I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. I misspent my youth at the Sherman Oaks Galleria of Moon Unit Zappa fame. I probably wasted months of my life driving from Santa Monica to downtown LA to Encino to Hollywood to North Hollywood, you name it. And there’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty about my hometown.

Los Angeles, it is a strange place.

Strange because it’s not a “city” in the typical sense. With more than 3.6 million people (15.2 million if you count the surrounding counties) Los Angeles is a conurbation (look it up) with multiple centers but no true heart. I grew up in a city where it was normal to drive 45 or 50 minutes to a restaurant, two hours for dinner at grandma’s, three hours to go from home to the LAX airport during rush-hour.

I won’t lie to you — it’s frustrating to drive a car in Los Angeles. And for first-time visitors Los Angeles is not an easy destination to explore. It’s so big, so intimidating, so hard to get your head around. The keys to having a great experience in Los Angeles are managing your expectations and having a solid sightseeing plan.

So how do you manage your expectations? Let’s take a pop quiz. Which option below best describes your trip objectives?

1. We will come to know Los Angeles like the back of our hands, the city and its people will admire us. We will hobnob with movie stars and be invited to dinner at Oprah’s house. We will travel by helicopter from our hotel to all of the city’s top attractions.
2. Los Angeles and us will treat each other with mutual respect. We will pre-plan a few tours and attractions to visit, in order to show Los Angeles that we are committed to understanding her. And in return, she will ensure that we have a good time and are not caught in unbearable traffic jams.

If you picked #2, you’re reading the right blog! We can help you chose the right tours and activities in Los Angeles to help you make the most of the City of Angels. In fact, we’ve gone a step further and created a handy Suggested Itineraries in Los Angeles guide for you. Highlights include:

Day 1: Downtown Los Angeles. No matter where you’re staying make a pilgrimage to The Original Pantry Cafe in downtown LA, owned by the former mayor of Los Angeles. After breakfast, if you’re into art and history consider a walking tour of downtown LA or a contemporary art walking tour and really get beneath the skin of LA’s under-appreciated downtown.

Day 2: Hollywood. Go for a comprehensive Grand Tour of Los Angeles that includes Hollywood and all of the city’s major sites. Or try the Hollywood Movie Star Experience, which includes a tour of Sony Pictures Studios, a movie stars’ home tour, and a ‘Heart of Hollywood’ walking tour. Or combine the two with a Grand Tour of LA & Movie Star Tour. If you’re still stuck for inspiration there are plenty of other movie star tours in Los Angeles to chose from.

Day 3: Theme Park Day! Los Angeles and nearby Anaheim has theme parks like they’re going out of style, so take your pick from Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, or Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Day 4: ‘Do Something Different’ Day. See LA from a new perspective. Take a private surfing lesson or if you’re feeling more adventurous book a ‘take the controls’ flight over LA and Santa Monica, or a helicopter tour over Los Angeles.

Day 5: Get Cultured. Maybe you’re in a more contemplative mood. If so make a beeline for the Getty Center and the The J. Paul Getty Museum, which houses European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs.

This is just a sample of our recommendations. Read the complete set of Suggested Itineraries in Los Angeles, or browse all of our Los Angeles tours and things to do.

-Scott McNeely

Find all Viator blog posts about Los Angeles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Destinations, Family & Kids, Suggested Itineraries, Travel Inspiration, USA, Canada, Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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