Laguna Beach Highlights Tour – History, Architecture and Culture

(90 minutes)
Local resident Bill Hoffman of Hoffy Tours will give you a 90-minute walking tour of downtown Laguna Beach highlights. The tour starts at Hotel Laguna for a historical overview, and then cruises through the downtown core along Forest Avenue highlighting restaurants, key galleries and landmarks. From downtown, the Laguna Beach tour moves to the coast, up and along Heisler Park for stunning ocean views and public art, and then finishes back at the Main Beach Board Walk. Water is provided, and all guests will receive the 4-color book, The Best of Laguna Beach: The Insider’s Guide (compliments of LagunaBeachBest.com) as well as maps and guides. After this tour, you’ll not only know your way around, you’ll learn the Laguna Beach story first hand.

Pricing: Adults – $99 Student – $39 (13-20) Children under 12 – free

Laguna Beach’s Best: Exploring Laguna Beach’s Spectacular Coast (2.5 hours by van)

Take this 2 ½ -hour Hoffy Tour by van or private car to see the most beautiful spots along the coast. Get your camera ready for these one-of-a-kind highlights:

TREASURE ISLAND PARK AND THE MONTAGE RESORT: We’ll stretch our legs at Laguna Beach’s most glamorous resort along on a stunning stretch of coastline BROOKS STREET & THE SURF CULTURE: Hopefully, surf’s up as we watch the waves from the Brooks Street viewpoint. TOP OF THE WORLD – 1000 feet up!: We’ll catch unparalleled views of the coast, Catalina Island and the Laguna Beach Wilderness Park – Laguna’s famed greenbelt – as we stroll through the chaparral.

HEISLER PARK AND PUBLIC ART: We’ll experience Laguna Beach’s most beautiful park sited above the rocky coves and splashing waves. Here we’ll find the best view of downtown Laguna and its coastline. CRESCENT BAY POINT PARK – Perched dramatically above one of the most beautiful of Laguna’s many coves, this viewpoint is a photographer’s dream. Here we’ll get great views of seals, marine birds and even (seasonal) passing whales.

CRYSTAL COVE STATE PARK: We’ll step back in time along the sand as Hoffy leads a brief walking tour of the historic district bungalows that make this one of the State’s most unique parks. Finish the tour with a world-famous “Date Shake” at the Shake Shack as we head back to downtown Laguna Beach. Water is provided, and all guests will receive the 4-color book, The Best of Laguna Beach: The Insider’s Guide (compliments of LagunaBeachBest.com) as well as maps and guides.

Pricing: Adults – $139 Student – $69 (13-20) Children under 12 – free

Laguna Beach’s Best: Nature & The Environment – The Laguna Beach Sustainability Tour (3 hours by van)

This 3-hour Laguna Beach tour will acquaint guests with the challenges and successes Laguna Beach experiences as it works to preserve its beautiful coastline and surrounding greenbelt. This unique tour includes:

A guided nature walk through the beautiful Laguna Canyon at the Nix Nature Center. We will study the flora and fauna in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, and learn how the City, County and State balance preservation with increasing public demand from hikers, bikers and nature enthusiasts.

A visit to one of Laguna Beach’s most unique treasures – the Pacific Marine Mammal Center , a full-service mammal hospital where rescued seals and sea lions are nursed back to health.

A Laguna Beach tide pool walk at the north end of Main Beach. As we learn about all the many critters in the sea, we’ll also learn about efforts to preserve tide pool ecosystems, enhance coastal fisheries and improve water quality through storm water management.

Water is provided, and all guests will receive the 4-color book, The Best of Laguna Beach: The Insider’s Guide (compliments of LagunaBeachBest.com) as well as maps and guides.

Pricing: Adults – $139 Student – $69 (13-20) Children under 12 – free

I Love LA Classic: Downtown, Hollywood, Beverly Hills

It’s amazing how many great sights you can see in just one day.  This is the classic “discover LA” tour – an architectural and cultural smorgasbord. The tour visits the following downtown highlights; LA’s birthplace at lively Olvera Street, Disney Hall and the skyscrapers of Bunker Hill, historic Broadway Street and its landmark theaters, and the cultural districts of Little Tokyo and Chinatown.

The tour then heads north and west to Hollywood, visiting the landmark Griffith Observatory, Hollywood Blvd’s Walk of Fame and Chinese Theatre, the Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and vibrant Farmers’ Market in the Fairfax District.  Triple wow!!

LA – Downtown Jewels

This popular tour dates from 1981 and is about discovering the hidden jewels of downtown LA. The tour starts at Union Square and ends in the city’s birthplace – Olvera Street and the Pueblo de Los Angeles.

In between, we tour the famous 1920s theatres of historic Broadway Street, savor tasty morsels of the Grand Central Market, ride LA’s only funicular – Angel’s Flight – on Bunker Hill, tour LA Live!, and visit Little Tokyo and Chinatown. Lunch is at the beautiful San Antonio Winery in East Los Angeles.

LA – Ocean to Downtown

This tour starts at the Pacific Ocean in Venice as we stroll and rent bikes along Ocean Front Walk and then heads east towards downtown, cruising some of the most famous streets in LA – Wilshire Blvd., Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard in West LA. We stop for shopping and lunch at the historic Farmer’s Market and the Grove. We conclude the tour in downtown LA with stops at Disney Hall on Bunker Hill, Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, and Chinatown.

LA Skyscraper Tour by Train

This unique tour looks at the 100 year evolution of LA skyscrapers from the classically-inspired beauties of the turn of previous century to the Art Deco towers of the ’20s to the modernists towers of the past 40 years. We will ride four different types of rail transport: by train to Union Station, by Metro subway to Pershing Square, by LA’s only funicular – Angel’s Flight- down from Bunker Hill, and by light-rail on the Gold Line to Chinatown.

Temecula Wine Tasting and Old Town Temecula

With over 35 member wineries, Temecula Valley offers a wide variety for the wine palate and is rated the seventh best wine region in the country. We will visit three of the best wineries, enjoy a delicious lunch, and a tour. Whether its a hearty burgundy, a fruity riesling or an “oaky” chardonnay, what a wonderful way to spend a day!   After wine tasting, we will explore the wonderful specialty retail stores of Old Town Temecula, sampling olive oil, cheese and spices.  Cleanse your palate, my friends.  We don’t need to go all the way to Napa!

Pasadena Craftsman Classic

I can’t wait to show you the best of this proud and beautiful town. We will visit the famous Gamble House, cruise the beautiful Arroyo Seco, have lunch in lively Old Pasadena, and go to either the Norton Simon Museum or the Huntington Library and Gardens. Pasadena has the most beautiful concentration of residential historic architecture in Southern California. Three thumbs up!!

San Francisco Cityscapes

San Francisco is truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and Hoffy Tours wants to show you some of its greatest treasures.  Our hotel is two blocks from Chinatown and Union Square and right on a cable car line. I’ve designed the tour to show you some of the greatest public works, architecture and views that the city has to offer. This tour will afford you some of SF’s greatest sights: • Saturday – Walking tour of downtown; Ferry Building; historic street cars to Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square • Saturday Evening – dinner in North Beach • Sunday – Bus tour: Coit Tower, Marina District Art Deco; Palace of Fine Arts; Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, the DeYoung Museum and California Academy of Sciences, and Victorian Postcard Row.  This tour goes way beyond Fisherman’s Wharf.

San Diego’s Finest

This beautiful coastal city is a success story in livability, vibrant neighborhoods and a successful downtown. Hoffy Tour visits the museums and gardens of enchanting Balboa Park, enjoys lunch in nearby Little Italy, tours the Victorian architecture of the Gas Lamp District, and strolls along the Embarcadero by the USS Midway and the Star of India. Tours can also include the historic Old Town and Coronado Island with its landmark hotel.

San Diego Craft Beer Tour

A great tour for beer connoisseurs, or those who simply love lagers, ales, stouts and porters. We will visit four highly regarded breweries in this craft-beer mecca, including The Lost Abbey, Stone, Ballast Point and the Green Flash.  Hoffy’s fun bus will have beer quizzes, lunch and lots of snacks to soak up the alcohol.  Let Hoffy Tours do the driving.  Concentrate on your taste buds, German drinking songs and fun.

The Best of Inland Orange County

Orange County is so much more than its beautiful beaches.  We will start off in the county’s oldest city – San Juan Capistrano – for a tour of its strikingly beautiful Mission.  Refresh your California history as we stroll the Los Rios Historic District, the most picturesque and oldest street in California.  Then it’s off to downtown Orange and its historic district where we will see the OC’s top-rated downtown.  From here we will travel to Little Saigon, Orange County’s largest ethnic community where we will tour a Buddhist Temple, have a tasty Vietnamese lunch and shop at the area’s oldest supermarket and specialty stores.  We will end our tour in the county’s largest and most diverse downtown – Santa Ana – with its increasingly vibrant Artists Village, Historic District and abundant galleries.

Orange County Coastal Highlights: Newport, Laguna Beach and Dana Point

This tour showcases the most beautiful spots along Orange County’s coast.  We’ll start at quaint Balboa Island and its specialty retail and cottage architecture. Next is Crystal Cove State Park with its historic district bungalows right on the beach.  We’ll then stroll Laguna Beach’s Heisler Park for its stunning views and public art.  There’ll be time for shopping and browsing the art galleries of Laguna’s downtown village before we head south to the Montage Resort’s Treasure Island Park for the coast at it’s finest.  We’ll end the tour at the Dana Point Marina with its historic overlook or extend our time to see historic San Juan Capistrano and its classic Mission.

Claremont Arts & Architecture

Claremont is truly a jewel in east LA County.  We will enjoy its wonderful and friendly downtown specialty retail stores, visit its Farmers’ Market, and sample its locally-brewed craft ales.  Then we will tour the nearby Claremont colleges – rated as some of the most beautiful in the country.  You’ll love the amazing murals at Scripps College, the 1920s architecture, and stunning new additions.  Afterwords we will visit the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens on our way to the home and gardens of the famous furniture maker Sam Maloof.

Palm Springs Desert Modernism

In addition to its stunning desert location, Palm Springs is also famous for its mid-century modernist architecture. We will tour some of the most notable homes and neighborhoods, take a walking tour of downtown Palm Springs along East Palm Canyon Drive, and enjoy the desert landscape of Indian Palm Canyon.  Every year in February, Hoffy Tours takes a group for a weekend tour coinciding with Modernism Week and its many popular tours.