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Key Attractions Downtown El Pueblo de Los Angeles (and Olvera Street) The birthplace of Los Angeles, just north of the financial district with its huge skyscrapers, is now a state historic park. In 1781, Father Junipero Serra, founder of many of California’s Spanish missions, and Don Felipe de Neve journeyed north from Mexico and established a pueblo here on the site of a former Indian village. Its name – El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula) – outweighed its size and it was soon shortened to Los Angeles. The 27 historic adobe buildings date from the early 19th century and pay tribute to the city’s Spanish heritage. They include the Avila Adobe, the city’s oldest home; the Old Plaza Church and the Sepulveda House, which now serves as the El Pueblo Visitor Information Center. The heart of the district is Olvera Street, a lively place with strolling mariachi bands, stalls selling Mexican handicrafts and good Mexican restaurants, some still run by the original families. North Alameda and Spring Streets Tel: (213) 628 1274. Transport: Metro Red Line Union Station/Gateway Transit Center. Opening hours: Daily 1000-1900; Mon-Sat 1000-1500 (Visitor Center). Admission: Free. Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Housed in a striking red sandstone building designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, this celebrated art museum showcases the work of leading modern artists. The permanent collection features the likes of Piet Mondrian and Mark Rothko, while temporary exhibitions highlight contemporary themes and artists of international renown. Pyramid skylights enhance the bright galleries, while the courtyard sports an attractive fountain. MOCA has a secondary site, which is located close by and accessible by free shuttle, called Geffen Contemporary, which hosts changing contemporary exhibitions in an old warehouse. MOCA’s newest third venue is at the Pacific Design Centre in West Hollywood, which focuses on contemporary architecture and design. California Plaza, 250 South Grand Avenue Geffen Contemporary, 152 North Central Avenue Pacific Design Centre, 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood Tel: (213) 626 6222. Website: www.moca-la.org Transport: Metro Red Line Pershing Square. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1100-1700 (until 2000 on Thurs). Admission: US$8 (free 1700-2000 on Thurs). Southwest Museum Los Angeles’ first museum, established in 1907, contains one of the foremost collections of Native American art and artefacts in the nation. Enlightening exhibits on tribal life are well presented and there are fine examples of kachina dolls, native dress and ceremonial costumes, musical instruments, ceramics, weapons, everyday objects and a large display of basketry. The museum lies just north of Downtown, on a hillside beyond Dodger Stadium. 234 Museum Drive Tel: (323) 221 2164. Website: www.southwestmuseum.org Transport: Metro Bus 81 or 83. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700. Admission: US$6. Hollywood Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame Built by showman Sid Grauman in 1927, this is the most famous of the flamboyant picture palaces along this stretch of Hollywood Boulevard. Recently having undergone an extensive renovation as part of the development of the area (see Hollywood and Highland below), the inside has been opulently restored, while the exotic oriental façade is resplendent in its pastel greens, crowned by a red pagoda roof. The ticket booth has been moved from the forecourt – which remains the main attraction here. It is where the hand and footprints of Hollywood celebrities are embedded into the cement. This signature parade started quite by accident, when actress Constance Talmadge stepped in wet cement at the grand opening. Among the more unusual signatures are Jimmy Durante’s nose and the hoof prints of Roy Roger’s horse Trigger. The cinema still shows first-run movies, a good way to see its lavish interior. Other Art Deco theatres nearby worth a look are Pacific El Capitan, The Egyptian and Pantages. The Hollywood Walk of Fame passes outside the front of the Chinese Theater. This trail of bronze stars embedded in the paving stones runs 5.5km (3.5 miles) along Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Gower Streets, and along Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. It honours artists in the film and music industries and the first star imbedded in the pavement in 1960 was one for Joanne Woodward. Today, they number well over 2000. Grauman’s Chinese Theater 6925 Hollywood Boulevard Tel: (323) 464 8111. Transport: Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours (forecourt). Admission: Free (forecourt); US$10 (film). Hollywood Walk of Fame Website: www.hollywoodcoc.org Hollywood and Highland Built around the Chinese Theater, as part of a US$615-million plan to revitalise Hollywood Boulevard, this massive new retail and entertainment complex is known as Hollywood and Highland because of its location above the Hollywood and Highland subway station. The open-air, five-storey complex includes shops, restaurants, nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, a hotel, a ballroom and the Hollywood Motion Picture Collection. It is also home to the Kodak Theater, also known as the Academy Awards Theater as it has become the new permanent venue for the Oscars ceremony. There will also be an observation tower, which will offer panoramic views of the Hollywood sign. 6801 Hollywood Boulevard Tel: (323) 960 2331. Website: www.hollywoodandhighland.com Transport: Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-2200, Sun 1000-1900. Admission: Free; attractions cost. Hollywood History Museum The Max Factor Building has been restored to its original 1935 state and now houses the Hollywood History Museum. The museum features a wide array of exhibits, including costumes and props used in Hollywood films, photographs, posters, scripts, awards and more. Displays begin with the Silent Era and work their way through Hollywood’s Golden Era, to state-of-the-art technology and the future of the industry. Particularly impressive are the special events at the museum, where the presentations on Hollywood history are given by those who actually helped to forge that history. The site will also feature a Mel’s Drive-In, a retro diner that is an example of pure Americana, made famous in the George Lucas film American Graffiti. Max Factor Building 1660 North Highland Avenue Tel: (323) 464 7776. Website: www.hollywoodhistorymuseum.com or www.melsdrive-in.com Transport: Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland. Opening hours: Tours only at 1300 Tues-Fri; 1300 and 1500 Sat and Sun. Admission: US$15 (concessions available). Universal Studios Hollywood Part film and TV studio, part theme park, Universal Studios is one of the most popular attractions in Los Angeles. The visit begins with a behind-the-scenes tram tour of film sets, with a simulated earthquake and collapsing bridge, as well as surprise attacks by the shark from Jaws and by King Kong. Stunt shows, musical entertainment and a variety of thrill rides, such as Back to the Future, make for a lively day of Hollywood at its best. 100 Universal City Plaza Tel: (818) 508 9600. Website: www.universalstudios.com Transport: Metro Red Line Universal City. Opening hours: Vary from month to month; between 1000-1800 and 0900-2200. Admission: US$45 (one-day pass). Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel This classic 12-storey 305-room hotel, is celebrating its 75th diamond anniversary in 2002. The oldest continuously operating hotel in Hollywood, the Roosevelt Hotel is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and is a Hollywood Historic Site. It was founded by a syndicate of Hollywood luminaries in 1927 and was actually the birthplace of the Academy Awards, as the first Oscars ceremony took place here on 19 May 1929. Recently restored to its Spanish Colonial splendour, it is one of the key attractions on Hollywood Boulevard. 7000 Hollywood Boulevard Tel: (323) 466 7000 or (800) 950 7667. Fax: (323) 462 8056. Website: www.hollywoodroosevelt.com The Westside Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits Smack in the middle of LA, the La Brea Tar Pits are a fascinating survival from prehistoric times. They have yielded more than four million fossils – one of the largest caches in the world – from the Pleistocene Era, dating back 40,000 years. Inside the museum are the skeletons of long-extinct animals, such as the imperial mammoth, giant sloth, sabre-toothed tiger and dire wolf, who became trapped and preserved in the thick black tar, or ‘brea’, that seeped up through the ground. Visitors can watch palaeontologists cleaning and cataloguing fossils and see excavations from viewing stations beside the tar pits. 5801 Wilshire Boulevard Tel: (323) 934 PAGE/7243. Website: www.tarpits.org Transport: Metro Bus 20, 21, 22 or 217. Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1700. Admission: US$6. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Housed in four main buildings around a courtyard, this outstanding collection of art and artefacts forms one of the leading art museums in the United States. In the enormous Ahmanson Building, art, sculpture and decorative arts from Asia, Europe and the Americas are on display. Highlights of the collection include the Indian and Southeast Asian art collection, regarded as the finest in the West; the Western Art galleries and pre-Columbian artefacts from Latin America. There is a special Japanese Pavilion, the striking, modern Robert O Anderson Building and the Bing Theater. 5905 Wilshire Boulevard Tel: (323) 857 6000. Website: www.lacma.org Transport: Metro Bus 20, 21, 22 or 320. Opening hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs 1200-2000, Fri 1200-2100, Sat and Sun 1100-2000. Admission: US$7. UCLA Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center The main collection at this museum is an impressive collection of Old Masters, Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, which was acquired by the late industrialist Armand Hammer. This collection is shown on a rotating basis and includes works by Constable, Rembrandt Van Gogh and Monet, as well as a room full of lithographs by Honoré Daumier. Run by UCLA, the museum also displays exhibitions from the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, which cover graphic art from the Renaissance to the present day. There is also a distinguished outdoor Sculpture Garden, as well as special exhibitions and programs. 10899 Wilshire Boulevard Tel: (310) 443 7000. Transport: Metro Bus 20, 21 or 22. Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1100-1900 (until 2100 on Thurs), Sun 1100-1700. Admission: US$5; free Thurs. Getty Center The marble buildings of the Getty Center, set in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, were designed by architect Richard Meier. It contains J Paul Getty’s painting collection (interesting but hardly top rank), but is also a centre for the study of archaeology, culture, art history and humanities. The galleries also display sculpture, photographs, drawings, furniture and more than 100 illuminated manuscripts. Lectures, concerts and educational programmes are also held. The Getty Center is surrounded by beautiful gardens with rare and native plants and trees, while the terrace affords panoramic views, so visitors should plan to stay for a whole day. 1200 Getty Center Drive Tel: (310) 440 7300. Website: www.getty.edu Transport: Metro Bus 561 or Santa Monica Big Blue Bus 14; or free shuttle bus from car park on Sepulveda Boulevard and Constitution Avenue. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800 (until 2100 Fri and Sat). Admission: Free. On-site parking: US$5 (reservations essential). Museum of Tolerance Visitors should allow at least two hours to experience this thought-provoking museum and last entry is, in fact, two hours before closing time. The main part of the museum is devoted to the Holocaust and is a moving journey from the Jewish ghettos to Hitler’s death camps in an hour-long timed tour. The Tolerancenter contains high-tech, interactive exhibits that explore racism and bigotry in America through events such as the LA riots of 1992. Upstairs are archives and a multimedia learning centre. 9786 West Pico Boulevard Tel: (310) 553 8403 or (800) 900 9036. Website: www.museumoftolerance.com Transport: Metro Bus 3, Santa Monica Municipal Bus 5 or 7. Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 1130-1830, Fri 1130-1700, Sun 1100-1930. Fri closes 1500 Nov-Mar. Last admission 2 hours before closing time. Admission: US$9. Beach Cities Santa Monica Long and wide, Santa Monica Boulevard, if followed to its western end – comes out on Santa Monica itself. With its village feel, its cafés, shops and restaurants, it is one of the more people-friendly areas of Los Angeles – it has the only pedestrianised street in the city, for example. The place is famed for its Pier, and jutting out into the Pacific from a wide sandy beach, it is one of the most nostalgic spots in LA. The original fishing pier was built in 1909 and another one for strolling was added in 1921, but by the 1970s both were in a shabby state. In the 1980s, a restoration programme rejuvenated the pier. Besides the original arcades (now Playland Arcade) and the carousel dating from 1916, there is now a new aquarium, the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center, and Pacific Park, an amusement park with rides, ferris wheel and a small rollercoaster. During the summer, there is dancing and live music on Thursday nights. A good time to go is towards the end of the day as the sunsets can be fabulous, especially at the very western end of Sunset Boulevard (obviously enough). Colorado and Ocean Avenues Tel: (310) 458 8900. Website: www.santamonicapier.org Transport: Metro Bus 4, 20, 22, 33, 320 or 434. Playland Arcade Tel: (310) 451 5133. Fax: (310) 394 1587. Website: www.playlandarcade.com Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-2400, Fri and Sat 1000-0200. Changes seasonally. Admission: Free. UCLA Ocean Discovery Center Tel: (310) 393 6149. Fax: (310) 393 4839. Website: www.odc.ucla.edu Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1500-1800, Sat 1100-1800, Sun 1100-1700 (summer). Sat and Sun 1100-1700 only (winter). Admission: US$3. Pacific Park Tel: (310) 260 8744. Fax: (310) 260 8748. Website: www.pacpark.com Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1100-2300, Fri and Sat 1100-2430. Changes seasonally. Admission: Free; plus individual rides. Unlimited wristbands: US$8.95/15.95 depending on height. Ticket book: US$20 (20 tickets); US$30 (30 tickets). Venice Beach Further south along the coast is the slightly more bohemian Venice Beach. Its Boardwalk, a path alongside the beach, is one of the liveliest places to view LA joie de vivre. Buskers, mime artists, painters, cyclists, palm readers and rollerbladers all mingle here, chilling out, hustling, cruising the sands, wearing colourful attire and often very little at all. There are shops, stalls and cafés for people-watching. The notorious Muscle Beach, where male and female weight lifters pec-flex in the sun, is a good place for ogling. Marine Street to the Venice Pier Tel: (310) 392 4687, ext 6. Transport: Metro Bus 33. Website: www.westland.net/venice Pasadena Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens In one visit, it is virtually impossible to fit everything on this lavish estate in. The former home of railroad tycoon Henry E Huntington is filled with French porcelain, tapestries, American paintings and a remarkable collection of British and French art from the 18th and 19th centuries. Famous highlights are Gainsborough’s Blue Boy and Lawrence’s Pinkie. Among the four million items in the Library are rare books and manuscripts: a Gutenberg Bible, an early 15th-century manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and early editions of Shakespeare. Visitors should save some time to stroll in the beautiful Botanical Gardens, whose 81 hectares (200 acres) include a Japanese garden, desert garden, rose garden and changing landscapes. 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino Tel: (626) 405 2100. Website: www.huntington.org Transport: Metro Bus 401 from Downtown to Pasadena, then 20-minute walk. Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1200-1630, Sat and Sun 1030-1630. Admission: US$10. Norton Simon Museum This renowned collection of European art ranges from the Renaissance to the 20th century. There are works by Rembrandt, Picasso, the Impressionists, a collection of Degas sculptures, as well as leading works by Rodin. The sculptures from Southeast Asia and India, spanning 2000 years, are another highlight. 411 West Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena Tel: (626) 449 6840. Website: www.nortonsimon.org Transport: Metro Bus 401 from Downtown to Pasadena, then bus 180. Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1200-1800 (until 2100 Fri). Admission: US$6. |
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