Los Angeles Overivew

Getting around

Los Angeles is made up of 88 cities including unincorporated areas and hundreds of different neighborhoods. At 469 square miles, it can sometimes take an hour or more to get from one side of the city to the other, so plan accordingly and expect the unexpected (like heavy traffic at odd hours).

Car is the most common mode of transportation. Other options include:

Metro rail or bus
Metro bike share
Waymo (autonomous vehicle)
Taxi like Ride Yellow
Uber
Lyft
Turo

Soundtrack

Julia's LA Style music playlist on Spotify

Things to do

Where to stay

Top things to see:

✭ Hollywood Sign, Walk of Fame, & Griffith Observatory
✭ Beverly Hills & West Hollywood
✭ Santa Monica & Venice

Also interesting:

✭ Getty Center Museum (art, architecture, gardens, and views) - not far from Beverly Hills
✭ Self-Realization Fellowship/Lake Shrine, Getty Villa, & Los Leones Trail - Pacific Palisades
✭ The Broad (contemporary art museum) - Downtown
✭ The Huntington (largest botanical garden) - Pasadena
✭ The Groundlings (comedy) - on Melrose Ave
✭ Studio tour or TV show taping - various locations

Scroll down to view by neighborhood, activity type, and for a map.

By Neighborhood

Beach communities

✭ Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade pedestrian walking street

✭ Pacific Park amusement park on the Santa Monica pier & Heal the Bay aquarium under the pier

✭ Beach bike path where you can rent bikes and ride to Venice Beach (a little more funky) which includes good people watching on the beach boardwalk, skateboard park, Muscle Beach outdoor gym, shops on Abbot Kinney, and the Venice Canals

• Museum of Flying + Santa Monica Airport observation deck

✭ Self-Realization Fellowship/Lake Shrine (relaxing meditative spot with lush gardens & spring-fed lake - free; Wed-Sun; by reservation only)

✭ Getty Villa Museum Greek & Roman art museum with nice architecture (free, timed entry ticket required, $25 parking)

✭ Los Leones Trail (great views) & Palisades hikes

• Drive along Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu (El Matador State Beach has cool rock formations)

• Malibu Wine Hikes/Tours ($49+)

• Dockweiler Beach bonfire pits near LAX airport

• Proud Bird Food Bazaar - food court right under the airplanes landing at LAX

• Flight Path Museum

• Rancho Palos Verdes/San Pedro/Long Beach - includes Point Vicente Park (beautiful views from the Interpretive Center and Lighthouse), Abalone Cove shoreline trails & tidepools (pay for parking), Sunken City ('20s landslide fenced off as no trespassing zone - must trespass to see the cool parts), Aquarium of the Pacific ($49.95), Queen Mary ($15-$25 for parking)

Beverly Hills and nearby attractions

✭ Drive around looking at houses and gated driveways (there are a couple non-traditional houses in the area such as: Spadena House, O'Neill House, and Hobbit House)

✭ Beverly Hills sign in Beverly Gardens Park - or maybe some of the famous brown city limits signs

✭ Rodeo Drive - ultra high-end designer and boutique shops

✭ West Hollywood - shops, restaurants, nightlife

• Sunset Strip - shops, restaurants, nightlife

• Melrose Ave - vintage, eclectic, and trendy shops

• Farmers Market (small businesses and restaurants) / Grove (mall chain-style businesses/restaurants)

• La Brea Tar Pits (fossil excavations - free to walk around outside) & Museum ($14 - under renovation 2026-2028)

• LACMA art museum ($30; free 2nd Tue) w/ outside urban light sculpture (free outside); free Friday jazz (outside)

• Academy Museum ($25)

• Petersen Automotive Museum ($23)

• Sundays: Melrose Trading Post flea market ($10)

• Greystone Mansion public park and grounds

• Hollywood Bowl - public park, museum + concerts (bring your own food and wine/beer to LA Phil-presented events)

✭ Getty Center Museum European & American art museums and gardens with nice architecture and a city view (free, timed entry ticket required, $25 parking)

Hollywood and views of the city

✭ Griffith Observatory - views of Hollywood sign and the city (great during the day as well as at night; $10/hr parking or take the free DASH bus).

✭ The Hollywood sign can be viewed from many parts of the city, such as near Hollywood Blvd & Highland Ave by the Walk of Fame or Barnsdall Art Park in Los Feliz (check out the Hollyhock House tour too). For an even more close-up view go to a spot on Mulholland Dr that feels like it's just under the Hollywood sign near Lake Hollywood Park. Mulholland Drive goes along the mountain ridge and has great stops along the way that overlook the city and the valley. Some people also enjoy hiking up to the Hollywood sign.

✭ Hollywood Walk of Fame (see an upcoming ceremony perhaps) and the outside of the Chinese Theater (very touristy, get your souvenirs here, but don't take anything people hand you on the street). Is there a particular star you want to see, perhaps a fictional character?

Other touristy attractions/museums in Hollywood:

Madame Tussauds ($30), Hollywood Wax Museum ($38), Ripley's Believe It or Not ($26), The Hollywood Museum ($15), Museum of Death ($20)

• Historic Hotel Roosevelt w/ speakeasy & bowling alley or Chateau Marmont

• Hollywood Forever Cemetery - any grave sites you want to see, such as Terry the dog who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz, Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc, or guitarist Johnny Ramone? (More at the Forest Lawn Cemetery Hollywood Hills, original Forest Lawn Cemetery Glendale, and Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary such as Marilyn Monroe)

• Sunset Strip shops & restaurants

• Griffith Park hike

• LA Zoo ($27)

• Miniature train rides ($4) & Travel Town Museum (free)

• Sunset Ranch horse trail rides in Griffith Park ($79+)

• Universal Studios Hollywood ($100+); City Walk is free to walk around (pay for parking)

• Barnsdall Art Park + Hollyhock House tour

Downtown

✭ The Broad contemporary art museum (best to order the free tix a few weeks or more in advance)

• Grand Central Market

• Angels Flight Railway

• Sunday Smorgasburg food vendors

• Little Tokyo (Japanese shops, restaurants, museums, and landmarks)

https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/little-tokyo

http://www.welikela.com/things-to-do-little-tokyo

• Arts District (mostly coffee shops, restaurants, bars, some actual art though too)

• El Pueblo and Olvera Street (Mexican shops and restaurants)

• Chinatown

• Last Bookstore (CA's largest used and new book and record store)

• Clifton's (Gothic curiosities-themed restaurant & bar)

• CA Science Center (free; some exhibits you can pay extra for, such as the Space Shuttle Endeavor)

• LA Conservancy walking tours (and self-guided tours)

• Self-guided walking tour ideas:

https://aglobewelltravelled.com/2022/01/28/self-guided-walking-tour-downtown-los-angeles

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1263550191194959?mibextid=8r5Ozu

Hipster neighborhoods

• Silverlake

• Echo Park

• Highland Park (including Highland Park Bowl)

• Eagle Rock

Farther out

• Disneyland in Anaheim ($100+)

• Knott's Berry Farm ($65 plus parking, near Disney)

• Six Flags Magic Mountain ($49 plus parking)

• Catalina Island ($89 RT ferry)

• Santa Barbara

• Palm Springs

• Joshua Tree Nat'l Park

• San Diego

• Tijuana (trolley from San Diego)

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By Activity

Flea markets

• Melrose Trading Post ($10) every Sunday

• Santa Monica Antique and Vintage Market ($5) 1st & 4th Sundays + airport observation deck + Museum of Flying

• Pasadena City College Flea (free) 1st Sundays

• Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea ($16+) 2nd Sundays

• Torrance Antique Street Faire (free) 4th Sundays

Farmers Markets

• https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/things-to-do/los-angeles-farmers-markets

Night Market

• 626 Night Market (Arcadia)

Botanical gardens

✭ Huntington Gardens and Museum (16 gardens including Chinese garden, desert garden, rose garden, children’s garden, and European & American art museums; $29)

• Descanso Gardens (9 gardens including Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Camellia Collection, Oak Forest, Ancient Forest & California Natives; $18)

• LA Arboretum (multiple gardens including African and Australian; $18)

• South Coast Botanic Garden ($18)

✭ Hiking

• https://modernhiker.com/park/griffith-park

• https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/blog/hiking-los-angeles-las-best-trails

• https://modernhiker.com/best-hikes-in-los-angeles

Bicycling

• Venice Electric Light Parade - Sunday sunset ride w/ LED-decorated bikes

• CicLAvia - quarterly dedicated route on closed city streets (anything on wheels allowed as well as pedestrians)

• Los Angeles Critical Mass - monthly group that meets at a specified location and time to ride through the streets together

Sports