Los Angeles is a city of a hundred cities: movie studios and mountain trails, beach piers and downtown landmarks, all spread under that famous light. This guide gathers the best of it — the icons, the studios, the coast and the neighborhoods — with the tours and places our readers love most.
Hollywood icons
Start where everyone starts: the sign. The Hollywood Sign hike takes you in front of AND behind the letters with an expert guide, and this second route adds the best viewpoints in the city. Above it all sits the Griffith Observatory — go at sunset and stay for the planetarium — and its trails are the city’s favorite walk, as our Griffith Observatory hike review explains. Locals do the same views from Runyon Canyon Park, dogs and all. → All Los Angeles places
Studios and celebrity homes
LA runs on movies, and the studios open their gates. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour walks you through real sets and soundstages (this behind-the-scenes review covers the other route), while the VIP Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood puts you on the backlot like a star. Then ride past the gates of the famous on the Celebrity Homes open-air bus tour or the Hollywood and Beverly Hills sunset bus. → All Hollywood & studio tours
Beaches and the coast
The west side is LA’s smile. The Santa Monica Pier ends Route 66 over the Pacific, the Venice Beach Boardwalk is the greatest free show in California, and Zuma Beach is the wide, clean Malibu strand locals pick. Get on the water with the Long Beach harbor boat tour or go further out on a whale watching tour — and keep a day for the Catalina Island golf cart tour. → All Los Angeles tours
Museums and culture
The Getty Center is half museum, half hilltop garden with the city at its feet — and admission is free. Train lovers head to the Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park, and the brand-new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art just joined the skyline of Exposition Park. → All Los Angeles museums · Arts & Culture
Downtown and historic LA
Downtown rewards walkers: the Central Library is a 1926 jewel, Olvera Street and El Pueblo is where the city was born in 1781, and Grand Park ties it together with fountains and lawns. Eat your way through it on the Downtown LA food tour. → Where to Eat
Family favorites
LA is generous with kids: swan boats on Echo Park lake with the Swan Boat Rental, peacocks and gardens at the Arboretum, Noah’s Ark at the Skirball and hands-on museums across the city. → All family-friendly Los Angeles
Adventure and day trips
Ride the Mulholland Trail on horseback with the sign on one side and the Pacific on the other, lift off on the Downtown LA Lights helicopter tour, or leave the city entirely: the Joshua Tree day tour and the Yosemite and Kings Canyon 2-day tour are the classic escapes. → Adventure tours
Where to stay and what’s on
Beach towns (Santa Monica, Venice), Hollywood and Downtown each sleep differently — compare them in Where to Stay. Then fill your nights from the concerts calendar and the events agenda, and plan your days with our 1-to-5-day itineraries.
Keep exploring: get the best of Los Angeles every week — new tours, concerts and openings — in the Happy City News newsletter.
