The DL: Los Angeles is home to celebrities, perfect palm trees, and little something to do for everyone. Here is my guide to a weekend in LA for the tourist, the local, and the explorer.
Friday Guide:
Arrive late afternoon to LA, and head straight to a rooftop for a view and some drinks: The Beverly Hills Hotel, Tower bar, and Mama Shelter are good options.
Dinner – Laurel Hardware (American farm to table in old hardware store), Crossroads (vegan), Mother Wolf (old school Italian)
Catch a concert or show at the Hollywood bowl or finish with cocktails at the Pendry rooftop (best option is to uber, parking is $20 valet only)
Saturday Guide:
Explore: Local Option
- Get breakfast – breakfast by salt cure ( griddle pancakes)
- Hike – Angeles National Forest or Lake Hollywood Park if you want a selfie with the Hollywood sign.
- Rooftop drink – try E.P and L.P right next to the dinner spots
- Dinner – Gracias Madres (vegan Mexican), Upscale option at Craigs, or Grandmaster records (seafood)
- See if there is a movie playing at street food cinema outdoors, (May – October), rooftop cinema club, or melrose rooftop theater or a comedy show at improv Hollywood or the Comedy store.
Explore: Day trip – Malibu (guide coming soon) and Santa Monica
- Malibu Road Beach
- Shop at Malibu Colony
- Where to eat outside: Dukes, Malibu Farm
- Spend time at Malibu Cafe
- Drive to Carbon Beach- To get here, look for the coastal access signs just south of Malibu Pier and Nobu
- Walk the campus of Pepperdine
- Hang at the beach
- Dinner: Neptunes Net or Nobu
SANTA MONICA
- Check out the farmers market
- See Venice Beach and the canals
- Get bikes and explore
- Santa Monica Pier, Muscle Beach – get bikes here – 1428 4th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401 – after 4 $10 for the rest of the night
- Shop Abbot Kenny or the Promenade (right by the pier)
- End of route 66 sign picture (at the pier)
- Palisades Park in Santa Monica, California
Explore: Touristy options:
- Lunch – IN-and-Out Burger
- Hop off/Hop on bus to explore the most without renting a car
- Other sites:
- Check out the walk of fame
- Walk down sunset blvd
- Shop around the Grove
- Do a celebrity home tour
- Warner brothers tour – I thought this was worth it
- Griffith Observatory
- LACMA’s – grab a photo in front of the famous lamp posts
- Dinner – all my Bravo fans go to SUR or Catch and then go out in downtown LA
Sunday Guide to Los Angeles:
Day Trip Guide to Los Angeles option:
- Head to Manhattan beach and bike the strand south to Hermosa beach or take a yoga class on the beach
- Grab brunch at Marthas (get the corn scramble)
- Shop around Manhattan beach
Local Guide to Los Angeles Option:
- Smorgasborg for lunch
- Explore the gardens of Huntington Library
- Grab a snack at Grand Central Market
- See if there is a sports game playing nearby
Late afternoon – catch your flight home
As you have heard, traffic is BAD in LA. Expect a 15 mile drive to take 45 minutes. Ubers are pretty reasonable, you will need a car to get around most areas for a day trip (it ends up being cheaper).
Where to stay:
Freehand Hotel $$
The Kimpton $$
Mama Shelter $$$
The Pendry $$$$
1 Hotel West Hollywood $$$$
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