Los Angeles Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

Jennifer
Pacific Palisades, CA

LA - so much more that star-sighting!

arts lover, love to travel, an avid and frequent traveler, love nature, family traveler, a travel & lifestyles writer, interested in cultural experiences

Pros

gorgeous beaches, world-class museums, vacations can be budget or luxury, almost always warm but not too hot

Cons

traffic is a huge problem, need to rent a car

OCT

2007

Los Angeles —

A vacation in Los Angeles can take on many forms, from stereotypical tours around the homes of famous people, to learning to surf some of the country's best waves, to partying all night along Melrose Ave or the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, to high-end shopping at The Grove or Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade, to touring museums like the Getty, LACMA, and the Hammer Museum. It's all good; a trip to Los Angeles can be tailored to fit nearly any type of vacation desire. It is, after all, the entertainment capital of the world.

For a family-friendly, kid-oriented vacation in Los Angeles, I recommend putting a day aside for a theme or amusement park. The best are Universal Studios Hollywood, the Santa Monica Pier, and (it goes without saying) Disneyland. Other kiddie favorites include Travel Town, the Griffith Park Pony & Wagon Rides, and Legoland.

People of all ages, children and adults alike, often go to the La Brea Tar Pits. It's interesting to consider that the geologic history of this part of the country still bubbles up, occasionally -- and sometimes, right on Wilshire Boulevard! Be warned: The smell is as bad as you'd expect million-year-old tar to be. Other LA spots that are equally popular for tourists of all ages are the Aquarium of the Pacific (in Long Beach, around 30 minutes south of LA), the LA Zoo and Botanical Gardens, the California Science Center, Griffith Observatory, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This last one, the Natural History Museum, has the especially appealing Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center for children. My kids have spent hours here, enjoying the tactile experiences of the user-friendly exhibits.

Now, children historically get bored at art museums, particularly those that don't cater to the underage crowd. Los Angeles has so many interesting museums, it makes me wonder why it has a reputation for being devoid of culture. My favorite museums in LA are the Getty Center, the Norton Simon Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Villa (this is separate from the Getty Museum), and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Others include the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, California African American Museum, Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Hammer Museum, and the Museum of Latin American Art.

Tourists seem to flood Los Angeles seasonally, all wanting to see two or three of the same things: Famous people, surfers, and wild nightclubs. The next time you're considering a vacation here, please remember that there is so much more.

Los Angeles is recommended by Jennifer

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Comments about Jennifer’s Review

In response to Jo's comment from Nov 1, 2007 at 3:33PM:

Thanks, Jo - I love it here too (at least when it's not "fire season"). There's a lot more out here than just celebrity-spotting, despite what people might think from magazines and entertainment news. I hope you have a great time here next month.

My daughter lives in L.A. She's been there for about 1 1/2 years. We've been out twice to see her and will go again in December for 10 days. I love it there. Jo