I have always had a love/hate relationship with Los Angeles. It can be crowded and full of traffic, but there are so many fun things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles. If you have the time, spend at least 5 days exploring the area. However, these are some of the things you cannot miss on your first Los Angeles trip.
Want a guided tour to start out your trip and get acclimated to the city? Then check out Guru Walks for a free guided tour. You can book online to reserve your spot and pay what you wish when you get there. Check out the tours in Los Angeles here.
US Ghost Adventures is an awesome company that offers a variety of guided tours and haunted experiences across different cities in the United States. Visitors can learn the compelling history and stories of the paranormal and the city’s darker side. Make sure to check out the variety of tours offered in Los Angeles here. They are very affordable too!
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Table of Contents
When to Spend Time in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is an awesome place to visit any time of the year. The weather is consistently warm and almost always sunny. The peak season is the summertime, so come in fall and spring if you want to beat the crowds.
How to Get to Los Angeles
Los Angeles has several airports in the area, but Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has the cheapest and most consistent flights. You can also check to see if you can fly into Long Beach or Burbank Airport. Both are smaller and easier to navigate.
From any of the airports, you can catch a Lyft or Uber to wherever you need to go in Los Angeles. From LAX you can catch the Flyaway Bus to Union Station and hop on the Metro from there.
Transportation in Los Angeles
Public transportation and traffic both suck in Los Angeles. If you plan on exploring a lot of areas in Los Angeles, plan on renting a car to get around. Even though parking and traffic are a huge pain, you will be able to see more by renting a car. Try using Autoslash for the best rates.
Where to Stay in Los Angeles
TripAdvisor is a great place to start your hotel search. Search for the best Los Angeles hotels here!
Los Angeles can be a very expensive place to stay, so expect to pay a minimum of $150 per night. I recommend staying in the Downtown area as it does have a ton of amazing hotels right in the middle of everything.
Some of the best Los Angeles include the following. *means it is one of my favorites.
- Hilton Checkers Hotel
- The Westin Bonaventure Hotel*
- Hotel Figueroa
- Freehand Los Angeles
- Omni Los Angeles
- Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown
- DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown
- Biltmore Los Angeles*
- The Hoxton, Downtown LA
GoCity Pass
GoCity offers a ton of different sightseeing passes for cities around the world. These passes allow you to visit the best of each city for one low price, rather than paying individually for each attraction. I have used it in several cities around the world and would recommend getting a GoCity pass! Check out the options for the Los Angeles GoCity pass here.
Top Things to Do on Your First Trip to Los Angeles, California
Visit the Hollywood Sign
Cost: Free
Viewing the Hollywood Sign is one of the classic things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles. You can catch views of it all over the city. Some of the best views are from Griffith Observatory, the mall by the Dolby Theater, the Mama Shelter restaurant rooftop, and the Academy Museum observation deck.
If you have the time, also opt to hike to the Hollywood sign. This is a great experience as you get to get right up close and personal with the Hollywood sign. It is a moderate hike and will take a couple of hours, but it is well worth it.
View the Hollywood Walk of Fame, TCL Chinese Theater, and the Dolby Theater
Cost: Free
Another thing you must do on your first trip to Los Angeles is to visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see the Hollywood Stars. Even though it is considered one of the world’s “worst attractions,” it has 2,600 stars scattered over 15 blocks.
At the TCL Chinese Theater, you will find the autographs, hand and shoe prints of over 200 celebrities. My favorite are the Harry Potter actors. You can also catch a movie inside the theater if you so choose.
Lastly, you will want to walk by the Dolby Theater. This is where the Academy Awards are held every year. If you walk around the entrance, you can see movie posters for each film that has won Best Picture. You cannot visit Los Angeles for the first time without visiting Hollywood. It is one of the top things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles
Go on a Studio Tour
Cost: Varies
Going on a Studio Tour is one of the must things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles. It is a true Hollywood experience to be on a backlot. There are several options as to which type of studio tour you want to take. Universal Studios offered the most “theme park” like tour as it is part of Universal Studios Hollywood. You will experience special effects and a few rides along the way.
The Warner Brothers Studio Tour is great for DC and Harry Potter fans. This Studio Tour takes you to the film locations of various popular movies and TV shows such as Gilmore Girls and the Greatest Showman. You will also get to see props from a lot of movies and shows including DC, the Harry Potter Series, Friends, and the Big Bang Theory.
Paramount and Sony also have studio tours that take you around their backlots. Note that most of the Studio Tours should be booked in advance to guarantee admission.
Hang out at Venice Beach
Cost: Free
Venice Beach is definitely one of the most interesting areas of California. It is known for its street performers, unconventional shops, and canals. Make sure to take a stroll along the boardwalk, check out the murals and graffiti walls, scope out the muscle beach gym, and take a stroll over to the Venice Canals.
Go to a TV show taping
Cost: Free
Not many people realize that there are a ton of TV show tapings you can go to for FREE in Los Angeles. Although it is harder to get tickets to the more popular shows, there are plenty of other options that always have tickets available. Shows like the Talk, the Voice, James Cordon, and Jimmy Kimmel tend to be pretty easy to get. 1iota and TV Tickets are two sites to get free tickets. You will want to continuously check the tickets as sometimes more are added.
Visit a Museum
Cost: Free and Up
Los Angeles has a TON of amazing and unique museums. Therefore, you need to visit at least one museums as one of the things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles
The Academy Museum is probably one of the most unique museums Los Angeles has to offer. This museum is dedicated to the art of filmmaking and portrays the history, science, and cultural impact of the film industry. It has seven stories of exhibits and shows various films daily.
Next door to the Academy Museum is LACMA: The LA County Museum of Art. This is one of my favorite art museums as they always have a ton of cool exhibits. I love that they continually change the exhibits so there are often new things every time you visit.
Also next to LACMA is the La Brea Tar Pits. It is free to walk around the outside of the facility with several tar pits you can view. It costs $15 to go into the museum and learn more about the effect of the tar pits in the area.
In Downtown Los Angeles is The Broad. This is another free museum, but make sure to reserve tickets online ahead of time. It hosts a lot of contemporary art and is most well known for the infinity mirror room exhibit. This is a fun museum to hit before hitting up a show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall that lies next door.
Another popular Los Angeles Museum is The Getty and the Getty Villa. Both of these are free to visit but you will need to pay for parking. For the Getty Villa, you will need to make a reservation online ahead of time as they only allow a limited number of people in a day. Both are fabulous art museums and worth a visit!
Other awesome Los Angeles museums include the California Science Center which hosts the Endeavor Spaceship, the Grammy Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Griffith Observatory, the Japanese American National Museum, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, and the Huntington Library.
Rooftop Bar in Downtown Los Angeles
Cost: $10 and up
Another fun thing to do in Los Angeles is to hit up a rooftop bar. The awesome thing about California is you can hit up the rooftop bars year-round since it does not get that cold in the wintertime. Downtown Los Angeles has some of the best rooftop bars. Perch and Broken Shaker are two classic stops. In Hollywood, you will want to head to Mama Shelter, which is also a restaurant with delicious food. Relaxing at a rooftop bar is a great place to catch up with friends and one of the things you must do on your first Los Angeles trip.
Attend a Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
Cost: $50 and up
The Hollywood Bowl is such a cool and unique venue in Los Angeles. This outdoor amphitheater offers spectacular views of the Hollywood sign. If visiting from April to October, you will want to take in a show at the Bowl. Although tickets can be a bit pricey, it makes for a fantastic night out! Most of the shows allow you to bring your own food and beverage which makes it so easy to plan a night out. I recommend attending one of the LA Philharmonic movie series. A popular movie will be shown while the LA Phil plays the soundtrack live. Make sure to bring blankets in the spring and fall as it can get a bit chilly out.
Eat at In N Out Burger
Cost: $2 an up
Stopping at In N Out is one of the things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles. In N Out is a classic California fast food place with some of the best burgers around. It was founded in 1948 in Baldwin Park and is known for its quality and consistency.
It has a very simple menu of a hamburger, cheeseburger, or double-double (two patties), fries, and shakes. They also have a secret menu! You will want to order your fries “Animal Style” (comes with cheese, onions, and the In N Out Secret Sauce). A Neopolitan (vanilla, chocolate strawberry) is another fun secret menu item.
Eating at In N Out is also very budget-friendly as you can get a full meal for $5-$10!
Walk on the Beach and Watch a Sunset
Cost: Free
Handing out on the Santa Monica boardwalk and checking out the beach is a must when visiting Los Angeles for the first time. The Santa Monica boardwalk has a ton of cute little shops, carnival games, and a nice beach to relax on. You can even grab an electric scooter to ride down to Venice Beach if you do not want to walk between the two. Make sure to stay for sunset as a California sunset is one of the best things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles
There are so many fun things to do on your first trip to Los Angeles. Plan to spend at least a long weekend exploring what the city has to offer. If you have time, opt to head out on a California road trip or head to the Central Coast from Los Angeles. Santa Barbara is an awesome stop, as well as a day trip from Los Angeles.
