Introduction
You could spend your day in L.A. at the Universal Studios theme park and the attached City Walk outdoor mall. (Maybe you've got kids with you. Maybe you're a dork. I don't know.)Or you could take a picture of the Hollywood sign. (No, you can't drive to it. You can't even walk to it; there's a fence. So, from Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, turn uphill onto Beachwood Canyon Drive and take a photo halfway up the street. Or park at the end of Beachwood and hike 30 minutes to get really close.)You could stroll down Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's Chinese Theater and look at all the celebrity handprints and footprints, pose for photos with the weirdos who dress up as superheroes and ask you for money, then go hang out the Hollywood and Highland Center mall. You could spend the day gawking at the expensive stores on the twisty part of Rodeo Drive. You could drive 45 minutes south to Disneyland, for all I care. But you won't have seen L.A.
Here's how I would spend my time in L.A., on my first trip or my tenth.
1. Universal Studios
70 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA, 91608; 818-622-3801 34.138279-118.359872 universalstudioshollywood.com
2. City Walk
100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA, 91608; 818-622-4455 34.136198-118.353572 citywalkhollywood.com
3. The Hollywood Sign
Los Angeles, CA, 90068 34.134048-118.32163 hollywoodsign.org
4. Grauman's Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90028; 323-464-6266 34.10178-118.340969 manntheatres.com/chinese
5. Hollywood and Highland Center
6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90028; 323-817-0200 34.101731-118.338976 hollywoodandhighland.com
6. Disneyland
1313 South Disneyland Drive, Anaheim, CA, 92802; 714-781-4565 33.815417-117.925215 More Info
1. Huntington Library, Los Angeles
Apparently this place has some famous art, like Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy, and lots of important documents, such as a Gutenberg Bible, a copy of The Canterbury Tales and two quartos of Hamlet. But no one goes inside.
The Huntington's 120 acres of botanical gardens are endless and amazing — and I don't even like plants. It's not just rose gardens or herb gardens — they've got full-on ecosystems: a Japanese garden, Chinese garden, jungle, desert, lily ponds, a subtropical garden. It's crazy in there. And if you call ahead, you can have high tea.
Or, since you're right near Pasadena, you can have lunch at Pie 'n Burger instead. L.A. may not have the best high-end dining in the country, but we have the best burgers: Try Father's Office, 25 Degrees or The Counter.
1. The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA, 91108; 626-405-2100 34.129462-118.109872 huntington.org
2. Pie 'n Burger
913 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA, 91106; 626-795-1123 34.136203-118.131421 pienburger.com
3. Father's Office
3229 Helms Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90034; 310-736-2224 34.030696-118.384752 fathersoffice.com
4. 25 Degrees
7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90028; 323-785-7244 34.100677-118.342421 25degreesrestaurant.com
5. The Counter
4786 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA, 90292; 310-827-8600 33.977737-118.438591 thecounterburger.com
2. J. Paul Getty Museum
I know, a museum in L.A. — crazy, right? Don't worry, I'm not sending you there for the art. In L.A., you go see high culture for the architecture. The Los Angeles Philharmonic, for example, is really good, but if you're at the symphony, you're really there to check out Frank Gehry's stainless-steel Disney Concert Hall.
The Getty Trust may have more money to throw around on art than any museum in the world, but you go to the Getty Center to take a tram up a huge hill, enter the perfectly simple, calming, Richard Meier–designed space, stroll around the gardens — and maybe see a painting. Unlike museums in cities that don't own the entertainment industry, the Getty is always free.
1. J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90049 34.077563-118.474629 getty.edu
2. Los Angeles Philharmonic
111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012; 323-850-2000 34.055051-118.24961 laphil.com
3. Sushi in the Valley
If you are from anyplace other than Japan, you will be really impressed with our sushi. Great sushi joints grow like weeds in crappy looking strip malls on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the heart of the San Fernando Valley. They're not cheap, but they're all worth it. Asanebo is my favorite, but Katsu-ya with its seared albacore with crispy onions has blossomed into a mini-chain here. The chef at Sushi Nozawa is a genius, which is good because he does only omakase — he decides what you'll eat, and he doesn't care what you like. Another solid option: Teru Sushi. The competition is so intense that you can't go wrong here. Plus, you get to go to the Valley, which is our version of suburbia but has become oddly cool.1. Asanebo
11941 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA, 91604; 818-760-3348 34.143268-118.392055
2. Katsu-Ya
11680 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA, 91604; 818-985-6976 34.141166-118.387367 More Info
3. Sushi Nozawa
11288 Ventura Blvd., Suite C, Studio City, CA, 91604; 818-508-7017 34.140293-118.375575 sushinozawa.com
4. Teru Sushi
11940 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA, 91604; 818-763-6201 34.14299-118.392179 terusushi.com
4. Runyon Canyon Park, Los Angeles
If you firebombed L.A. and obliterated its strip-mall ugliness, you'd see how pretty this place is. That's because of the ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains, which we, along with anyone who watches MTV, call "the Hills."The plastic, Beverly Hills types notwithstanding, L.A. is divided into two kinds of residents: ocean people (rich, mellow, beach-front-dwelling yuppie/hippies) and hill people (grungy, hip urban cowboys, who eventually have kids and move to the beach). The ocean people surf and run and bike along the water. Us hill people, we hike. We hike obsessively. And the good-looking people hike Runyon. You might see famous people here, but you won't even notice them because you'll be blinded by the hotness of merely struggling actors and actresses. Plus, you'll get a workout — from panting at hot people.
1. Runyon Canyon Park
Franklin Ave. & Fuller Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90046; 213-485-5572 34.103434-118.348954 lamountains.com
5. Robertson Boulevard
Yes, Melrose Avenue is a funkier place to shop with way cooler clothes, and Rodeo Drive has all the famous stores, but the sad fact is it's lame to go home without having seen a celebrity in L.A. And Robertson Boulevard — the tiny stretch of horribleness that includes the Ivy restaurant and boutiques like Kitson and Madison — is where Us Weekly photos are born. Once you've ogled someone famous, have lunch at the Newsroom Cafe, a vegetarian-friendly restaurant that is the only normal place on the block. If you somehow stroll this street and don't see a celebrity and don't mind paying $100 per person to do it, push your way past the paparazzi outside the Ivy and try to get a table for lunch.
1. Ivy
113 North Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90048; 310-274-8303 34.074787-118.384074
2. Kitson
116 N. Robertson Blvd, Suite C, Los Angeles, CA, 90048; 800-814-8447 34.075929-118.383734 shopkitson.com
3. Madison
113 South Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90048; 310-275-1930 34.074845-118.383744 madisonlosangeles.com
4. Newsroom Cafe
120 North Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90048; 310-652-4444 34.076094-118.383187
6. Malibu Beach
Zuma beach in Malibu is awfully L.A. — hot moms, surfer dudes, Pamela Anderson (she lives right near there). Walking past the freaks in Venice selling their pot paraphernalia and working out at Muscle Beach (Arnold Schwarzenegger's old gym) is also interesting. Or you could drive all the way down to Manhattan Beach where the corporate frat boys drink beer and play volleyball with their trophy girlfriends.
Personally, I'd go to Zuma in Malibu, where the hills meet the ocean (and where you can park for free on Westward Beach Road, right off the Pacific Coast Highway). Then I'd grab dinner at the Reel Inn, where you eat simply grilled fish from a tray at picnic tables. Or I'd get Greek food at Taverna Tony at the Malibu Country Mart, the outdoor mall where the locals hang out.
If you have time for a long lunch in the middle of the day in Malibu, go to the Malibu Family Wines vineyard, do a tasting and buy one of their surprisingly good bottles to drink at the winery's picnic tables with the veggie burger — trust me on that — you got at John's Garden Fresh Health Store at the Country Mart.
1. Zuma Beach
30000 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA, 90265 34.016847-118.822675 More Info
2. Reel Inn
18661 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA, 90265; 310-456-8221 34.039857-118.580694
3. Taverna Tony
23410 Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA, 90265; 310-317-9667 34.036564-118.685989 tavernatony.com
4. Malibu Country Mart
3835 Cross Creek Road, Malibu, CA, 90265 34.035802-118.686393 malibucountrymart.com
5. Malibu Family Wines
32111 Mulholland Highway, Malibu, CA, 90265; 818-889-0120 34.098488-118.83323 malibufamilywines.com
7. Olvera Street
Don't go downtown during rush hour, which is basically all the time. But if you do make it, stop at this little tourist block that was the original center of Los Angeles in Spanish-owned times. Amidst the souvenir shops (Mexican wrestling masks! Scarface posters!) is Mr. Churro, where you should get a caramel-filled churro. You can also eat at one of the good Mexican restaurants here, or you can go a block over and get the amazing lamb French dip sandwich at Philippe's, the sawdust-covered counter restaurant that's been around since 1908. Or drive a few blocks to Langer's, where to everyone's shock they make a better pastrami sandwich than any deli in New York City. The secret is that L.A. is actually more Jewish than Manhattan.
Walk off lunch by heading to the curvy, metal Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the new church — who knew they were still building churches? — that redefines Catholic grandiosity by using restraint.
1. Mr. Churro
15 Olvera Street, Los Angeles, CA, 10012; 213-680-9036 34.05721-118.238226
2. Philippe's
1001 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90012; 213-628-3781 34.05955-118.236918 philippes.com
3. Langer's Deli
704 South Alvarado, Los Angeles, CA, 90057; 213-483-8050 34.056269-118.27668 langersdeli.com
4. Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90012; 323-850-2000 34.055051-118.24961 laphil.com
5. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90012; 213-680-5200 34.057721-118.244944 olacathedral.org
8. Warner Brothers Studio Tour
The Universal Studios lot is great, but you have to go to the theme park for that tour. So, take the WB Studio Tour instead, or arrange a tour of one of the other big studios near wherever you're staying (Fox, if you're by the beach). Mostly they're all just huge, generic, windowless warehouses that act as soundstages, but each lot has a block of cool New York City facades; plus, WB has the Gilmore Girls' sweet, fake perfect town and, for some reason, Universal still has its Old West set. Either way, it's just fun to see people in silly costumes driving around in golf carts.
1. Warner Brothers Studio
3400 Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA, 91505; 818-972-8687 34.151988-118.336359 Studio Tour
9. The Dresden Room
Remember the scene in Swingers where that old couple sings standards to a bunch of hipsters? That couple, Marty and Elayne, still sings Cole Porter songs to those hipsters at the Dresden Room (every night except Sunday), which is a supercool place to get a drink, relax and feel like you're in Rat Pack–era Vegas.
1. The Dresden Room
1760 North Vermont Avenue, Hollywood, CA, 90027; 323-665-4294 34.103193-118.291409 thedresden.com
10. Third Street Promenade
This is just an outdoor mall. It is full of cheesy tourists and teenagers. I'm not entirely sure why I'm recommending it. But it's outside and three blocks from the beach — and malls are just so L.A. Almost as good, mallwise, is The Grove in the Fairfax District. The Grove's trolley, which travels the one block between the mall and the excellent nearby Farmers Market, where every single booth sells awesome food, is the only public transportation most Angelinos ever use.
1. Third Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA, 90401 34.016443-118.497049 thirdstreetpromenade.com
2. The Grove
189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90036; 888-315-8883 34.072943-118.356459 thegrovela.com
3. Farmers Market
6333 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90036; 866-993-9211 34.071329-118.360105 farmersmarketla.com
Bonus: Celebrity Centre International
Scientology's not scary! In fact, if you come to the Celebrity Centre just to have the decent Sunday brunch in the outdoor portion of this beautiful former hotel, no one will even bother you about Scientology stuff. But it's still fun to explore the rest of the place after brunch, get your e-meter read and maybe even watch the Scientologists' 20-minute movie. I sometimes take pieces of the stationery they keep by the bathroom and write letters to my parents — just to freak them out.
1. Celebrity Centre International
5930 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90028; 323-960-3100 34.104638-118.319019 scientology.cc
source : Time.com
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