16 must-sees in Los Angeles: what to see and do in 1 or 2 days

Visit Los Angeles It is one of the important milestones of a trip through the West Coast of the United States, although many visitors may be disappointed to some extent.

Or at least it may not meet certain expectations you may have, which I now explain.

I tell you that many of the places you can see in Los Angeles They will be very familiar to you due to the great prominence that this city has acquired thanks to cinema or television series.

This also happens initially with other North American cities, such as New York, San Francisco o Las Vegas.

But then, when you have the opportunity to visit them, perhaps it may seem to you that reality does not meet the expectations of fiction, which specifically happened to me with Los Angeles.

Tourist guide to visit Los Angeles

I will tell you from the start that it is a city of incredible dimensions and a must-see in a West Coast route.

Really, what you are going to visit during your visit to this city is the so-called Los County Angeles, a huge conglomeration of residential areas linked by highways and large avenues.

There is located not only the city ​​of Los Angeles and, but also other adjacent cities and towns, such as, for example, Beverly Hills y Santa Monica.

If you are not traveling by car, but are arriving by plane, it will be useful to know how to get from LAX airport to downtown Los Angeles, which you can do by bus or subway.

Where to sleep in Los Angeles

For your visit to the city you must choose well the place where you are going to stay to avoid excessive travel, for which it will be useful search hotel in Los Angeles through booking.com.

In this regard, on my trip we chose to stay in a hotel located in a service area of ​​one of the numerous highways that link the different places that we were going to visit later, which made it easier for us to travel by car quickly.

This is what it's like to visit Los Angeles, what to see and do

at the time of meeting Los Angeles, you may not want to complicate things and prefer to sign up for one of the tours with guide in Spanish that show you the city.

But if you prefer to explore it on your own, from our experience, I'm going to give you some basic recommendations and advice to take into account when planning your trip to Los Angeles.

Regardless of whether reality is not similar to the image you may have of the city, I will tell you that Los Angeles It has enough attractions to satisfy all its visitors.

Places to see in Hollywood in Los Angeles

You won't be missed interesting places to visit y activities to do.

Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard

While Hollywood Boulevard It is possible that when you visit it it will seem like a much smaller street. normal than your cinematographic imagination would lead you to dream, I assure you that no one is left indifferent by the visit of the Hall of Fame.

Walk along the section where the Dolby Theater and the Grauman Chinese Theater, and look for the stars or prints of your favorite actors, is a common exercise for any self-respecting tourist.

But above all, you will find a great atmosphere around the world of cinema, and you will also have the possibility, from a viewpoint, to see the famous Hollywood sign.

There are numerous people who, disguised as famous movie characters They wander among tourists with the aim of earning a tip for give up your image to take a photo with them.

From  Snow White to Batman, the Pirates of the Caribbean o Superman.

And along with these characters you will also find numerous musicians who perform pieces or songs related to movies.

Your walk through Hollywood walk of fame It will be a coming-of-age of all kinds of characters that give it the atmosphere of a true theme park where the cinema will be the main attraction of your visit, ideal for children...and adults.

Dolby Theater in Hollywood

El Dolby Theater It is one of the iconic places of Hollywood Boulevard because there the award ceremony takes place every year. Academy Awards.

Perhaps it sounds more familiar to you with the name it had when it opened in 2002, that of Kodak Theater, but since 2012 it has had a new name after the bankruptcy that the famous photography and cinema film company suffered in that year.

On your trip you have the option of visit the Dolby Theater and in this way see one of the famous statuettes of the Oscar.

Stars of artists in Hollywood

If there is one thing you will surely want to do when you arrive in Los Angeles, it is see the stars of the artists on the sidewalk.

You can do that for the whole Hall of Fame, and it is the reason why this stretch of Hollywood Boulevard has this name, although it is also known as the Walk of the Stars.

An exercise that you will surely do, as all tourists do, is to look for the stars of your favorite actors or actresses.

I can tell you that there are more than 2.200 stars installed since 1958, when this custom began.

Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood

Another of the iconic corners of this famous Los Angeles avenue is the Chinese Theater, also known as Grauman Theater.

With a curious and striking Chinese style in its architecture and interior decoration, it is one of the movie theaters where the most Hollywood movie premieres, which is why the most famous artists continually pass through it.

You can also visit this theater.

Handprints of artists in Hollywood

Right in front of the Chinese Theater is where you can see another of the most visited places in hollywood, the sidewalk where the most famous actors and actresses come to capture the prints of your hands and feet.

As with the aforementioned stars, a ceremony of your visit of Hollywood Boulevard It's going to be looking for the traces of your favorite artists.

Places to see in Downtown Los Angeles

La most central area of ​​the city of Los Angeles is known as the Downtown.

There are large concentrations of big skyscrapers of the city, as well as the most historic neighborhood.

Below I indicate places that you can see and know during your visit to Downtown Los Angeles.

And here you have more information to visit the downtown area Downtown Los Angeles (in English), with maps with the streets and buildings of the Downtown, Civic Center, Historic Center, Chinatown and Little Tokyo areas.

Los Angeles Village on Olvera Street

The place that can be considered the historical area where some vestiges of the colonial city are preserved is the area known as the Town of Los Angeles, which is found in Olvera Street.

It is a historical monument where in 1930 an enclosure that emulates a Mexican town was built.

Some of the buildings date back to the time of the city's founding in 1781, and it is now an area of ​​shops, restaurants and recreational activities and shows.

Central Union Station

One of the charismatic buildings with the most curious design in the central area Downtown Los Angeles is Union Station Central Railway Station.

Founded in 1939, it was the last major railroad station ever built in the United States.

The building surprises with its spanish colonial design architecture, and to complete the atmosphere, the building is surrounded by a garden area with large palm trees and other exotic-style plants.

US Bank Tower and Library Tower in Los Angeles

La U.S. Bank Tower is the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles.

But not only that, it is also the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississppi river, and, therefore, from California.

Located Downtown Los Angeles, with its 310 meters high, was inaugurated in 1989, and the building houses the headquarters of the US Bank.

It is also known as Library Tower Well, opposite on the same street is the Central Library of Los Angeles.

This other well-known building in Downtown Los Angeles was built in 1926, and is the third largest library in the United States due to the size of its stock of books, newspapers and magazines.

Civic Center of Los Angeles

In the building complex known as Civic Center you can see the building Los Angeles City Hall (Town City Hall).

Built in 1928 with 32 floors, until 1968 it was the tallest building in Los Angeles because due to fear of possible earthquakes, no other taller skyscraper was built.

You will also find known as Los Music Center Angeles, where you will be surprised by the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a concert hall whose design is totally reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, since it has been designed by the same architect, Frank Gehry.

Inaugurated in 2003, it is the headquarters of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the same complex is the Dorothy Chander Pavilion, one of the three largest arts centers in the United States.

Between 1969 and 1987, and in some subsequent years, it was the setting chosen for the delivery of the Academy Awards, the last edition being that of 1999.

Places to see around Los Angeles

In addition to visiting the city center, the aforementioned Downtown, and the area of Hollywood, on your trip to Los Angeles you should also go to other nearby places that are essential to complete the visit.

Climb and visit the Griffith Observatory

If you have rental car for you visit of the Angeles, it will be worth it to climb the mountain located north of Hollywood.

From the viewpoint of Griffith Observatory you will have the opportunity to enjoy the best panoramic views of the urban conglomerate of the aforementioned Los County Angeles.

You also have the possibility to visit this astronomical observatory, which you can also reach in the Dash Observatory bus that comes from the Vermont/Sunset station of the Metro red line.

Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles

On the way to Santa Monica, west hollywood, you will have the opportunity to take a walk around Beverly Hills to see the great mansions of this very luxurious area of ​​the Los County Angeles.

There you also find the famous shopping area of Via Rodeo Drive. with numerous luxury stores which are frequented by artists who have their residence in an exclusive mansion Beverly Hills.

Santa Monica in Los Angeles

In your trip to Los Angeles You cannot miss a visit to its famous and television beaches.

The most advisable thing is to go to Santa Monica, where you can see the popular pier pier with attractions fair and restaurants, which also makes it an ideal option for a night visit.

In Santa Monica you can also see the famous Muscle Beach.

Universal Studios in Los Angeles

And from my point of view, a key stage of your trip to Los Angeles is to dedicate a day to tour one of the peaks of cinema, the Universal Studios.

The most attractive thing, in addition to enjoying a fun Theme Park mounted around the world of cinema, is to make the Tour of the sets of Universal Studios.

During this tour you will surely enjoy reliving the atmosphere of some of the most popular films in the history of cinema, such as Shark, Psychosis, King Kong o Back to the Future.

Tours and excursions in Los Angeles

If for your visit to the great Californian city you want to sign up for one tour, here you can consult the information about tours and excursions in Spanish in Los Angeles.

You have from a complete tour of Los Angeles, to more thematic tours like the one that takes you to Hollywood and the Celebrity Houses or to California beachesWell, in addition to going to Santa Monica, you will also visit Venice Beach y Marina del Rey.

You can also sign up for a excursion to San Diego or even to a 8-day tour of the West Coast.