Vintage Venice Reel to Real Tours

Spend the day with Charlie Chaplin, Jim Morrison and other past Venice Beach luminaries on the only Venice walking tour that takes you back in time by showing you a century of film clips on an iPad. 

You'll watch long-gone canals, roller coasters, pleasure piers and movie stars spring back to life before your eyes while standing at the actual locations, as you stroll with Jonathan Kaplan, tour guide for the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation, writer for NYPD Blue and JAG and Venice resident for 16+ years.

Each intimate group (six guest limit) will discover where Chaplin put on his derby and mustache for the very first time on January 10, 1914 (while watching the actual film), where Morrison spent a very important summer writing poetry on a rooftop in 1965 and even where Jack Tripper fell off his bike in the opening of 1977's "Three's Company."

We'll also see modern Venice, with its Bike Path, Graffiti Pit, Basketball Courts, Skate Park, Muscle Beach, Murals and Ocean Front Walk... and what was there before.

TOUR I: THE BASICS

A little of everything. Highlights include Chaplin & Morrison Historical Sites. Site of the Central Lagoon. Site of 1905 Abbot Kinney Canals. Site of Venice Pier. Site of the Miniature Railway. Muscle Beach. Basketball Courts. Bike Path. Skate Park. Windward Avenue. Venice Murals. Graffiti Pit. South Ocean Front Walk.  Plus many movie and TV locations.

TOUR II: THE BASICS + HISTORIC CANAL DISTRICT

Everything on the Basics plus an in-depth exploration of the Historic Canal District, not often seen by non-locals. In this tranquil historical neighborhood where canals once ran, you'll see lush foliage, bright flowers and the charming 1913 Craftsman bungalows of US Island. Hearing nothing but the birds, it's hard to imagine the throngs of tourists swarming the beach nearby - and easy to imagine floating beneath palm trees in a gondola. We'll learn about Venice's African-American history and stroll down vibrant Abbot Kinney Boulevard, one of LA's only shopping and dining districts with no chain restaurants or stores, before heading to the beach.

TOUR III: THE BASICS + NORTH OCEAN FRONT WALK

Covering the same ground as the Basics, this tour gives you four times as much Ocean Front Walk, taking you all the way to the Santa Monica border. Here you'll see many more movie locations with accompanying film clips... and one very interesting home movie. The North Ocean Front Walk Tour also takes you into the sidewalk streets, hidden tree-canopied gems with century-old houses. 

TOUR IV: THE WORKS

All of the above. Plus a quick meal break in the 1922 beachfront bungalow complex now known as Gingerbread Court. By the end you'll be more Venetian than most Venetians!  

 Tours run seven days a week. For more information and tickets, please see the website.