In June, a new cultural tourism calendar and website called 7 Days in L.A. was launched, featuring listings for unique tours of the southland available every day of the week.
7 Days in L.A. isn't a tour operator, but a consortium of the region's best independent tour operators—sixteen in all. Whatever a person's interest--from architecture to true crime, film locations to graveyards, gay history to iconic L.A. literature--they'll find the perfect excursion on the 7 Days in L.A. community calendar, and all the information needed to book a high quality tour to suit any budget. Some participating guides specialize in public tours, others work with individuals or groups to craft private city experiences.
In seeking to point out what's special about the group, Karie Bible of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Tour says "I think these bigger tour companies are like McDonald's, but we're like Musso and Frank."
The group was formed by Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, the married couple who run Esotouric bus adventures (The Real Black Dahlia, Raymond Chandler's L.A). Because Esotouric only offers tours on weekends, Kim and Richard regularly recommend select L.A. tour companies to customers inquiring about weekday excursions or companies on a similar wavelength—and these folks often return the courtesy. 7 Days in L.A. is a real world extension of that spirit of cooperation and mutual support that makes L.A.'s independent tour guide community so special.
Participating tour companies and solo guides include: Architecture Tours L.A., Crimebo the Clown's Downtown Art Walk Gallery Tour, Dearly Departed Tours, The Dorothy Parker Society, Esotouric Bus Adventures, The Felix in Hollywood Tour Company, Hollywood Forever Cemetery Tour, Hollywood Movie Tours, L.A. Gang Tours, L.A. River Tours, Out & About - Hollywood's 1st & Only Gay Bus Tour, Santa Monica Venice Tours... Now & Then, Take My Mother*Please (*or any other VIP), Terry Bolo - The Hollywood Gal, Tizzle Bike Tours and Urban Photo Adventures.
7 Days in L.A. is there for anyone who loves Los Angeles and would like to learn more about the city. As Scott Michaels of Dearly Departed says, "I think people will welcome these unique perspectives of Los Angeles – and each is truly unique. There’s no competition here. We are just people who love Los Angeles and are eager to share what we’ve learned from it."