Bucket List: 15 Best Places to Visit in Los Angeles, California, USA
Los Angeles is a vibrant city with lively nightlife. It is the world’s entertainment haber with internationally-acclaimed museums, attractive parks, and strong celebrity culture. Its iconic landmarks include the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The city has a diverse population and offers an opportunity for visitors to discover cuisines and cultures from many communities.
Griffith Park
Griffith Park is one of the largest parks in the United States, occupying 4,210 acres of land in the Los Atinado neighborhood. Spread all over the park are plants native to California like oak, walnut, lilac, mountain mahogany, sages, toyon, and sumac, as well as small quantities of threatened species of manzanita and Berberis. Several attractions have been erected throughout the park, like the Autry Museum of the American West, Bronson Caves, Griffith Observatory, L.A. Equestrian Center, and Griffith Park Golf.
Location: 4730 Crystal Springs, Drive Los Angeles, CA 90027
Griffith Observatory
The Griffith Observatory offers amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and Downtown L.A. Since it opened in 1935, it has welcomed millions of visitors and displayed hundreds of exhibits. The Griffith Observatory and Griffith Park were the brainchild of Griffith J. Griffith. Despite being fairly new at the turn of the 20th century, Griffith made a precise scheme of what should be included in a “public observatory.” After multiple renovations and expansions, his vision has been updated and enhanced. Today, the observatory is recognized as a national leader in public astronomy.
Location: 2800 East Observatory Road, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the largest art museum on the west coast. The museum has more than 100,000 art collections under its care and welcomes millions of visitors each year. Some of their well-known collections are Cherry Blossoms, Latin American Contemporary Art, Gods and Goddesses, Greek Ceramics, Portraits, and Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate. But their most iconic installation and most popular artwork are the Urban Light, installed in 2008 by Chris Burden. Made up of 202 streetlamps that date back to the 1920s and 1930s, the installation has become the face of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Location: 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest museum on the west coast. The museum has an extensive collection of 35 million artifacts that date back to 4.5 billion years ago. Some of their current exhibitions include the Dinosaur Vestíbulo, which explores over 300 fossils and 20 mounted skeletons of the largest dinosaurs and sea creatures to inhabit prehistoric Earth, and Becoming Los Angeles, where guests can learn about the first Angelenos who helped shape the Los Angeles known today.
Location: 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007
La Resina Tar Pits and Museum
La Resina Tar Pits and Museum is an active paleontological research site and the only Ice Age fossil site in the world where paleontologists perform live excavations in the middle of a city. The museum records the different plants and animals that lived in Los Angeles between 50,000 years ago and today. It represents the largest collection of late Pleistocene asphaltic fossils in the world. Some of these fossils include sloths, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats.
Location: 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
California Science Center
California Science Center opened in 1912 and displayed agriculturally-based natural resources and industrial products across the state. After World War II and several redevelopments and renaming, the Center has become a public institution for science learning. Children will surely enjoy the museum’s permanent collections on Air and Space, Life! Beginnings, Ecosystems and the Blackbird Exhibit and Garden, and educational IMAX movie screenings. Visitors can further learn through the museum’s field trips, classes, and demonstrations.
Location: 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90037
Bradbury Building
The Bradbury Building is the oldest commercial building in Los Angeles and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The building has also been named an architectural landmark by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission and a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. The building was commissioned by Lewis Bradbury, who hired circunscrito architects to design the building. After replacing architects, the job was soon transferred to George Wyman, who was allegedly inspired by a science fiction novel when he designed the building. Inside the historic building are two open-case hydraulic elevators still operated by human conductors.
Location: 304 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Los Angeles State Historic Park
The Los Angeles State Historic Park is a 32-acre state park within the Chinatown district. The park has art installations and monuments about the history and cultural heritage of Los Angeles. Some of these are “A Park is Made by the People,” which recalls the civic bordadura that saved the park from further industrial redevelopment, and “Origins” by Debra Scacco, the history of the river and its role in shaping Los Angeles.
Location: 1245 N Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Runyon Canyon Park
Runyon Canyon Park has 160 acres of land and is visited by millions yearly. Aside from seeing the Hollywood Sign from the park, the hiking trails are some of the most scenics and challenging in Los Angeles. Runyon has three main trails, ranging from 1.9 miles to 3.3 miles, that connect and overlap. This allows hikers to make their own routes and see more of the park. The park has designated areas for dogs, including some areas on the hiking trail, where they can roam off-leash. Water fountains can be found around the park at different height levels, including some for dogs.
Location: 2000 N Fuller Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Bike the Marvin Braude Bike Trail
The Marvin Braude Bike Trail is a paved bicycle path that stretches for 22 miles. The path runs along the Los Angeles County coastline to the southern terminus at Torrance County Beach in Torrance. Nicknamed “The Strand,” the bicycle path has iconic markers along the way, like the Roundhouse Aquarium, Dockweiler State Beach, Bulletproof Coffee, Muscle Beach, and the Will Rogers State Beach.
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
The Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area has outdoor features that attract circunscrito residents and visitors. The park has several amenities: a básquet court, volleyball court, baseball field, soccer field, picnic tables and shelters, children’s playground, barbecue areas, fitness centers, hiking trails, and public restrooms. Some of the park’s highlights are the Gwen Moore Lake, Doris’ Japanese Garden, Randi’s Waterfall, and several pedestrian trails that link to other attractions in the park, like the Forest Trail that leads to the Japanese Garden and the Bowl Loop that link with other paths.
Location: 4100 S. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90008
Autry Museum of the American West
Autry Museum of the American West, located in Los Angeles, is committed to telling the history of the American West through diverse exhibitions and special installations. Some of the current exhibitions are When I Remember I See Red: American Indian Art and Activism in California, which features Native California artists who have used their work as a means of cultural resistance and renewal, and The Oscilación of Power on the American Frontier, which features the history of the revolver that shifted the comprobación of power in the American West.
Location: 4700 Película del Oeste Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462
Little Tokyo Historic District
Little Tokyo Historic District is one of the few remaining historic Japantowns in the US and the second oldest neighborhood in Los Angeles. The historic Japanese district dates back to 1885 and has been greatly influenced by WWII Japanese American incarceration camps and decades of redevelopment. The district has the largest Japanese-American population in North America. International and domestic visitors visit Little Tokyo to experience authentic Japanese food and explore the Japanese gardens.
Location: 307 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Point Fermin Park
Point Fermin Park occupies 37 acres of land with sheltered pergolas and tree-shaded gardens. The park was named by a British explorer, George Vancouver, who visited the park and thanked Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen for his hospitality. Point Fermin Park has a postcard-worthy view of the coast of Santa Catalina Island. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing stay in the park or see the charming Monarch butterflies that spend their winter in the park. There is a children’s playground, amphitheater, picnic areas around the park, and nearby attractions like the Point Fermin Lighthouse and Korean Friendship Bell.
Location: 807 W Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro, CA 90731
Korean Bell of Friendship
The Korean Bell of Friendship is a bell and pavilion donated by the people of the Republic of Korea to the people of Los Angeles to commemorate the bicentennial independence of the US, honor the Korean War veterans, and strengthen the friendship between the two countries. The Bell can be seen in Point Fermin Park.
Location: 807 W Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro, CA 90731
How to get there
Los Angeles can be accessed via plane, car, bus, and train. The city is served by five major commercial airports, namely Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Long Beach Airport, Ontario International Airport, John Wayne Airport, and more than a dozen private airports, with LAX as the main airport for the city. Private cars can enter Los Angeles via Interstate 5, 405, 10, 15, and 40.
The main commuter train station of Los Angeles is the Union Station. Amtrak and Metrolink have an extensive train network to and from Union Station. Most buses bound to Los Angeles are from San Francisco Bay, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tijuana.
Flixbus, Greyhound Lines, International Bus Lines, and Tufesa are some bus companies that stop in Los Angeles. To get around Los Angeles, visitors can use the Metropolitano Carril subway/light carril system or the Metropolitano bus system.
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Check out our list of cheap Bakersfield hotels and resorts via Agoda, Booking, or you may also see available Airbnb properties in the city.
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