A yellow 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 bus parked indoors in a museum — A 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 bus as seen in Little Miss Sunshine, on show at the Petersen Automotive Museum, 22 August 2024. TaurusEmerald · CC BY-SA 4.0

A road trip in short drives · 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

The Hoovers drive from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach. The film was shot mostly around Los Angeles, and Redondo Beach is Ventura. Push the bus to see the real stops, east to west.

Sources

Everybody out

Push the bus

Five real places, east to west. Each stop is the scene the film names, set against the place that played it. Three pushes roll the bus on.

0 pushes · stop 1 of 5

The bus will not start. Push it.

Brick buildings along a downtown street in Flagstaff with mountains behind — Downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, 7 May 2012. Christopher Amrich · CC BY-SA 2.0

On screen

The road through Arizona

In fact · Flagstaff, northern Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona

IMDb’s filming list, as shown in a search result, includes Flagstaff, Phoenix and Chandler in Arizona.

Wikipedia says the film was shot over 30 days in Arizona and southern California, starting on 6 June 2005.

Route 66 News says the film was shot almost entirely in the Los Angeles area, with the Southwest appearing mainly as a photograph of Monument Valley in a motel room.

A mountain city on old Route 66. No single filming spot is known, so this is the town, not a scene.

Sources

A diner in Arizona was Rutt’s Hawaiian Café, La Puente.
Sources
The family motel was Budget Inn of North Hills.
Sources
Desert Courtyard Suites, Scottsdale was Hyatt Regency Valencia.
Sources
The pageant in Redondo Beach was Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach.
Sources

A long wooden pier running out into the sea at Ventura — Ventura Pier, 13 March 2014: the seafront a short way from the hotel. Not a filming location named by any source here. Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0

Redondo Beach

The pageant town is Ventura

Route 66 News, quoting the Orange County Register, says the town the film calls Redondo Beach is really Ventura.

Wikipedia says the pageant contestants and their families spent two weeks filming in a hotel in Ventura.

Visit Ventura says the pageant arrival, where the dad takes an overpass after missing an exit, was shot at the 101 exit to California Street, near the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel.

Not every account agrees. The AFI Catalog is recorded as naming a Culver City Radisson for the pageant photography.

A working beachside hotel. The photograph shows Ventura Pier nearby, not the hotel.

Sources

Retired

The bus has a parking space

Wikipedia says the 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 used in the film is displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

A Commons photographer’s caption dated 22 August 2024 places the bus at the Petersen.

The museum gives its address as 6060 Wilshire Boulevard and its home page says “Open Daily 10am–6pm”.

Open to ticket holders; the museum’s home page says open daily 10am to 6pm. Check its visit page before you travel.

Sources

The yellow film bus seen from the front quarter inside a gallery — One of the five 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 buses used for the film, at the Petersen Automotive Museum, 1 November 2017. Terry Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0

Hop in

Go and drive it

The bus sits in Los Angeles; the stops are spread from the Arizona mountains to the Ventura seafront. Ask before going near rooms, and look at the café site from the pavement.

Sources

Where it is now

6 places you can visit between Arizona and the Pacific. Pins on Flagstaff and Valley Boulevard mark a town and a road, not a scene.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A mountain city on old Route 66. No single filming spot is known, so this is the town, not a scene.

Downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, 7 May 2012. Christopher Amrich · CC BY-SA 2.0
Arizona · Flagstaff, northern Arizona
Flagstaff, Arizona
IMDb’s filming list, as shown in a search result, includes Flagstaff, Phoenix and Chandler in Arizona.
A mountain city on old Route 66. No single filming spot is known, so this is the town, not a scene.
Sources

Stay

A room near the lobby.

The Santa Clarita hotel a blog places on screen.

Hyatt

Hyatt Regency Valencia

Town Center Drive, Valencia

The Santa Clarita hotel a blog places on screen as the Scottsdale-area hotel. Pictured: the hotel, 2021.

Check rooms

Go there

Pile in.

A museum with the bus, and Los Angeles location tours.

Petersen Automotive Museum

Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

The Los Angeles museum where the film’s 1979 Volkswagen bus is shown. Check its visit page for hours and tickets before you go.

Plan a visit

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Los Angeles movie location tours

Los Angeles

Live marketplace results for film-location tours of Los Angeles. Check each route; none is made for this film.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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What’s on

No dates yet.

Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The archive

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

Search places and stories What remains Sort

6 of 6 places · 7 of 7 stories

Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff, northern Arizona
- The open road
  Arizona is named as a location, though the film was mostly shot around Los Angeles.
Rutt’s Hawaiian Café, La Puente
17371 East Valley Boulevard, La Puente
- Waffles “alamodie”
  The family’s breakfast stop is a former Hawaiian café in La Puente.
Budget Inn of North Hills
9151 Sepulveda Boulevard, North Hills
- Room 208
  The family’s motel is a Sepulveda Boulevard motel in North Hills.
Hyatt Regency Valencia
24500 Town Center Drive, Valencia, Santa Clarita
- Desert Courtyard Suites
  A Santa Clarita hotel plays a Scottsdale-area hotel.
Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach
450 East Harbor Boulevard, Ventura
- Redondo Beach
  The pageant town is Ventura, with two weeks of hotel filming.
- The missed exit
  The pageant arrival is filmed at the 101 exit to California Street.
Petersen Automotive Museum
6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
- The bus, retired
  A 1979 Volkswagen Type 2 from the film is on show at the Petersen.

Little Miss Sunshine