Amazing Los Angeles

Los Angeles or L.A. is the largest city in California and one of the most popular because of the movie industry and Hollywood. It is also known for the glamorous Beverly Hills. The city has been filmed many times and has a large tourism industry. 

Universal Studios Theme Park is popular for its fantastic rides, which are based on blockbuster movies. It also includes a working movie studio. Among the highlights here is the ever-changing selection of rides which range from simulators to roller coasters. Favorite movie and TV-themed rides include The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, The Simpsons, Transformers, Jurassic World – The Ride, and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. 

Here you’ll also enjoy CityWalk, a three-block entertainment area, with shopping, dining, and theaters. You can get a guided tour of the studios and get a look behind the scenes of some of the most popular movie sets at Universal. 

Griffith Park is located in the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains and is the largest park in Los Angeles. It is home to the Los Angeles Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, a planetarium, and a Greek Theater. For recreation, there are golf courses and tennis courts. You can enjoy the hiking trails with scenic views, and a riding center was created for the 1984 Olympic Games. 

The Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park features such popular exhibits as Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Red Ape Rain Forest, Komodo Dragon Exhibit, the Winnick Family Children Zoo, the Entry Plaza, Children’s Discovery Center, Sea Lion Cliffs, Campo Gorilla Reserve, Elephants of Asia and LAIR with amphibians, invertebrates, and reptiles. 

Children enjoy riding the merry-go-round at the zoo, taking a pony ride, and taking the miniature train ride that takes passengers through a Native American village and an Old West town.

Nature lovers will enjoy the Botanical Garden which is part of the zoo. There are hiking trails like Fern Dell Trail with more than 50 species of tropical plants.

You’ll enjoy the Bronson Caves, which is a location used in many films and TV shows, including the original Batman series. 

The Autrey National Center is a museum dedicated to the history of the American West. 

The Griffith Observatory is a popular attraction where you can enjoy various exhibits and telescopes. The top highlight is the Zeiss telescope to view the moon and planets. The telescopes are free to use each evening while the facility is open. There are solar telescopes used to view the sun.

Not far from Los Angeles, in nearby Anaheim, is one of the most popular attractions for tourists Disneyland Park. There are many fun rides and interesting themes. Both adults and children enjoy the Disney characters roaming the park.

The latest addition to the park are Star Wars-themed rides. Among the highlights is the new Star Wars Galaxy Edge area, with shops and restaurants that look like the Black Spire Outpost on the planet of Batuu. There are also plenty of entertainment options at Disney Resort. 

Many people come to Los Angeles to see the suburb called Hollywood with many attractions associated with the film industry. They come to see the ever-popular hillside Hollywood sign, a recognized symbol of the city, Hollywood Boulevard, and the Chinese Theater. You can see all your favorite actors’ stars among the over 2,500 on the Walk of Fame. 

It is fun to tour the back lots of Warner Brother’s studio where you can take a walk down memory lane and see the actual Hollywood settings of shows like “Gilmore Girls.” You can see the Brownstone Street lot used in the movie “Pretty Little Liars.” You can take selfies on the couch at Central Perk used on the very popular TV show “Friends,” and photos by the fountain used in the show’s opening credits. The studio tour includes a chance to see authentic customers and interact with favorite props. An interactive exhibit lets you see what happens when making a film from start to finish.

Runyon Canyon Park is great for hiking with a path running north/south through Runyon Canyon Park from Fuller Avenue to Mulholland Drive in Hollywood. There are easy and challenging hiking experiences like the Star Trail for not-so-experienced hikers and the more difficult Hero Trail leading to the park’s highest point, Indian Rock. 

The Hollywood Museum offers four floors of exhibits and has an extensive collection of Hollywood memorabilia. The museum is located in the historic building where once were the Max Factor studios. Some of the original makeup studios have been restored. Classic film lovers will enjoy seeing Cary Grant’s Rolls Royce, and a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. Scary exhibits are in the basement like the jail cell which Hannibal Lechter occupied. 

The Getty Center sits on a hilltop in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is a unique building and has lovely grounds. The collections here include European paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts, as well as 19th and 20th-century photography. The views of the city from the top are amazing. It is one of the two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum created by the late oil magnate, J. Paul Getty. 

Peterson Automotive Museum is for car lovers. There are four floors of permanent and temporary exhibits that feature over 300 cars and motorcycles. It is possible to sign up for either a 90- or 120-minute guided Vault Tour, for rare or unusual cars. 

MacArthur Park dates back to the late 19th century and is located in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. It is named after General Douglas MacArthur and has been appointed a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The highlight here is the lake fed by natural springs. Wilshire Boulevard divides the park in two. The southern half has the lake and the northern half has an amphitheater, band shell, soccer fields, and playground.

There are public artworks in the park among them the MacArthur Monument, Entry Arch, General Harrison Gray Otis, the Hungarian Freedom Fighter Memorial, MacArthur Park Singularity, Mine Was the Better Punch, But It Didn't Win the Wristwatch,[9] and Prometheus Bringing Fire to Earth. 

Enjoy visiting the beachfront city of Santa Monica in western Los Angeles County situated on Santa Monica Bay. It is bordered on five sides by different Los Angeles neighborhoods. Visitors enjoy the famous Santa Monica Pier with the iconic Ferris Wheel. For entertainment, and shopping there is the downtown district. Third Street Promenade is great for both shopping and people-watching, and there are street performers. The Santa Monica Bay coastline connects all the best beaches. 

Among the most popular is Venice Beach, with its golden sand. The Venice Beach Boardwalk is always bustling with people walking, cycling, rollerblading, and jogging. The Skatepark has the best skateboarders, and you can see some creative art installations. Check out Muscle Beach for gym members working out beneath the California sun. There are plenty of food stalls for refreshments. 

The California Science Center is home to the Space Shuttle Endeavor. There are artifacts from the space mission on display, and you can learn more about the program. Other exhibits cover topics like the living world, technology, and the ecosystem. The Ecosystems exhibit features a 188,000-gallon kelp tank and live plants, animals, and fish.

The Broad opened in late 2015 and became a success. The museum exhibits contemporary and postwar artwork. There are over 2,000 artworks on display.

The Los Angeles Farmers Market dates back to 1934 and began at the height of the economic depression, with eighteen farmers setting up stalls on some open land near Wilshire Boulevard to sell produce. Today you can get fruits and vegetables as well as jewelry, kitchenware, toys, and other items. There are free evening concerts on Friday nights in the summertime.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA claims to be the largest art museum in the western US. There are almost 130,000 pieces that span from antiquity to modern times. You can find outstanding collections of Asian, Latin American, and Islamic Art. This is a huge complex with separate buildings. It is located next to the La Brea Tar Pits on the museum row. 

The La Brea Tar Pits are located in Hancock Park. You can see live excavations of fossils and learn about their process. The Tar Pits formed 40,000 years ago when oil seeped through rock, entrapping passing animals that got stuck in the substance. The tar preserved the fossils for the ages. 

The Museum at La Brea Tar Pits formerly the George C. Page Museum shows reconstructed fossils of prehistoric animals found at the site. It displays fully constructed fossils of a variety of mammals, among them mammoths, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and others. An outdoor area displays replicas of extinct animals. 

Beverly Hills borders Los Angeles to the west, and it has some of the most luxurious places like the world-famous Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Wilshire Boulevard create the city’s “Golden Triangle” with upscale retail and dining. As you walk along, you can look for celebrities and luxury cars. 

The Battleship Iowa Museum is located on the waterfront near the Port of Los Angeles. Visitors can walk through the massive battleship and see what life was like for the sailors onboard. You can take a self-guided tour that showcases the history of this ship. Among the highlights are the massive 16-inch guns. Children can enjoy a free scavenger hunt searching the ship to find ten secret locations of Vicky, the ship’s dog, displayed on posters or in augmented reality.

You can also choose to take the Full Steam Ahead Guided Tour which allows you access to the inner workings of the ship, including the engine room, boiler room, and the Combat Engagement Center, among other restricted areas. 

Malibu is located right where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean on the far western coastline of LA County. Malibu has great beaches, among them Zuma Beach with broad shores to the wild landscape that surrounds El Matador State Beach. There are many great seafood restaurants to try here. 

Long Beach is a community in the Los Angeles area that borders the city to the south. It is about 20 miles from downtown stretching along San Pedro Bay. Among the attractions here are the historic Queen Mary ocean liner, the Aquarium of the Pacific, and the unique shops at Shoreline Village. It is also home to some of the best parks in the city, like historic Bixby Park and El Dorado East Regional Park home to Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden. 

The Getty Villa is another site operated by the Getty cultural institution. It is located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, east of Malibu. This is a Roman country house with decorative gardens and courtyards. On display here, you’ll find ancient artworks and relics. 

The Museum of Contemporary Art MOCA has two separate facilities that display artworks from the 1940s onwards. On display are pieces from the permanent collection and there are regularly changing features and emerging media. 

The MOCA Grand on Grand Avenue is the museum’s primary facility, with main galleries and the largest museum store.

Geffen MOCA is located in Little Tokyo in a former police car warehouse.