The last few months of the year usually brings in visitors, guests and family coming from all over the country who want us to take them out and show them around LA.
But make sure you don’t get caught up in all the tourist traps your guests have seen on TV. In this post we share some awesome ideas on how you can take your visitors for a fun week in LA that everyone will enjoy.
Get your sneakers ready and get your visitors excited because you are up for a week of fun strolling around the beach, visiting museums, eating at delicious spots, and maybe even finding Captain Jack Sparrow.
1 – A Day on The Beach
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Usually when people think of Southern California they picture Malibu, Venice or Santa Monica Beach and that’s even during colder months. So on day one we recommend choosing one of our memorable beaches to spend a day with your visitors. Now there are many to choose from but Santa Monica is an awesome mixture of beach town, beautiful views, and also great places to eat and shop, so they will have plenty to see and do along with the beach views.
Start the day choosing from one of the many great breakfast spots in the city like Farm Shop Santa Monica. This place takes pride in serving farm to table breakfast using fresh ingredients. Or if you just want coffee we recommend Urth Caffe, it opens daily at 7AM so you can get that early cup you crave and maybe even get a celebrity sighting with your visitors.
You can continue your fun day taking them on a walk on the famous Santa Monica Pier or along the beach, or even take it to next level and head towards the Rings and get them a one of kind work out on the Pier.
You can also take them on ride on the famous Ferris wheel or the roller coaster all on the Pier and overlooking the Ocean. And then its shopping time! You can visit the Promenade, walking distance from the Pier or go with the fabulous hipster shopping neighborhood of Abbot Kinney a few minutes away by car.
Before you leave make sure to finish the amazing day at Santa Monica with a stop at one of the amazing restaurant like Rustic Canyon.
Location:Santa Monica, CA 90401
Pic Credit: @mitskovicholga
2 – LA Museums
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Los Angeles has tons of awesome museums all over town, and as you might already know on certain days of the week admissions are free. So take advantage of this amazing treat and choose your favorite museums to take your special visitors with you for the day.
Some of our favorite museums are The Broad, The Getty Center and The Observatory. These wonderful museums offer great experiences for all ages and the best part is the admission is free all year round for these gems.
Los Angeles County Arboretum and The Natural History Museum are also in our top recommendations, and you could spend an entire half of a day strolling around these massive places.
If you wish to visit NHMLA during free admission go any day of the week between 3-5 p.m.
The Arboretum offers free admission on the third Tuesday of the month.
Location: LA COUNTY MUSEUMS
PIC Credit: @anthelion.helicopters
3 – Hollywood
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Ok I know what you’re thinking. Most people who live in Los Angeles have a visit to Hollywood Boulevard as one of the last ways they would want to spend a day. Tourists might think of it this as the epicenter of Hollywood glamour but in some ways the opposite is true.
Locals know that Hollywood Boulevard can be congested, loud, dirty and hectic and while there is plenty to see there you need to go with a game plan. But your guests are probably going to insist on visiting so shouldn’t you be there to make sure they have the best time possible and not get caught in all the tourist traps?
After all Hollywood Boulevard will always be one of those special places that made LA one of the most famous cities in the entire world, so while its not as glamorous as people may think its still on our list of things to do in LA in one week.
Begin your tour at the magnificent Chinese Theater to marvel in its beauty and soak up some of its history. This remarkable landmark has been home to the premiers of some of the biggest blockbusters in movie history. It was that special theater where George Lucas launched Star Wars in 1977.
Continue on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and help your visitors find the names of their favorite movie stars, or play the game of can you guess who the heck is this? Lol. Don’t leave without visiting some of these famous spots: Hollywood Museum, El captain Theater, Museum of Illusions and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
Enjoy all the fun characters that are always walking around, perhaps you can spot that one guy that looks just like Johnny Depp in Captain Sparrow costume.
Location: Hollywood Boulevard, Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90028
PIC Credit: @ivona_borcic
4 – Koreatown
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Koreatown is one of the best neighbor hoods in LA to spend a whole day packed with fun activities and of course lots of good eats! Famous for its Karaoke bars, spas, restaurants and unique markets, K-Town is one of Los Angeles hottest spots. Of course its best known for its amazing food which is about as diverse as you can possibly get anywhere in the United States.
So where to go with so many choices? Well first start with a caffeine fix by grabbing a cup at one of the amazing coffee shops in K-town. So many good ones but we recommend Sharp Specialty Coffee, known for making awesome lattes. After coffee we recommend a short walk over to the Korean Pavilion Garden, a beautiful public space that will look great for your visitors selfies.
After a stroll around the pavilion take a swing at the rooftop golf range at Aroma Spa and Sports. Its 3 stories high and right smack dab in Koreatown making it one of the most unique driving ranges you will find. After working up a sweat hitting balls you can go into the spa for some famous Korean spa treatments.
And of course we don’t recommend you leave this place without visiting Koreatown Plaza and eating some good Korean food. There International Food Court is packed with authentic but well priced Asian eateries. Some of our other favorite spots include Parks BBQ and Baek Jeong Ktown. For more casual bites try Bonjuk, or Slurpin – Ramen Bar.
Lastly if your guests want to grab some cocktails at night and get more of a party atmosphere, this is one of the best places in the city for that as well. We recommend Break Room 86, the Normandie Club or R Bar.
Location: Koreatown – los angeles, ca 90006
PIC Credit: @latimesfood
5 – DTLA
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Ok there is so much to do in Downtown Los Angeles that you cant possibly do it all in one day. So you will have to choose what you want to show your guests with your day in DTLA.
We recommend starting with a walk around LA Live because it always puts visitors in good spirits with all the action, vibes and the fun things to do. This sports and entertainment district features Staples Center (soon Crypto Arena), huge screens, a movie theater, concert venue, bowling alley, and many restaurants there and nearby, to start your day of fun.
We also recommend a visit to Olvera street, Union station and China town because they are all right next to each other, so you you can see all 3 without wasting time in traffic.
Then we would say its choice between going to the Arts District or Little Tokyo. They are close to each other but both have so much to do its hard to imagine truly appreciating either without a whole day to do it.
Cap off your day by heading to the premiere foodie hall in downtown the iconic, Grand Central Market. No matter how picky your group is, there is something to please for all at the Market and you will surely find pleasing eats for everyone.
From Grand Central Market, you can take Angeles Flight up to California Plaza. Then walk up to the Museums and choose between roaming the MOCA, the Broad or Disney Concert Hall. You can finish off the walk and the day, just a few more blocks up, with a visit to the beautiful Music Center, Grand Park and City Hall.
Location: DTLA
PIC Credit: @parkfifthtower
6 – Beverly Hills
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When out of towners think of the glamour of Los Angeles they often picture beautiful Beverly Hills and especially Rodeo Drive. This one is on many visitors bucket lists so plan on taking your guests to go marvel at one of the most beautiful and luxurious neighborhoods in LA.
Beverly Hills continues to captivate visitors with all the fancy restaurants, luxury shops, celebrities, and even the streets lined with palm trees and some that are cobblestone and look like a slice of Europe here in Los Angeles.
To give them that fantasy feel of glamour, be sure take them to Rodeo Drive and Two Rodeo Drive with all the luxury stores and fancy cars. It is especially gorgeous at night when its all lit up.
Some other activities we recommend you add to the Beverly Hills list, is a stop at the gorgeous Will Rogers Memorial State Park, a selfie at the 40 feet long Beverly Hills sign, a stroll around the Greystone Mansion, a drive through Mulholland Drive, and a fantastic lunch or dinner at Ocean Prime, Sugarfish, or Nate ‘n Al.
Location: Beverly hills ca 90210
PIC Credit: @maan.rsl
7 – Theme Parks
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Ok people visiting our city wont usually be happy about the trip without visiting at least one of our magnificent theme parks. In fact for some, that’s the main reason for the trip in the first place! Now you cant go to multiple theme parks in one day so you will need to choose just one to enjoy a day of full fun, getting screams out on a roller coaster, finding a churro that tastes like sweet paradise, walking until the toes beg for mercy and getting that lasting souvenir that they really need to add to their collection.
We all love the escape our theme parks provide, they make us forget bad times and also is where we go to celebrate good times too. And until you have out of town visitors you almost forget how spoiled we are to have so many to choose from! Our favorites of course are Disneyland and California Adventures, Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm.
But even if you’re guests are not in the mood for an entire day in a theme park you can still take them to hang out in one of the parks Downtown areas. These places are equipped with awesome restaurants, shops and plenty of entertainment to spend the day. While Disney has a massive downtown packed with restaurants and stores and Knotts has a charming little California marketplace, both of which you don’t need park tickets to enter, we recommend hanging out at City Walk Universal.
The City Walk really goes over the top with stores, food and entertainment with a movie theater, piano bar, tons of restaurants, bars and theme shops, and all the dessert cravings you desire including Voodoo Doughnut, chocolate and candy shops and much more.
Location: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
PIC Credit: @jaytasmic
Do you agree with our list or did we miss an obvious one? Let us know by commenting below!