Los Angeles is not one city centre but a string of them, and the first decision is where to spend each day, not what to see. Hollywood and Griffith Park have the observatory, the sign and the Walk of Fame; downtown has the museums of Grand Avenue, Grand Central Market and Dodger Stadium; the Westside has the Getty and the beach from Santa Monica to Venice; Burbank has the studios, and Disneyland is a day trip south to Anaheim.
Metro rail now reaches many of these places, including Santa Monica and, since May 2026, LACMA, so a car is no longer essential for a first visit. Give each day to one area, travel outside the rush hours, and keep the evenings for a ballgame, a concert at the Hollywood Bowl or the view from Griffith Observatory.
Look through the free telescopes at Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park
2 to 3 hoursFree
Free telescopes and the classic view of the Hollywood Sign on one side and downtown on the other.
What it is
Griffith Observatory sits on the south slope of Mount Hollywood, and the building, the grounds and the public telescopes are always free. Its terraces give the classic view of the Hollywood Sign on one side and downtown on the other. Inside, the Samuel Oschin Planetarium runs live shows. On clear evenings you can look through the telescopes.
How to do it
It opens from noon to 10 pm Tuesday to Friday and from 10 am to 10 pm at weekends, and closes on Mondays. Planetarium tickets cost $12 for adults and are sold only on the day, at the box office or machines, never online. Take the DASH Observatory/Los Feliz bus, which runs daily from 10 am to 10 pm from Vermont/Sunset station on the Metro B Line; carry exact change.
Good to know
It is busiest at weekends, in summer and at sunset, when the paid car parks fill.
Hike Mount Hollywood for the best view of the Hollywood Sign
Charlie Turner Trailhead, Griffith Park
About 3 hoursFree
Pines frame the Hollywood Sign at Berlin Forest, and the 1,625-foot summit looks at it almost head-on.
What it is
No trail reaches the Hollywood Sign itself: it stands in a fenced restricted area watched by cameras, and the closest you can legally get is behind and above it. The easiest walk to a good view is the Mount Hollywood Trail. About half a mile in, Berlin Forest, a grove of pines with benches, frames the sign between the branches; the 1,625-foot summit looks at it almost head-on.
How to do it
Start at the Charlie Turner Trailhead at the north end of the Griffith Observatory car park. The Hollywood Sign Trust lists the full loop at 5.3 miles and under three hours, with a water fountain at Dante's View. For the view from behind the letters, the Brush Canyon Trail from Canyon Drive is a 6-mile out-and-back. Trails open from sunrise to sunset.
Good to know
Carry plenty of water in summer, and never smoke in this extreme fire zone.
Ride the tram up to the Getty Center's art and gardens
Getty Center, Brentwood
3 to 4 hoursTimed entry
A free hilltop campus by Richard Meier, with an azalea maze and terraces that on a clear day reach the Pacific.
What it is
The Getty Center, Richard Meier's hilltop campus beside the 405 freeway, opened in 1997 and is free. Leave time for Robert Irwin's Central Garden, with its azalea maze, and the terraces, which on a clear day reach from downtown to the Pacific.
How to do it
Every visit needs a free timed-entry reservation made online. It opens from 10 am to 6:30 pm Tuesday to Sunday, until 9 pm on Saturdays, and closes on Mondays. The only public entrance is at Sepulveda Boulevard and Getty Center Drive. Parking at the foot of the hill costs $25 per car, $15 after 3 pm and $10 after 6 pm; from there a driverless tram climbs to the top in about five minutes.
Good to know
In 2026 some galleries in the North, South and East Pavilions are closed for renovation, so check what is open before planning around one painting.
Tour the backlot and soundstages of Warner Bros. in Burbank
Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank
About 3 hoursBook ahead
Ride a cart through backlot streets and onto sets still in use, then see the real Central Perk set from Friends.
What it is
Warner Bros. is a working studio in Burbank, and its tour drives you by cart through the backlot streets and onto sets where films and series are still shot. Allow about three hours: 45 to 60 minutes with a guide, then about two hours on your own in Stage 48, an interactive soundstage with the real Central Perk set from Friends and The Big Bang Theory sets, plus the studio store.
How to do it
Standard tickets cost $79 for anyone 11 and over and $68 for children aged 5 to 10. Tours run from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm and are offered in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. Book a timed slot online, since walk-up places are limited.
Good to know
Children under 5 are not allowed on any tour. Check closures: in 2026 the tour shuts from 3 to 5 November and on Thanksgiving, 26 November.
Cycle the beach path from Santa Monica Pier to Venice
Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach
Half a dayFree
Ride from the sign where Route 66 ends, in its centennial year, past Muscle Beach to the quiet Venice Canals.
What it is
The Route 66 'End of the Trail' sign, placed in 2009, stands on Santa Monica Pier by the Pacific Park funfair; 2026 is the highway's centennial year. South along the beach path, the Venice boardwalk runs for 2 miles past Muscle Beach and the skatepark, and a few blocks inland the footpaths of the Venice Canals, dug by Abbot Kinney in 1905, make a quiet end to the ride.
How to do it
Take the Metro E Line to its terminus, Downtown Santa Monica station at 4th Street and Colorado Avenue, about 46 minutes from 7th Street/Metro Center, and walk ten minutes to the pier, open daily from 6 am to 10 pm. Rent a bike on the pier and follow the beach path south into Venice.
Good to know
The pier stays open while its access bridge is rebuilt, a job due to end in 2027, and a replica of the sign stands nearby during the works.
Find the stars and handprints of Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
1 to 2 hoursFree
Nearly 200 sets of celebrity handprints in the concrete outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, free to look at.
What it is
The Walk of Fame stretches about 1.3 miles along Hollywood Boulevard, between Gower Street and La Brea Avenue, and 0.4 miles down Vine Street, with more than 2,850 stars set since 1960. The forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theatre, open since May 1927, holds nearly 200 sets of celebrity handprints, footprints and signatures in the concrete, free to look at; next door, the Dolby Theatre hosts the Academy Awards.
How to do it
The block that matters runs from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive, beside Hollywood/Highland station on the Metro B Line. New stars are unveiled at public ceremonies that can draw thousands, and the schedule is listed on the Walk of Fame's website. For a clear view of the Hollywood Sign, go up to the terraces of the Ovation Hollywood shopping centre.
Good to know
Costumed performers work the pavement outside the Chinese Theatre and many visitors find them pushy, so walk on if you are not interested.
See The Broad's free collection and Gehry's Disney Hall
Grand Avenue, Bunker Hill, Downtown
About 3 hoursBook ahead
Almost 2,000 postwar and contemporary works free behind a white honeycomb veil, beside Gehry's stainless-steel concert hall.
What it is
Two landmarks face Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill. The Broad, at 221 South Grand, opened in 2015 behind a white honeycomb 'veil' and shows a collection of almost 2,000 postwar and contemporary works, with free general admission. Next door, Frank Gehry's stainless-steel Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the LA Philharmonic since 2003, offers a free self-guided audio tour on your phone most days, without booking.
How to do it
Book free timed tickets for The Broad ahead to skip the standby line; Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room needs its own free timed ticket, released with the others on the last Wednesday of each month at 10 am Pacific time for the following month. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, until 8 pm on Thursdays, and closes on Mondays. Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill station, on the A and E lines, is a block away.
Good to know
At Disney Hall, rehearsals usually keep the auditorium off the route.
Eat carnitas at Grand Central Market and ride Angels Flight
Grand Central Market, Broadway, Downtown
1 to 2 hoursFree
More than 300 pounds of Michoacán-style carnitas a day at a market feeding downtown since 1917, then a 1901 funicular.
What it is
Grand Central Market has fed downtown since 1917 from a long hall that runs through the block between Broadway and Hill Street. More than 40 vendors trade inside, from produce stalls to counters cooking the city's many cuisines; at Tacos Tumbras a Tomás, more than 300 pounds of Michoacán-style carnitas, cooked in a steel drum of boiling lard, go out every day.
How to do it
The market opens daily from 8 am to 9 pm, though each counter keeps its own hours, and closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Leave by the Hill Street side: opposite stands Angels Flight, the 1901 funicular billed as the world's shortest railway, which climbs to California Plaza from 6:45 am to 10 pm for $1.50 each way.
Good to know
From the top, The Broad and Disney Hall are a short walk.
See LACMA's new Zumthor galleries and the La Brea Tar Pits
Museum Row, Wilshire Boulevard
Half a dayBook ahead
Peter Zumthor's new galleries bridge Wilshire, Urban Light glows from dusk to dawn and mammoth models stand in bubbling asphalt.
What it is
Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row changed in 2026. LACMA's David Geffen Galleries, a long, sand-coloured concrete building by Peter Zumthor that bridges Wilshire, opened to the public on 4 May 2026, and four days later the Metro D Line reached Wilshire/Fairfax station at the museum's door. At the Wilshire entrance, Chris Burden's Urban Light, 202 restored street lamps, glows from dusk to dawn.
How to do it
LACMA opens from 11 am to 6 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, to 8 pm on Fridays and from 10 am to 7 pm at weekends, and closes on Wednesdays. Adults from outside Los Angeles County pay $30; timed slots sell out, so book online.
Good to know
Next door, the La Brea Tar Pits museum is closed for rebuilding until about 2028, but much of Hancock Park stays open, including the Lake Pit, where bubbling asphalt surrounds life-size mammoth models.
Time needed
Half a day
Best time
Friday, open until 8 pm, then Urban Light after dark
The third-oldest ballpark in the major leagues, with the San Gabriel Mountains rising beyond the outfield.
What it is
Dodger Stadium opened in 1962 in Chavez Ravine and is the third-oldest ballpark in the major leagues, after Fenway Park and Wrigley Field; with 56,000 seats it is also the largest baseball stadium in the world. From the stands, the San Gabriel Mountains rise beyond the outfield, with downtown in view. The Dodgers, World Series champions in 2024 and 2025, play home games from late March or early April to late September, and into October if they reach the playoffs.
How to do it
Buy tickets on the team's site. The Dodger Stadium Express bus is free with a game ticket from Union Station West, on the Alameda Street side, every 5 to 10 minutes from three hours before the first pitch until the end of the 2nd inning, and runs back until an hour after the final out.
Good to know
Do not drive: stadium parking started at $40 a game in 2026.
The summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for over a century, where $1 can buy a seat at the top.
What it is
The Hollywood Bowl, an amphitheatre in the hills above Hollywood with nearly 18,000 seats, has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for over a century. Its season runs from June to September, with classical nights, jazz, film scores played live and fireworks shows around 4 July, and pop and rock concerts carry on into autumn. For many classical and jazz performances, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl.
How to do it
Do not drive. Take the Metro B Line to Hollywood/Highland and, showing your TAP card, ride the free Bowl Shuttle from the Ovation Hollywood lot on Orange Drive, which starts two and a half hours before the concert.
Good to know
Picnicking is the tradition: bring your own food to the picnic areas, in bags no bigger than 15 by 15 by 22 inches, and arrive early, since gates open two hours before the show.
The first Disney park, the only one built under Walt Disney's own supervision, open since 17 July 1955.
What it is
Disneyland, in Anaheim in Orange County, is the first Disney park and the only one built under Walt Disney's own supervision; it opened on 17 July 1955. Sleeping Beauty Castle stands at the end of Main Street, U.S.A., and the park now has nine lands, from Fantasyland to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Bayou Country. Disney California Adventure, opened in 2001 on the old car park, faces it across a plaza.
How to do it
Buy dated tickets ahead and check if yours also needs a park reservation; a Park Hopper ticket lets you switch parks during the day. Without a car, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink trains run from Union Station to Anaheim's ARTIC station, a short bus ride from the gates.
Good to know
Lightning Lane Multi Pass, a paid extra, gives you shorter queues at most rides.
LAX is the main airport. Free shuttle buses link its terminals with the LAX/Metro Transit Center station, opened in June 2025 on the C and K lines, until the airport's own people mover opens; change to the E Line at Expo/Crenshaw for downtown or Santa Monica. The FlyAway express bus runs from LAX to Union Station downtown. Burbank airport is closer to Hollywood and the studios. Amtrak trains, including the Pacific Surfliner along the coast from San Diego, arrive at Union Station.
Getting around
Pay for Metro trains and buses with a TAP card, sold at station machines, or the TAP app. The B Line links Union Station, downtown, Hollywood and Universal City; the E Line runs from downtown to Santa Monica; the D Line now reaches LACMA. Where rail does not go, such as the Getty or Griffith Observatory, use buses, the DASH shuttle or ride-hailing. If you rent a car for the coast or Disneyland, keep off the freeways at rush hour and budget for parking.
How many days
In must30's view, four days make a good first visit: one for Hollywood and Griffith Park, one for downtown, one for the Getty and the beach from Santa Monica to Venice, and one for a studio tour or Disneyland. Add a fifth day if you want both, or a slow morning on Museum Row at LACMA. Evenings are for the Hollywood Bowl, a Dodgers game or the observatory telescopes.
When to go
September and October are warm and dry and the beaches are at their best, though autumn is also wildfire season, and Santa Ana winds can bring hot, dry days. May and June often bring May Gray and June Gloom, overcast mornings along the coast. Winter is mild, with daytime highs around 68°F, and brings most of the year's rain. The Hollywood Bowl's LA Phil season runs from June to September, and Dodgers home games from spring to late September.
Where to base yourself
Choose by plan, not by map. Santa Monica suits a beach-first trip and has the E Line into town; Hollywood puts you on the B Line by the Walk of Fame and the Bowl, but its main boulevard is busy and scruffy at night; downtown has the most rail connections and the museums of Grand Avenue; West Hollywood sits between them for restaurants and nightlife, without rail. For Disneyland, sleep a night in Anaheim rather than commuting.
Questions travellers ask
Can you hike to the Hollywood Sign?
You can hike to views of it, but not to the letters: the sign stands in a fenced restricted area watched by cameras. The Mount Hollywood Trail from Griffith Observatory gives a near head-on view, and the Brush Canyon Trail reaches the ridge behind it. Trails are open from sunrise to sunset.
Is Griffith Observatory free?
Yes. The building, the grounds and the public telescopes are free; only the planetarium shows, $12 for adults, and parking cost money. It is closed on Mondays.
Do you need a car in Los Angeles?
Not for a first visit centred on Hollywood, downtown, LACMA and Santa Monica, which Metro rail links. A car helps for the Getty, Disneyland or the coast beyond Santa Monica, but expect heavy traffic and paid parking.
How many days do you need in Los Angeles?
Four days cover Hollywood, downtown, the Getty and the beach, plus either a studio tour or Disneyland. Add a day if you want both.
Is the La Brea Tar Pits museum open?
No. The museum is closed for rebuilding until about 2028, but much of Hancock Park outside, including the Lake Pit, stays open. LACMA next door is open, with its new David Geffen Galleries.
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