Los Angeles Travel Guide
Travel guide to Los Angeles , California with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Los Angeles sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Los Angeles Overview
Los Angeles is the centre of the American entertainment industry, a city built almost entirely on dreams. It's a place to which millions have come looking for fame and fortune, and where the lucky few have found it. L.A. is glamorous beyond imagination in some parts, and run down and poverty stricken in others, Los Angeles is a microcosm of America, a place that must be seen to be believed.
Los Angeles in itself does not really exist; it is a "conglomeration" of 88 cities mixed with each other as they have spread out along the Pacific Coast of South California. There is no city centre as such, but each area has its own individual identity and character.
Los Angeles has the original Anaheim Disneyland; glamorous Beverley Hills, the upmarket neighbourhood of the stars in Bel Air, and of course Hollywood.
Los Angeles has beaches in Malibu, and groves of citrus that give Orange County its name. Its got shopping in Rodeo Drive and more movie stars per head of population than anywhere apart from Mumbai. Of course, it also has South Central and Compton the areas that glamour has left behind, but for all its problems, Los Angeles is well worth visiting: a place that mixes many cultures and influences, and any visit, however short is certain to leave you with excellent memories, and is somewhere that you'll want to return to again and again.
Top Los Angeles Attractions
One of the first ports of call for any visitor to Los Angeles is Hollywood, where you can see the famous walk of fame, visit the Universal Studios Tour, and keep an eye out for a film star. A number of companies offer tours of the stars' homes, and other highpoints of the area, and if you like the idea of creeping around outside your idol's house trying to catch a glimpse, then feel free to do so.
Disneyland in Anaheim is the original theme park and still has some great rides and attractions to offer. The best time to pay a visit to Mickey Mouse is in the early evening when the temperature is more comfortable and the queues are shorter.
A more culturally rich experience can be had at The Getty Centre in the downtown area of Los Angeles. This collection of institutions covers around 50 acres of prime real estate, and rival the Smithsonian in terms of the variety and quality of exhibits.
Shopping in Los Angeles
The most famous street for shopping in Los Angeles is arguable Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills. Here you will find all the city's most instantly recognisable designer boutiques and possibly even spot a few movie stars as they furnish their wardrobes. Slightly less glamorous, the Century City Mall close by offers lower prices and a greater variety of shops.
In Downtown Los Angeles, some 56 blocks of the city are known collectively as the Fashion District, and around the streets there are all manner of stores selling everything from big name designer clothes, through stylish one-off creations and more low cost outfits. In short, everything you might want to wear.
Los Angeles Sporting Events
Aside from American football, you can see all the top US sports in Los Angeles: The Clippers and Lakers play basketball, the Dodgers and the Anaheim Angels play baseball, and the Kings and Wild Ducks play ice hockey. There used to be two NFL teams in LA, but they both ran off in the late 1990s when the gang situation got out of control.
