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It's hard to know where to start in such a sprawling city (467 square miles!), and there's really no one right way to do it. We suggest beginning in old Hollywood before heading to downtown L.A. Then, as an antidote to the concrete jungle, hit the beach! A trip to Santa Monica Beach and adjacent Venice Beach before heading back to Hollywood by way of Beverly Hills will round out your trip nicely.
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See the actual sets of some of Hollywood’s biggest movies, including the ominous Bates house from Psycho, on the studio backlot tour. Thrill rides include Revenge of the Mummy, Jurassic Park, and, new in 2008, The Simpsons Ride.
L.A. owes much of its reinvention as a high-brow culture capital to starchitect Richard Meier's travertine marble art institution, perched in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. A tram ride up the hill followed by a stroll through the museum's gorgeous gardens makes one forget all about the traffic snarls below. Tues-Fri 10am-5:30pm; Sat 10am-9pm; Sun 10am-5:30pm.
See block after block of celebrity mansions on this 40-minute drive, including the late Lucille Ball's ranch house that starred in an episode of I Love Lucy. Tours depart on the hour, every hour, from 11am-4pm. Every Sat and Sun; Summer (July 5-Sept 1) Tues-Sun; Winter (Nov 23-Dec 30) Tues-Sun.
Hiking trails in Runyon Canyon, a 130-acre public park and former '20s housing development, afford awesome views of the Hollywood sign, downtown L.A., and iconic Hollywood architecture like the Capitol Records building, not to mention the occasional celebrity sighting. You can even look down into the yards and pools of several large estates tucked into the hills.
