"This was one of the most wonderful events I have ever experienced in Los Angeles. I cannot say enough about the level of understanding of history, the deep respect and passion these folks have about all the wonderful facets of Los Angeles. I want to take more tours with Esotouric because my feeling about Los Angeles just went up a hundred percent -- what a rich city with interesting stories and people and intrigues -- the literary component of the John Fante tour was inspired and engaging. I think everyone who comes to LA should go on a tour to get a foundation of understanding of neighborhoods, how they sprang up, and the politics behind the city. Amazing and I am super excited to go on another one with Esotouric!!!" - Samantha Weaver, passenger on "John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill"

"Best of L.A." - Los Angeles Magazine... "Best Tours" - The Downtown News

"[Esotouric] has turned tawdry L.A. stories into its very own brand." - Los Angeles Times

"Esotouric might be the coolest bus tour company out there. " - Time Out Los Angeles LA ... "The kings of oddball motorcoach outings." -The Rundown

"They should be the official greeters for all new arrivals to the city; you need people like this to get newcomers acclimated to L.A.’s rich history, real and imagined." -Barry Grey, Movie Places in L.A. blog

"Discover LA's lurid and fascinating underbelly on these hip, offbeat, insightful and entertaining tours." - Lonely Planet

"The polar opposite of those double-decker tourist traps that schlep rubes past Tom Cruise's house and the Hollywood sign." - Girls Gone Wild Magazine

"A wonderfully varied menu of some of the most offbeat and well-researched tours in Los Angeles." - San Francisco Chronicle

"A brilliant idea, appropriate to a city saturated with cultural and seedy social history." - Spike Magazine (U.K)

"One of those things that makes me love L.A." - So. California Travel Examiner

The most fascinating bus tours in Los Angeles... one of our favorite tour companies nationwide. - USA Travel Guide

Launched in 2007, Esotouric fast built a reputation for the most eclectic and well researched crime, literature, architecture and social history tours in the Southland, with feature stories in The Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Weekly (cover story), L.A Alternative Press (cover story), Globe Trekker, G4-TV, CourtTV.com, BBC News, Pasadena Star-News, KNX News Radio, International Herald-Tribune, Toronto Star, Christian Science Monitor and a "best of LA" nod from Los Angeles Magazine, Best Downtown Tours from the editors of The Downtown News and "best of the weekend" from LA Daily News.

Press Clips

Our Richard Schave talks about Grand Central Market on KCRW's Which Way, LA? (section starts 11:27).  

Barb Cabot rides our Raymond Chandler bus.  

Gillian Jacobs of Community recalls a ride on our bus on Marc Maron's WTF podcast.  

The 2013 edition of our once-a-year Tom Waits tour is L.A. Weekly's Go >> L.A. pick of the week.  

CNN previews Cecil Hotel death lore from our Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice tour.  

Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice tour creator Kim Cooper talks about the Cecil Hotel’s grim history on CBC Canada (link), on CNN (link), on NBC4 (link), on KNX (link), in The Sun (link) and in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (link).

Los Angeles Magazine says "History buffs, sync up your iPods" as our podcast debuts.

Los Angeles Magazine digs our year-end historic preservation list.

Toni P thinks Esotouric offers "the most exciting guided themed events in Los Angeles."

Sarah Spitz says "there's one couple dedicated to a deeper appreciation of Los Angeles, its social history, crimes, literature, architecture and more."

Michelle J. Mills discovers how morbid laziness inspires the Blood & Dumplings crime bus tour.

Leonie Cooper of The Guardian got an emotional weather report on the once-a-year Tom Waits bus adventure.

Alissa Walker (KCET's The Nosh) soaked up the atmosphere at the LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank.

Gary Singh digs the LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank.

"The sold-out [LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank] crowd spoke to our hunger for a Southern California literary history." - Larry Wilson, Pasadena Star-News

Ashedit rides The Birth of Noir bus.

L.A. Weekly asks Is Musso & Frank the True Crossroads of Hollywood and Literature? Richard Schave Wants to Find Out.

NBC takes note of the 65th anniversary Real Black Dahlia tour.

Sanden Totten from KPCC's Madeleine Brand show tags along on the Pasadena Confidential tour (video feature).

CNN recommends our literary tours as an alternative the usual Hollywood excursions.

Barb Cabot loved the Birth of Noir tour.

Creepy LA gives Esotouric two enthusiastic gangrened thumbs up (their highest honor).

LA Weekly interviews Charles Bukowski tour host Richard Schave to compile a list of L.A. sites that were important to the writer.

Flavorpill calls the Charles Bukowski tour a "City Gem" and "a poetic journey full of rare insight into the life of a man who's come to represent the ghettoized contingency of the City of Angels."

Slake wonders if the Charles Bukowski tour is "'Fawlty Towers' on wheels."

Tripified "is dying to take" Crimebo's Pasadena Confidential tour.

Barry Gray is "in heaven" on the Raymond Chandler tour.

Hollywood Patch covers the Raymond Chandler tour.

Venice Magazine gets a handle on our downtown crime and social history tours.

Spike Magazine digs our literary tours.

San Francisco says our occasional Tom Waits bus adventure is "worth the drive."

Dave's Travel Corner climbs aboard the Weird West Adams tour.

The Daily Beast's Sean Macaulay takes a ride on James M. Cain’s nightmare express.

Novelist Anna Stothard explores the hidden gems of Los Angeles for the London Guardian, including our Bukowski tour.

The Idea Generator rode the Blood & Dumplings bus.

Annenberg News Radio covers our Charles Bukowski tour in a video/slideshow.

Curating L.A. takes our East Side Babylon tour.

Pasadena Weekly picks Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice to click.

Daily Mail: My search for the La-La land of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep 

Whole Life Times: Maja D'Aoust's Spiritual Day Trippin'

Meet Crimebo the Clown: "Crime-Loving Clown Shows Off LA's Top Murder Spots"

LA Weekly rides the Tom Waits bus.

Allon Schoener explores The Lowdown on Downtown.

Travelin' Local on the blog-ish birth of Esotouric.

Caroline An looks at Esotouric with a focus on The New Chinatowns tour.

Noela Hueso of Pasadena Weekly gets up close and personal with Crimebo on Pasadena Confidential.

Chinashop rides The Real Black Dahlia.

Hipster Travel Guide: Walking in a dead woman’s heels (The Real Black Dahlia).

Toronto Star: "Dorothy Parker once described Los Angeles as 72 suburbs in search of a city. Thanks to Schave and his friends that may finally be changing."

USA Travel Guide: Murder, greed, lust, gangs, ghosts, backhanded deals, cover-ups, Chinese food – whether it’s LA lore or certifiable fact, Esotouric tours have the skinny that only years of research could realize."

Travel & Leisure blog: L.A.'s Dirty Secrets Found on Bus: "You can have your Homes of the Stars tours, but you'll find me on another bus, looking for vestiges of a less-documented city where grifters, platinum blonde widows, lonesome detectives, and career girls once trod."

Marco Mannone on the Charles Bukowski bus: "Four hours after we departed, the tour drops us back off at Philippe’s. This is a terrible way to simplify the tour, filled with so much wit and insight into not only Bukowski, but lost parts of Los Angeles."

Girls Gone Wild took the Charles Bukowski bus.

Gary Singh rode the John Fante tour.

Craig Zabransky rode the Tom Waits bus.

Jason Burgess says "Esotouric re-introduce LA in a way most bus tours fear to lay their tread."

Mary McGrath rides the South LA architecture tour .

Tour keeps spirit of author Raymond Chandler's L.A. alive.

PopMatters: The Special Bus. Who Walk In Brooklyn interviews Kim Cooper.

Palisadian-Post feature on Raymond Chandler's Bay City.

The U.K. Guardian reveals LA's top 10 cult locations, Esotouric-style.

Zach Mroczkowski rode the Bukowski bus.

Pasadena Star News rides the Route 66 Tour.

John Flinn of the S.F. Chronicle rides the Rock History Tour.

52PerfectDays rides the Rock History Tour.

Terence Lyons of the Santa Monica Mirror on Chandler's Bay City.

Barbara Navarro rides the Bukowski bus.

KCAL-9 News on Hotel Horrors.

Michelle Mills on Pasadena Confidential: Sinister past emerges in an unsolved mystery tour .... And here's and Michelle Mills' video featurette on Main Street Vice.

Your Dog's Breakfast radio feature on the Bukowski bus.

L.A. Times previews "Halloween Horrors".

DaBelly rides along on the Blood & Dumplings San Gabriel Valley crime bus tour.

National Post (Canada): More than just mystery, murder and mayhem lie on the seamier side of L.A. history.

Frank Girardot, San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Voyeurs can visit L.A.'s crime scenes.

Downtown News feature "The Unordinary Tour Company: Esotouric's Smart, Dark and Funny Excursions Into Lost Downtown".

The Downtown News Best Tours Award..

Frank Stoltze's KPCC radio feature on Weird West Adams.

Worldhum interview "Touring Literary Los Angeles: City of Chandler, Bukowski and Fante".

L.A. Times feature: Author's bygone L.A. comes to life for fans on walking tour.

L.A. Citybeat previews John Fante's Dreams of Bunker Hill.

L.A. Times previews John Fante's Dreams of Bunker Hill.

BBC 5 Pods & Blogs radio interview on The Real Black Dahlia tour.

Campus Circle's Guide to Road Trip Fun recommends our Riot on Sunset Strip tour (coming soon).

The Christian Science Monitor rides along on the Raymond Chandler tour.

AP feature: Crime tours take passengers through LA's criminal past.

Los Angeles Times: Magical mystery (and crime) tours.

Pasadena Weekly: Killer Ride (cover story).

L.A. Times: Perfect Year for a Slay Ride.

AP's Blood & Dumplings Podcast.

CourtTV: Bus Ride to Hell and Back.

Video: G4's Blair Butler on the Halloween Horrors Crime Bus.

Pasadena Star-News: Bloody History.

L.A. Times - Steve Harvey's Only In L.A.: Past Horrors Await Bus Tour, Provided Today's Don't Intervene.

Downtown News: Murder, an Acid Attack and More Downtown Fun.

Copley News Service: Wheels of misfortune, Bus tours Dahlia haunts.

Black Dahlia 60th Anniversary Lost Weekend photos by Meeno Peluce.

Here are some recent comments from Esotouric passengers: