Insight Guides Explore Los Angeles (Travel Guide eBook)
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About this ebook
Experience the best of Los Angeles with this indispensably practical Insight Explore Guide. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like Disneyland and Hollywood, to discovering hidden gems, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will help you plan your trip, save you time, and enhance your exploration of this thrilling city.
- Practical and packed with inspirational insider information, this will make the ideal on-the-move companion to your trip to Los Angeles
- Enjoy over 15 irresistible Best Routes to walk, from Downtown LA, Little Tokyo and the Arts District to Beverley Hills and Santa Monica
- Features concise insider information about landscape, history, food and drink, and entertainment options
- Invaluable maps: each Best Route is accompanied by a detailed full-colour map
- Discover your destination's must-see sights and hand-picked hidden gems
- Directory section provides invaluable insight into top accommodation, restaurant and nightlife options by area, along with an overview of language, books and films
- Inspirational colour photography throughout
About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrasebooks, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.
Insight Guides
Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon.
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Insight Guides Explore Los Angeles (Travel Guide eBook) - Insight Guides
How To Use This E-Book
This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.
Best Routes
The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destination’s many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also excursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.
We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Food and Drink’ box at the end of each tour.
Introduction
The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.
Directory
Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafés and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.
Getting around the e-book
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd
Table of Contents
Recommended Routes For...
Art lovers
Children
Foodies
History buffs
Nature lovers
Night owls
Shopping
Top architecture
Explore Los Angeles
Geography and layout
History
Climate
Population
Local customs
Politics and economics
Food and Drink
Local cuisine
South of the border (Mexican)
Modern Californian
Go east (Asian)
Where to eat
Chain restaurants
Celebrity chefs
Diners
Food trucks
Drinks
Beer
Wine and cocktails
Coffee and tea
Shopping
Shopping areas
Rodeo Drive (Beverly Hills)
Melrose Avenue
Beverly Grove and Fairfax District
Santa Monica and Venice
Los Feliz
Silver Lake
Fashion District (Downtown LA)
Malls and shopping centers
Outdoor markets
Books
Music stores
Entertainment
Nightlife
Live Music
Classical Music and Dance
Theater
Comedy
Activities
Spectacular sports
Outdoo activities
Water sports
History: Key Dates
Early history
Colonial times
American state
20th century
21st century
Downtown Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Los Angeles
The Civic Center & Broadway
Bunker Hill and the Financial District
The Broad
The Museum of Contemporary Art
OUE Skyspace LA
LA Live
Hollywood
Hollywood & Highland Center
TCL Chinese Theatre
Madame Tussauds Hollywood
El Capitan Theatre
Hollywood Museum
Hollywood Boulevard
Egyptian Theatre
Hollywood & Vine
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Side Trip: Paramount Studios
Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu
Venice Beach
Muscle Beach Venice
Windward Avenue
Santa Monica
Santa Monica Pier
The Getty Villa
Malibu
Malibu Lagoon State Beach
Beverly Hills
Rodeo Drive
Retail heaven
Paley Center for Media
Beverly Gardens Park
Beverly Hills Hotel
Greystone Mansion and Park
Burbank Studios
Warner Bros. Studios
Universal Studios Hollywood
WaterWorld
Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Studio Tour
The Simpsons Ride
The Lower Lot
Special Effects Show
Universal’s Animal Actors
Despicable Me action
The Walking Dead Attraction
Universal CityWalk
Disneyland
Main Street, USA
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle
Adventureland
Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones Adventure
New Orleans Square
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Critter Country
Splash Mountain
Frontierland
Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Mark Twain Riverboat
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Fantasyland
Peter Pan’s Flight
‘it’s a small world’
Mickey’s Toontown
Tomorrowland
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Space Mountain
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Miracle Mile
Petersen Automotive Museum
LACMA
Modern art
Pavilion for Japanese Art
Art of the Americas
La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
Craft & Folk Art Museum
El Pueblo and Chinatown
La Plaza
La Plaza de Cultura y Artes
Chinese American Museum
Olvera Street
Avila Adobe
América Tropical Interpretive Center
Italian American Museum of Los Angeles
Chinatown
Old Chinatown Central Plaza
Thien Hau Temple
Little Tokyo and the Arts District
Little Tokyo
Japanese American Cultural & Community Center
Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple
Japanese American National Museum
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
The Arts District
The Institute of Contemporary Art
USC and Exposition Park
University of Southern California
Fisher Museum of Art
Exposition Park
Natural History Museum
California Science Center
California African American Museum
Griffith Park
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Park North
Autry Museum of the American West
Los Angeles Zoo
Miniature railroads
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills and Mulholland Drive
Hollywood Hills
Mulholland Drive
Skirball Cultural Center
The Getty Center
Melrose, West Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip
Melrose Avenue
Melrose Place
West Hollywood
Sunset Strip
Westwood and UCLA
Westwood
UCLA
The Fowler Museum at UCLA
Long Beach and San Pedro
Long Beach
Downtown Long Beach
Aquarium of the Pacific
The Queen Mary
San Pedro
Accommodations
Downtown LA
Hollywood
Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu
Beverly Hills
Burbank
Little Ethiopia, Koreatown, and The Grove
Pasadena
Melrose, West Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip
Long Beach
Restaurants
Downtown LA
Silver Lake
Hollywood
Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu
Beverly Hills
Burbank
Koreatown and The Grove
El Pueblo and Chinatown
Pasadena
Little Tokyo and the Arts District
Los Feliz, Thai Town, and Little Armenia
Melrose, West Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip
Long Beach
LAX (Inglewood)
Nightlife
Bars
Nightclubs
Live music venues
Comedy clubs
A-Z
A
Age restrictions
B
Budgeting
C
Children
Clothing
Consulates
Crime and safety
Customs regulations
D
Disabled travelers
E
Electricity
Emergencies
F
Festivals
H
Health
Clinics and hospitals
Insurance
Pharmacies
Hours and holidays
Public holidays
I
Internet
L
LGBTQ travelers
M
Media
Television and radio
Newspapers and magazines.
Money
Currency
Banks and currency exchange
ATMs
Credit cards
Tipping
Taxes
P
Postal service
S
Smoking
T
Telephones
Cell (mobile) phones
International calls
Time zones
Tourist information
Transportation
Arrival
Airports
Transportation within Los Angeles
Driving in LA
V
Visas and passports
W
Weights and measures
Books and Film
Books
Fiction
Non-fiction
Film
Recommended Routes For...
ART LOVERS
Artistic highlights include the Getty Center (route 12), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (route 7), and The Broad (route 1). Fans of ancient Greece and Rome should check out the Getty Villa (route 13).
iStock
CHILDREN
Step into storybook worlds at Disneyland (route 6) and visit all your movie favorites at Universal Studios (route 5). Learn while playing at the California Science Center (route 10), or just enjoy a day at Venice Beach or Santa Monica Pier (both route 3).
California Travel and Tourism Commission
FOODIES
Munch your way around Asia in Chinatown (route 8), Little Tokyo (route 9) and Koreatown (route 7). Visit some of the city’s best restaurants in Hollywood (route 3), Beverly Hills (route 4) and West Hollywood (route 13).
iStock
HISTORY BUFFS
Los Angeles was established by Spanish and Mexican colonists at El Pueblo (route 8); the movie industry got started in Hollywood in the early 20th century (route 2). Natural history and African American history are on show at Exposition Park (route 10).
iStock
NATURE LOVERS
Go whale-watching off Long Beach (route 15), stroll the strands of Will Rogers State Beach (route 3), or hike the rolling hills of Griffith Park (route 11). For a view to remember, Mulholland Drive takes you high above the city (route 12).
iStock
NIGHT OWLS
Grab a drink at historic Musso & Frank Grill and trawl Hollywood Boulevard at night (route 2), take in a live band at Sunset Strip venues like Whisky-a-Go-Go (route 13), or sample the student nightlife in Westwood (route 14).
iStock
SHOPPING
Peruse the posh boutiques of Rodeo Drive (route 4), the hip stores along Melrose Avenue (route 13), and the markets of Chinatown (route 8). Santa Monica (route 3) and Westwood (route 14) are also happy hunting grounds for shopaholics.
iStock
TOP ARCHITECTURE
Downtown Los Angeles (route 1) features everything from soaring skyscrapers to Art Deco gems like LA Library. Both USC (route 10) and UCLA campuses (route 14) are crammed with stately, historic buildings.
Shutterstock
Explore Los Angeles
The City of Angels, Tinseltown, or just ‘La-La Land,’ Los Angeles is known the world over for year-round sunshine and palm trees, the movies of Hollywood, the glamor of Beverly Hills, and golden surf beaches.
Surfin’ USA
Alamy
Los Angeles is a relatively young city, and despite its Hispanic roots, is inexorably linked to modern pop culture and a health-conscious, laid-back ‘SoCal’ lifestyle. The city inspired California’s modern surfing boom in the 1950s, the music of the Beach Boys and the Doors in the 1960s, the skateboarders of 1970s Dogtown, and the West Coast hip-hop scene in the late 1980s. Today, it’s home to world-class art museums, Universal Studios, Disneyland, the Sunset Strip, and major sports franchises the Lakers and the Dodgers.
Geography and layout
Los Angeles is truly vast, a fact hard to absorb until you actually get here. LA is only America’s second biggest city in terms of population, but it’s stitched together by an intricate network of freeways crossing 1,000 sq miles (2,590 sq km). The core of the city lies in a flat, arid basin between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains, but it’s some 15 miles (24km) between Downtown and the coast. Major suburban communities lie across the mountains in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, while Malibu lies farther west along the coast. Long Beach, Pasadena, Burbank, and Anaheim are all independently administered cities, but fall squarely within LA’s metropolitan sprawl.
The tours in this book begin with the key areas of interest – Downtown, Hollywood, and so on – then proceed geographically across the city. Most can be completed on foot, or with minimal use of public transportation, though some (Mulholland Drive, for example) require a car.
Contrary to popular belief, LA does have efficient public transportation, with Metro lines and buses now providing the best method of zipping around the city without your own wheels.
Traditionally, the most popular way to get around LA has been to drive; with nearly two vehicles per household, LA is one of the world’s highest per-capita car populations. However, traffic is bumper-to-bumper much of the day (it’s often described as ‘stop-and-start’ by local media). Taxis are widely available but fairly expensive for long distances, and you’ll often have to call them by phone (or use Uber).
LA traffic
iStock
History
The Los Angeles region was settled by Chumash and Tongva peoples thousands of years before the arrival of Spanish settlers on September 4, 1781 (a date commemorated by the LA County Fair each year). The settlers named it Los Angeles after the Spanish phrase for ‘Our Lady Queen of the Angels’ (ie Mary, the mother of Jesus). In 1821, a still tiny Los Angeles became part of newly independent Mexico. Even after being swallowed up by the US after the Mexican–American War in 1846, Los Angeles remained largely insignificant, a small town of less than 5,000, comprising white American immigrants, poor Chinese laborers, and wealthy Mexican ranchers. The arrival of the transcontinental railroad gave the city a massive boost in 1876, and LA’s population exploded – by 1920 it was over half a million.
By 1912, movie companies such as Paramount, Warner Bros, RKO, and Columbia were setting up production in LA, and by the 1920s Hollywood was entering its golden age. In 1932, Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics, confirming its arrival on the world stage (Los Angeles hosted the Olympics again in 1984, and will host the Games for a third time in 2028). More boom years followed World War II – LA eclipsed Chicago as the nation’s second-largest metropolis in 1980. But as workers flocked to LA to find jobs, overcrowding, prejudice, and social ranking would continue to cause great tensions. Racial unrest has come to a head more than once here: in 1965, the Watts Riots lasted six days and