Travelling Los Angeles
Before You Travel
Los Angeles is the largest city in California and the second largest city in the United States of America. It is located on the southern coast of California about 75 miles (120km) north of the Mexican border and 400 miles (600km) south of San Francisco. The original name of the city was "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles" or "The Village of Our Lady the Queen of Angels", but the name was shortened for obvious reasons.
Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Beaches
Along the Pacific shore, Malibu, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey and Palos Verde are high-class residential beach communities. Venice Beach, on the other hand, is known for bikini clad roller bladers, muscle-bound weight lifters and an odd assortment of slightly off-beat characters. Long Beach is a thriving seaport with a vibrant commercial district and oil wells. Laguna Beach houses a large artist's community.
Hollywood is the historic home of the old movie studios, and Beverly Hills is still the home of the movie stars. Here you can drive along the western terminus of historic Route 66 on Santa Monica Boulevard. You can stroll along famous Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip. In nearby Burbank, you can visit many modern movie and television studios. In Anaheim, you can see the original Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.
Downtown Los Angeles is certainly a commercial district, but it is no more the urban center of the city than many other neighborhoods. Near the downtown area are ethnic neighborhoods with large Asian populations called, Korea Town, China Town and Japan Town. Nearby are several predominately Afro-American neighborhoods and many predominately Hispanic-American neighborhoods.
Los Angeles, California – Attractions
The best way to see Hollywood is on a walking sightseeing tour. Most of the main attractions are located within a few blocks of Mann's Chinese Theatre, on Hollywood Boulevard. The courtyard of the Chinese Theatre with its famous handprints and shoeprints of all the Hollywood celebrities since 1927, is the most popular attraction in Hollywood. If you go between noon and midnight, you can even see a current hit movie in the Theatre.
The Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame honors the people who have made their mark in film, music and stage with a marble star laid within the sidewalk. You can spend hours looking for your favorite stars.
ScreenSource has a complete list of all of the 180+ personalities that have left their handprints and footprints at Mann's Chinese Theater.
HollywoodUSA has a listing of the Hollywood stars on the Walk of Fame. Search the site to find the location of your favorite celebrity's star on the Walk.
There are many guided bus tours of Hollywood and the homes of the movie stars. Most of them depart from Mann's Chinese Theatre with varying prices depending on the length of the tour. The tours can provide a good overview of the Hollywood sights. You will also see many vendors around Los Angeles selling maps to movie stars' homes. Most of those maps are outdated and inaccurate.
Hollywood Bowl Amphitheater
The Hollywood Bowl is a natural amphitheater, located in the foothills outside of Los Angeles. It is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and Mikhail Baryshnikov are just a few of the legendary artists who have performed there. Various concerts are scheduled throughout the summer months, and the grounds of the bowl are open daily, all year round, for free!
Los Angeles Tours
