Los Angeles, by neighborhood

DOWNTOWN

In the 10+ years I've been working Downtown, the neighborhood has come alive.  Perhaps nowhere has this resulted in a greater change than at Pershing Square.  Once a concrete block providing benches for the weary, now it hosts year-round programming.  Movies and concerts in the summer, ice skating in the winter. Farmer's Market every Wednesday.  and parking is still affordable underneath it all. 

There is a wealth of great entertainment -- active and passive -- around Downtown LA in the summer. 

• Grand Performances is an L.A. institution.
• Taking a page from the Hollywood Bowl, the Music Center, home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre, has also started doing outdoor programming during the summer.  Friday night sing-alongs?  Dance lessons and live music? Drum workshops and even a ukulele festival.  I can't keep up! 
• Have you been to Grand Park yet?  Yoga, crossfit, farmer's market in addition to concerts and festivals... and every single day they have that magic fountain.  I can't wait to see the landscaping fill in, exotics and unusuals abound. 

Essential L.A. Summer Fun

KCRW's Summer Night series

Pasadena's Levitt Pavilion

Burbank's Starlight Bowl

Worth joining the Huntington for this alone: Huntington Library & Gardens Summer Nights 

Baseball!  See the Los Angeles Dodgers at home

Beverly Hills

• Paley Center (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio).  They are the “Library of Congress” for tv and radio programs. You can literally watch or listen to any program, ever in their library
• Greystone Mansion – take a picnic to get a glimpse of what it would be like to have your own Beverly Hills estate 

West Hollywood

Urth Caffe, high likelihood of celebrity sightings

Troubadour – the smallish club where people like Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Pearl Jam, No Doubt, Radiohead and more have made debuts

Hollywood

• I seriously recommend doing a “tour of movie star homes.”  Take one of the sightseeing vans – they all seem to leave from Hollywood Blvd by the Chinese Theatre.  It’s a great overview of the different eras of Hollywood, they’ll tell you more about the Marilyn Monroe and Bob Hope days than today, but will show essential sights like Mulholland Drive and... 
• Hollywood Bowl – if there’s any performance that is even remotely interesting to you scheduled while you’re in town, it’s a great night – anything is enjoyable to see there, and it’s an essential LA experience. 
• Hollywood Forever Cemetery – I’ve not yet done the tour but keep meaning to (818) 517-5988).

Santa Monica/Venice/Malibu

• Getty Center and the Getty Villa – This is my #1 recommendation: to visit at least one of these.  Both are worth seeing.  Different experiences and collections. If you only do one probably the Getter Center is the place to start but you won’t go wrong with the Getty Villa, either.
• Ride bikes along the ocean…my (new) favorite thing is to rent hybrid bikes with POWER ASSIST to get you over those Venice canals. 
• Thursday nights in the summer there are free concerts on the Santa Monica Pier

Restaurants

There are so many amazing places to eat! I use Yelp and Chowhound to get ideas for a neighborhood or cuisine that piques my interest…but our local treasure is the food critic, Jonathan Gold. Still the only food critic to have ever won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, he favors high and low restaurants, my guru to the best Asian and Latino that L.A has to offer.  Here is his 2013 list of the essential LA restaurants. 

For years he wrote for the LA Weekly, also a great source of restaurant ideas.  



Putting it all together: L.A. for tourists
I just hosted a friend for a quick 2 days and we tried to fit in the full L.A. experience - for someone who likes movies, celebrities and more.

Day 1
We started at LACMA, as we had other reasons to be there. You could also start at the Getty Center. 

Take Wilshire Boulevard (and point out well-known sites from films along the way: Pulp Fiction, Pretty Woman), turn on Rodeo Drive and head to the Beverly Hills Hotel. If it's nice, grab a drink at the pool bar (no photos, natch) or at the Polo Lounge.  

Take Sunset Boulevard back to Hollywood.  If you have time, visit the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Johnny Ramone, Cecil B. De Mille and many, many more) on Santa Monica. 

Stop for hamburgers at In-N-Out Burger (Sunset @ Orange).  

Continue on to the Walk of Fame (park at Hollywood & Highland - get a validation) and the handprints/footprints in front of the Chinese Theatre. This is also where the Oscars are held (yes, in a shopping mall).  

Spend the evening at the Hollywood Bowl (we saw Earth, Wind and Fire...!). 

Day 2
Brunch at the Chateau Marmont (reservations required, valet parking only).

Take Mulholland Drive towards the ocean.

Continue on Sunset Blvd to PCH, head north to Malibu.

Spend the afternoon at Zuma Beach (where Baywatch was filmed).

Stop for food at Geoffrey's ($$$$) or Paradise Cove ($$). or somewhere in the Malibu Country Mart.

Leisurely make your way home, stopping for a Chinese foot massage (or in our case a Tibetan herbal foot soak + massage).