Esotouric Bus-Biltmore Hotel
The Esotouric Bus is a coach class, closed and air-conditioned bus, with a restroom in the rear.
Esotouric Bus-Biltmore Hotel (Los Angeles, CA)
The Black Dahlia murder is the most compelling unsolved crime Los Angeles has ever known. What Jack the Ripper is to London, the Torso Killer to Cleveland, the Black Dahlia is to L.A. Esotouric's most popular Crime Bus tour begins in the lobby of the historic Biltmore Hotel and traces beautiful murder victim Elizabeth Short's path across postwar Los Angeles to her mysterious 1947 death.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
* Additional fees apply.


Fascinating - I didn't really know anything about the murder other than it was gruesome. This tour explored more than the actual crime and offered a glimpse of Los Angeles city life in the mid 40's for the down and out. So little is known about Beth Short's life that it makes the story even more intriguing. The tour included a handy brochure that outlined the events and main characters. The tour leaders were very knowledgable about the era and the subject; the bus was very comfortable.

The historical narrative of the tour guides was outstanding. I felt as though I was part of an historical play watching events in the life of Beth Short play out. The contrast of the affluence of the Biltmore Hotel contrasted with the destitution of the visit to the old Greyhound Bus termnal where shorts few but valued memories and treasures fit into a small suitcase. Her story was a tragic one and the tour guides succeeded allowing us to participate in the life of Beth Short for 4 brief hours.

As a somewhat expert on the subject myself, having read and devoured every book I could get my hands on, I rate this tour very highly. They had the facts down and accomplished their goal of presenting who Elizabeth Short was and what her life and times were like in 1946-47 Los Angeles. Going into the Greyhound Bus Terminal Building where she left her worldly posessions before meeting her gruesome fate was a highlight for me that really brought the story to life.
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What is it about murder victim Elizabeth Short ("the Black Dahlia") that keeps her the object of obsessive fascination by writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, cops and readers more than 60 years after she was slain?
The Real Black Dahlia Crime Bus Tour seeks to answer this question by intimately exploring the last weeks of Elizabeth Short's life, asking not "Who killed her?" but "Who was she?" The tour goes from the human hustle of Main Street to the serene lobby of the Biltmore (the second-to-last place she was seen alive) to the newspaper offices and the Greyhound station where she checked her bags, and concludes at the site where her bisected body was found in Leimert Park and with a little-known suspect who lived nearby.
From the few personal possessions she left behind to the friends who scarcely knew her, from the mass hysteria of the investigation with its fruitless leads, wacko suspects and false confessions, the tour reveals all that's known about this enigmatic black-haired girl who reinvented herself at whim, and shows how she came to be the unfortunate symbol of her time and place.
Esotouric's 1947project has quickly built a reputation for the most eclectic and well-researched crime history tours in the Southland, with its popular Real Black Dahlia, Pasadena Confidential and Blood & Dumplings tours, personalized tours hosted by author James Ellroy, and feature stories on Globe Trekker, The Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Weekly (cover story), L.A. Alternative Press (cover story), BBC News, Pasadena Star-News, KNX News Radio and a "Best of L.A." nod from Los Angeles Magazine.
Passengers on this eye-opening and informative tour will leave with a new understanding of the Black Dahlia murder mystery and life in 1940s Los Angeles. It is highly recommended for natives and newcomers, crime and history buffs and anyone who likes to seek out the unexpected.