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It's a city you visit liked you lived in. And, once you take the pressure of trying to fit Los Angeles into the tourist box, you see the magic of the city.
Los Angeles is the USA's second
largest city after New York. ‘The City of Angels’, La La Land, Tinseltown, or
however you want to refer to it, sprawls along the Pacific coast of southern
California. Its immense coastline stretches 122km (76 miles) from Malibu to
Long Beach. Inland, the city fills a vast, flat basin ringed by the Santa
Monica and San Gabriel mountains.
The best way to really appreciate the scale of L.A. is from the window of your
plane when you arrive. The imposing cluster of skyscrapers marks Downtown, 26km
(16 miles) inland from the coast. If you look northeast you’ll see Pasadena. To
the west and northwest are Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Century City and the
wide San Fernando Valley. Look south and you’ll see Long Beach and along the
west coast are Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Marina del Rey.
L.A. is full of the next batch of
wannabes – everyone is an actor, script writer or film maker just waiting for
their big break. Being the hub of ‘movie-land’ everyone wants to make it big
and is either out star spotting or trying to be the next big discovery. Its
population shows a rich diversity of backgrounds and is a mix-and-match of
people from 140 countries speaking 96 different languages.
You will certainly never get bored if
you come to L.A. It offers an incredible array of attractions and world-famous
amusements: Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Muscle Beach,
Disneyland and Venice Beach to name but a few.
Whatever you are looking for, you are
sure to find it in Los Angeles.
The weather
in Los Angeles is generally warm and pleasant all year round. Its location
gives it its own micro-climate. It is protected from extremes of temperature
and humidity by the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains, and influenced by
the warm, moist air from the Pacific, so the summers tend to be dry and sunny
and winters cool and wet.
The beach
areas enjoy cooling offshore breezes during the hot summer months, but inland
temperatures can rise to well over 32°C. Smog often gathers in low-lying areas
and sometimes the hot, dusty Santa Ana winds blow in strongly from the
surrounding mountains.
The average monthly
temperatures are:
|
°C |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
Day |
20 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
24 |
26 |
29 |
30 |
29 |
26 |
22 |
20 |
|
Night |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
13 |
15 |
17 |
18 |
17 |
15 |
11 |
8 |
Los Angeles was built for shopping so
prepare your credit cards for a serious workout. There is shopping to suit all
budgets but you probably won’t be able to resist a visit to the iconic Rodeo
Drive.
Beverly Hills is the most expensive designer area in the city. It’s best known
street, Rodeo Drive, has become a tourist attraction in its own right these
days. It is a fantastic place to window shop and people watch. Nearby Wilshire
is home to the up-scale department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth
Avenue and Barneys.
The antithesis of Rodeo Drive is
Venice Boardwalk. Here you’ll discover numerous open air stalls and funky shops
selling all manner of items. It’s a great place to bargain for sun glasses,
clothes, CDs and unusual art objects.
Main Street offers a good variety of
stores plus the must visit used
celebrity clothing store, Star Wares. Another place that should also be visited
is Melrose Avenue (between Fairfax and La Brae) where you’ll find one-of-a-kind
stores.
A visit to one of the discount outlets is a must. Located in
the suburbs, you could save up to 65%. A few names to seek out are Ontario
Mills, Camarillo Premium Outlets and Desert Hills Premium Outlets.
Shopping Malls were born in America
and you’ll find plenty in Los Angeles. They all house department stores,
smaller chain stores, restaurants, food courts, multiple movie screens and free
parking. A few names to look out for are Westside Pavilion (Westwood
Boulevard), Century City (Santa Monica Boulevard – which includes both Macey’s
and Bloomingdales) and The Beverly Centre (Beverly Boulevard).
There is a
vast amount of entertainment in Los Angeles so whatever your taste, you’ll find
something right up your street.
The places
to catch the big stars playing live music are The Staples Centre and the
Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Palladium also holds some concerts. There are
also smaller venues such as Johnny Depp’s The Viper Room.
If
classical music is more your thing you can catch the LA Philharmonic at The
Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at UCLA’s Royce
Hall.
For Jazz
and Blues try Jazz Bakery (Helms Ave), The Mint (W Piclo Boulevard) or House of
Blues (Sunset Boulevard).
Although
not quite up to London or New York, LA has a good range of theatres, numerous
cinemas, or if you prefer, you can also catch a bit of Opera at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion.
A trip to
LA wouldn’t be complete without catching a basketball or baseball game. The
Staples Centre is home to the LA Lakers (basketball), LA Clippers and Spark’s
Women’s basketball team and the LA Kings ice hockey team. The Dodger stadium is
home to the Dodgers Baseball team.
When it
comes to clubs, the best way to find out what’s on where is to refer to the
listings in the LA Weekly or the Los Angeles Times. Below
is just a selection of venues you could try.
January
March
April
May
July
August
September
November
There are
numerous things to see and do in Los Angeles, but you might
also like to make the most of your visit by exploring further afield. Your
hotel should be able to provide you with details of possible excursions but
below are just a few to get you started.
The medical
facilities are superb and the price incredibly high. You will have to pay for
all treatment so make sure you take out comprehensive medical insurance before
you travel.