The tour offers the same audio guide, so it’s an option for families staying near the beach who’ve already seen Hollywood.
Self-Guided Hollywood Walk of Fame Walking Tour
The Self-Guided Hollywood Walk of Fame Walking Tour is free with any of our bus tours, and it runs on an app in the same 10 languages. It takes 1 to 2 hours at your own pace along the Walk of Fame, past the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held. Our guide to Hollywood on foot has more on what to see along the way.
What to Expect on Tour Day
On tour day, bring a charged phone and arrive a little early. Our first-timer FAQ covers the rest of the basics.
Check-In and App Setup
Check in 15 minutes before your tour. Seating goes in check-in order, so if you’d like the whole family sitting together, you’ll want to arrive together. While you wait, our team can help each person download the app and choose a language, so nobody spends the first stretch of the tour fiddling with a phone.
What to Bring
Bring a charged phone for everyone who’s using the audio guide, plus a set of earbuds or headphones, so each person can listen at their own volume. Our city tours run rain or shine. If you’re riding the open-air tour bus, pack sunscreen and a layer for the breeze, and we’ll hand out rain ponchos if the weather turns.
Planning an LA Tour for Family Visiting From Abroad
When relatives visiting the city would rather experience Los Angeles in their own language, a little planning before they land makes tour day easy. Most of it takes minutes online.
Booking for Parents and Relatives
You can book the whole group in one go on our website, which shows real-time availability, and pick the departure that’s closest to where everyone’s staying.
We answer questions by phone and email. Call (213) 986-7688 or write to reservations@hollywoodbustoursla.com, and we’ll help you sort out the details. For the rest of the trip, our first-time visitor itinerary and our guides to Venice Beach and Downtown LA have ideas that work well around a tour day.
Meeting Points in Hollywood and Santa Monica
Hollywood departures leave from the Hollywood Visitor Center at 7044 Hollywood Blvd, right on the Walk of Fame, with public parking nearby at 1670 N Sycamore Ave.
Santa Monica departures leave from our new Santa Monica Visitor Center at the Ocean View Hotel, 1447 Ocean Ave, steps from the pier. Save the address in each relative’s maps app before tour day, so anyone arriving separately can find it on their own.
FAQ: Los Angeles Tours for Non-English Speakers
Are there Los Angeles tours for non-English speakers?
Yes. Hollywood Bus Tours runs its tours in Los Angeles with a live English guide and an audio guide app in 10 other languages, including Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. The app is included with the ticket, and the team helps set it up before departure.
Is the live tour guide available in other languages?
Each of our sightseeing tours has a knowledgeable guide who leads it live in English. For other languages, the audio guide app covers 10, including Spanish, Japanese, and Korean.
Which Hollywood Bus Tours include the audio guide?
Our audio guide comes with the Hollywood, Beverly Hills & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour, the Half Day Best of LA Tour, the Perfect Day in LA Combo, the Malibu Beaches, PCH & Celebrity Homes Open Air Tour, and the Self-Guided Hollywood Walk of Fame Walking Tour.
What’s the best way to see LA in one day with relatives?
If you only have 1 day, our Perfect Day in LA Combo gives the whole family an overview of the city, from Rodeo Drive to Hollywood Sign views at Griffith Observatory, with the audio guide on both tours. For a shorter day, the Half Day Best of LA Tour covers four stops and leaves the evening free.
Do I need my own phone for the audio guide?
Yes. The audio guide runs as an app on your phone, and our team helps every guest download it and get it running before the bus leaves. Bring earbuds or headphones so each person can listen in their own language.
Do your bus tours include hotel pickup?
Our bus tours depart from fixed meeting points at the Hollywood Visitor Center and the Santa Monica Visitor Center at the Ocean View Hotel. For hotel pickup, the VIP Private SUV Experience includes pickup and drop-off at most Los Angeles hotels, and our private tours can add pickup for an extra drive-time charge.
