Los Angeles Guide
Things Not to miss
1 Malibu Creek State Park
• Expansive park in the Santa Monica Mountains offering terrific camping and hiking, as well as striking natural vistas memorable from many movies and TV shows, including M*A*S*H*.
2 Sunset Strip • The essential axis of the California music scene, jammed with groovy bars and clubs as well as swanky hotels, oddball boutiques, and towering billboards advertising fashion, liquor, and starlets.
3 Watts Towers • These spiny towers built from cast-off glass and pottery are a welcome sight in South Central LA, where their graceful silhouettes lend an otherworldly touch to the scruffy neighborhood.
4 Getty Center • This colossal arts center, looming above West LA and stuffed with the glory of the Old World, has done much to help Los Angeles shake off its reputation as a culture-free zone.
5 Disneyland • Much more than a theme park, the "Magic Kingdom" is a carefully planned resort where you can eat, sleep, and take a spin on the family-oriented rides without ever leaving its gates.
6 Venice Boardwalk • Mix with itinerant artists, rollerbladers, street preachers, T-shirt and trinket vendors, and hordes of tourists at this free-spirited beachside strip.
7 Angelino Heights • Located just beyond Downtown, a lovely stretch of Victorian homes and mansions that harkens back to a long-forgotten era of LA design and culture.
8 Egyptian Theatre • The stylishly preserved zenith of movie palaces in the 1920s, with ancient-looking columns, scarabs, and friezes, and a solid diet of art-house and independent fare.
9 Griffith Park • A verdant swath of urban greenery on the hills overlooking the city, containing several museums, bucolic glades, great trails, and the signature Observatory.
10 LA County Museum of Art • Now undergoing massive renovation, this huge storehouse of old and new art presents the broadest collection of art in the western US.
11 Whisky-a-Go-Go • Perhaps the most famous rock club on the West Coast, a proving ground for punk and metal groups and a classic venue that's hosted the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Janis Joplin, and The Doors.
12 Canter's Deli • One of LA's better delis and an inspired 24-hour spectacle, with brassy waitresses, an eclectic clientele, and an adjoining cabaret.
13 Rodeo Drive • A compact axis of downtown Beverly Hills featuring countless jewelry, fashion, and beauty merchants, that cater to both elite customers and window-shopping tourists.
14 Gamble House • This 1908 Craftsman-style treasure is one of Pasadena's gems, blending elements of rustic native design with touches of Swiss-chalet and Japanese decoration.
15 Natural History Museum of LA County • A terrific institution that holds a number of treasures, from ancient dinosaur bones to precious gemstones to three hundred pounds of gold.
16 Queen Mary • Docked in Long Beach, this striking Art Deco-styled ocean liner is open for tours – and you can also step inside a Russian sub moored nearby.