Top 10 Things to Do in Los Angeles

1. Explore Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory opened in 1935 on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park and has long served as Los Angeles’s most accessible public astronomy center. The building includes telescopes, permanent science exhibits, and the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, while its terraces provide broad views over the Los Angeles Basin and, on clear days, toward the Pacific. Architecturally, the observatory is a landmark of Art Deco and related Moderne styling, and its hilltop siting makes it a frequent film location. Pairing an observatory visit with nearby Griffith Park trails lets travelers combine science interpretation with outdoor viewpoints, including direct sightlines toward the Hollywood Sign. The observatory building opened in 1935, and major interior and planetarium upgrades were completed in 2006.

2. Explore Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard runs through the Hollywood district and is best known for the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where more than 2,700 terrazzo-and-brass stars honor figures from film, music, television, radio, and theater. The corridor also includes historic venues such as the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards ceremony. Development accelerated in the early 20th century as studios expanded nearby, and the boulevard became a core symbol of the global film industry. Walking this stretch gives practical access to landmark theaters, street-level entertainment culture, and a concentrated view of how tourism and media history overlap in central Los Angeles.

3. Explore Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier extends into Santa Monica Bay at the western end of Colorado Avenue and has been a coastal landmark since the original municipal pier opened in 1909. The modern complex includes Pacific Park, whose solar-powered Ferris wheel is one of the most recognizable features on the Southern California waterfront. The pier sits near the official western terminus marker of historic U.S. Route 66, linking beach culture with highway-travel history. Visitors can combine oceanfront walks, casual dining, and bike access to the Marvin Braude coastal path, making the area a flexible base for half-day plans that include both shoreline scenery and classic boardwalk atmosphere.

4. Explore Venice Beach

Venice Beach is a beachfront neighborhood in Los Angeles originally developed in 1905 as a seaside resort by Abbot Kinney. The area is famous for the Ocean Front Walk boardwalk, Muscle Beach outdoor gym, public street art, and skate culture concentrated near the Venice Skatepark. The district also includes the Venice Canals Historic District, where residential waterways preserve part of Kinney’s early planning vision. A visit here highlights a different side of Los Angeles from the Hollywood core, with strong local identity built around outdoor recreation, beach-adjacent performance spaces, and highly visible public art. Timing a walk for late afternoon usually offers cooler conditions and active boardwalk energy. Venice was founded in 1905, and the Ocean Front Walk stretches for roughly 2 miles along the beach edge.

5. Explore Getty Center

The Getty Center opened in 1997 on a hilltop in the Brentwood area and serves as the main campus of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Architect Richard Meier designed the complex using travertine stone and a geometric layout that frames views of Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Pacific. Collections include European paintings, manuscripts, photography, and decorative arts, while the Central Garden by artist Robert Irwin anchors the outdoor landscape design. Because access uses a dedicated tram from the parking structure to the museum hilltop, the visit experience is intentionally staged from arrival through gallery circulation, giving travelers both major artworks and a strong architectural destination. The center opened to the public in 1997 and sits about 900 feet above sea level on a hilltop campus.

6. Explore Runyon Canyon

Runyon Canyon Park is a 160-acre urban park in the Hollywood Hills area known for short but steep hiking loops with skyline viewpoints. The park became especially popular for fitness-oriented walks because multiple trail options connect lower entrances near Hollywood Boulevard to higher ridgelines with open city views. Off-leash dog areas and early-morning hiking culture also make it one of Los Angeles’s most socially active neighborhood trail networks. While it is not a wilderness setting, Runyon Canyon is useful for travelers who want an outdoor break without leaving central Los Angeles, and the elevation gain provides clear visual context for how dense neighborhoods transition into the Santa Monica Mountains foothills. Runyon Canyon Park was established in 1984 and includes roughly 160 acres of hillside terrain in the Santa Monica Mountains.

7. Explore The Broad

The Broad opened in 2015 on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles and houses contemporary art from the collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. The museum’s building, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is known for its honeycomb-like exterior “veil” that diffuses daylight into gallery spaces. The collection includes postwar and contemporary works by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, and Jeff Koons, with rotating installations and large-format pieces. Located across from Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Broad is easy to integrate into a downtown architecture-and-arts route that also includes nearby civic spaces and performance venues. Checking the linked source before arrival also helps confirm current access rules, ticketing, and restoration updates. The Broad opened in 2015 and was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro as a two-story museum building on Grand Avenue.

8. Explore Malibu

Malibu is a coastal city west of central Los Angeles that stretches along Pacific Coast Highway and is associated with long beaches, canyon trails, and bluff-top ocean views. The city incorporated in 1991, but its shoreline has long been part of Southern California surf culture, with well-known breaks such as Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier. Inland sections connect quickly to the Santa Monica Mountains, creating short travel distances between marine and mountain environments. A Malibu day plan usually combines one beach segment, one scenic drive stop, and one inland overlook, giving visitors a concrete sense of how coastal geography shapes settlement, recreation, and wildfire-aware land management in the region. The City of Malibu incorporated in 1991, and its coastline runs for about 21 miles along the Pacific Coast Highway corridor.