There are so many things to do and places to visit in Los Angeles, that a first timer in the city like myself could be completely overwhelmed.
On a short trip to the city, you can see quite a lot of the top LA attractions by planning carefully.
With so many great places to visit in Los Angeles, our trip focused on the main highlights and days were absolutely packed with activities.
In this guide I review the best things to do in Los Angeles to help you plan your trip.
Some of these attractions are free, other require advance booking. Consider the Go City Pass for LA which can save you money if you visit many of the top attractions.
Best things to do in LA (TL;DR)
- Best for first-timers: Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Best for families: Universal Studios
- Best full-day trip: Disneyland
Updated in 2026
Table of contents
How to get to Los Angeles
Getting to Los Angeles is easy, thanks to its excellent air, road and rail connections.
Most international visitors arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with direct flights from cities across Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.
If you’re travelling within the United States, major highways such as Interstate 5, Interstate 10 and the iconic Pacific Coast Highway connect the city with neighbouring states and scenic coastal destinations.
Rail travellers can reach Los Angeles via Amtrak, with services arriving at Los Angeles Union Station. Long-distance coach operators also provide routes from cities across California and beyond.
Other nearby airports, including Hollywood Burbank Airport and Long Beach Airport, can be convenient alternatives depending on your destination.
Getting from LAX to the city
LAX is a huge airport, so it’s best to plan ahead how you’re going to get to the city from the airport.
Private ride
The simplest option is to have a driver waiting for you at the airport. A private ride service is worth booking ahead. You get a fixed price before you land, a meet-and-greet at the terminal, and no surge pricing if your flight’s delayed. After a long-haul flight it can feel like money well spent.
Rideshare
Rideshare trips from LAX start at the LAX-it lot, reached via a short free shuttle ride or a walk from some terminals. Prices vary depending on traffic and where you’re headed. Budget extra time for the shuttle queue, especially at peak hours.
Taxis
Most taxi pickups take place at the LAX-it lot, although limited terminal-area pickup points remain available for some passengers. Fares are metered rather than fixed.
Public transport
The FlyAway bus has direct services to Union Station and other key hubs. Tickets can be bought online or on arrival. The LAX/Metro Transit Center connects the airport to metro lines linking into the wider Metro network. It takes longer and may involve a transfer or two.
Car hire
LA is very much a driving city, so if your plans go beyond a few central neighbourhoods, hiring a car can save hassle later. All major rental companies now operate from the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility, connected to the terminals by dedicated shuttle buses.
Universal Studios or Disneyland? (If you can only pick one)
If your LA itinerary only has room for one major theme park, the right choice depends less on which park is “better” and more on the kind of experience you want.
If you’re visiting Los Angeles primarily to explore the city, pick Universal Studios.
It’s easier to fit into a busy itinerary, delivers a distinctly Hollywood experience, and offers excellent value for a single day.
If Disney magic has always been on your bucket list choose Disneyland.
The extra travel time and larger crowds are worth it for the iconic Disney experience.
Choose Universal Studios Hollywood if:
- You love movies, TV shows, and behind-the-scenes experiences.
- You’re travelling as adults, with teens, or with older kids.
- You want a park that’s easier to cover in a single day.
- You’re a fan of Harry Potter, Jurassic World, or Nintendo.
Universal has immersive rides and a real working film studio, making it feel uniquely “Hollywood.”
It’s also much closer to central Los Angeles, so you’ll spend less time commuting.
Choose Disneyland if:
- This is a once-in-a-lifetime Disney trip.
- You’re traveling with younger children.
- You want the classic Disney atmosphere, characters, parades, and fireworks.
- You don’t mind dedicating an entire day, or ideally two, to the experience.
Disneyland offers more attractions and a stronger sense of nostalgia.
It’s the more magical option, but it’s also farther from most LA attractions and typically requires more time and energy to experience fully.
Where to Stay in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is huge, so where you stay can make a big difference to your trip.
For first-time visitors, it’s worth choosing a hotel that’s centrally located and makes it easy to explore Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and other iconic places in LA.
Each of these three hotels offers a different experience:
The Beverly Hills Hotel – Classic Hollywood luxury
- Timeless Hollywood glamour and exceptional service
- Beautiful pool and renowned Polo Lounge
- Spacious rooms and secluded bungalow suites
Known as the legendary “Pink Palace,” The Beverly Hills Hotel has welcomed movie stars, musicians, and royalty for over a century.
The lush tropical gardens, iconic pink exterior, and private bungalows make it one of the most famous hotels in the world.
Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, you’re minutes from Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, and a short drive from Hollywood attractions and museums.
The Peninsula Beverly Hills – Luxury with personalised service
- Consistently rated among LA’s finest luxury hotels
- Exceptional concierge service perfect for planning sightseeing
- Elegant rooms and one of the city’s best rooftop pools
Its central Beverly Hills location makes it easy to reach Hollywood, Universal Studios, Santa Monica, Griffith Observatory, and Downtown LA by car.
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows – For beach lovers
- Ocean views and beautiful gardens
- Walking distance to Santa Monica Pier and Third Street Promenade
- Relaxed coastal atmosphere with upscale amenities
If you’d rather wake up near the Pacific Ocean, the Fairmont Miramar offers the perfect balance of luxury and location.
You can explore Santa Monica on foot, enjoy easy access to Venice Beach, and drive to Beverly Hills or Hollywood in around 25–40 minutes outside peak traffic.
Top places to visit in Los Angeles
Universal Studios Hollywood
One of the top attractions in Los Angeles, Universal Studios is a magical full day experience not to be missed.
The theme park has roller coaster rides, a studio tour amongst the show sets and some excellent shows (I especially like the one about how special effects are made).
You want to get there early and book tickets in advance, because the lines can be long.
Even if you arrive early you may not beat the crowds, but you’ll get to do more rides before the park closes.
Consider getting an Express Ticket if you want to skip the line.
Things to do at Universal Studios
There’s plenty to do and see at Universal Studios.
Here are my highlights:
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The major highlight of Universal Studios Hollywood is undoubtedly The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
If you’ve been to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, you’re in for a very different experience at Universal Studios.
The space is designed to look like the village of Hogsmeade in a way that really creates and immersive experience.
There’s a lot of attention to detail, from cobblestone streets to snow-capped roofs (that looked amusing against the clear blue Californian sky…)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has two rides. One is a nice roller coaster which goes slowly at first, so you get a great view of Universal Studios from above.
The second ride was my absolute favourite in the entire theme park.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the ride that takes place inside a massive model of Hogwarts castle.
It’s hard to describe in words, so I’ll just say that flying on a broom is such a thrill!
As soon as it ended, all I wanted to do was to go on it again…
Even if you haven’t watched all the movies or read all the books, you’ll most likely enjoy it.
Apart from the rides, there themed shops with cool souvenirs, from plush owls to chocolate frogs and Every Flavour Beans.
The Simpsons ride
Another amazing ride I really enjoyed and would go on again was The Simpsons Ride.
It’s just spectacular and features all the characters from the show. It’s just as funny as witty as you might expect.
The studio tour
A fascinating tour that you should definitely take. The lines are long, but it is worth the wait.
The behind the scenes tram ride takes you around the studios for about an hour. You’ll see where some famous movies and TV shows were filmed and the impressive show sets.
There are several stops on the way for special effects that are just amazing and so much fun! ☺ Can’t tell you more – No spoilers.
The ride stops running around 5 pm so make sure you don’t miss it.
There are many more things to do in Universal Studios, but these were my top 3 favourites.
New addition: Super Nintendo World
Opened in 2023, Super Nintendo World includes the Mario Kart ride, Bowser’s Challenge, and Toadstool Cafe.
It’s worth it for the incredible design and especially for fans and families, featuring physical sets, augmented reality rides, and themed dining.
Where to eat at Universal Studios
When you get hungry, check the restaurants listed in the Universal Studios app. Each has the vegan, vegetarian and allergy friendly options indicated. You can also find this info on the paper map you get when you enter the park.
I had a nice vegan sandwich at Palace Theatre Cafe, and you can also find a vegan quinoa salad there. Mel’s Diner next to it has an Impossible Burger on its menu.
Disneyland California
Amongst the many fun things to do in Los Angeles, this one is the classic choice.
As someone who’s never been to Disneyland as a kid, I appreciated the opportunity to go there as an adult.
In fact, I think I saw more adults than children around the park. Life is fun, easy and joyful at Disneyland… It’s a perfect escape from real life, just the kind of escape that many adults need from time to time 😉
Disneyland was one of the highlights of our LA trip and we spent an entire day there, making the most out of what you can see and do in one day.
We arrived early and stayed till late at night to see the after dark fireworks and video art display that was just magnificent.
Planning a visit to Disneyland
If you want to visit Disneyland in just one day, you need a strategy! It’s a huge place with long lines that requires quite a bit of planning.
Luckily for us, we were there on a tour with local guides who’ve been to Disneyland many times before, so they knew all the planning tricks and how to save time.
If you’re planning your first visit independently, use the Disneyland app to select your rides in advance.
You’ll be using the same app also to check the waiting times at each ride. Typically there are 30-45 minute lines, but for some rides you may need to wait even longer.
Note there are lines for the restaurants as well. I suggest you bring some fruit and sandwiches instead to save time (unless you’re really craving the experience of eating at a Disneyland restaurant…).
Eating a light meal will also help avoid feeling sick on some of the rides, if you’re prone to motion sickness.
I do recommend you try the Pineapple Dole Whip. Disneyland California is one of the only places where you can get it.
It’s a refreshing soft serve frozen dessert that’s dairy free, vegan and delicious.
Great Disneyland rides
These are some of the rides we enjoyed the most at Disneyland:
It’s a small world was the first ever Disneyland attraction. It’s meant for kids, but adults will appreciate how well done it is.
Hyperspace Mountain was the fastest roller coaster we went on and it was a lot of fun! You have your photo taken at the end and I had a big smile on my face.
The Haunted Mansion is a slow and spooky ride through a ghost ridden mansion. The art and presentation is really beautifully done.
Splash Mountain starts slowly, but towards the end you reach the top of a waterfall and that’s where the big drop is!
Prepare to get soaked. You’ll have your photo taken during the drop itself… You don’t want to know what face I was making 😉
Pirates of the Caribbean is also on water, but without any splashes. It’s a slow boat ride in the dark, through a wonderfully detailed pirate world.
Indiana Jones Adventure is a fast paced ride through the world of Indiana Jones with lots of details from the movies.
Different cultures of the world are featured in a glorious colourful display, with the song “It’s a small world after all” played in different languages in the background.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theater
One of the most famous, must-do attractions in Los Angeles, that I guess you should see at least once in your lifetime, is the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But just before we walked among the stars, we began our day at a nearby landmark, the Chinese Theater.
This is a legendary venue where Hollywood movie premiers take place and celebrity movie stars come to watch them.
The building is interesting on the outside and looks like a Chinese pagoda.
It is super impressive on the inside and full of design elements and decorations crafted by Chinese artisans.
We took a guided tour of the Chinese Theater,so we could see the interior. You can also watch a movie there.
During the tour, you learn about the history of the place, have your picture taken (if you like) against the background of the glorious cinema, and see some original movie costumes.
In front of the Chinese Theater we saw cement hand and footprints of movie stars alongside their signatures.
You’ll see the name Sid mentioned quite a lot – that’s Sid Grauman who founded the Chinese Theater.
From there, we took a walk on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with its pink stars.
I tried to see how many names I could recognise…
There are icons on each star indicating how that person gained their stardom: Film, TV, radio, music or live performance.
It was funny to see that some stars belong to fictional characters, such as Mickey Mouse and The Simpsons.
Griffiths Observatory – Los Angeles from above
The Hollywood sign from Griffiths Observatory
For a fantastic panoramic view of LA from above, you want to go to Griffiths Observatory and its massive viewing deck.
We went there in the late afternoon and stayed till after sunset. This way we could see the light change during sunset, as well as see the city after dark.
It was a cloudy day unfortunately, but the scenery was still splendid.
It’s one of the more places to go in Los Angeles (we were lucky to find parking…), partly because you can see the famous Hollywood sign quite clearly from there.
Soon you’ll find yourself joining a few dozen people all taking photos of the famous sign on the Observatory deck.
After you take in the view, visit the museum for exhibitions about space. I found that they gave some very clear explanations of very complex things.
We waited until it got dark, and it was certainly worth the wait. You get to see the lights all over the city at night and it’s a marvellous view.
Huntington Gardens
Huntington Gardens are a real gem that you shouldn’t miss when you visit LA.
While it may not always be on the list of the typical Los Angeles tourist attractions, I’m really glad we went there.
The Huntington has 16 themed gardens, from a desert garden to a Japanese garden, all simply beautiful and some quite magical.
Apart from the gardens, there are art collections and a library with rare books on display.
It’s just a short drive from LA in San Marino. You can spend an entire day there and still not see all it has to offer.
I suggest you go on a day when you feel you need to chill and get out of the city to see some nature.
We went there the day after an intensive visit to Disneyland and the timing was perfect, as we needed to do something relaxing.
Make sure to book tickets in advance.
I wrote about Huntington Gardens in more detail here
China Town and Little Tokyo in Los Angeles
As part of our sightseeing tour in LA, we went to China Town and Little Tokyo.
Both are interesting culturally, though they are quite different from each other.
China Town is bigger and has many Chinese grocery stores with unique ingredients.
We went there around lunchtime, it’s the perfect place to find traditional Chinese restaurants and some Asian fusion places to eat.
Little Tokyo is in downtown Los Angeles and has some lovely Japanese shops and restaurants.
The sweet gift shops in Little Tokyo are full of Japanese toys, snacks and all things cute.
This is also where you’ll find the Japanese American National Museum.
Santa Monica pier and beach
On our first day in LA, thanks to the lack of jet lag, we went to watch the sunset in Santa Monica.
We got there early enough to walk along the pier, see the Ferris wheel and the amusement park and watch the people on the beach.
There’s a marvellous view of the Pacific from the pier that photographers will love.
We walked along the Promenade, an outdoor shopping centre in Santa Monica, and saw some cool street performers and fancy shops, before heading back to the beach to take photos of the sunset and the ocean.
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I was invited on the tour by Tierra Marina Tours. All opinions are my own.
4 Comments
That’s all amazing famous places! Hope to visit one day: thank you for sharing, you did a great job!