The cool places in LA that show off the city’s weird and wonderful side

Los Angeles, it’s ON. Where can you walk through a tunnel made of books? Which museum keeps its visitors guessing what’s real? And where do you eat a French dip in a room with sawdust on the floor? Beyond the Walk of Fame and the studio tours, the City of Angels hides a whole other side, and this is where to find it, with what each place costs and when it opens.

LA divides opinion like few other cities, and much of that comes down to which version of it you see. Spend your trip queuing for selfies on Hollywood Boulevard and you may leave wondering what the fuss was about. Go looking for the strange, the scruffy and the brilliant, and the city starts to make sense.

I first wrote this guide after my own trips around the city, and much of it comes from what I’ve seen and eaten there: Yayoi Kusama’s mirror room at the Broad, Urban Light at LACMA, sunset from Griffith Park, the hike up to the Hollywood Sign, a drive along Mulholland, chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s and a Double-Double at In-N-Out. I’ve stayed at both the Peninsula in Beverly Hills and the Mondrian on the Sunset Strip. This list goes further than the famous names, though: to the dive bars, the cemetery that screens films on its lawn and the market stalls that have been feeding downtown for more than a century.

These are the cool places in LA that deserve a spot on any first-timer’s list. They’re grouped loosely, so the sights and museums come first, then the food, the drinks and the shopping. Two new museums have opened since this guide was first written (one of them from George Lucas), and a few old favourites have gone, so every entry below has been checked and updated.

If it’s your first trip, my guides to the best things to do in Los Angeles and the city’s famous landmarks cover the big names. This list is for everything in between.

The coolest places in LA

Get lost in Yayoi Kusama’s mirror room at the Broad

The Broad is hands-down the city’s coolest museum. It opened in 2015 and has been blowing up Instagram ever since.

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room: The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away has to go down as one of the most photographed artworks of all time. I’ve been inside, and the seemingly endless LED light display is every bit as striking and bold as the pictures suggest. No wonder it’s had locals and visitors flocking to the museum in droves.

Other artworks include pieces by Basquiat, Jasper Johns and Ellsworth Kelly, plus Jeff Koons’ giant balloon sculptures and Cindy Sherman’s photographs. The building itself, wrapped in a white honeycomb “veil”, is half the fun.

Good to know: 221 S Grand Avenue, downtown. Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11am to 5pm, Thursday 11am to 8pm, and weekends 10am to 6pm; closed Mondays.

Stroll through Urban Light at LACMA

So, you’ve seen Chris Burden’s Urban Light. You know, the one made up of 202 street lamps staged outside the entrance to LACMA, but this museum is more than just a one-trick pony.

LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, and it spreads over a cluster of buildings on Wilshire Boulevard, each home to a different collection. My favourite when I visited was the old Ahmanson Building, with works by the likes of Picasso, Mondrian and Kandinsky. It was demolished in 2020 to make way for the David Geffen Galleries, a long, curving concrete building by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor that bridges Wilshire Boulevard and opened in April 2026. Coming across a visually arresting and totally unheard-of piece of art is still one of the museum’s biggest thrills.

Good to know: tickets cost $30 ($25 for LA County residents). Closed Wednesdays; open from 11am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 10am at weekends. Urban Light stands outside the paid galleries and is lit from dusk, so you can see it for free at night.

Meet the movies at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Right next door to LACMA, the Academy Museum is the place to go if you’ve come to LA for the films. It opened in 2021 in the former May Company department store, a 1939 Streamline Moderne landmark, with a huge glass-and-concrete sphere by Renzo Piano added behind it.

Inside, the galleries trace the history of cinema and the Oscars through costumes, props, scripts and screenings, and the rooftop terrace on top of the sphere has a cracking view of the Hollywood Hills.

Good to know: 6067 Wilshire Boulevard. Open 10am to 6pm every day except Tuesday. Adults $25, seniors $19, students $15, under 18s free.

See George Lucas’s collection at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

The newest big opening in LA, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened in Exposition Park on 22 September 2026, and it’s unlike any other museum in the city. The building, by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, looks like a spaceship that has landed among the gardens.

The idea is storytelling in pictures. George Lucas has spent around 50 years collecting more than 40,000 works, and the opening galleries hang Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera alongside comic art, murals and film. Star Wars fans get Star Wars in Motion, with concept designs, props and costumes from the first six films.

Good to know: adults $25, over 65s $21, under 18s free. Closed Tuesdays; open 10am to 5pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10am to 9pm on Fridays, 9am to 9pm on Saturdays and 9am to 5pm on Sundays. Book ahead in the first few months. The Natural History Museum and the California Science Center are next door.

Release your inner weirdo on Venice Beach

Muscles flexing, people prancing and everyone embracing their inner weirdo: welcome to Venice Beach, one of California’s must-see spots.

I’ve walked the Venice Boardwalk, and it’s a step into the void. You never quite know what you’re going to come across, but you know it’s going to be just so Venice Beach. Street performers, the skate park, the outdoor weights at Muscle Beach and the murals on the side streets all crowd into a mile or so of seafront.

Venice was built in 1905 by the developer Abbot Kinney as a “Venice of America”, and six of his canals survive a few blocks inland, lined with little bridges and gardens. Walk there when the boardwalk gets too much, then head to Abbot Kinney Boulevard for its shops and cafés (Gjelina and Intelligentsia, further down this list, are both there).

Watch the surfers at Surfrider Beach in Malibu

Come on, you can’t come to LA without at least trying your hand at surfing the swells, and no list of the city’s cool spots would be complete without at least one surf break.

I’ve made the trip out to Malibu, and where better to try it than the aptly named Surfrider Beach? Perfect swells make it a sweet spot for the local surfing community, and in 2010 it became the world’s first World Surfing Reserve. The long right-hand point break peels past Malibu Lagoon, and on a good day you’ll see longboarders riding for what feels like minutes. If you’re not convinced, watch the action from the adjacent wooden pier.

The January 2025 Palisades fire burned through Pacific Palisades and along the coast between Santa Monica and Malibu. The Pacific Coast Highway reopened to all traffic in May 2025, but expect rebuilding work on the drive up from Santa Monica.

Good to know: Malibu Lagoon State Beach is free, with paid parking at the lagoon lot. The waves are crowded and best left to experienced surfers on a big day; book a lesson with a local surf school if you’re a beginner. See my guide to the best beaches in California for more of the coast.

Watch the sun set from Griffith Park and the Observatory

Looking for a spectacular view of the city? Look no further than Griffith Park, the biggest park in the city at more than 4,000 acres. I watched the sun set over the City of Angels from its hills (that’s my photo above), and I can’t think of a better place for it.

There are mountain biking and hiking trails galore, and an extra bonus in Griffith Observatory, where you can spy through telescopes, explore the exhibits and see live shows in the planetarium. The Art Deco observatory opened in 1935, and its free public telescopes come out on clear evenings. Arrive an hour or so before sunset, walk out onto the terraces and watch the lights come on across the grid below.

Good to know: the building is free and opens Tuesday to Friday from noon to 10pm, and weekends from 10am to 10pm (closed Mondays). Planetarium shows cost extra. Parking right by the building is pricey (around $10 an hour), so take the DASH bus from Vermont/Sunset station or park lower down near the Greek Theatre and walk up. My Los Angeles landmarks guide has more on the observatory.

Hike up to the Hollywood Sign

The Hollywood Sign is one of the most iconic sights in the city. How many times have you seen it in films and on TV?

Now it’s time to get up close and personal. You can hike to a number of spots near the sign for that must-have Hollywood selfie, or take the easy route and snap one from the nearest road. I’d go for the hike every time: it’s a sweaty climb, but very much worth it.

The sign went up in 1923 as an advert for a housing development called Hollywoodland, and the last four letters came down in 1949. Today the letters are fenced off and watched by cameras, so you can’t touch them, but you can stand on Mount Lee just above and behind them. The two classic routes start on the Griffith Park side: one climbs from the Griffith Observatory area via the Mount Hollywood trails, and the other follows the Brush Canyon Trail from the top of Canyon Drive. Both are fire roads with little shade.

Good to know: the hike is free. Start early, carry plenty of water and wear sun cream. For a photo without the climb, Lake Hollywood Park gives a clear, close view of the letters. Trails can close on red flag (high fire risk) days.

Climb Sandstone Peak in the Santa Monica Mountains

Sandstone Peak is the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, at 3,111 feet, and the 6.1-mile Mishe Mokwa Trail loop is a must-do for outdoors lovers looking to get out of the big smoke.

It’s a moderate hike rather than a stroll, with around 1,700 feet of climbing, but you’re rewarded with dramatic vistas and photo ops galore: Balanced Rock, the cleft boulders of Split Rock (with a picnic table in the shade) and, on a clear day, views across to the Channel Islands from the summit. The 2018 Woolsey fire burned through much of this area, and the chaparral has grown back since.

Good to know: the trailhead is in Circle X Ranch, off Yerba Buena Road, about an hour’s drive from Santa Monica. Parking is free but fills up early at weekends. There’s no water on the trail and little shade, so avoid the middle of hot days.

Follow the LA River through Frogtown

It might not be as famous as the city’s beaches, but the LA River is one of its secret summer hotspots.

In most summers, the local authorities open up two stretches of the river, in the Elysian Valley (nicknamed Frogtown) and the Sepulveda Basin, to walk, boat and fish in. Kayaking might not be the first thing you think of when you think of Los Angeles, but it’s the perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon, paddling between herons and willows under the freeway bridges.

The recreation zones are closed for the 2026 season and are due to reopen on Memorial Day weekend 2027, from late May to September. In the meantime, the Elysian Valley stretch is still worth a visit on foot or by bike: a paved riverside path runs past community gardens, murals and small parks, with cafés and a brewery along the way.

Good to know: when the zones are open, use is free for individuals with their own kayak or canoe, and outfitters run guided trips. Water quality can close them at short notice.

Cruise the overlooks on Mulholland Drive

No, not the famous David Lynch film: this is the most scenic drive in LA.

Mulholland Drive runs for around 24 miles along the ridge of the Santa Monica Mountains, with the city basin on one side and the San Fernando Valley on the other. The most famous stretch, between the Hollywood Freeway and the 405, is lined with the gates of very expensive homes and a handful of public overlooks.

I’ve driven it, and the trick is which way you go.

Good to know: the overlooks are free. The road is narrow and winding with no pavements, so pull right off at the overlooks before taking photos. West of the 405, an eight-mile section turns to dirt and is closed to cars.

Puzzle over the Museum of Jurassic Technology

Freak shows were once the norm at the California Institute of Abnormalarts in North Hollywood, which closed in 2022, but the city’s prize for its weirdest museum now goes to this one.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology, on an unremarkable stretch of Venice Boulevard in Culver City, has nothing to do with dinosaurs. Behind the door is a dark warren of cabinets and dioramas: microscopic sculptures that fit in the eye of a needle, folk remedies, a gallery of trailer park art and exhibits so convincingly presented that you’ll leave unsure which ones are real. That’s the point. Upstairs, the Tula Tea Room serves free tea and cookies, and there’s a rooftop garden with doves.

Good to know: 9341 Venice Boulevard, Culver City. Open Thursday 2pm to 8pm and Friday to Sunday noon to 6pm. Suggested donation $5 for adults.

Take a swan boat out at Echo Park

Echo Park’s residents have been claiming the title of the city’s coolest neighbourhood for years. Check out what all the fuss is about and take a stroll around too-cool-for-school Echo Park, where the bars, cafés and vintage shops along Sunset Boulevard sit a few minutes from Dodger Stadium.

I’ve strolled round Echo Park Lake, and it’s worth a trip in its own right. Palms and flowers surround the large lake, the fountain plays in the middle and, in summer, the lotus beds burst into flower. You can take a turn on the swan-shaped pedal boats, which seat up to five.

Good to know: the swan boats run every day from 9am, with later sessions after dark, and must be reserved online in advance (no walk-ups). Parking is limited, so take a rideshare or use the paid lot on Echo Park Avenue.

Picnic with the stars at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Many of the who’s who of Hollywood past are buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a trip to which makes for an interesting, if slightly macabre, day out.

So maybe it’s a weird thing to do in Los Angeles, but who cares? This is the city where weird is really wonderful.

Founded in 1899 and backing onto the Paramount lot, it’s the resting place of Douglas Fairbanks (whose grand memorial faces a long reflecting pool), Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Chris Cornell and the punk legends Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, whose memorials are covered in tributes from fans. There’s also a lakeside memorial to Hattie McDaniel and a cenotaph for Jayne Mansfield, who is buried in Pennsylvania.

On summer nights, from May to September, Cinespia screens classic films on the Fairbanks Lawn, and half the city turns up with picnics and blankets.

Good to know: 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard. Free to visit, usually from 8am to 5pm on weekdays and to 6pm at weekends; pick up a map at the entrance. Guided walking tours and Cinespia screenings need tickets.

Find the Art Deco post office off Hollywood Boulevard

A couple of blocks south of the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood post office is one of the neighbourhood’s best-kept secrets, and I stopped by to photograph it on my last trip.

The gleaming white building on Wilcox Avenue opened in 1937, funded by the Treasury during the Depression and designed by Claud Beelman, the architect of downtown’s turquoise Eastern Columbia Building. Look for the fluted columns and the bold “United States Post Office” lettering above the doors, then step into the lobby to see The Horseman, a carved wooden relief by the sculptor Gordon Newell, made for the building under a New Deal art programme. It’s still a working post office, so you can post a card home while you’re there, and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

Good to know: 1615 N Wilcox Avenue, between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. Free; the lobby is open during post office hours, so go on a weekday. It’s a five-minute walk from the Hollywood/Vine Metro station and pairs well with a drink at the Frolic Room.

Soak up the calm at Descanso Gardens

Who said Los Angeles was all grit, grime and cars? Descanso Gardens is the secret spot that locals head to when they want to soak up some calm vibes in an urban oasis.

The so-called “gardens” spread over 150 acres in La Cañada Flintridge, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and also feature streams, a rose garden, a lake, a bird sanctuary and, of course, some beautiful planted displays. Descanso is also home to one of the largest camellia collections in North America, which flowers from late winter into spring, so time a visit then to tick it off your bucket list. In winter, the Enchanted Forest of Light trail turns the oak woods into a light show after dark.

The gardens closed for a few days in January 2025, when the winds that drove the Eaton fire through nearby Altadena brought down trees, and reopened on 13 January.

Good to know: 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, about 30 minutes’ drive from downtown. Open 9am to 5pm every day except 25 December. Adults $20, seniors and students $14, children aged 3 to 12 $8. Parking is free.

Hunt for street art in the Arts District

Downtown LA has blossomed into a hotbed of artistic talent, and its Arts District, east of Little Tokyo, is one of the best places to spy out street art in the city.

At the centre of it all is Bloom Square, the meeting point of Traction Avenue and East 3rd Street, and a regular hotspot for some of the hottest street art in the city. If there’s one spot that sums up the city’s creative streak, Bloom Square is it. The old warehouses all around are covered in murals, from huge commissioned walls on Mateo Street and Santa Fe Avenue to the paste-ups and stencils in the alleys, and the art changes so often that no two visits are the same.

Good to know: the murals are free to see, and the best way to explore is to wander between Traction Avenue, Hewitt Street and Mateo Street, stopping for coffee or a craft beer in the converted warehouses. Go in daylight and keep an eye on your belongings.

Walk through the book tunnel at the Last Bookstore

Downtown’s most famous bookshop fills the ground floor of a 1914 bank building on Spring Street, with marble columns, the old vault and towering shelves of new and used books and records.

The real draw is upstairs. Climb to the mezzanine and you’ll find a tunnel made of books, shelves arranged into an arch and sculptures that look as though the books are flying off the walls. Many of the upstairs books are a dollar each, so it’s easy to leave with a bag full.

Good to know: 453 S Spring Street. Open every day, 11am to 8pm. It’s free to browse; weekends get busy.

Fill up on chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s

If you love fried chicken, you need (I repeat, need) to get yourself down to Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles.

This fried chicken spot has been doling up the good stuff since 1975, when Herb Hudson opened the first one in Hollywood. I’ve had the chicken and waffles (that’s my plate in the photo), and my advice stands: don’t question the combo until you’ve had it. Healthy it is not, heavenly it is. Order the chicken smothered in gravy and onions if you’re feeling brave, and leave room for the sweet potato pie.

Good to know: the original is at 1514 N Gower Street in Hollywood, and there are several more branches around the city. Weekend mornings bring queues out of the door.

Order a Double-Double at In-N-Out

You can’t walk two paces in LA without coming across a cult burger place in the making. None will match the reverence devoted to Southern California’s biggest burger brand, In-N-Out.

Consistently rocking out super-fresh, tasty burgers to thousands of punters, In-N-Out is something the city is very proud of, and it would be a real shame not to give it a try. On a November trip, I stopped for a Double-Double and fries in Hollywood. The menu is tiny (burgers, fries, shakes), but there’s a well-known “not-so-secret” menu: ask for your burger or fries “Animal Style” for grilled onions, pickles and extra spread.

Visit the original in Baldwin Park for extra brownie points. Harry and Esther Snyder opened their first stand there in 1948, and a replica of that tiny drive-through now stands near the original site as a free museum.

Good to know: the replica is at 13766 Francisquito Avenue, Baldwin Park, about 30 minutes east of downtown, and opens Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 2pm. For an actual burger, the Hollywood branch at 7009 Sunset Boulevard is the most central.

Brunch at Gjelina on Abbot Kinney

Gjelina became an overnight sensation when it opened its farm-to-table Californian restaurant in Venice in 2008, and it has been pleasing the punters ever since.

The west-coast style menu boasts seasonal ingredients, simply prepared for maximum effect: wood-fired pizzas, vegetable plates and Mediterranean-leaning sharing dishes. It’s listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide. Undeniably cool but still down to earth, this is definitely one of the city’s must-try restaurants.

Good to know: 1429 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice. Open every day from 9am to 10.30pm. Bookings are handled by the restaurant directly; the terrace fills up fast at brunch.

Hustle for a seat at Intelligentsia Venice

If you’re one of those people who are convinced that “coffee is just coffee”, just try not to rave about one of Intelligentsia’s carefully crafted brews.

There are five Intelligentsia coffeebars around LA (Venice, Silver Lake, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Pasadena), but the pick of the bunch is the Venice branch on Abbot Kinney.

Hustle for a seat (it’s always full) and then indulge in a coffee that will blow your socks off. Intelligentsia knows it’s one of the cool places in LA, and plays up to it on a constant basis, but it’s hard not to love it anyway.

Good to know: 1331 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Open every day, 6am to 5pm.

Try the original French dip at Philippe’s

When it comes to Philippe’s, all you need are three words: French dip sandwich.

What is this crazy devilry, you ask? A French roll, filled with the meat of your choice and then dipped in a delicious gravy. Sometimes the simple ideas really are the best ones. The place inspires near-universal devotion among regulars, and when you give it a try, you’ll understand why.

Philippe’s has been going since 1908 and claims to have invented the French dip in 1918 (Cole’s, across town, disputes it). It has served from the same spot on Alameda Street, on the edge of Chinatown, since 1951, and little has changed: you order at the counter, then carry your tray to long communal tables over a floor strewn with sawdust.

Good to know: 1001 N Alameda Street, a five-minute walk from Union Station. Pick beef, pork, lamb, turkey, ham or pastrami, and ask for it “double dipped”. Add a dab of the house hot mustard.

Graze your way around Grand Central Market

Downtown’s food hall has been feeding the city since 1917, and a lunch here is the best way to taste how many cities LA really is.

Under the neon signs on Broadway, long-running counters such as China Cafe (here since 1959) and Tacos Tumbras a Tomas sit next to newer arrivals like Eggslut, whose egg sandwiches draw queues at weekends. Order from a few stalls and find a seat at the shared tables.

When you leave by the Hill Street side, ride Angels Flight, the little orange funicular railway that has been hauling passengers up Bunker Hill on and off since 1901. Across Broadway, step inside the Bradbury Building to see its wrought-iron balconies and open-cage lifts, which you’ll recognise from Blade Runner.

Good to know: 317 S Broadway. The market is open every day, 8am to 9pm, though each stall sets its own hours. Angels Flight costs $1.50 each way, or 75 cents with a Metro TAP card.

Drink with the ghosts of old Hollywood at the Frolic Room

Sure, we all like to be a little fancy from time to time, but then again, there’s nothing like an out-of-control night in a dive bar to make you feel like #lyf.

Look, the Frolic Room has been getting Los Angeles down and dirty in a mildly classy style since the 1930s; who are you to resist? It opened as a speakeasy in 1930, became a legal bar when Prohibition ended, and sits right next to the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard under its glowing neon sign. Charles Bukowski drank here, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland were regulars, and legend has it the Black Dahlia was one of the last people seen in here before her murder in 1947. Look out for the Al Hirschfeld mural of old movie stars along the wall.

Good to know: 6245 Hollywood Boulevard, a short walk from the Hollywood/Vine Metro station. It gets busiest when the shows at the Pantages let out.

Catch the next big band at The Smell

A non-profit arts space that has been showcasing the hottest music on the LA scene since 1998? What’s not to love?

The Smell is a creative space run by volunteers to help foster the next generation of musicians. It’s all-ages, alcohol-free and gloriously scruffy, and bands such as No Age and HEALTH came up through its shows. You’ll probably never have heard of the acts on the bill, but you never know, you might just find your favourite new band down there.

Good to know: the entrance is in the alley behind Main Street, downtown. Most shows cost around $10; check the calendar on its website, as shows aren’t every night.

Find a rare pair of trainers at Undefeated

Sneakers are king at Undefeated.

This trainer-lover’s mecca has been letting loose the coolest styles seen on the city’s streets since it opened on La Brea Avenue in 2002, and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Pick up a pair of limited-edition collaborations or shop its hot-to-trot street and sportswear.

Good to know: 112½ S La Brea Avenue. La Brea between Melrose and Wilshire is lined with streetwear and design shops, so give yourself an hour to browse.

Rummage through the Melrose Trading Post

Every Sunday, the playground of Fairfax High School becomes one of LA’s best flea markets, with rows of stalls selling vintage clothes, mid-century furniture, records, jewellery and art by local makers, plus food trucks and live music.

It’s been running for decades, and the entry fee goes back to the school: the market has raised more than $10 million for its arts programmes. Come early for the best pickings, then walk east along Melrose Avenue for its vintage shops and murals.

Good to know: 7850 Melrose Avenue, at the corner of Fairfax. Sundays 10am to 5pm (6pm in summer), rain or shine. Entry $6 in cash at the gate, free for under 12s. Parking is limited.

Before you go

• Plan around closing days. The Broad and Griffith Observatory close on Mondays, the Academy Museum and the Lucas Museum on Tuesdays, LACMA on Wednesdays, and the Museum of Jurassic Technology opens Thursday to Sunday only.
• If I only had one day, I’d spend the morning between the Broad and Urban Light at LACMA, fill up on chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s, then drive Mulholland and finish with sunset from Griffith Park.
• Group the list by area. The city is huge and the traffic decides how much you’ll fit in. Downtown (the Broad, the Last Bookstore, Grand Central Market, the Arts District, Philippe’s and the Smell), Hollywood (the sign, Griffith, the post office, the Frolic Room, Hollywood Forever, Roscoe’s) and the Westside (Venice, Abbot Kinney, Malibu) each make a good day.
• A car is the easiest way to reach the hills, Malibu and Descanso, but downtown and Hollywood are well served by Metro trains, and a single fare is $1.75 with a TAP card.
• Check for red flag warnings in dry, windy weather. Trails, overlooks and parks in the hills can close at short notice when the fire risk is high.
• Where to stay: Hollywood and West Hollywood put you closest to most of this list. I’ve stayed at both The Peninsula Beverly Hills, for full-on pampering, and the Mondrian on Sunset Boulevard, now The Valorian Los Angeles. My 3-day LA itinerary strings many of these places together.

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