Los Angeles is a gateway city for international travelers since many fly straight to LAX. It is easy to understand why travelers want to visit LA. The city is quintessentially American. It has a perfect climate for outdoor activities. The beauty surrounding the beaches is matched only by the food from every corner of the world. There are numerous opportunities to spend money, whether it be fine dining, shopping, or entertainment. La is a home for all and does not limit visitors to only experiencing one attraction.
Start visiting the city with the entertainment attractions. The chalkboard of the city is Hollywood. It is one of the oldest film studios and still remains in operation. Guests are able to take photos in front of the Dolby Theater, the venue for the Oscars.
Griffith Observatory is the best place to view the rest of the city. The observatory is above the city and provides an unobstructed view of the Hollywood sign. It also provides views of the entirety of Los Angeles. It is one of the best views of the city as it perfectly captures all of the lights below and it is one of the best places to watch the sunset in LA.
Disneyland is a classic theme park that offers guests a nostalgic trip back to their childhood. It is a place for pure escapism and adventure. A good complement to Disneyland is Disney California Adventure, a park that is faster and provides a more adrenaline-fueled experience than Disneyland. Universal Studios Hollywood furthers the movie theme and blurs the line between studio production and amusement park rides and attractions. Their VIP experience gives guests access to working movie and television sets, behind the scenes areas of the studio, a private meal, priority access to rides and preferred seating for shows. It's certainly an indulgence, but offers a glimpse into the more polished and theatrical Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has an energetic nightlife. There is a rich nightlife scene that is great for any mood. It can include a casual bar or an active space with live entertainment and dancing. Those who enjoy music should visit the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was designed by Frank Gehry, a winner of the Pritzker Prize, and the hall is as visually stunning as it is incredible to hear music in.
Venice Beach is one of the most exciting areas of Los Angeles. Artists of all types, performers, and free-spirited people are drawn to the beach. The area is lively with beach life, street art, shops, music and people-watching. The atmosphere is less organized and more creative as night falls. The area is transformed into an impromtu stage with performers of all different genres.
Los Angeles is a city that rewards people the effort to discover beyond the well-known locations. The murals, huge and colourful, and the graffiti, with bold slogans, turn the insipid corners into informal galleries. The city's walls, the most photographed sites, are more than a backdrop for social media. These walls are a canvas for image-making and public expression.
Because of the art and the history, Los Angeles deserves to be called a city of museums. Its museums include natural history, classical collections, modern art, contemporary architecture, gardens and cultural history. The Getty Center is the best place to start. Its architecture and landscape merge the ancient and modern worlds. The Center has gardens and outdoor spaces with panoramic views of Los Angeles. Inside are paintings and sculptures from Europe, the Americas and Asia, including Renaissance masterpieces from the collection of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.
The Getty Villa is the opposite experience. It has secluded gardens, and classical antiquities from Greece and Rome. The Villa's views of the Pacific provide a larger Mediterranean context to the art;
it feels like the art is not confined to a typical museum.
In Pasadena, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens provide yet another opportunity to layer culture. The library houses manuscripts from Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and Henry David Thoreau, along with important collections of British and French portrait paintings, French furniture, and other works of art. The library's botanical garden is also noteworthy for its collection of tropical, rose, Japanese, desert, and Chinese gardens.
The Broad Museum Downtown is a symbol of the city’s embrace of contemporary art and culture. It houses an impressive collection of just about 2,000 pieces, including work from dozens of notable modern and contemporary artists. The collection’s visual boldness is likely to engage even the most casual art appreciators. The Broad makes a strong case for contemporary art in Los Angeles, that high and low culture should not be separated in the way they too often are.
If celebrity culture is your thing, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in Los Angeles. Over 100 designer and high-fashion boutiques line Rodeo Drive, which is recognized as one of the top luxury shopping destinations in the world. The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel sits at the end of the drive in the intersection, and is known from the movie Pretty Woman as the hotel where the main characters stayed. If you need to decompress from the stresses of travel, a visit to the spa there is the perfect way to escape.
Los Angeles offers luxury well beyond shopping and hotels. Visitors can enjoy a private terminal at the airport, exclusive access to award-winning restaurants, high-end spas, private golf courses, VIP seating at major concerts and sporting events, and more. The purpose of luxurious experiences in Los Angeles is not to live the life of a celebrity, but to showcase the mastery with which the city has combined comfort, accessibility, and entertainment.
Food is perhaps the most democratic pleasure of the city. Burgers and fries may characterize much of America, but Los Angeles is far too diverse for that. Its variety of restaurants, markets, cafés, and food trucks showcase a multitude of communities, cultural practices, and culinary arts. With that, it has a reassuring appeal to visitors who want food variety at convenience.
Chimney in Chinatown has a unique breakfast menu. For example, they offer Belgian waffles and pancakes with toppings like truffle pork sausage, fried smoked bacon, and eggs. The breakfast place has an interior made of reclaimed wood with some brick and a bit of corrugated metal, which provides a nice and relaxed atmosphere for a gentle start to the day.
One of the city’s best food destinations is the Grand Central Market. It has over a century of history and diverse food vendors, ranging from traditional Mexican to modern culinary ideas, meats, Thai food, and deli sandwiches. It’s not a place for a formal balanced meal;
it's a place to go where your appetite takes you.
When it comes to dessert, you can visit Sprinkles where you will find pastel colored vending machines that sell freshly baked cupcakes. The opening of Urth Caffé in the downtown Arts District gave the area a coffee destination identity. Many cafés from the city’s third-wave coffee movement have opened around it.
Los Angeles food trucks offer practical dining. Food trucks offer meals to people traveling from one attraction to another, and save time on sitting and waiting at a restaurant. Food trucks offer a variety of meals, including cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, fried sandwiches, pasta with octopus, Mediterranean herb salad, Vietnamese baguette with scrambled eggs, and rice with pork belly. LA has a lot of fine dining options, and also a lot of great food truck meals.
Los Angeles is a city that is extravagant while also being inclusive at the same time. LA offers movie theatres for kids, museums for adults, beaches for everyone, luxury shopping, and of course amazing food. LA is more than just a gateway to America, it is a city that makes you want to stay longer.
