Hike the Secret Painted Stairs and Visit a Local Bakery
Description
Tours by See LA in a Day are the best way to explore Los Angeles. Our tours combine the hottest tourist spots with off the beaten path secrets. Many of our guests are LA natives that walk away amazed with how little they knew about their home. Whether you are visiting for the first time or have lived in LA your entire life, our tours will offer you an unmatched LA experience.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Welcome to Silver Lake! This artistic neighborhood is one of the coolest places you can visit in Los Angeles. Silver Lake is home to celebrities, restaurants, shopping, and some of LA's best hidden street art. This 2 mile walk will take you up and down several hidden stairways in the area. It is a great workout and, along the way, you will see famous locations like the Micheltorena Stairs, which have been dubbed "the most Instagrammed stairs in the world." Throughout the tour, you will learn the fascinating history of this neighborhood and LA as a whole. Learn about William Mulholland and Griffith J. Griffith, their stories may surprise you! As we walk, you will also take tons of pictures! I am happy to be your personal photographer so that you don't miss a shot. And the neighborhood is full of great places for photos. Whether you want to pose with the art or just capture the view, this tour is great for pictures.
Start the tour by visiting the most well known and easiest to find stairway. The eye catching rainbow colors and hearts on this mural draw locals and visitors from all over. That is why these stairs have been called "the most Instagrammed stairway in the world!" You'll learn about the origin of the art as illegal vandalism and how it became a landmarked piece of art. You will also hear from the person that maintains the stairs for the community (hint: they may be leading the tour!)
What would an LA tour be without a little film history? Our most famous stairs along the rout may not be painted, but they do have an Oscar! We will visit the site of the Laurel and Hardy film 'The Music Box'. I will even show you a short clip from the film and hilarity will ensue.
After passing the Music Box Steps, we will see a bit of busy Sunset Blvd. You'll get the best tips for which restaurants to eat at and where to shop once the tour is over! This busy stretch of Sunset is dense with award winning restaurants - maybe we will even spot a celebrity trying to remain incognito as they grab a fish taco! From there, we hit another painted stairway!
Time to ascend another stairway! This stairway has a little drama behind its creation and the artists involved. That's a story for the tour itself, we wouldn't want to spread gossip online! This beautiful painted stairway has a large piano themed mural on its 90 stairs (almost perfect for the 88 keys found on a standard piano keyboard.) It is a bit of a tough hike to the top, but then we have a nice relaxing walk without stairs for a bit.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have a high level of physical fitness
Reviews(9)
Chris is an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly, lives in the area so has personal experience along with relevant history. This experience has everything we wanted: good exercise, interesting history and stories, beautiful neighborhoods, friendly locals. This tour is highly recommended.
Thank you for taking the tour! Im so happy to hear you had a good time!
Chris was an amazing tour guide. He had great info about the stairs, artists and the area in general. Highly recommend!
Chris is a fantastic guide! Knowledgeable, charming, highly engaged with the group! I highly recommend this tour with Chris.
Thank you for taking the tour! It's always a treat to have some local take the tour, especially as repeat guests! Cant wait to see you in Echo Park!
Your guide is awesome. Has a lot of LA history to share and is very friendly and enjoys what he does. The stairs are very interesting as is the area we toured: Silver Lake. I really enjoyed learning about the historical events and time line as well
Thank you so much for taking this and the LA River tour! It's always a joy to show locals so new areas.
I have now done two tours with Chris. One with his charming dog, Odin coming along for the ride. Both have been super fun walks; very informative and the amount of facts that Chris packs into the tour is phenomenal. I intend to do more tours with Chris as he really is the most impressive and enthusiastic tour guide I’ve ever experienced. His passion for LA makes me like the city more. The secret stair tour in Silverlake was unique and a lovely way to get to know the area better. I highly recommend a tour with Chris.
Thank you for taking the tour! Odin is so happy to hear you had a good time!
Chris had so much knowledge about everything. We learned so much. He even gave us the tour in the rain. We plan on doing other tours with him in the future.
Thank you so much! Im happy to hear you enjoyed the tour.
Great sunny SoCal day for a tour of the painted stairs in Silver Lake. Chris was a fantastic guide who was very knowledgeable of the artists who painted the stairs as well as some interesting history of the area. Highly recommend and we are LA locals!!
Chris is an excellent guide and very knowledgeable. He has a lot of interesting facts to share along the walks. This is our third time with him and we would definitely recommend him to tourists and locals looking for a fun tour. Our first experience with him was on a crime tour in DTLA on Halloween. We have actually done a few crime/haunted DTLA tours but his was definitely the best. We then did his Silverlake painted stairs tour and then Hollywood stairs. The Hollywood one may have been my favorite since I had no idea these stairs were there, it was fun seeing some amazing houses along the walk, and of course the views are nice. He has a tour of echo park that will be next on our list! Again, highly recommend!
Great walking tour with @seelainaday. Chris was extremely knowledgeable and kept everyone very safe. He was able to adjust the tour based on the group’s capabilities and still not miss anything. Chris’ knowledge and research was outstanding. We knew we would like the nice hike and to see the hidden painted stairs along with graffiti art but the beautiful homes we saw was an unexpected added bonus. Great location for hip LA restaurants. We had amazing tacos after @guizados just down Sunset. Highly recommend for native Angelos or sightseers. Look forward to other tours with Chris @seelainaday.
Thank you so much for taking the tour! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it and the taco recommendation!
