Why this guide: about 33,100 people a month search Google for “things to do in los angeles” (US, DataForSEO Labs, September 2026). This is the answer we would give a client, written to be booked from.
The short answer
- Do firstGriffith Observatory at sunset, the Getty Center, and the Santa Monica-to-Venice boardwalk ride
- FreeThe Getty, Griffith Observatory, the beaches, the Broad (timed), the Hollywood sign hikes, the Venice canals
- SkipThe Hollywood Walk of Fame beyond ten minutes and the celebrity-home bus tours
The Westside
Santa Monica Pier and the beach; rent a bike and ride the Marvin Braude path south to Venice — the skate park, Muscle Beach, the canals — and on to Marina del Rey. The Getty Center in the Brentwood hills is free (parking is not) and the view matches the collection; the Getty Villa in Malibu is the antiquities half. Malibu itself: Zuma and El Matador beaches, Point Dume, the PCH drive to Point Mugu.
Hollywood and the hills
Griffith Observatory — free, best at sunset, with the sign in frame and the city lighting up below; hike to the sign itself from the Brush Canyon trail. The TCL Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame are a quick look; the real Hollywood is the Warner Bros studio tour in Burbank (the backlot, Friends and Batman sets) or Universal Studios Hollywood (the tram tour is the point; Super Nintendo World the draw). The Hollywood Bowl's summer concerts are the LA night.
Museums and Downtown
LACMA and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures share Museum Row on Wilshire with the La Brea Tar Pits. Downtown: the Broad (free, timed), Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Bradbury Building, Grand Central Market for lunch, Little Tokyo, and the Arts District's breweries and murals. The Last Bookstore and the Angels Flight funicular are the small pleasures.
Neighbourhoods and the parks
Silver Lake and Los Feliz for the cafés and the reservoir walk; Koreatown for the barbecue and 24-hour spas; Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive for the look; Pasadena for the Huntington's gardens and the Norton Simon; Long Beach for the Aquarium and the Queen Mary. Disneyland and California Adventure are 45 minutes south in Anaheim — a full day each; Six Flags Magic Mountain is the coaster park north.
Eat, and get there
Tacos from a truck in Boyle Heights, Korean barbecue in Koreatown, sushi in the Valley's Ventura Boulevard strip, a Langer's pastrami, and one of the Michelin rooms downtown or in Culver City. LAX is 30–60 minutes from most of the city depending on the hour; the engine's Los Angeles page carries the hotels, and a pre-booked chauffeur with a fixed rate beats the 405 guesswork. See our Hollywood guide.
Three things to get right
- One region per day; never cross the city twice.
- Griffith at sunset on a weekday; the Getty on a weekday morning.
- Book Warner Bros, the Broad and the Bowl in advance.
Book it
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