Los Angeles (the City of Angels — from the Spanish El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles (The Town of the Queen of the Angels), founded 1781 on the banks of the Los Angeles River by 11 families from northwestern Mexico) is the most geographically sprawling city in the developed world: 4,000 km² of city spread across the basin between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, 500m from the Pacific Ocean. LA is simultaneously the world capital of the entertainment industry (Hollywood — the major film and television studios (Universal, Warner Bros, Disney, Sony, Paramount) are all within the city limits), the world capital of car culture (the first freeway (the Arroyo Seco Parkway, 1940), the most extensive freeway network in the world, and the concept of drive-through (first McDonald's, 1953)), and one of the most culturally and gastronomically diverse cities in the world (the largest Mexican population of any city outside Mexico, the largest population of Koreans outside Korea, the largest populations of Armenians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Filipinos outside their respective countries). LA's food scene has undergone a complete transformation in the last 15 years: the taco truck culture, the Korean BBQ row (Koreatown on 6th Street), the Japanese ramen shops of Little Tokyo, the vegan fine dining of Providence, and the fusion innovation of the LA Mexican-Korean-Japanese food scene are now among the most exciting in the world.
The Getty Center (1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood — the J. Paul Getty Museum complex designed by Richard Meier (1997, cost $1.3 billion — the most expensive building project in American history at the time): the travertine-clad pavilions on the Santa Monica Mountains ridge with views of the entire Los Angeles basin to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The collection: Van Gogh's Irises (1889, acquired for $53.9 million in 1987 — the highest price ever paid for a painting at that time), Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier (the finest Mannerist portrait outside Florence), the Dutch Masters gallery, and the Illuminated Manuscripts collection. The Central Garden (Robert Irwin) descends in concentric rings of flowers. Free admission, parking $20.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Hollywood Walk of Fame (Hollywood Boulevard — the 2.5km of terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the pavement: 2,700 stars with the names of entertainment figures (film, TV, radio, theatre, recording) from Douglas Fairbanks (the first star, 1960) to recent additions. TCL Chinese Theatre (the Mann's Chinese Theatre — 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, 1927 — the most famous cinema in the world: the forecourt is embedded with the hand and footprints of 260 film stars, from Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (the first impressions, 1927) to recent additions). The premiere screenings here are the most prestigious in the film industry.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGriffith Observatory (the 1935 observatory on the south face of Mount Hollywood: the most visited observatory in the world, with free public telescope viewing on clear nights (Tuesdays–Sundays, after dark), the Samuel Oschin Planetarium (the finest planetarium in Southern California), and the most important view of the Hollywood Sign (the Hollywood (originally "Hollywoodland" — the 1923 real estate development advertisement that became the most famous sign in the world). From the Griffith Observatory terrace: the entire Los Angeles basin, from the San Gabriel Mountains to the ocean, with downtown's glass towers to the east and the Pacific to the west.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTacos from a lonchera (the taco truck — the Mexican food tradition that gave Los Angeles the finest street tacos in the United States): the Mariscos Jalisco (East LA truck famous since 1989 — the dorado taco (the taco dorado: a corn tortilla folded around shrimp and fried until crispy, then topped with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado salsa and fresh lime — ¿the most complex street food in Los Angeles?)), or any of the East LA trucks that congregate on 1st Street and Olympic Boulevard from 9pm–2am. Eat standing beside the truck, the fluorescent light above you, the freeway nearby.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideVenice Beach Boardwalk (the 2.5-mile oceanfront boardwalk of Venice Beach — the greatest street performance scene in the world: Muscle Beach (the outdoor weight-lifting facility where Arnold Schwarzenegger trained in the 1970s, still operating with daily free spectators), the skate park (the Venice Beach Skate Park — the most famous skate park in the world, free, open dawn to dusk), the street vendors, the tarot card readers, the medical marijuana dispensaries and the basketball courts of Venice Beach (where the original Showtime Lakers pickup games happened)). Then the 25-minute walk north on the Strand bicycle path to Santa Monica.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSanta Monica Pier (the end of Route 66 — the historic US Route 66 (the "Mother Road" from Chicago to Los Angeles) officially ends at the Pacific Coast Highway intersection at Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, and the pier marks the actual Pacific coast terminus. The pier has the Pacific Park amusement park (solar-powered Ferris wheel, the only solar-powered Ferris wheel in North America), the original 1909 carousel from the 1912 arcade, and the trapeze school. The Third Street Promenade is the finest outdoor shopping boulevard in Southern California.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideWarner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood (3400 Warner Blvd, Burbank — the best film studio tour in Los Angeles: the actual working backlot of one of the largest film studios in the world, with the permanent outdoor sets (the New York street, the suburban neighborhood, the brownstones) used in hundreds of productions, the prop houses (the Friends Central Perk sofa, the Big Bang Theory apartment), the DC Comics exhibit (original Batman costumes, the Batmobile from every Batman film), and the working soundstages (if a production is filming that day you may see it). 2.5–3 hour walking tour.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKoreatown (K-town — the neighborhood around 6th Street and Vermont Avenue, the largest Koreatown in the United States (100,000+ Korean Americans): the Korean BBQ restaurants are open until 4am (a Korean tradition — the night is when you eat the serious grilled meat). Quarters BBQ (the best kalbi (short rib) and KBBQ combo for late-night), or Hodori (6th Street institution since 1983). The KBBQ experience in LA Koreatown is considered by many to be superior even to Seoul — more variety, more banchan, open later.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA — 5905 Wilshire Boulevard: the largest art museum in the western US, with 150,000 objects spanning 6,000 years: the South and Southeast Asian art collection (the finest in any US museum outside New York), the Japanese art collection, the Picasso and Matisse holdings, the excellent Latin American collection and the Urban Light installation (Chris Burden — 202 vintage cast-iron street lamps from various LA neighborhoods, illuminated nightly, the most photographed public art installation in Los Angeles).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Broad (221 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown LA — 2015, Diller Scofidio + Renfro: the contemporary art museum of the Broad Foundation, housing one of the finest private contemporary art collections in the world: Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog (the stainless steel rabbit that sold for $91 million in 2019), Basquiat's Crown of Thorns paintings, and Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room (the LED-lit room that extends to infinity in all directions — the most Instagrammed artwork in LA, 45-second timed entry, book months ahead). Free on the first Thursday of each month.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideEl Matador Beach (32215 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu — the finest beach in Malibu: the sea stacks (the sandstone rock pillars rising from the surf), the sea caves accessible at low tide, and the path descending to the sand from the PCH. At sunset (June–September the sun sets directly behind the sea stacks, the Malibu hills golden above) the beach is the most dramatic in Southern California — 20 minutes from downtown Santa Monica by car. The parking lot fills by 3pm in summer — arrive early or walk from the Pacific Coast Highway bus stop.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSilver Lake (the neighbourhood east of Hollywood and north of K-town — the most creative and culinary interesting neighbourhood in Los Angeles: Sqirl (the pioneering LA breakfast restaurant), Botanica (the natural wine bar and Californian restaurant), and the Armenian and Thai restaurants of the streets around Hyperion Avenue. The Silver Lake Reservoir Farmers Market (Saturday mornings) is the finest in the city. At night: the bars and restaurants of Sunset Junction (Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd) are the most lively in the neighbourhood.
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