Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Suggested Los Angeles
Itineraries
If you've left your brain at the office and want someone else to make
the tough decisions during y our vacation, you'll love this chapter . It's where I tell y ou
what
I
think you should see and do during y our time in L.A. The itineraries are broken
down into 1-, 2-, and 3-day sections, depending on ho w long you're in town. If you've
already made your way through “The Best of Los Angeles in 1 Day,” the 2-day tour starts
where the 1-day schedule left off, and so on.
But if you really want to enjo y even a fraction of what L.A. has to offer , you should
plan on staying at least 3 days, pr eferably a week (besides, it'll increase your chances of
getting discovered). And this might seem obvious, but you'll need a car to get around—
public transportation in L.A. is terrible.
Before planning your schedule, take a moment to r eview L.A.'s neighborhoods.
1
THE NEIGHBORHOODS IN BRIEF
Los Angeles isn't a single compact city like
San F rancisco, but a sprawling suburbia
comprising dozens of disparate communi-
ties located either on the ocean or on the
flatlands of a huge deser t basin. O cean
breezes push the city 's infamous smog
inland and thr ough mountain passes into
the sprawl of the S an Fernando and S an
Gabriel valleys. Downtown L.A. is in the
center of the basin, about 12 miles east of
the Pacific Ocean. Most visitors spend the
bulk of their time either along the coast-
line or on the city's ever-trendy Westside.
SANTA MONICA & THE
BEACHES
These ar e nearly ev eryone's fav orite L.A.
communities and get my highest r ecom-
mendation as the pr emier place to book a
hotel during y our v acation. The 60-mile
beachfront str etching fr om M alibu to the
Palos Verdes peninsula has milder w eather
and less smog than the inland communi-
ties, and traffic is lighter, except on summer
weekends. The towns along the coast each
have a distinct mood and charm, and most
are connected via a walk/bike path. They're
listed below from north to south.
MALIBU
At the northern border of Los
Angeles County , 25 miles fr om D own-
town, Malibu was once a priv ately owned
ranch—purchased in 1857 for 10¢ an acre
and now the most expensiv e real estate in
L.A. Today its 27 miles of wide beaches,
beachfront cliffs, sparsely populated hills,
and relative remoteness from the inner city
make it popular with rich r ecluses such as
Cher and M el G ibson. I ndeed, the r esi-
dent lists of M alibu Colony and nearb y
Broad Beach—oceanfront strips of closely
packed mansions—read like a who 's who
in Hollywood. With plenty of green space
and dramatic r ocky outcr oppings, M ali-
bu's r ural beauty is unsurpassed in L.A.,
and surfers flock to “ the 'Bu” for gr eat, if
crowded, waves.
SANTA MONICA
Los Angeles's premier
beach community, Santa Monica is known
