20 Things to do in Los Angeles in 2020

since Los Angeles is one of the top tourist attractions in the entire United States I wanted to make a video that covers the Los Angeles area from downtown LA to Malibu for those that are visiting for this video I focused on a larger area so people would have a good understanding of what LA has to offer here's the full list and let me know why I left off in the comments my first recommendation is downtown LA downtown LA often gets a bad rap and while it does have its share of problems there are still a lot of great places to explore there my favorites are the broad Museum for its modern art sky space for its glass slide and awesome views in Grand Central Market for all of its fun restaurants I made an entire video on downtown LA that you can see in the comments if you're interested in learning more recommendation number 2 is Hollywood Boulevard in the Walk of Fame the Hollywood Walk of Fame is something that pretty much every tourist wants to see when they visit Los Angeles I suggest making your way to Hollywood and Highland where you can park in the mall structure and explore the surrounding area here you'll see the Hollywood Walk of Fame the TCL Chinese Theatre with its hand in footprints and the mini museums from Ripley's Believe It or Not to the wax museum it's definitely an overload for your senses walking around down there and it's a fun way to spend a couple hours while you're in Los Angeles recommendation number three is Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is probably my favorite place to visit in all of Los Angeles the views from the observatory are amazing with the Hollywood sign in one way and downtown LA the other of course the observatory is also fun to explore as it's free to enter and has lots of great exhibits I've been here dozens of times to watch the sunset and digital walk around and take in all the views I always love going back and it's a great place to spend at least a few hours do note that parking can be pretty difficult here especially on the weekends next up is the Hollywood sign the Hollywood sign is probably the most iconic part of Los Angeles and something that everyone wants to see when they visit there are many great places to view the sign from like Lake Hollywood Park but if you really want to experience it consider hiking up to it the hike is steep if you take the WisdomTree trail but it gives you some great views of LA and lets you get to as close to the sign as you're allowed well you can't really get that close to it you can walk up the hill behind it and get some great views looking down on it with the city in the distance either way if you're hiking to the Hollywood sign are just viewing it from afar it's a great spot for photos when you're in Los Angeles and I'm gonna have a full video on all of my favorite places to view the Hollywood sign in the future next up is the California Science Center in exposition park exposition Park is most famous as the home of the Coliseum where many football games and concerts are held but it also has the awesome California Science Center as well the center is free to enter and has many impressive exhibits on it's three floors however the main reason to come is to see the space shuttle Endeavour which made its way here in 2012 and has been a popular tourist attraction since it's amazing to see the Space Shuttle up close and it's worth a visit even if you don't see anything else in the museum next up is a visit to Olvera Street Olvera Street is one of the most historic districts in Los Angeles and was founded in the late 1700s it has some great restaurants and a fun central shopping area but the main reason to come is for the Dia de los Muertos Day of the Dead festival every October this festival has been happening for over 30 years and it's a celebration of life with murals dancers a procession and face painting Amy and I have been a few times and we always enjoy visiting and experience in it so if you're here in late October definitely check it out recommendation number seven is Echo Park next up the Echo Park area of Los Angeles is an up-and-coming area with great restaurants shops and a decent sized lake right in the middle it's a fun spot to hang out on a warm day and you can get out on the water by renting a swan boat if you want to pedal around a me and I love doing that is it gives you some great views of the city and it's fun just to be able to pedal around on a lake near downtown Los Angeles this area also has the time travel Mart which is one of my favorite stores and great food like the pizza at masa and they're fantastic bread pudding it's one of those areas I keep coming back to to explore more my next recommendation is the Hollywood Bowl the Hollywood Bowl is Ely's well-known amphitheater which has hosted basically every famous artist since it opened in 1922 while going to a concert there is something you should really experience you can also walk around the park and visit the bolt during the day as well this public park is unique to explore during the day and it has some nice views of the Hollywood sign when you walk all the way to the top plus there's a small Museum which is free to visit it has some information about the architecture and many of the artists that have played the Hollywood Bowl my next recommendation is to see a Dodgers game like the Hollywood Bowl seeing a Dodgers game is a must-do attraction in Los Angeles just driving through the parking lot to the stadium gives you some iconic views of downtown Los Angeles and the historic stadium has been there for over 60 years if you come during the offseason you can pay to take a tour of the stadium or you can just visit the store and walk out to the upper deck to look over the baseball field it's a lot of fun to see this historic stadium and take in a game even for non baseball fans my next recommendation is a visit to Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is Los Angeles main amusement park what's so fun about it though is that it has a working back lot which you can see on the backlot tour ride with your admission to the park I love going to this park seeing the Waterworld show eating a doughnut in Springfield going on many of the fun rides and attractions and visiting for their Christmas festivities it's one of those places I go to every year or so and it's a great way to have a fun day in Los Angeles especially with a family of older children recommendation number 11 is to take one of the studio tours Los Angeles is the birthplace of the movies and one of the best ways to experience this history is to take one of the studio tours there are four studios you can tour if you count the universal ride I mentioned before I've done the Paramount and the Warner Brothers one but I haven't done the Sony one yet you can't take video on any of them but you can usually take photos each of the tours provide a better understanding of how movies are made by seeing all the different props and maybe even visiting a soundstage if you're lucky it took me years to actually do one of these tours but I enjoy them a lot more than I thought I would and if you like movies you should definitely check one of them out while you're in Los Angeles recommendation number twelve is Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills while I'm not much of a shopper it's still fun to go to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive since they're both so iconic the Beverly Hills sign is right next to a large fountain and it's one of the most popular spots for photos in Los Angeles a few blocks away is sprinkles which has a cupcake ATM that's a favorite for mini visitors and another few blocks from there you'll see Rodeo Drive made famous by the movie pretty woman Rodeo Drive has a bunch of high-end shops where I can't afford anything but it's still fun to window shop and I especially enjoy visiting here when it's decorated for Christmas as it's really beautiful my next recommendation is a visit to La Brea Tar Pits and LACMA the lip Brea Tar Pits are unique part of the history of this area and well worth a visit the Tar Pits captured many historic mammoths and other creatures preserving their bones for display and museums around the world you can still see the bubbling Tar Pits and you can visit the museum which has many intact fossils on display plus it shares a block with Lachlan De Los Angeles County Museum of Art which is another premiere Los Angeles Museum and a home to urban lights a favorite photo spot for mini tourists while it can be expensive to park and see both of them it's definitely a fun way to spend a half day in the city recommendation number 14 is my last museum recommendation and that's a visit to both of the Getty locations the two Getty museums are both some of the country's best museums to visit the main one near uCLA has week's worth of exhibits to explore with beautiful gardens famous art from Monet and Van Gogh and great views of Los Angeles I've been here many times and haven't even scratched the surface of all the art they have to see the second location in Malibu has many Greek and Roman sculptures with a stunning central pool and immaculate Gardens I love both of these museums and if you're a history or art buff they're well worth a visit while you're in Los Angeles next up is a visit to some of the city's movie locations before heading out a little from the Central Los Angeles area I wanted to spotlight a few movie locations that you can see which are always popular for visitors to LA of course you will see many locations on the studio tours but you can also visit Union Station the Bradbury building Randy's Donuts and Angels Flight just to name a few and there are hundreds of other places where movies have been filmed all over the city you can easily spend a day or two just driving around and visiting many of them recommendation number 16 is a visit to Venice Beach Venice Beach is a lively city right on the ocean west of Los Angeles the city has a lot of things to see ranging from street performers a skate park street art the beach and of course the Venice canals I've spent many days just walking around Venice Beach and taking it all in the canals especially are one of my favorite spots to visit as you can walk up and down them and cross over the mini bridges getting great views of the area it's something you would never expect to see in Los Angeles next up one city over visit Santa Monica right next to Venice Beach is another great place to explore and that's Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Pier the Santa Monica Pier is the official end point for route 66 and features a sign that's often photographed it also has an amusement park on the pier with the ferris wheel and a roller coaster it's a really popular tourist attraction and a great place to visit for a day at the beach or just to take some time exploring the pier I also love watching the sunset here and it's a great place for sunset photography with the ferris wheel and the Sun fading in the distance plus you can visit the Third Street Promenade which has a ton of popular shops and some great restaurants while you're there my next recommendation is a visit to Malibu continuing just a little further west I also wanted to recommend Malibu as it has some of the best views in the entire Los Angeles area many people don't get all the way out to Malibu on their visit to LA but they really should as it's beautiful I recommend visiting Point Dume for coastal views going to El Matador State Beach stopping for seafood at one of the many restaurants or hiking to Escondido Falls or sandstone peak you could easily spend a whole week just exploring the Malibu area and let me know your favorite spot in Malibu in the comments for my second and last recommendation I just wanted to call out the Los Angeles food scene Elia is some of the best restaurants in the United States and hopefully I can make a video just on the food one of these days while not an extensive list a few of my favorite spots are Philippe's for a French Dip Diet Coke Ouya for ramen casados for tacos Langer's for a pastrami sandwich masa for pizza and Randy's for donuts just to name a few of course there are tons of other places like Buteyko Luiz howling Ray's and animal and I'd love to hear your favorite restaurant in the comments as well for my last recommendation I suggest you make a visit to in and out specifically the in and out in there lax if you're visiting California then you probably haven't been to in and out and you can't leave without trying one of the state's most famous fast-food joints the best one to visit is the one near LAX sure it can be busy but you can watch all the planes land as you eat your burger and it's a great way to spend 45 minutes I recommend you get a burger animal-style and let me know what you think of it in the comments thanks so much for exploring the LA area with me if you're coming to visit let me know what you're most excited about seeing in the comments if this is your first time seeing one of my videos I have over 250 videos on California on my channel thanks again for watching us and we'll see you on the next video [Music]

Channel: California Through My Lens

Views: 765,985

Rating: 4.9243875 out of 5

Keywords: things to do in los angeles, things to do in la, los angeles attractions, los angeles, city guide, los angeles travel, los angeles travel guide, things to know los angeles, los angeles (city/town/village), what to do in la, things to see in los angeles, travel los angeles, travel tips la

Id: lO1nTh52OCg

Length: 12min 11sec (731 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 11 2020