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A guide to touring...

Los Angeles

by piero scaruffi
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Things to see...

Mt Wilson:

  • Observatory (210 & Angeles Crest Hwy)

    Pasadena:

  • Heritage Sq (3800 Homer Ave, Highland Park, just off the Avenue 43 exit of 110)
  • Old Town Pasadena (Colorado & Fair Oaks)
  • Norton Simon Museum (411 W. Colorado Ave): Rodin's The Burghers of Calais (1885)
  • Caltech
  • Hotel Green (1898) Raymond & Green St
  • City Hall (100 N. Garfield)
  • First National Building on Hollywood & Highland
  • Plaza Las Fuentes (Los Robles Ave & Union)
  • Pacific Asia Museum (Los Robles Ave & Union)
  • Henry Greene's Gamble House (1908) (4 Westmoreland Place, in the parking lot of a church)
  • Wright's Millard House (1921) at 645 Prospect Crescent, Pasadena
  • Sumner Greene House (368 Arroyo Terr)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Millard House (645 Prospect)
  • Greene & Greene's Blacker House (1177 Hillcrest)
  • Charles and Henry Greene's Duncan-Irwin House (240 N. Grand)

    Arcadia:

  • Arboretum (301 N. Baldwin Ave)

    San Marino:

  • Huntington Library

    San Gabriel:

  • Mission
  • Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights (largest Buddhist temple in the USA, Hwy 60 exit Hacienda Blvd)

    Glendale:

  • Brand Library

    Hollywood:

  • Hollywood Sign (near 101, driving up Beachwood Dr)(the regular trail, Hollyridge trail, was closed in March 2017 due to a legal action by the Sunset Ranch Hollywood Stables that want to monopolize business to the sign - please boycott this despicable business and demand that they be expelled from California)
  • Mann's Chinese Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd, near La Brea)
  • Walk west on the boulevard to the new Oscar building, the Kodak Theater
  • Walk of Fame (Hollywood Blvd, bet Gower & Sycamore)
  • Murale (Hudson Ave & Hollywood Blvd)
  • Hollywood Bowl
  • Sunset Strip (Roxy's to Whiskey A Go Go, from Doheny to Crescent)
  • De Mille's home, now Angelina Jolie's home (2000 De Mille Drive)
  • Marlboro sign on Sunset Blvd
  • Sunset Plaza
  • Troubador (Sta Monica & Doheny)
  • Melrose (7700 blokc, bet Fairfax & Poinsetta)
  • Silver Lake homes (east of Hollywood)
  • Pacific Design Center ("Blue Whale"), 8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood (Cesar Pelli)
  • La Brea Place (bet Melrose & Wilshire)
  • Wilshire Grand Center is the tallest building west of Chicago in 2017 (Wilshire Boulevard and 7th, Figueroa and Francisco)
  • Kodak Theater (Highland & Hollywood)
  • View from Mulholland Drive (north on Highland to Hollywood Bowl, north to Cahuenga)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House (1921) in Barnsdall Park (Hollywood Blvd & Berendo, west of Vermont)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House (1924) in 2607 Glendower St
  • Capitol Building (1750 N. Vine)
  • International Press, open 24 hours (Cahuenga & Hollywood)
  • +John Lautner's Chemosphere (1960), 7776 Torreyson Dr & Mulholland Dr
  • +John Lautner's Garcia House (7436 Mulholland Dr)
  • +John Lautner's Sheats-Goldstein House (10106 Angelo View Dr, Beverly Hills)
  • John Lautner's Walstrom House (10500 Selkirk Ln)
  • John Lautner's Reiner-Burchiill Residence "Silvertop" (2138 Micheltorena St)
  • Sherman Oaks: John Lautner's "Foster House” (4235 Las Cruces Drive)

    West Hollywood to Echo Park

  • Griffith Park: View from the Observatory (east on Franklin, left on Western)
  • Schindler House, the first house built in the Modern style (835 N. Kings Rd)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Freeman House (1962 Glencoe St)
  • Richard Neutra's Lovell House (4616 Dundee Dr near North Vermont) near Griffith Park north of Los Feliz
  • Victorian homes of Angeleno Heights (Douglas & Kensington, 1km east of Echo Park on Sunset Blvd)
  • Echo Park: +Victorian homes of Carroll Avenue, especially Phillips House at 1300 Carroll (1887) and Innes House at 1329 Carroll

    Valencia:

  • Six Flags Magic Mountains (on 5 & 126): Colossus, Revolution, Edge, Batman,

    Carlsbad:

  • Legoland Superman

    Burbank:

  • Universal Studios (off 101)
  • Disney Studios building (Alameda Ave)
  • Bob's Big Boy restaurant at 4211 Riverside Drive (birthplace of "Googie" style)

    San Fernando Valley:

  • Tujunga Wash Mural (Coldwater & Burbank)
  • Laurel Canyon
  • San Fernando Mission

    Downtown:

  • 110 freeway, south of 10
  • Pacific Electric Building (1907) (610 S. Main Street, 6th & Main)
  • El Alisal/ Lummis Home, now Historical Society of Southern California (200 East Avenue 43, Los Angeles, at the intersection of East Avenue 43 and highway 110)
  • John Parkinson's Homer Laughlin Building, at 317 South Broadway (also contains the Grand Central Market, the city's largest and oldest public market)
  • John Parkinson's Susana Machado Bernard House and Barn (1901) at 845 S. Lake St
  • John Parkinson's Braly Block/ Continental Building, LA's first skyscraper
  • John Parkinson's Rosslyn Hotel (1914) at 100 W. Fifth St and its annex (1923) across the street
  • John Parkinson's Hotel Alexandria (1906) at 501 South Spring Street
  • Doheny Mansion at 8 Chester Place (the Mount St. Mary's University campus)
  • +Heritage Square Museum (3800 Homer St): Perry Mansion (1876), Hale House (1887), Octagon House (1893), Shaw House (1883), etc
  • Wright-Mooers House (818 South Bonnie Brae St)
  • Julia Morgan's Examiner Building (1914, now Arizona State University) at 1111 South Broadway
  • Bradbury Building (304 S. Broadway)
  • Los Angeles Times building (202 W. First Street)
  • Shrine Auditorium (Figueroa & Jefferson)
  • Museum of Science (700 State Dr)
  • Museum of Tolerance (9786 Pico & Roxbury)
  • Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture (Main St. near First and Main, Los Angeles)
  • St Vincent de Paul (Adams & Figueroa)
  • Stimson House (Adams)
  • LACCT (Grand & 23rd) near St Vincent de Paul and Stimson House
  • Coca-Cola Bottling Building (1334 S. Central Ave)
  • Zanja Madre (Figueroa & 8th)
  • Broadway (between 7th and 1st)
  • Nickelodeon theaters on Broadway & 6th (Cameo, Arcade, etc)
  • Tower Theater (800 S. Broadway)
  • Biltmore Hotel (1923)
  • Pershing Square (5th-6th & South Olive)
  • First Interstate (Hope & 5th)
  • Gas Company Tower (555 West 5th bet Grand and Olive)
  • Loyola School Law, Casassa Building (1441 West Olympic, near 110 exit)
  • Bonaventure Hotel (1970) (Figueroa Street & 5th Street)
  • Bunker Hill (Grand Ave complex)
  • Cathedral (Grand & Temple)
  • Cortinez School of Visual Arts (on Grand Ave & Chavez behind the cathedral)
  • Disney Auditorium (Grand)
  • Citigroup Center: Flower St & 5th near Pershing
  • Library Tower/ US Bank Tower (1989), tallest building (South Hope Street & West 5th Street)
  • Museum of Contemporary Art
  • Angels Flight
  • +Bradbury Building (304 S. Broadway), Columbia (849 S. Brodway)
  • Skid Row: 4th & Los Angeles (homeless quarters)
  • Little Tokyo Sq (First St, bet Main & Alameda)
  • Traction Ave (artists) & Temporary Contemporary Art Museum
  • Museum of Neon Art (704 Traction Ave)
  • 4th St bridge (east of railway tracks)
  • City Buildings (Temple & San Pedro)
  • City Hall (Temple & Main)
  • Music Center (on Hope)
  • El Pueblo (Main St & Sunset Blvd)
  • Union Station (Alameda & Chavez)
  • Freeway interchange: 5 & 101, 105 & 110
  • Farmers Market (6333 W. Third St)
  • Chinatown (North Broadway, bet 11, 10 & 5)
  • Mc Arthur Park (Wilshire & Alvarado)`
  • DeWain Valentine's "Waterwall" (1989) at The Met Apartments 950 S. Flower Street & 9th
  • Miracle Mile (Wilshire Blvd bet La Cienega & Vermont)
  • Wilshire & Western
  • Saban Building, formerly the May Co Building, 6067 Wilshire Blvd
  • Bullocks (3050 Wilshire)
  • Sterling Plaza (Wishire Blvd & Beverly Dr)
  • Heritage Sq (3800 Homer Ave, Highland Park)
  • County Museum of Art "LACMA" (Hancock Park, 5905 Wilshire)
  • Wallace Neff's 105 N. Rossmore Avenue, Hancock Park
  • Renzo Piano's Broad Contemporary Art Museum (221 S Grand Ave)
  • Goodhue's Central Library of 1926 on Hope St & 5th St (with Julian Gernsey's ceiling of the rotunda, with Lee Lawrie's sculpture on Flower Street and Lee Lawrie's sculptures on top landing of North Staircase), now attached to Riordan Library
  • Richard Riordan Library's Tom Bradley Wing (contains public art such as Ann Preston's Illuminations and a photo collection) 630 W. 5th St.
  • LaBrea Pitts
  • Freeman House (1962 Glencoe St)
  • Schindler House (835 N. Kings Rd)
  • 2302 25th St "Six Feet Under" (& Arlington)

    West Central:

  • Normandie & Florence (1991 riots)
  • Watts Towers (1765 E. 107th St)

    Beverly Hills:

  • Sunset Blvd (between UCLA and Hollywood)
  • Santa Monica Blvd (between 405 and La Cienega)
  • Yayoi Kusama's "Hymn of Life - Tulips" (Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive)
  • Bel Air
  • Wallace Neff's 10539 Bellagio Road in Bel Air (1931)
  • Doheny's Greystore home (905 Loma Vista Drive)
  • Harold Lloyd's Greenacres (1740 Green Acres Drive)
  • Charlie Chaplin's home ( 1085 Summit Drive)
  • Gloria Swanson's home (904 North Crescent Drive)
  • Pickfair ( 1143 Summit Drive)
  • Spadena House (516 Walden Drive)
  • Star homes designed by John Elgin Woolf:
    • Cary Grant, 9966 Beverly Grove Drive, Los Angeles
    • Errol Flynn, 7740 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles
    • Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland, 8850 Evanview Drive, Los Angeles
    • Barbara Stanwyck, 273 South Glen Boulevard, Los Angeles
    • Ira and Leonore Gershwin, 1021 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills
    • Fanny Brice, 312 North Faring Road, Los Angeles
    • Bob Hope, 10346 Moorpark Street, North Hollywood
    • Agnes Moorehead, 1023 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills
    • Ronald Colman, 1003 Summit Drive, Beverly Hills
    • Charles K. Feldman and Jean Howard, 2000 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles
    • Lillian Gish, Trancas Beach, Malibu
    • Mervyn LeRoy, 332 St. Cloud Road, Bel Air
    • Paul Lynde, 103 Robin Drive, Los Angeles
    • Ray Milland, 10664 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles
    • Ricardo and Georgiana Montalbán, 9256 Robin Drive, Los Angeles
    • Loretta Young, 8313 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles
    • Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, 9191 St. Ives Drive, Beverly Hills
  • Beverly Dr (bet Sunset & Sta Monica)
  • 2 Rodeo Dr
  • Police Dept (Sta Monica & Crescent)
  • Restaurant Row (La Cienega)
  • 99 Cents Only Stores (Wilshire & Fairfax)
  • Golden Triangle (Sta Monica, Wilshire, Rexford)
  • Rodeo Dr boutiques & art galleries (Galerie Michael, Dyansen Gallery)
  • Beverly Wilshire Hotel
  • Electric Fountain
  • Masonic Temple
  • Doheny Mansion (1899) by Theodore Eisen and Sumner Hunt (Mt St Mary's campus, West Adams & Figueroa)
  • Virginia Robinson Gardens (1008 Elden Way, 276-5367)
  • Abbey (Robertson & Sta Monica)

    Century City:

  • Avenue of the Star
  • Constellation
  • Century Plaza Hotel
  • Entertainment Center & Towers

    Westwood:

  • UCLA (north on Westwood): Royce Hall, inverted fountain, Murphy's sculpture garden
  • Westwood Village (Wilshire to Westwood, right on Westwood)
  • Armand Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Blvd & Westwood, west of 405)
  • Old church at National Veterans Park (Wilshire Blvd & San Vicente, west of 405)

    Inglewood:

  • Charles Lee's Academy Theatre (3141 W. Manchester Blvd. Inglewood)

    Marina Del Rey:

  • Admiralty Way & village

    Venice:

  • Venice square (Main St & Windward)
  • Chiat Day Mojo (340 S.Main St, Venice)
  • Ocean Front Walk (Winward)

    Santa Monica:

  • Third St Promenade, bet Wilshire & Colorado (specialty books)
  • Montana Ave ("croissant canyon"), bet 7th & 17th (ethnic restaurants)
  • 18th St Arts Complex (artists in residence)
  • Main St (at the Venice border)
  • Santa Monica Civic Center (1801 Main St)
  • Pacific Coast Hwy & California Incline (end of California Ave)
  • Palisades Park (bet Colorado & California)
  • Bicycle Path to Venice
  • Pier (end of Colorado Ave)
  • Chiat/Day Mojo (Pier Ave & Main St)
  • Sunset Blvd
  • Gehry's residence (1002 22nd St & Washington)
  • Gehry's early home (526 Carmelina)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright's 1939 Sturgis House (449 Skyeway, near 405 & Sunset Blvd)
  • Getty Center

    Malibu:

  • Pepperdine Campus (24255 W. Pacific Coast Hwy)
  • St Matthews (1031 Bienvenida Ave, Pacific Palisades)
  • Getty Villa (note: parking in the neighborhood not allowed - must show up with bus ticket or by taxi)
  • Great Pacific Highway

    San Pedro:

  • Palos Verdes Estates (drive and Malaga Plaza)
  • Lloyd Wright junior's Wayfarers Chapel 1951 (5755 Palos Verdes: 110 south, exit Gaffey and turn left, turn right onto 1st St, turn left onto Western, turn right onto 25th and continue for 20 minutes past the slide area)
  • San Pedro Harbor
  • Bridges to Terminal Island
  • Point Fermin
  • Angels Gate Lighthouse & Breakwater
  • Ports O' Call Village
  • Cabrillo Aquarium
  • Maritime Museum

    Catalina Island

    Anaheim:

  • +Disneyland
  • +Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral (1980) community church (12141 Lewis & Chapman, Garden Grove, near Chapman exit of hwy 5), with a visitor center by Richard Meier and the oldest building by Richard Neutra
  • California Science Center (two blocks west of the 110 freeway at the Exposition Boulevard exit)
  • Knott's Berry Farm
  • Mission San Juan Capistrano

    Long Beach:

  • Shoreline Village
  • Queen Mary, Spruce Goose

    Newport Beach and south:

  • Balboa Island
  • Lovell Beach House (1242 West Ocean Front)
  • Irvine Campus
  • Laguna Beach: Dewain Valentine's Water Wall, Poseidon Court of the Surf & Sand Hotel (1555 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651)
  • Laguna Niguel (near Laguna Beach): Chet Holifield Federal Building (24000 Avila Road)
  • Pictures of LA:
    Part I
    From the 2010s...
    From the 2010s...
    From the 2000s...
    From the 2000s...
    From the 2000s...
    From the 1990s...

    Information

    A six days tour
    A two days tour
    A guide to attractions (by neighborhood)
    Hiking
    Calendar of Events
    Cheap Hotels in Los Angeles
    California Highway 1
    South California
    Yosemite
    Mt Whitney
    Death Valley


    Six Days in
    Los Angeles:


    A two-day tour of Los Angeles

    Beverly Hills:

  • From 405 take the Sunset Blvd exit east and drive up Sunset Blv
  • Sunset Blvd (between UCLA and Hollywood)
  • Turn left into Bel Air and drive around the hills
  • Star Homes in Bel Air
  • Back to Sunset Blvd, turn left and go east. Turn right on Beverly Dr. Cross Santa Monica Blvd and park. Walk to Rodeo Dr to Wilshire Blvd back to the car.
  • Rodeo Dr boutiques & art galleries

    Hollywood:

  • Take Santa Monica Blvd east and turn left on La Brea and turn right on Hollywood Blvd.
  • Mann's Chinese Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd, near La Brea) and Walk of Fame (Hollywood Blvd, bet Gower & Sycamore)
  • Walk west on the boulevard to the new Oscar building
  • Drive south on La Brea, turn right on Sunset Blvd
  • Sunset Strip (Sunset Blvd from Doheny to Crescent)
  • Turn left on Doheny, turn left on Santa Monica Blvd, turn right on Fairfax, turn left on Melrose, park.
  • Melrose (bet Fairfax & Poinsetta)
  • Drive east on Melrose to Highland, turn left on Highland, right on Franklin, left on Western, all the way to the top
  • Griffith Park: View from the Observatory

    Downtown:

  • Drive down Western, Take 101 south towards downtown LA, Take 110 south towards San Pedro, take the first exit (3rd/4th St) towards the skyscrapers, park and walk up the 3-story hill on Grand Ave
  • Bunker Hill (Grand Ave and 3rd) and surrounding skyscrapers
  • Cathedral (Grand & Temple)
  • Disney Auditorium (Grand)
  • Walk to Broadway & 7th
  • Broadway (between 7th and 1st)
  • Walk back to the car. Drive south to Main St, turn left and drive east to the other side of 101 on Main St, park.
  • Pueblo (Main St & Sunset Blvd)

    Beaches:

  • Hermosa Beach: Pier (12th St), volleyball courts
  • Manhattan Beach

    Venice:

  • Take 110 south and 10 west (move rapidly to left lanes). Take the Venice Blvd exit and drive several kms. After the intersection with Lincoln, turn right into Venice Way. Park near the round square. Walk to Windward and to the beach.
  • Ocean Front Walk (Winward)

    Santa Monica:

  • Rent rollerblades or bike and rollerblade/bike to Santa Monica. Or drive north on Ocean Ave till Colorado.
  • Pier (end of Colorado Ave)
  • Palisades Park (bet Colorado & California)
  • Third Street intersects Colorado 3 blocks from the beach
  • Third St Promenade, bet Wilshire & Colorado (specialty books)

    Westwood:

  • Drive 10 east to 405 and then 405 north. Take the Wilshired Blvd east, turn left into Westwood. Park.
  • Westwood Village (Wilshire to Westwood, right on Westwood)
  • Drive to the end of Westwood. Park.
  • UCLA (north on Westwood)

    Pasadena:

  • Take 110 east to Pasadena to the end, proceed straight, turn left on Colorado, park.
  • Old Town Pasadena (Colorado & Fair Oaks)
  • Norton Simon Museum (411 W. Colorado Ave)
    Art Galleries in L.A.:

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