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Los Angeles Beaches

Los Angeles Walks

Although you may not guess it, there is great hiking very close to the City of Angels. The Los Angeles basin is located immediately next to the rugged Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountain ranges. Outdoor adventure is at hand.

Offbeat LA

California has always been a haven for misfits and eccentrics. Thanks to this history, Los Angeles has its fair share of hidden gems that just make you wonder. If only because Los Angeles is so huge, the more you look then the more odd stuff you will find. This guided is organized in two parts, Eastside and Westside, to help a visitor get a handle on these wide-spread locales. I have also included a tour that approaches Los Angeles from a somewhat grotesque point-of-view. Have fun taking it all in.

LA on a Budget

My advice to anyone trying to visit Los Angeles on a limited budget is to spend your day taking scenic walks to check out the sites and eat the wonderful and affordable ethnic food that is available here. Be aware that some parts of LA are that all about spending money–as a rule of thumb the farther west you are the more expensive everything gets. I have included the Getty Center because as museums go, it is good bang for your buck.

First Time in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a place that means so many things to so many people. Worldwide, the city is famous as the center of America's entertainment industry and also as the essential car city. To the rich and already famous, Los Angeles is the perfect place for a secluded garden hide-out in the hills, with easy access to top-shelf shopping, dining, and nightlife. To the many hard-working immigrants in this very diverse city, it is the location for their own chance at the American dream. For the traveler, visiting means a chance to gawk at the commotion and conspicuous consumption, all while enjoying the good weather and excellent food. The hardest thing about a first visit to Los Angeles is the logistics of transportation. The intrepid can navigate via public transportation, although they will sacrifice a lot of time to riding on buses. The region is very large and spread-out so renting a car is often the way to go. This opens a whole new can of worms: the traffic in Los Angeles is pretty bad and driving entails a lot of local knowledge regarding choice of routes at particular times of day. For a visitor, a little common sense will go a long way. The spots and activities listed here are mostly in the historic downtown or the Hollywood area. There are a ton of things to do in these locales, including many iconic landmarks. Day 4 is all about going shopping and has a wider geographic range.

Hollywood and Palm Springs

There is more to Los Angeles than Disneyland, Beverly Hills and crime. Experience the throbbing Bohemian vibe of Silver Lake, the historical past of Hollywood's golden era and the hipster past of Palm Springs. This is the quintessential Los Angeles experience for those that want to live an updated 1950s lifestyle right here, right now.

LA Architecture

Los Angeles is a treasure trove of both Art Deco and Modern architecture. Many Art Deco buildings are located either downtown or in the Mid-Wilshire district; often they have been adapted from their original uses. In terms of the Modern movement, Los Angeles is ground zero for residential architecture of this type. There are a number of Frank Lloyd Wright residences. Schindler and Neutra were based here for many years and had clients on the area. The later generations of Modernist residential architects are well-represented as well, including Craig Ellwood, John Lautner, and Gregory Ain, The trick is finding what you want to see in the massive Los Angeles area.

Channel Islands

Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking and Camping

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills, sister city of Cannes, is world famous for its high end shopping, eating and luxury experience. This is where Hollywood's glitterati lived during its golden era, and it remains a polished example of everything elegant, decadent and over the top. This is a one day trip to expose the other, more real side of Beverly Hills. Despite it's reputation as a playground to the rich and famous, it boosts some of the richest cultural treasures in the Los Angeles Basin. Take this opportunity to experience some world class art, a museum experience unlike any other at the Museum of Tolerance and eat among the rich and famous as they talk about scripts, financial planning and future events.

Catalina Island

Once a notorious blip on the Los Angeles horizon, Catalina Island was the perfect place to engage in activities that were frowned upon on the mainland. Catalina now offers fantastic natural and architectural marvels that will bring the past alive while allowing the visitor to enjoy a slower pace of life. After a hectic trip in Los Angeles, Catalina will be a welcome haven for some much needed downtime and natural contemplation.

Downtown

Los Angeles is not New York or Chicago. It developed primarily in the 1920s and again in the 1950s. It became the epicenter of a national experiment; people were tired of the congestion of Eastern US cities. Fifty years later, Los Angeles is a city unlike any other in scope or design. Downtown Los Angeles, long neglected and overlooked, has awakened in the past ten years. It is now a vibrant community, replete with some of the tallest skyscrapers in the country, cultural neighborhoods unique to the area and a rich historical past. It is still a transitional neighborhood, but it now offers any visitor an experience rich in culture and history. This is a two day trip designed to give the visitor a glance into the silent heart of this massive metropolis. This isn't Disneyland or Universal Studios; this is a chance to experience the violent and exciting jolt of a city moving forward.

Hollywood - Now and Forever

People from all over the world come to Los Angeles to see celebrities, experience Disneyland and lay by the beach. Hollywood is the epicenter of the region's past and present dominance in the entertainment industry. There is, however, also a historical and natural element to Hollywood that should not be missed. This is a trip back in time to the historical and natural splendor that Hollywood initially offered people in the 1920s. This is a trip to reconnect with Hollywood's golden era and witness it's renaissance as the new center of entertainment in the Los Angeles area.

Local Food

This is a trip in that starts in the heart of Los Angeles and then veers to its suburbs in search of the quintessential locavore food experience. It starts out in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles and ends with a nice drive up the coa*t to Malibu.

Los Angeles Famous Architecture

Los Angeles is many things to many people, both good and bad, but it is undeniably one of the most important architectural hubs in the world. It was one of the centers of the art deco movement, it created what is now known as Hollywood Regency and it encapsulates all that is mid-century modern. This is a tour designed for those people who appreciate architecture and historically important architectural masterpieces.

Los Angeles 2004