Los Angeles Arts District Bike Tour
Description
We ride where the busses, vans and walking tours can't go! The Arts District bike tour allows you to see much more of this underground, trendy neighborhood. Just past Little Tokyo, the Arts District, is full of galleries, tech-industry, nightlife, murals, history, architecture, shopping, breweries, and restaurants. Still an industrial district, rapidly changing and full of surprises like low-riders, pop-ups and film shoots. We visit instagram worthy murals, Hauser and Wirth Gallery, the Sixth Street Bridge, Bloom’s Square, Warner Brother’s Music, Art Share, The American Hotel, some of L.A.’s best restaurants and many more surprising locations. You’ll hear the origins, history, new development and current status of The Art’s District. Your guide will introduce you to the unique culture of street artists. A break at a fine art gallery, allows participants to explore on their own and enjoy nearby cafes. Perfect for visitors looking for unique Los Angeles experiences.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The largest concentration of murals and street art in L.A. You'll learn about the artists, process and production of these museum worthy walls. Building this tour on Trip Advisor/Viator is hard, because software only allows us to choose from well-established locations. But this tour is unique; as the nature of street art is fluid, temporary, and every pop-up, mural and underground warehouse is not a "well-established location" but an of the moment, off the beaten path part of Los Angeles many "locals" do not even know about. You will not see a tourbus as you would at other LA top locations. You might see a few other tourists looking lost at the first few stops, but this bike tour goes deeper into the Arts District than vans, busses or walking tours can go. This neighborhood hugs the LA River, and if you've enjoyed the gritty views in productions like Grease, Repo Man, Sugar and Bosch, with the LA Skyline in the background, we ride these streets.
This area contains excellent examples of graffiti writing, Warner Brothers Music, and several star chef's restaurants. The eclectic mix of street art culture can not be found on any other tour.
Our tour takes an off-bike break here. Guests have a chance to explore this expansive gallery, art book store, and nearby cafes on their own.
Non-profit providing below market live work studios to keep artists in the Arts District
The birth place of the modern Arts District, this historic hotel has stories to tell. Built in 1905, covered in murals, and steeped in history long before artists took it over in the 1980's. Your guide will fill in the last 150 years of history of this historic neighborhood that reigned as a produce shipping hub from the 1800's into the beginning of the last century when LA was primarily citrus groves. For the past 40 years it has been the canvas of Unite to Ignite graffiti crew.
We ride through Little Tokyo to access the Arts District. Full of sushi, Anime and Ramen, when the gallery is closed we take our break stop here.
Located in Little Tokyo we stop by to see Museum of Contemporary Art and the Go For Broke Monument and explain how the history of Little Tokyo is entwined with the history of the Arts District and Los Angeles.
One of the many under the radar cool clubs in the Arts District.
One of several production studios in the Arts District. As we ride the surrounding streets, you might recognize them as B-reel from some of your favorite movies and shows. A lot of production and filming takes place in the Arts District. We might even see a shoot in progress as we often do.
One of several chef driven restaurants in the Arts District.
We are located at LA's 100 year old food hall, a destination in itself. Our home base has over 45 food vendors to choose from pre or post ride. All bike tours are round trip from DTLA's #1 destination we're proud to call home.
Ride by this celebrity enclave hiding out next to the railroad tracks of East L.A.
Ride this iconic bridge featured more and more frequently as an LA film location.
LA outpost of the famous London motorcycle clubhouse. We'll ride by, and probably see some motorcycles cruising the arts district out on our pedal bike tour.
One of several movie studios, this giant warehouse space often hosts special pop-up events like the Balloon Museum and Luna Luna: Forgotten fantasy. Hollywood is where they used to make movies, but downtown L.A. is where they still do.
One of several high end, chef driven restaurants in the Arts District, Bestia is just one of Chef Ori Maneshe's two restaurants located in this foodie neighborhood.
All Handlebar Bike Tours are round trip from L.A.'s historic food hall. We meet here, and it is a great spot to land after the tour for hungry riders. Your guide will have suggestions for what's good and how to snag a coveted table.
One of many murals we'll see on our Arts District Tour. This mural done by homegrown artists Robert Vargas features the double threat of Ohtani pitching and hitting, appropriately located in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of DTLA.
Housed in a repurposed train station, LA's premiere graduate architectural school, with a gallery, is a central historical location to the establishment of LA's cold storage warehouses later converted to artists lofts.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Minimum age is 8 years
- Ability to ride a bike on city streets
- Should know how to ride a bike
Reviews(48)
Fabulous bike ride. Jen was very mindful of safety as well as knowledgeable about the arts area. Saw amazing steer art we would never have known about.
A beautiful day on bikes with our guide, Jen! What a privilege learning about the LA art scene. Jen was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about art and caring about our needs. Definitely recommend.
Thanks so much for coming out, its always fun to have an art lover on the tour.
From beginning to end this was an exhilarating experience. We saw beautiful murals and impressive views of the LA skyline. A perfectly paced tour.
Thanks so much Carla, it was a pleasure showing you and your guest around the Arts District. I find the ride exhilarating too. Appreciate the 5 star review!
Very nice experience biking through the artist district. Very safe and super cool to do with our daughter.
Thanks for coming out on our off the beaten path Arts District bike tour, we love it. It was a pleasure spending the afternoon with your family.
We had a really fun time biking through the district, looking about and hearing the story of the neighborhood, the pieces themselves, and the artists.
Thanks so much for coming on the tour, and taking the time to leave a review.
Had a wonderful afternoon cycling around the Arts District with Jennifer. We were able to see and experience some special parts of LA that would often be missed or overlooked. Jennifer was a fantastic guide and her deep connection with the tour was more than evident. So glad we ventured out. If you have the chance, don’t let the opportunity to pass you by.
We took a group of seventeen 11th grade students, and they had a blast! They saw a ton of murals, and got to ride over the 6th street bridge. It was a wonderful experience.
Thanks so much for booking a group tour. The students were fun to be with, receptive to the content and kind and supportive to each other. So nice to see.
I booked the Pretty Gritty Arts District Tour. I enjoyed it very much. I'm from Germany and I got to know Los Angeles even better through this tour. I can absolutely recommend the tour. I am very thankful for this wonderful day!!!
It was a pleasure spending the afternoon with you. Thank you for making Handlebar Bike Tours a part of your US trip.
This was a very fun tour. Jen was my guide and she was very knowledgeable and nice. She went into detail about the local artists and their work. Overall, I recommend this tour if you're appreciative of the work these talented artists put into.
Happy to hear raves about the artists. LA street artists are definitely an underrated treasure we have in L.A.
Great experience! Jen was incredibly knowledgeable about the street art, the Arts District in general, and the history of LA. and personable. I learned a lot! Highly recommend.
High praise from a local, thanks!
