A blend of Gap and Gucci, pipe-dream fantasy and nagging reality, Los Angeles is as distinct as its wildly varied blend of residents. The city's famous sprawl continues to define it, but the ever-expanding size of the town also provides a useful metaphor for the sheer variety of experiences on offer in its myriad neighbourhoods, towns and beaches. All things to most people, LA's chaos is its greatest asset.

Despite a relative lack of tangible sights and museums, LA's west side is a tourist honeypot. The reason is obvious: the Pacific-side location, where it's perpetually summertime and the living is generally pretty easy. The centre of the action is liberal, likeable Santa Monica: the beach has a bright, busy pier with food stalls and games arcades, and the Santa Monica Place mall and the Third Street Promenade are within easy walking distance. However, things are a little livelier just down the coast in Venice, both on the famously oddball beach and in the cultured, arty shops and galleries on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Surf dogs, meanwhile, should head north to Malibu's Surfrider Beach or south to Huntington Beach.

Edging inland, past the fabulous Getty Center near Brentwood (off I-405, CA 90049, +1-310 440 7300, www.getty.edu) and UCLA-dominated Westwood, lies Beverly Hills. Although the big chains have impinged on world-famous Rodeo Drive and its surrounding commercial streets, this is still an undeniably wealthy and glamorous part of town. Slightly further inland is West Hollywood. Like Beverly Hills, it's not home to any major attractions besides its own indigenous atmosphere, but the nightlife here is livelier than in many of the surrounding areas.

Some of the biggest changes in LA recently, at least in the eyes of returning tourists, have been in the heart of Hollywood. Pretty rough around the edges for years, it's recently been cleaned up, with the huge mall development at the corner of Hollywood and Highland perhaps the main sight for sore eyes. However, the old favourites all remain: the hand- and footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre (6925 Hollywood Boulevard, CA 90028, +1-323 464 8111, www.manntheatres.com), the 2,000-plus stars that make up the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and, way up in the Hollywood hills, the world-famous Hollywood sign.

There are further changes east of here, in three neighbourhoods that sit in various stages of gentrification. Cultured, homey Los Feliz has pretty much come all the way up, while funkier Silver Lake and Echo Park are both on the rise. There's an eclectic mix of people living in these corners of town, and the shops, restaurants, bars and clubs reflect the blend.

Just north of Los Feliz, meanwhile, is the massive Griffith Park, fire-damaged in recent years but still the largest city-run park in the US. The park's numerous attractions include the newly renovated and now-stunning Griffith Park Observatory (2800 E Observatory Road, CA 90027, +1-213 473 0800, www.griffithobs.org), the Los Angeles Zoo (5333 Zoo Drive, CA 90027, +1-323 644 4200, www.lazoo.org) and the Museum of the American West (4700 Western Heritage Way, CA 90027, +1-323 667 2000, www.autrynationalcenter.org).

It's all happening in Downtown LA these days, too. Hotels and condo towers are springing up all over the shop, as people move back to this long-forlorn corner of the city. There's a surprising amount of high culture here: Downtown is where you'll find LA's Museum of Contemporary Art (250 S Grand Avenue, CA 90012, +1-213 626 6222, www.moca.org), and Frank Gehry's breathtaking Walt Disney Concert Hall (111 S Grand Avenue, CA 90012, +1-323 850 2000, www.laphil.com), among other attractions.

And if that wasn't enough, then there are outlying yet appealing neighbourhoods such as Pasadena, the surrounding desert, and - of course - the theme parks. Universal Studios (100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608, +1-800 864 8377, www.universalstudioshollywood.com) remains popular, but it's still very much in the shadow of Disneyland (1313 S Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim, CA 92803, +1-714 781 7290, http://disneyland.disney.go.com).