Announcing our new GPS audio tour on VoiceMap.me: The Sunset Strip: Playground for Rockers, Mobsters and Hollywood Celebrities. TourFreely’s mission is to entertain our followers by sharing our experience and knowledge of Southern California destinations. While Mindy hails from La Jolla in the San Diego region, I grew up in the Los Angeles / Orange County area before moving to San Diego in the 1980s and I’ve always been fascinated by Hollywood and the entertainment business. This tour of West Sunset Boulevard, the Sunset Strip, gave me a great opportunity to better understand the history and culture of this important destination so we could treat the listener to its rich history. You can download the tour to your cell phone today here on our website.
See the Strip Landmarks
The Sunset Strip is a legendary part of the Tinseltown glamour scene that comes to life during our walking tour along Sunset Blvd between Beverly Hills and Hollywood. In less than 100 years this street went from an unpaved road in an unpopulated, unincorporated town to the hotbed of the modern-day entertainment and music business. This audio tour begins at the location where the old Hollywood stars like Judy Garland and Orson Welles gathered to eat hamburgers and milkshakes and ends near Laurel Canyon, the epicenter of the folk and rock music revolution of the turbulent 60s and 70s. Along the way, you can stop and see film locations for popular movies like Get Shorty, Scarface and Annie Hall while also visiting sites where the entertainment industry’s biggest events took place, such as:
- The nightclub where Judy Garland and Jackie Gleason were discovered in a talent show
- The restaurant where Marilyn Monroe went on her first blind date with Joe DiMaggio
- Where John Belushi had his last meal and spent his final hours
- The nightclub where Frank Sinatra made his debut as a solo act
- The theater where Neil Young recorded a hit album and John Lennon spent much of his Lost Weekend separated from Yoko Ono
The Doors and The Byrds co-billed at The Whisky in 1967 - The club where Jim Morrison and The Doors performed as the house band when they released their debut album
- The Hacienda Apartments that was called the classiest brothel in the city
- The hotel where Led Zeppelin rode a motorcycle down a hallway and the Rolling Stones threw a TV out the window
- The “Hotel to the Stars” that has been home to Robert DeNiro, Keanu Reeves, Scarlet Johansson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey
- The club where the industry’s greatest comedians have all performed
- The parking lot where members of Buffalo Springfield met for the first time and got their start
- The nightclub where Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz filmed their Tropicana nightclub act for the “I Love Lucy” show
- the former grocery store that Johnny Depp bought and converted to a popular nightclub and where Joaquin Phoenix’s brother, River Phoenix, died
You can visit the cultural landmarks that span decades and make the Sunset Strip so unique:
- The Roxy Theater,
- Rainbow Bar and Grill,
- The most expensive Billboard market after Time Square,
- The Comedy Store,
- Château Marmont
- The Standard Hotel,
- The Whisky A Go Go
- The Viper Room
- Mel’s Drive-in
- And many other interesting sites
Take Time to Enjoy the Sites While Strolling
Feel free to stop along the way to appreciate the history, the food and the entertainment that the rich and famous have appreciated for so many decades because you can always pick the tour back up when you are ready to start again. All you need is your cell phone, the free downloadable app, sunscreen and a hat. And it’s the prefect activity during these difficult times because you can enjoy the walk alone or distanced from friends while strolling.