Private driver for the day in Los Angeles: a local booking guide

A private driver for the day in Los Angeles costs from US$775 for 8 hours in a Business Sedan through Elly8.net, up to US$1,550 in an Executive Sprinter for a group. Shorter days start with the 4-hour private city highlights tour from US$420. Every price is fixed and all-in, including the chauffeur, vehicle, taxes and a standard gratuity.

The price is the easy part. The real work is the plan, because a Los Angeles day goes wrong in predictable ways: a museum that is closed on Monday, a hilltop car park full at sunset, a freeway crossing at 5 p.m. that eats an hour. Below are four day plans that hold up, the timing rules that make them work, and how to decide between 4, 8 and 10 hours.

How much is a private driver for the day in Los Angeles?

Elly8.net publishes four day-length options for Los Angeles. Choose by the length of your plan, not the number of stops.

The 8-hour and 10-hour packages are priced below the same hours at the hourly rate, 8% and 10% lower respectively. If your plan does not fit a package, book by the hour from US$105, for 3 to 12 hours. All five vehicle classes and every airport fare are on the Los Angeles price panel.

See Los Angeles prices and reserve

Before you plan: the Monday problem

Two of the most-requested stops on a Los Angeles day are closed on Mondays. The Getty Center is closed on Mondays and opens 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on other days, with a late close on Saturdays; admission is free but needs a timed-entry reservation. Griffith Observatory is also closed on Mondays, opening at noon on weekdays and at 10 a.m. at weekends, and it warns that roads and parking get busy.

If your only free day is a Monday, build it around the coast, Rodeo Drive and the studios instead, and save the Getty and Griffith for another visit. If you can choose, a Tuesday to Thursday day is quieter at almost every stop.

Day plan 1: Westside art, Beverly Hills lunch and a Griffith sunset

Best length: 8 hours, full-day chauffeur.

1. Morning at the Getty Center. Arrive soon after opening with your timed-entry reservation. The museum sits on a hill above the 405 in Brentwood, and the chauffeur drops at the arrival point and waits while you visit.
2. Lunch in Beverly Hills. A short drive east brings you to Rodeo Drive and the restaurants off Canon Drive. Valet is the norm here; with a driver, you step out at the door and the car waits nearby.
3. Museum Row on Wilshire. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is on Wilshire Boulevard, between Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and fits an afternoon hour.
4. Griffith Observatory at sunset. Finish above Hollywood with the city lights coming on. This is where a driver earns the day rate: the hilltop parking that fills at sunset is no longer your problem.

This plan moves roughly west to east, which helps in the afternoon, when the heaviest traffic flows the other way out of Downtown and Hollywood towards the Westside.

Day plan 2: Malibu and the Pacific Coast Highway

Best length: the 8-hour Malibu day trip, the signature Los Angeles package.

Leave a Santa Monica or Beverly Hills hotel mid-morning, once the commute has eased, and drive north on the Pacific Coast Highway. Stop at the beaches and viewpoints, take a long lunch by the ocean and turn back in time to beat the evening traffic into the city. With a driver, beach parking and the one-way stretches of PCH stop being a factor.

The Malibu package is priced the same as the full-day chauffeur, so the difference is only the route. A Business SUV at US$995 suits a family or two couples; the Executive Sprinter at US$1,550 takes up to 12 for a birthday or a group outing. For local notices before you go, such as road work on the coast, check the official City of Malibu site.

Day plan 3: Hollywood, the studios and a night out

Best length: 4-hour tour plus the 5-hour evening package, or 10 hours by the hour.

A Hollywood day starts with the Walk of Fame and the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, continues up to the viewpoints for the Hollywood Sign, and crosses the hill into the Valley for studio tours in Burbank and Universal City. The 4-hour private city highlights tour covers the landmarks and photo stops. Then, after a break at the hotel, the evening package picks you up for dinner and a show.

One honest note on theme parks: if your day is a full day inside Universal Studios Hollywood, do not book a driver for the whole day, because the car would sit for hours. Book a one-way transfer there and another back, or use the web booker for a fixed quote each way. Keep the full-day booking for days with many stops.

Day plan 4: shopping, spa and a long lunch

Best length: 5 to 6 hours by the hour.

Melrose Avenue, the Beverly Center, Rodeo Drive and The Grove are close on a map and slow in real life, with garages, valet lines and one-way streets between them. A driver by the hour solves the stopping problem: drop at the door, keep your bags in the car between stores, and move on. At US$105 an hour in a Business Sedan, six hours is US$630. For a bigger party, the First Class SUV at US$160 an hour gives room for shopping bags and four people.

How many hours should you book?

Count the time you will spend inside each stop, add travel between them, then add a buffer for traffic. A simple guide:

• 4 hours: a city highlights loop, one museum and a lunch, or an airport pickup with a stop on the way to the hotel.
• 5 hours: an evening out, from pre-dinner drinks at the hotel to the drive home after a show or game.
• 8 hours: a real day out, two or three main stops with travel, lunch and a margin.
• 10 hours: a long business day, or a day that ends with dinner on the other side of the city.

If you are unsure, book the shorter package and ask the desk to extend on the day; additional hours are charged at the published hourly rate for your vehicle, subject to the chauffeur's availability. Waiting beyond the included time is billed at cost, and parking at venues is billed at cost too.

Which vehicle for a day out?

For two people, a Business Sedan is comfortable and the most economical. For a family, choose a Business SUV: six seats, six bags and room for child seats, which are available on request. For a special occasion, a First Class Sedan, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or similar, makes the day feel like an event. For groups of seven or more, see our Los Angeles Sprinter van guide for how many really fit with bags.

The fleet page shows each class, and the private city tours page explains how tours are run.

Making the day run smoothly

A few details the desk asks for, because they make a long day easier:

• Send your plan. Stops, reservations and any timed entries. The chauffeur will suggest an order that avoids the worst crossings.
• Share a phone number. The chauffeur waits nearby rather than at the door at most stops, and comes back when you message or call.
• Mention mobility needs. Some hilltop and beach stops involve walking from the drop-off point; the chauffeur can drop as close as local rules allow.
• Ask about combinations. Day trips can start or end at LAX, Burbank or Van Nuys; tell us your flight number and the desk will build it in.

The rules on the road stay with the chauffeur, who follows local regulations at every stop.

Where the time goes on a Los Angeles day

Visitors often plan a Los Angeles day as if the stops were next door to each other. On a map, the Getty, Beverly Hills and Griffith Observatory form a neat line; on the road, each leg can take 30 minutes or more in the afternoon. A useful rule is to allow as much time between stops as the drive would take at the worst hour of your day, then enjoy the extra minutes if the roads are kind.

Lunch is the other trap. In Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood the popular places fill at midday, so book a table and tell the desk the time; the chauffeur will plan the morning to land you at the door on schedule. On an 8-hour booking, a long lunch is time well spent, not wasted, because the car is already paid for and waiting.

Rides in Los Angeles are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

Beyond the city limits

A day with a driver does not have to stay in Los Angeles. Popular full days head north to Santa Barbara and Montecito, south to the coast of Orange County, or east to Palm Springs. For a chauffeured tasting day, see wine country tours. For longer one-way trips, use the city to city car service in the booker.

If the day you are planning is mostly business, the logic changes: see our guide to LAX executive car service for roadshows and multi-meeting days.

How to book

1. Choose the package. Pick the tour, evening, full day, Malibu day trip or roadshow day on the Los Angeles page, or choose hours in the hourly booking.
2. Choose the vehicle and add your pickup address, passengers and any child seats.
3. Reserve now and pay the fixed price, or use the web booker for a custom route. Confirmation arrives by email.

Book any address

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup; 10% applies at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show. Refunds go to the original card.