This city has something to offer everyone.
No matter how hard I try, I can never quite pinpoint what makes Los Angeles such an alluring and tantalizing city. Unlike any other city on the world’s stage, Los Angeles just seems to exude a dreamlike charm that effortlessly escapes normal description. More than anything, Los Angeles – and the countless cities that make up this county – espouses qualities I truly love in a city, namely a multicultural populace full of locals and expats from various cultures and backgrounds, and various activities and events that the prospect of boredom simply never materializes here; there’s ALWAYS someone interesting to talk to and something to do, which I love.
Whether you’re in the mood to marvel at millennia-old artwork from Roman antiquity, gaze in wonder at the billions of galaxies that comprise our night sky, or simply enjoy the view of a pleasant sunset on one of the world’s most beautiful and famed beaches, this city has something to offer everyone.
Santa Monica Pier
200 Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (map, website)
Every time I visit Los Angeles, Santa Monica Pier is always on my list of must-do’s. Situated along Santa Monica Beach, the pier shines as the prime attraction of the city. The pier tends to be abuzz with tourists pretty much year-round, but that honestly shouldn’t deter you from wanting to visit it. It’s the perfect photo op for a midday stroll or beautiful sunsets (tip: at the very end of the pier are wooden stands where you can set up a camera with tripod and watch the sunset in comfort).
Walking across the wood-planked pier, you’ll find a few restaurants and bars, and plenty of local solo musicians and bands to keep you entertained. Another wonderful attraction along the pier is Pacific Park, a great family-oriented area complete with an aquarium, fairground games, arcade games, a variety of delicious food and cotton candy stands, and, of course, a massive Ferris wheel and roller coaster! Santa Monica Pier is known for hosting outdoor films and music events, not to mention drawing worldwide tourists, families, fitness warriors, beach bums, and lots of local fisherman (tip: visit in late afternoon for a good chance to spot sea lions!).
The Grove
189 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (map, website)
For shopping enthusiasts, The Grove is a can’t-miss shopping experience! Located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, this open-air shopping center features beautiful architecture, gorgeous fountain, up-scale restaurants, local boutiques, movie theatre, and a beautiful lake with a lovely lookout bridge for the perfect photo op! (Tip: When you’re on the bridge make sure to take photos with your smartphone and not a DSLR! For some reason, I was stopped from taking photos on the bridge because security believed I was performing a professional photo shoot, which requires a permit, when I stopped to take photos with my Sony A7II. Photos are fine, but stick to your iPhone, if you can.).
There are only about 50 retail stores featured in The Grove, but it’s a very appealing lineup of well-known stores, including an Apple store, Crate & Barrel, Barneys New York Co-Op, Nordstrom and many others. It’s quite touristy, but for good reason as it’s a lovely (albeit, short) stroll, and don’t forget to take a ride on the beautiful double-decker trolley train as well. There’s a parking garage located right next to shopping center, which I would recommend (parking next to the adjacent Original’s Farmer’s Market can be a pain).
Original Farmer’s Market
6333 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (map, website)
After all that shopping, you’ll definitely want a bite to eat, so a stop by the Original Farmer’s Market is a must. Located literally right next to The Grove, this open-air market first opened in 1934 on the corner of 3rd and Fairfax as a way for local farmers to sell produce. Today, it serves everything from fresh produce and fruits, to delicious and various cuisine options for every person. There are many comfort food options from around the world available here, including a taste of real Texas barbecue at Bryan’s Pit BBQ; a plate of delicious Louisiana gumbo at The Gumbo Pot; authentic Mexican cuisine at Lotería Grill; plus, perfectly prepared Parisian crêpes at French Crepe Company, and much more.
If you love dessert (who doesn’t, right?), then treat yourself to your favorite flavor of ice cream at Bennett’s Ice Cream. And wine connoisseurs will definitely want to stop by Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market, which boasts an impressive array of imported wines from around the world, plus tasty sauces and spices, specialty foods and some of the best chocolate delights you can imagine. It’s a truly beautiful shop if you simply want to browse or looking for a gift for a loved one.
Griffith Observatory
2800 E Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 (map, website)
Without hesitation, I would say Griffith Observatory is my favorite on this list. Aside for my personal love of astronomy, arguably the best views of Los Angeles (both during the day and at night) can only be found here. Opened in 1935 and named after famed Angeleno and philanthropist Griffith J. Griffith, the observatory has remained a popular fixture on the tourist scene and attraction for more than 80 years. For photographers, this is the place to be to catch gorgeous sunsets from spectacular vantage points nearly 1,200 feet above the city below (though smog may dampen your viewing pleasure given LA’s famous May Gray and June Gloom forecast).
Beside the tremendous views, the biggest draw to Griffith is, you guessed it, the observatory! According to their official website, more people have peered through its 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope than any other in the world. Make sure to visit the 290-seat Samuel Oschin Planetarium inside, which I cannot recommend enough! Don’t miss the numerous exhibits on display, including pieces of meteorites and other space debris that impacted the Earth long ago, plus the famed mural created by Hugo Ballin and bronze statue of Albert Einstein. You can catch a short film at the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater
Children under five years old are free, while adults are $7 per person to enter the observatory itself; the surrounding area is free. Keep in mind there’s parking at top, but very limited (best to arrive early in the morning or park below and hike up the trail).
Griffith Park
4730 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027 (map, website)
After an awe-inspiring experience at Griffith Observatory, I’d be remiss not to mention the beautiful surrounding area otherwise known as Griffith Park. This sprawling 4,210-acre green space is the largest in Los Angeles and has remained pretty much the same and unchanged since Native Americans first settled here. Other than the observatory, there’s a merry-go-round, three sets of full-sized tennis courts, horseback riding trails and the Los Angeles Zoo can all be found here.
But the hiking trails is what you’ll really want to experience and the park offers so many different routes that you can hike from the streets below to the observatory above and back again down a different route. As great as the views from the observatory can be, you can gain a vantage point even higher if you hike up the trails that ascend even above the observatory’s level.
The Getty Villa
17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 (map, website)
Simply put, The Getty Villa is one of the most gorgeous, important, and one of my favorite attractions in all of Los Angeles. Located on a beautiful stretch of coastline between Malibu and Santa Monica, and along California’s famed Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) or Highway 1, The Getty Villa was commissioned at the behest of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in 1954 and formally opened to the public in 1974. He opened an art gallery near his home in Pacific Palisades, and soon thereafter opened a second gallery, which is the site we now know as The Getty Villa.
Inspired by Italian architecture and modeled after a first-century Roman country home in Herculaneum, Italy called Villa dei Papri, the Getty Villa serves as an educational center and museum dedicated to the preservation and study of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan artwork and culture. Housing more than 44,000 pieces of paintings, statues, murals and more, these precious works of antiquity date as far back as 6,500 BCE to 400 CE.
As one half of the J. Paul Getty Museum – The Getty Center is located some 30 minutes away in Brentwood, which is also another must-see site in Los Angeles – the Getty Villa boasts absolutely beautiful replicas of Greek and Roman architecture, outdoor bronze sculptures, mesmerizing fountains and staring ponds, and lovely outdoor gardens that are simply divine to dwell in and pass your day.
Keep in mind that security is extremely tight here and at every turn you’re guaranteed to find at least one well-dressed security guard keeping close watch on you. (Tip: Whatever you do, do not give even the slightest appearance that you’re conducting a “photo shoot.” Smartphones and DSLRs are perfectly fine and allowed to snap photos of the area and artwork as long as its for your own personal non-commercial use, but anything more than that and you’ll need to acquire a permit via the museum.)
Entry into Getty Villa is free, and you’ll only need to pay for parking ($15 per car, or $10 per car if you arrive after 3 p.m.). Depending on the day and time you visit, they do allow guests to show up without a reservation. However, it’s much better and very easy to reserve your parking pass online, in order to guarantee entry into the Villa.
LACMA
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (map, website)
The Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, better known as LACMA, is a world-renowned museum featuring some of world’s greatest artworks. Founded in 1961, it’s the largest museum in the western U.S. attracting more than one million annual visitors.
The museum boasts an impressive array of collected artwork from Latin American and pre-Columbian collections housed in its Art of the Americas building and unique Chinese and Korean artwork from antiquity can be found in nearby Hammer Building, to ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan sculptures and more than 1,700 beautiful Islamic works from ceramics to carved stone and wood-etched pieces。
But one of the most exciting, and one of my favorite, things about LACMA are the permanent art installations and temporary exhibitions the museum has on display. Not to mention, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions that are quite excellent, including Guillermo del Toro’s At Home with Monsters exhibition from late last year and the just recently ended exhibit of James Turrell’s Breathing Light, which, when you step inside the empty space of the exhibit, feels disarmingly free yet curiously interconnected at the same time.
And permanent art installations like Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass is simply breathtaking, to say the least, and a can’t-miss while here. When you stand underneath that massive boulder, it’s incredible to think that the two pieces of thick steel plates and bolts on either side is enough to support the entire weight of the rock. If you venture to the other side of the museum near Wilshire Blvd, you find Chris Burden’s Urban Light. It’s beautiful to view in the daytime, but absolutely gorgeous to experience it at night, when the 1920s and 1930s-era gas lamps are lit up and provide a lovely hue to L.A.’s streets at night.
Grand Central Market
317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (map, website)
Formerly located in the Homer Laughlin Building in Downtown Los Angeles, Grand Central Market is the city’s oldest and largest public market. Opened in 1917, this food and goods market has been serving some of L.A.’s best and most popular local eats for one hundred years now!
Today, the market is a major tourist magnet and top destination for local culinary dishes. The market hosts many unique food stalls and amazingly delicious meals covering a wide variety of cultural dishes from around the world.
The variety of food options here are seemingly endless: for delicious Israeli cuisine, falafels and sumac-beet soda (it’s actually pretty tasty) visit Madcapra; Sticky Rice serves some of the best Thai food in the city (the panang curry is superb); for Mexican food there are many options, but Tacos Tumbras a Tomas is hard to beat for its delicious variety of tacos and carnitas; pastrami lovers will no doubt be pleased with a sandwich at Wexler’s Deli; China Café has been serving amazingly tasty Chinese-American dishes at GCM since 1959 (the wonton soup is a definite must-try dish); as perhaps the most famous food stall (just check their Instagram), eggslut has been serving delicious yolk-covered burgers to great fan fare and for good reason (try The Gaucho burger); if you’re in need of a tasty pint of beer, stop by Golden Road Brewing, which has more then 20 beers on tap to choose from; and if you’re sweet tooth is calling, grab a cone of delicious ice cream from McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams.
Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, California; Los Angeles, California (map, website)
For shopping enthusiasts and fashionistas, a stroll through L.A.’s Rodeo Drive will definitely need to be on your list. This upscale shopping street, stretching from Wilshire Blvd to Santa Monica Blvd, is located in the city of Beverly Hills and features world-renowned brands, private small boutique shops and some of the most exclusive clientele you can possibly imagine. With over 100 boutiques and brands featured on this one street alone, such as Chanel, Hermès, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Harry Winston, Saint Laurent, Gucci and others, it’s little wonder why it’s a top shopping destination for L.A.’s top spenders.
On any given day it’s not uncommon for celebrities or wealthy shoppers to stop by Rodeo Drive and shut down the store to do some “private” shopping. Some boutiques even require advanced appointments in order to enter and shop there, which means it’s not usually accessible by normal tourists. Nonetheless, Rodeo Drive remains one of L.A.’s most visited and popular destinations for tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrity or do a little shopping themselves. It’s a great place to visit to do some people watching and absolutely free to visit any time of day.
For more tips on great hidden gem shopping spots in Los Angeles, check out our exclusive guide to L.A.’s top shopping neighborhoods here.
Venice Beach
1800 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291 (map, website)
Nothing says Los Angeles like the beach and Venice Beach is arguably the most famous beach on the West Coast. Named after the famous canals in Italy, Venice Beach is a beautiful boardwalk located in Venice, CA, that exudes boho chic and classic California vibes like no other spot in L.A.
Similar to Santa Monica Pier’s boardwalk, Venice Beach offers its own unique mix of eccentric locals selling anything and everything, beautiful beachgoers and sunbathers, and, of course, tons of tourists soaking in the whole experience. If you like a more chill, laid back vibe and into small mom-and-pop shops looking for cool accessories and gifts, then this is definitely your spot. And don’t’ forget to visit Venice’s famed Muscle Beach, which is like the outdoor mecca for fitness warriors.
Located some 18 miles (29 kilometers) southwest of Los Angeles, Venice Beach is free to enter and open 24 hours a day, though many of the shops, bars and restaurants close around 7 p.m. There’s plenty of parking available but if you come during the summer or certain times of the day, you’ll need to search for parking (be sure to reach the street signs carefully in order to avoid a parking ticket).
Hollywood Bowl
2301 Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (map, website)
For an unforgettable concert experience, Hollywood Bowl is the most iconic venue in Losa Angeles. First opened in 1922, this iconic outdoor amphitheater seats 17,500 people and has been a cultural mainstay of L.A. for a long time. Some of music’s greatest acts have all graced its stage, from Madonna, Elton John, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and many others.
The unique architecture of the bowl offers superb sound quality for a truly unforgettable concert experience, so every seat is a great seat no matter where you happen to be. There’s even a Hollywood Bowl Museum and Hall of Fame that you can visit on site, and there are walking tours available throughout the year.
There are 14 picnic grounds where you can lounge and eat on the grass; a couple of restaurants, gift shop and several food and beverage concession stands to grab a quick bite during a performance. Summer is the best time to catch a show here, though parking at the Bowl is incredibly limited here and expensive. It’s best to arrive early, pre-pay your parking space online or use public transportation, like a nearby shuttle lot where you can park for free, to get dropped off at the venue.
Universal Studios Hollywood
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608 (map, website)
For an unforgettable concert experience, Hollywood Bowl is the most iconic venue in Losa Angeles. First opened in 1922, this iconic outdoor amphitheater seats 17,500 people and has been a cultural mainstay of L.A. for a long time. Some of music’s greatest acts have all graced its stage, from Madonna, Elton John, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and many others.
The unique architecture of the bowl offers superb sound quality for a truly unforgettable concert experience, so every seat is a great seat no matter where you happen to be. There’s even a Hollywood Bowl Museum and Hall of Fame that you can visit on site, and there are walking tours available throughout the year.
There are 14 picnic grounds where you can lounge and eat on the grass; a couple of restaurants, gift shop and several food and beverage concession stands to grab a quick bite during a performance. Summer is the best time to catch a show here, though parking at the Bowl is incredibly limited here and expensive. It’s best to arrive early, pre-pay your parking space online or use public transportation, like a nearby shuttle lot where you can park for free, to get dropped off at the venue.
