There's a lot more to Los Angeles than the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Discover the best the city has to offer with this guide
If you’re visiting Los Angeles and you have no idea where to start your sightseeing, look no further. This is your essential quick guide to the Californian city.
Art for miles
Alongside landmark museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, newer museums are adding more jewels to LA’s crown. The Broad in downtown LA fills its building with world-class contemporary works, while the Marciano Art Foundation brings modern art to an old Masonic Temple in the residential Hancock Park neighbourhood. Meanwhile, galleries such as Hauser & Wirth (below), occupying a renovated warehouse, are among the new openings adding colour to the Arts District.
Ethnic eats
LA is one of the world’s most diverse cities, and its ethnic enclaves are vast. The biggest, Koreatown, boasts some 900 spots for Korean barbecue, tofu stew and comforting noodles, interspersed with Salvadoran pupusa (snack) shops. On LA’s Westside, Iranian shops line Tehrangeles (Westwood Boulevard), while nearby, the newest outpost of Eataly is a voyage to Italy. Take the Gold Line train to Boyle Heights in East LA for top-tier Mexican fare, or head east to San Gabriel Valley, home to yum cha houses and giant Asian food halls such as Westfield Santa Anita. Or try dozens of cuisines in one spot at downtown LA’s revamped Grand Central Market, or at the weekly Smorgasburg food fair (below).
Shopping wonderland
The fashion boutiques of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills are on every shopper’s list, but worthy shopping districts fill LA County, from Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade (below) to West Hollywood’s La Cienega Design Quarter. Trendy fashionistas will bliss out along Melrose Avenue and Abbot Kinney Boulevard, and around Sunset Junction in the Silver Lake neighbourhood. The Fashion District is where bargaining is still allowed, and there are also giant malls such as The Americana at Brand in Glendale.
The fashion boutiques of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills are on every shopper’s list, but worthy shopping districts fill LA County, from Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade (above) to West Hollywood’s La Cienega Design Quarter. Trendy fashionistas will bliss out along Melrose Avenue and Abbot Kinney Boulevard, and around Sunset Junction in the Silver Lake neighbourhood. The Fashion District is where bargaining is still allowed, and there are also giant malls such as The Americana at Brand in Glendale.
Theme parks central
LA is the gateway to America’s favourite theme parks. There’s the original Disneyland, which has been welcoming visitors since 1955, and its sister park Disney California Adventure. Then there’s Universal Studios Hollywood, with its legendary tram ride through its studio’s backlots and the new, magical Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Offering both land and water thrills, in the form of Magic Mountain, home to a world-record 19 roller coasters, and water park Hurricane Harbor is theme park chain Six Flags.
Beachy keen
With over 120km of shoreline, LA has a beach for just about anybody. At the northern end, the 34km strip of Malibu coast attracts a mix of surfers and celebs in bajillion-dollar mansions, while at the western side, Santa Monica entices with its easy access, big-city sophistication and iconic solar-powered Ferris wheel. Next door, Venice Beach, an oceanfront carnival of vendors, cyclists, rollerbladers, musicians and street artists, beckons. Further south on Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, cliffs rise above the Palos Verdes Peninsula for lofty ocean and sunset views, and Long Beach’s Naples neighbourhood charms with its canals and gondola rides. Most of the coast is also bikeable, with trails such as the roughly 35km South Bay Bicycle Trail.
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This article was originally published by Singapore Press Holdings.
