Los Angeles

United States·North America

Currency

USD

Language

English, Spanish

Timezone

Los Angeles

Continent

North America

Our guide

Discover Los Angeles

Los Angeles has no centre, and looking for one is the surest way to dislike it. It is a run of neighbourhoods separated by miles of freeway, each with its own logic. Hollywood lines up the Walk of Fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre under the Hollywood Sign. The Griffith Observatory commands the basin from the hill, free and open to all. Below, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the La Brea Tar Pits — asphalt pits still yielding mammoth bones — sit along the same boulevard. Downtown keeps the Bradbury Building with its cast-iron atrium, and Angels Flight, a thirty-metre funicular.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the best windows: warm without excess, clearer air. Summer is dry and fierce inland, softer near the ocean. In early June the marine layer — "June gloom" — covers the mornings in haze that lifts by midday; it is not rain, just disappointing light for anyone who came to photograph. The wet season, November to March, amounts to a few short episodes.

Getting around

The city was built around the car and it shows: distances between districts run to tens of kilometres. The metro is expanding and now links Downtown, Hollywood and Koreatown, which covers much of what a visitor wants — Union Station is its heart, and worth seeing for itself. Ride-hailing fills the rest. Allow generously for journey times: the traffic is not a legend and it lasts for hours.

Where to eat

Los Angeles is eaten by neighbourhood. Koreatown is the largest Korean community outside Korea and comes alive in the evening. So does Thai Town — Thai leads our data ahead of Mexican, which surprises and holds up on the ground. Little Tokyo completes the picture. Tacos are taken at the truck, standing, and usually late. Only six halal addresses are listed.

Good to know

The US dollar is the currency and sales tax is added at the register, never included. A tip of 18 to 20 % is expected in restaurants and belongs in the budget. The sun is harsher than it feels because of the ocean breeze. And do not plan to walk between districts: what looks close on a city map is often an hour away.

Smart Planning