Los Angeles city guide for Visitors | Landmarks, transportation, where to stay & things to Do.

 

Los Angeles city guide for Visitors

General information:

Full name: Los Angeles (Los Angeles, LA)

State: California

Year of foundation: 1781

Population of Los Angeles: 3,979,576 (Estimate 2019)

Total Area: 502.73 sq mi

What to see in Los Angeles. Go to: Los Angeles city is one of the largest cities in the United States, and by far one of the largest tourist centers in the country. Attractions in Los Angeles are scattered throughout the city, so be sure to plan ahead for your visit to the City of Angels. In this article, I will talk about the landmarks of Los Angeles, transportation, Where to Stay in LA, what to see, where to go in Los Angeles and full Los Angeles city guide for Visitors.

Read also: San Francisco city: travel Guide

Los Angeles Geography, map, neighborhoods

Geography of los angeles:

On the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where Los Angeles is located, as elsewhere in the States, Indian tribes once lived. With the arrival of European ships in the Bay of San Diego in the 16th century, the indigenous people had to make room. By the early 19th century, the small settlement had grown to be the largest in California, and the construction of the railroad and the oil found on the coast soon raised the ratings of the city of angels to new heights.

Tour participants in Los Angeles are surprised to learn that the metropolitan area stretches almost 200 kilometers along the ocean and almost 50 kilometers from east to west. Its historical center is La Plaza, where business districts are concentrated, and in general, the growing city simply absorbed more and more satellites and sleeping areas over time.

Los Angeles on the map:

From my experience of visiting the largest city on the West Coast of the United States, I recommend that you start planning and preparing for your trip to Los Angeles in advance. I advise you to choose the most interesting areas for you that you would like to visit, and study as much practical information about them as possible. At the same time, do not forget about air tickets and hotels, the issue with them must be resolved as soon as possible.

Read Also: The most interesting hipster streets and places in Los Angeles

 

Los Angeles neighborhoods:

Los Angeles is divided into over 80 boroughs, the main ones being Westside, East Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Airport Zone, South Bay and Harbor, Northeast, South Los Angeles and Downtown. 

• Westside is divided into Beverly Crest, Bel Air, Brentwood, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Palms and Sotelle.

• San Fernando Valley is divided into Arleta, Valley Village, Valley Glanne, Van Nuys, West Hills, Winnetka, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, Calabasas, Kenoga Park, Lake Balboa, Lakeview Terrace, Mission Hills, North Hollywood Memorial and Valhall Park Sale , North Hills, Northridge, Panorama City, Pacoima, Porter Ranch, Reseda, Sun Valley, Sunland, Silmar, Studio City, Tarzana, Tahunga, Toluca Lake, Chatsworth, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks and Encino. 

• The airport area is divided into Venice, Westchester, Maar Vista, Playa Vista and Playa del Rey.

• South Bay and Harbor are divided into San Pedro, Terminal Island, Wilmington, Harbor Gateway and Harbor Seat.

• The Northeast is divided into Glassell Park, Eagle Rock, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Lincoln Heights, Cypress Park, Highland Park, El Sereno and Atuota Village.

• South Los Angeles is divided into West Adams, Hyde Park, Jefferson Park, Crenshaw, Leimert Park and Watts.

• The center is divided into Angelino Heights, Boyle Heights, Wilshire Center, Westlake, Hollywood, Downtown East, Downtown Los Angeles, East Hollywood, Corytown, Los Feliz, Mid Wilshire, Mid-City, Mid-City West, Pico Union, Silver Lake , Holmby Hills, Chinatown, Elysian Park and Echo Park.

What is interesting about Los Angeles and why go there

• Blooming downtown and gorgeous beaches, many places where the rich and famous spend money on chic living, famous restaurants, a place where fashion trends in art and fashion are created - for all this Los Angeles is deservedly considered one of the centers of a rich and beautiful life for those who have who has a lot of money.

• However, budget travelers will also find activities to their liking. One of the most popular ways to fully explore LA is to enjoy completely free leisure activities such as scenic road trips or visiting major cultural and architectural attractions in Los Angeles.

• In addition, conservationists and conservationists will be interested to know that Los Angeles is always at the forefront of green technologies, from renewable forms of electricity in public transportation to green hotels.

• The diversity of cultural life in L.A. gives tourists the opportunity to choose the most interesting events for themselves and participate in parades, relax in parks, wander the streets and visit Hollywood film factories - film studios, visit various restaurants and have fun on a variety of attractions. And many fans of fun specially come to Los Angeles for the holidays in order to fully immerse themselves in the cultural life of the city.

Best time to visit los angeles 

You can travel to Los Angeles all year round. In summer, the average temperature is kept at 25 ° -26 ° С, in winter it fluctuates between 19 ° -22 ° С. The rainiest months are January and February, so those coming here this season will need a raincoat and umbrella. Temperatures can drop dramatically on winter evenings, but is it really that important if you can wear a T-shirt all day? On the beaches, the temperature is on average a couple of degrees lower than in the city, and in May-June, the foggy haze over the sea usually dissipates only by noon.

Climate:

The climate is Mediterranean with hot dry summers and mild, humid winters (300 sunny days a year) - tempered by the cold Pacific current. The average temperature in July is from + 17 ° to + 24 °, in January - from + 9 ° to + 19 °. At the same time, in the Santa Monica area on the ocean coast, it can be + 22 °, and in Hollywood more than + 30 ° C.

Los Angeles historical and National landmarks

People can love this city endlessly, or they may not love at all. In any case, Los Angeles remains one of the most exciting destinations in the world. Los Angeles attractions are world famous. Most tourists visit these attractions first of all during their trip.

• Hollywood Sign

Installed in 1923 and originally called "Hollywood", the Hollywood sign had to last only 18 months.

The arrival of the Golden Age in Hollywood changed all of this, and the mark has remained on Mount Lee in Griffith Park ever since. This landmark was rebuilt from steel in 1978 and was last repainted in 2005. The easiest vantage point in the pool is the raised patio at the northeast corner of the Hollywood & Highland Center.

👉You can take a guided tour of Griffith Park, or park in Lake Hollywood Park and watch the signpost across the canyon.

• The Getty

The main branch of the J. Paul Getty Museum is in Brentwood, exploring Los Angeles from its hill.

The founder of the museum was oil industrialist Jean Paul Getty, who left another $ 661 million at the institution when he passed away in 1976. The money went to create an impressive and labyrinthine new complex, the Getty Center, which opened in 1997 after nearly two decades of planning and construction.

The Getty Center, connected to the lower car park by a ferry crossing, is a multifaceted attraction.
You will fall in love with Pritzker Prize winner Richard Meier's architecture, ever-changing Central Garden, Cactus Garden, outdoor sculpture and stunning views, not to mention an amazing collection of art from the Middle Ages to the present day. Here you can enjoy manuscripts, Italian, Flemish and Dutch paintings of the 17th and 19th centuries, a huge range of Impressionist paintings and exquisite decorative arts.

• Griffith Park

In 1896, Welsh mining magnate Griffith J. Griffith donated over 3,000 acres of Rancho Los Feliz to the city of Los Angeles as a "Christmas present." Since then, the park has added an additional 1,000 acres, making it one of the largest urban parks in the United States.

Griffith Park is a rough desert that includes a chunk of the Santa Monica Mountains and is paved with hiking and horse riding trails.

It is home to the Los Angeles Zoo and has two public golf courses (Harding and Wilson), pony rides, tennis courts, and a variety of concessions and picnics.

The Hollywood Sign is within the boundaries of the park and can be reached on foot.

A little higher is the majestic, but unmarked 360-degree vantage point from which Hollywood and Burbank can be seen.

• Griffith Observatory

In a second "Christmas present" in 1912, Griffith J. Griffith provided funds for the creation of the Greek Theater in the park and the Griffith Observatory, which was not completed until 1935. Of all the many enduring landmarks in Los Angeles, this three-domed Art Deco Monument carries a certain mysticism.

The Griffith Observatory sits on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood, the park's highest peak, and views of the city, ripples in the sun, or shimmering night from the Observatory's terraces are a dream come true.

We can't begin to list the movies and TV shows that made the most of this place, but Rebel Without a Cause by James Dean (1955) is one that puts the observatory on the world's gaze.

The 25-meter copper-clad central dome houses the Samuel Oshin Planetarium, which shields the Center in the Universe, high-resolution time travel, the discoveries of Ptolemy and Galileo, as well as space, the Milky Way, and the landing back at the Griffith Observatory Front Landing.

You can also view telescopes and explore over 60 space displays.

• California Science Center

In October 2012, the space shuttle Endeavor, which flew 25 NASA missions from 1992 to 2011, sailed the streets of Los Angeles from LAX to the California Science Center.

Half a year ago, the shuttle was still in the temporary pavilion, and the exhibit, available with a special pass or IMAX theater pass, showcases this stunning piece of equipment. Also featured are some of his gadgets, such as the space pot, galley, tires from his latest mission, and the SPACEHAB Logistics Module.

While Endeavor is undoubtedly impressive, this is just one exhibit in a museum filled with interactivity, talking about ecosystems, world-changing inventions, air and space, how our organs and cells work, and how as shown outside the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

There is always a selection of well-organized special exhibitions and of course the seven-story IMAX cinema.

• Warner Bros Studio

Unlike the action-packed Universal Studio Tour, a visit to Warner Bros., located near Burbank, has less to do with dazzling brilliance than with its filmmaking and TV showmaking prowess.

The standard tour is two to three hours long and includes a visit to the Sound Stage, where the Big Bang Theory was filmed, as well as Archive and Prop House, replete with props and costumes from countless films, including the Harry Potter series and the DC Universe.

Backlot has jungle, Midwestern city, New York and Western sets that will immediately ring the bell, while Picture Car Vault has a fleet of Warner Bros. cars of several Batmobiles.

• Hollywood Walk of Fame

Every city has things that locals avoid like the plague, but tourists cannot afford to refuse.

Such objects include the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which features actors, musicians, directors, music and theater groups and even 16 fictional characters with stars on the pavement.

Just under half of all the stars here are dedicated to someone in the film industry.

The stars are made of brass and terrazzo, and in the spring of 2019 there were over 2,600 of them. The Walk of Fame, which began in 1958 with an initial 1,588 seats, runs 15 blocks on Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks from Vinaya Street.

About 24 new stars are installed each year, at a cost of $ 40,000 (paid by the nominee or sponsor), and guests of honor are required to attend the opening ceremony.

The current Barrymore dynasty is one of the most represented families, with a total of six stars on the alley.

• Universal Studios Hollywood

In 1964, Universal Studios began offering tours of its studio to show sets that had already made their way into Universal City film and television history.

It soon developed into a full-fledged theme park.

Almost everything is based on Universal Studios products and is updated every few years to keep it popular.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2016 and offers the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster and the Forbidden Journey, a dark ride through Hogwarts.

A new arrival in 2019 is the epic Jurassic World: A Parachute Shoot Ride in the Lower Section, replacing its predecessor in Jurassic Park.

On the Upper Section, the studio tour is still gaining ground and entails an hour-long tram ride to places like Courthouse Square (To Kill a Mockingbird, Back to the Future, Gremlins) and The House of Psycho (1960). Along the way, you will be taken to famous movies and face several setbacks such as flash floods and earthquakes.

• Los Angeles City Hall

Since 1940, the Los Angeles City Hall has been embossed on badges on the LAPD building.

This landmark, dating from 1928, has appeared on screen numerous times, in the original Dragnet series in the 50s and in 1997 in LA Confidential.

The City Hall complex has a neoclassical base topped with this unmistakable Art Deco tower.

Thanks to the city charter, which remained in effect until the late 1950s, the 138-meter tower was the tallest building in Los Angeles until 1964.

• Grauman's Chinese Theater

Hollywood history permeates "TCL" exquisitely decorated Chinese Theater on the Walk of Fame.

Designed to resemble a Chinese pagoda and guarded by a pair of Ming Dynasty lions, this monument has hosted a host of performances. In commemoration of the premiere of Star Wars in 1977, prints of Darth Vader, C-3PO and R2D2 were taken on a concrete site.

The tradition is said to date back to 1927, when the actor Norma Talmadj slipped on wet concrete here, and over the past 90-plus years, any hundreds of icons on the silver screen have left their signature and some sort of seal.

As with the Walk of Fame, you can download a map to help you find your favorites.

• Paramount Pictures Studio Tour

With roots dating back to 1912, the corporation that became Paramount Pictures moved to this 26-acre site at 5555 Melrose Avenue in 1926. Scenes that filmed Sunset Boulevard, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Rear Window and Sabrina are still in use today.

You can discover them on a 2-hour studio golf cart ride with a tour guide who is well versed in studio history.

You will see the Pillars Warehouse, the new Visitor Center and New York Backlot (several New York blocks in one place).

• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)

Founded in 1913, the largest natural history museum in the western United States received an impressive overhaul in the early 2000s.

Strictly speaking, the museum has three buildings, including the La Brea pits, which draws tourists to the Renaissance building in the Exposition Park with exquisite terracotta moldings and a pillared rotunda.

Showcased here is the Hall of Dinosaurs, which reopened with double capacity in 2013, showcasing the only T. rex growth fossil series featuring a child, teen, and adult T. rex.

This adult is one of the ten most complete specimens of this dinosaur in the world.

Kids will also be fascinated by the hands-on Discovery Center, while the Butterfly Pavilion, with varieties from across the United States, is a seasonal treat from March to September.

• Japanese American National Museum

Little Tokyo houses the largest museum in the United States dedicated to Japanese-American history, the preservation of textiles, photography, film footage, oral histories, and a variety of art and artifacts.

The Japan American National Museum was founded in 1992 and moved to an elegant pavilion designed by Kyo Obata in 1999.

The permanent exhibition, Common Ground: The Heart of the Community, recounts the Japanese-American experience from the earliest immigrants in the 1880s with hundreds of documents and objects detailing the internment during World War II.

Read also: San Francisco Attractions | Best places to visit in san francisco bay area

 

Where to stay in los angeles for tourists

Was your purpose in Los Angeles for sightseeing related to Hollywood and cinema? It makes sense for you to pay attention to hotels in the Hollywood area (there are hotels in different price categories).

Travelers can enjoy the glamorous life in Beverly Hills (there is a chance to meet a star), but in order to feel the appropriate atmosphere and experience positive emotions, it is better to choose expensive hotels in this area.

Do you want to be closer to the ocean and be able to meet sunrise and sunset on the shore? Choose the area of ​​Santa Monica (it is better to book a hotel on the 1st line).

los angeles public Transportation and Hotel

Los Angeles is a typical American city, where public transport is not very well developed due to the developed culture of private cars. If you are planning to visit not only Los Angeles itself, but also everything that is around, then the best way to get around is to rent a car it is possible to move by public transport, but it will not be so comfortable.

Metro and bus services are controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In total, 1.7 million people in Los Angeles use public transportation every day.

How to save money for travel in Los Angeles

If you are planning a lot of trips, then it makes sense to buy a day pass ($ 7, fights back on trip 5). Also available for a week and a month. Metro tickets allow you to use all rail transport in the city, but are not available on buses.

Transport types in los angeles

Car:

Los Angeles is a city of motorists. Every year, cars in this city cover approximately 160 million km. The number of cars exceeds the number of licensed drivers by 1.8 million. It is convenient to drive your own car here - thanks to convenient multi-level interchanges and generally developed road infrastructure. But there are also disadvantages - for example, underfunding in this industry, due to which on many city roads the asphalt is of poor quality. However, the biggest problem is traffic jams due to the large number of cars. Every year, car owners lose an average of 63 hours on them. If there were any restrictions on travel within the city, the situation might have been different, but in fact it is.

There are twelve expressways in Los Angeles, the first opened back in 1940. It's called Arroyo Seco. Highways connect Los Angeles with other cities in America - for example, with the help of I-5 and US-101, there are links to cities lying north and south of LA. To the east is the I-10. The city generally has the shape of a rectangle - some streets stretch in the direction "north-south", others - from east to west. The largest and most famous streets are the so-called "boulevards". It is believed that in this city there are no pedestrians as such, because each resident either owns a car in private ownership or rents it.

But in reality this is not so - on many central streets (and not only) there are a lot of pedestrians - because of the problem of traffic jams described above.

Bus:

The bus is the main mode of transportation in Los Angeles. Buses operate on two hundred routes, thanks to which there is a connection between different areas and suburbs. Almost all buses have platforms adapted for transporting bicycles (they can hold two pieces). Landing takes place through the front door. There are usually no problems with free seats, because most of the locals move around the city in their cars.

The aircraft has a high-speed - orange - bus line, which is operated by eighteen-meter articulated MetroLine trains, painted in silver. A special lane is allocated for their movement, this type of transport has a priority on the road.

You will pay a dollar and a half for travel by bus or subway. There are travel passes - for five dollars, they are beneficial to use if you plan to use public transport often. A weekly pass will cost $ 20, and for a month it will cost $ 75.

Intercity travel from Los Angeles is carried out using Greyhound transport - these buses can take you to many cities in the United States (if not all). These buses differ in terms of convenience, depending on their age. It is often more profitable to use this type of transport than driving your own car. There is only one drawback - this is a large number of stops along the route. The departure point for Greyhound buses is East 7th Street (Downtown). It is not the most prosperous area, so the best way to get to the terminal is by bus.

Metro:

The Los Angeles metro was built relatively recently - in 1990. Today there are five branches here - red, purple, gold, blue and green. As for the first two, this is the usual underground metro in our understanding, while the other three are light overground. It is planned to launch another elevated line, the Expo Line, which will run to Santa Monica. So far, she's on her way to Culver City. As for the light rail system, there are also orange and silver lines of high-speed buses, which are also ranked as part of the subway system.

For many decades, the construction of a subway in Los Angeles was considered an unthinkable undertaking due to the seismic hazard of this area. The situation changed when new - flexible - building materials appeared. So in our time, according to leading engineers, if an earthquake happens, then the metro will be the safest place in the whole city.

Italian trains operate on the subway lines, which have four to six carriages, and the overhead lines are equipped with trains that are more like high-speed trams.

Recently, the share of city dwellers who prefer the subway has been growing. This is due to the increase in the cost of gasoline and road congestion. In one day, the metro transports about four hundred thousand people. When compared with large cities in Europe or the same America, then this is not much - however, this figure is constantly increasing.

Train:

The Union Station railway station is important for the city in terms of history: it was built in 1939 according to the colonial Spanish style. Nowadays, transportation in Los Angeles is controlled by two firms - Amtrak and Metrolink.

Union Station is the only train station in the city (although Los Angeles is not a small city at all). And the reason lies in the fact that they don't really like to use rail transport here - neither locals nor visitors, because the cost of travel by train is comparable to the cost of air travel, and maybe even more. But some use the railroad to get to Pasadena, for example.

Sea traffic:

The Port of Los Angeles is located 32 kilometers south of downtown San Pedro. The city port is linked to the Long Beach port, making it the largest port area in the country as a result. More than eight hundred thousand cruise ship passengers arrive at the port every year.

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Hotels in Los Angeles

Los Angeles luxury resorts are located north of the city, near Malibu. Accommodation in the central part of the city is very expensive, but at the same time the hotels are equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable stay - swimming pools, spa centers and beauty salons. The surcharge for the Pacific Ocean view is quite high. It is better to choose a hotel located away from the roads: traffic in Los Angeles is very dense.

Parking is free at most hotels near Venice and Redondo beaches and along the Santa Monica coastline. In contrast, in downtown, hotels usually provide a parking space at an additional cost. Also in this part of the city, tourists can count on discounts on weekend stays.

See also: Where to Eat in Los Angeles (good and cheap) | Top 11 budget friendly restaurants in los angeles

15 Best Things to Do in Los Angeles

1. Take a walk in the evening Downtown.
2. Listen to street musicians and watch street dancers.
3. Immerse yourself in the mysterious Chinese culture by visiting Chinatown.
4. Explore Hollywood thoroughly, strolling back and forth along the main boulevard, peeking into gift shops and researching the names of celebrities on the Avenue of Stars.
5. Admire the city and countryside from the Griffith Observatory.
6. Take a ride on the famous funicular "Flight of the Angels", located in the old part of the city and famous as "the shortest railway in the world."
7. Relax without thinking about anything on the kilometers of local snow-white beaches.
8. Taste a wide variety of foods on the Grand Central Market.
9. Take a look at the windows of boutiques on Rodeo Street.
10. Go to a local baseball game.
11. Visit Disneyland!
12. Feel like a hero of the television series on the beaches of Malibu.
13. Go to some pop star's concert.
14. Walk along the Venice Beach canals.
15. Go hiking in the Santa Monica mountains.

Helpful information:

Here you will find the most important emergency numbers in Los Angeles for the most extreme cases and other useful numbers.

Single emergency number: 911

Help for victims of crime:  +1 213-485-3586

Disaster relief services: +1 213-978-2222

Inquiry Service: 411

Los Angeles Tourist Information Center: +1 323-467-6412

Calling a taxi (the most reliable companies) - Beverly Hills Cab Company (tel: +1 800 273 6611), Bell Cab (tel: +1 888 481 2345) or Independent Taxi Company (tel: +1 800 521 8294).

Some believe that Los Angeles has neither face nor character. However, they say so only, those who have not been here at all, or were, but passing through. If you stay in this city for at least a week, it will become obvious that he is all right with both. Of course, the "city of angels" is not so easy to open up, and it is not easy to understand it, because it does not fit into traditional standards. As you leave LA, you will remember these words and only then will you understand what they mean.

Thanks for reading......