Los Angeles is one of the most famous cities in the world, but there is so much more to LA than what you’ll see on the silver screen. I’m sharing our itinerary for 3 days in Los Angeles, which was perfect for us as first time visitors. With 3 days in LA, we had time to see Santa Monica Beach, Venice Beach, hike Runyon Canyon, see sunset from the Griffith Observatory, stroll Rodeo Drive and tour Warner Brothers Studios, to see behind the scenes in Hollywood. It was the perfect introduction to Los Angeles, and I’d love to go back!

Los Angeles was our final destination during our one month travelling in the USA & Canada. I was curious about Los Angeles, because it’s so famous but I didn’t expect to necessarily like it. The city is stereotyped as being full of perfect teeth and fake smiles, but I was surprised to discover an undercurrent of creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship that seeps through the city, from the Griffith Observatory to the Hollywood film studios. I loved the wide open skies, crumbling cliffs, dramatic mountain backdrop and the sprawling beaches. While I couldn’t see myself living in Los Angeles, there is certainly a lot to love!

We arrived in the city after spending two days driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, and stayed at The Standard in West Hollywood, which is a really cool hotel (that gets very scene-y around the pool bar on a Friday night).

Getting around Los Angeles

Los Angeles is famously sprawling, with poor public transport and notorious traffic. Since we were on holiday, and not in a rush, I was happy to catch a bus every now and then, but the hotel staff strongly advised against it, for safety reasons. I was glad for the advice, but booking Ubers multiple times a day was tedious and expensive. Prepare to spend a lot of time in Ubers!

Santa Monica

Santa Monica is a little bit cheesy and very crowded in summer, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the ocean. The water here is beautiful, and I wish we could have gone for a swim. Unfortunately, there is no way I was leaving my wallet, phone and camera on the sand while I went for a swim. Because it’s so difficult to get around Los Angeles, we were staying out for the whole day, so it wouldn’t have been convenient to come down to the beach without any valuables.

Venice Beach

After Hollywood, Venice Beach is the most famous neighbourhood in Los Angeles. Venice Beach is famous for being an offbeat, eclectic neighbourhood of surfers and skateboarders, but before visiting I had an inkling that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. It’s very touristy, it’s a little sketchy and it feels a little bit worse for wear. Parts of it are very pretty, but it’s not somewhere I wanted to spend a lot of time. And maybe, that was the problem – I didn’t see that much of it apart from the main streets.

Abbot-Kinney Boulevard

Just behind Venice Beach is Abbot-Kinney Boulevard, a part of Venice that is much more welcoming. Abbot-Kinney is lined with cool bars, restaurants, art galleries and local designer boutiques. We got a gigantic ice cream each at Salt + Straw, which I highly recommend for their insane flavours (I think mine was black olive, lavender and honey), and then had a drink at The Brig, which is a really relaxed sports bar. We were going to go to Gjelina for dinner, but we weren’t that hungry when dinnertime rolled around. Instead, we tracked down a Lime scooter and zipped back to Santa Monica, to get an uber home. There are Lime and Bird motorised scooters all over Los Angeles, to the extent that the city is basically littered with them. They’re an eyesore, but they are definitely convenient in such a flat and sprawling city.

Runyon Canyon

One of the best things we did in Los Angeles was hiking in Runyon Canyon. We took a steep, winding trail loop around the park, admiring the fantastic views along the way.

I was looking for active things to do everywhere we went – pilates classes in New York (even though I had to cancel all of them because I was so sick), runs along South Beach in Miami, cycling through Stanley Park in Vancouver and hiking in British Columbia, and walking all over hilly San Francisco. This was one of my favourite activities, and actually made a good workout. The look outs up here would make such a great place to get away from it all, and I saw quite a few people meditating at various look outs.

You can see the Hollywood Sign from here, as well as the Griffith Observatory. I loved the views over the Hollywood hills, which are so dramatic.

Rodeo Drive & Beverly Hills

I don’t really like shopping, and buying from global designer brands is not my idea of a great souvenir. However, I still wanted to check out Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills to see what all the fuss was about. Beverly Hills is a world away from Venice Beach and West Hollywood. It’s manicured within an inch of it’s life, there’s not a Lime or Bird scooter in sight (they’re banned – and the ban is actually enforced here) and due to the community’s decades-long battle against public transport, the only locals you’ll see are the 1%. While the streets are certainly pretty, I think Beverly Hills lacks character so we didn’t spend much time here.

I admired the modernist architecture in Beverly Hills, which to me seemed very Los Angeles, but I wasn’t as in to the faux European terraces and piazzas, lined with expensive cafes and watch shops. It reminds me of the more glamorous parts of the Gold Coast in Australia, which always feels like it’s pretending to be somewhere else.

Warner Bros Studio Tour

The Warner Bros Studio Tour in Hollywood was one of the best things we did in Los Angeles. There are several studio tours you can take in LA, the three most popular tours are Universal Studios, Paramount Studio Tour and Warner Brothers. Universal Studios has morphed into a theme park, and while you can see props and sets, it’s not a working studio. I was more interested in the behind-the-scenes workings of a film studio than a theme park, so we chose Warner Bros Studios.

I loved this tour and highly recommend it if you’re interested in film & television, or even if you’re just a fan of some of the many Warners Bros productions. My favourite part was touring the backlots, especially their New York backlot and the “generic American suburbia” backlot, where shows like Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars are filmed (the latter two use the same set!). So many films and tv shows were set in the New York back lot that I lost track, but our guide did a great job of working out what sorts of movies our group was interested in and tailoring the tour to that.

We also visited a few sound stages, an exhibition with all of the Batman cars, a small museum of costumes and props and then a larger museum which explained the workings of several different departments, with lots of memorabilia and interactive exhibits.

This tour was such a fun way to spend a day (or half of it) and gave me a new appreciation for the craftsmanship and creativity that goes into movie making.

Griffith Observatory

The Griffith Observatory is one of the most magical places in Los Angeles. We visited on our last evening in Los Angeles, to take in the views during daylight hours and then watch the sun go down and the city light up. This was one of my other favourite things to do in Los Angeles, and I highly recommend making time for it.

I didn’t realise there would be exhibits inside the Griffith Observatory, which I found really interesting. They were mostly about the weather, the solar system, the seasons and other natural phenomena. If we’d had time, I would have gone to one of the planetarium shows too. While we were there, I also learned that California’s astronomers have been pioneering astronomy research since the late 19th century. There are three other major observatories, Mt Wilson, Mt Lick and Palomar Observatory, which all played major roles in research and discovery. Griffith Observatory was built as a gift to the people of Los Angeles by Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, to make astronomy and stargazing accessible to the public.

The Griffith Observatory is such a special place, it’s somewhere I can see myself visiting every time I’m in Los Angeles.

Related: The Most Beautiful Places to Visit in California

Notes for next time

Next time I’m in Los Angeles, I’d like to go to a concert of film screening at the Hollywood Bowl, visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and see Chris Burden’s Urban Light installation, go to Grand Central Market and maybe visit the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Still not on my list is seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame or doing a celebrity mansion tour – these “must-do’s” don’t appeal to me in the slightest!

This was the end of our trip to the USA & Canada, but you can also read about our time in New York, Miami, Vancouver, San Francisco and the Pacific Coast Highway.

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