Travel tips every first-time Los Angeles visitor needs to know

Aside from some occasional morning fog (most common during a late-spring period dubbed May Gray and June Gloom), you can expect it to be sunny almost 300 days out of the year. While winter can bring some wet days, you likely won’t see a drop of rain in the summer. Temperatures by the ocean hover comfortably in the 70s nearly all year; if you’re venturing into the Valley, though, expect occasional (but increasingly frequent) triple-digit days, mostly in the late summer and early fall.

You’ll really regret wearing shorts as you learn that 70 degrees in a pretty dry climate doesn’t feel warm at all. Even on the warmest summer days, you’ll be more comfortable in pants once the sun goes down. So to sum it up: Lather on sunscreen, bring a hat, leave the umbrella and carry around a sweatshirt.

Southern California’s beautiful blue ocean water is much colder than it looks. Our stretch of the Pacific Ocean is fed by cold currents on their way south from Alaska. As a result, the water temperature rarely reaches 70 degrees even in the summer—surfers’ wet suits aren’t just for style, you know.

Look at a map of Los Angeles County and you’ll find 70 miles of coastline. Yet many visitors won’t stray from the sand near the Santa Monica Pier or the Venice Boardwalk. Head north into Malibu and you’ll find a peaceful stretch of sand below the cliffs at Point Dume State Beach and a series of rock outcroppings perfect for sunset at El Matador State Beach. To the south, you’ll find a series of beach cities, each with its on distinct personality, including the pleasant and posh Manhattan Beach.

In many world-class cities, you can step off a plane and onto a train that’ll whisk you into the heart of the city. Not so in L.A. While there is an airport people mover and adjacent rail line nearing completion, that still won’t solve this fundamental issue: L.A. is simply too spread out to stick to one compact area. You can’t just wander around most of the city on foot and expect to stumble onto something amazing—walkable exceptions include Santa Monica, Pasadena and Downtown L.A., though more on that last one in a minute.

The City of Los Angeles is broadly split into the Valley (the warmer, suburban sprawl to the north) and the Basin (the ocean-adjacent flat lands south of the Santa Monica Mountains). Within the Basin, you’ll find fancy suburbs and beachfront towns on the Westside, while Central L.A. harbors multicultural enclaves and hip ’hoods. Some famous neighborhoods like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood (home of the Sunset Strip) are actually separate cities sandwiched into the middle of the City of Los Angeles. And then there are whole regions like the South Bay and the San Gabriel Valley that exist entirely outside of city limits. But typically we think of all of those areas and even more far-flung spots like Malibu and Pasadena as part of L.A.

Head toward the tall buildings—that would probably be pretty sound advice in most cities, but it’s hard to say the same about L.A. Yes, Downtown L.A. has seen a massive development boom over the past decade or so (one that’s slowed if not even somewhat backtracked in the past few years), but its parts are still more compelling than the whole. Families in particular will be disappointed if they’re looking for a friendly, bustling city center akin to New York or Chicago that’s stocked with worthwhile shops and cultural destinations at every corner. It’s best to tackle the uneven area with a specific plan: Grab a bite at Grand Central Market, spend an afternoon admiring art at the Broad, see the LA Phil or admire the architecture at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, slurp down a bowl of ramen in Little Tokyo and have a drink in the Arts District.

Angelenos measure distances in minutes and not miles because our infamous traffic is often that bad. Even so, a car is still often the quickest way to get about town. In fact, some of L.A.’s most iconic scenic spots, like a cruise along Angeles Crest Highway, Mulholland Drive or the Pacific Coast Highway can only be experienced by car. If you rent a car, just be aware that you’ll need to pay for parking almost everywhere you go and make sure to read the parking enforcement signs; if you’re in a garage, remember where you parked and validate your ticket. Don’t forget to fire up Waze or Google Maps to avoid (or at least be prepared for) gridlock and getting lost.

Uber and Lyft have undeniably changed how Angelenos travel short distances (and when they’re a bit tipsy). But we have a respectable public transit system, too, with six Metro lines, two dedicated busways and countless sort-of-efficient bus routes (plus bike and scooter rentals). If your destinations include Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Santa Monica, Culver City, Pasadena, Universal Studios or the museums in Exposition Park, Metro may actually make more sense.

Sometimes we’d sooner head out of town on a day trip than brave the traffic on the 10 or PCH to Santa Monica. Thankfully, we don’t have to anymore with Metro’s E (Expo) Line. From the light rail line’s stops in Downtown L.A., it’s just under an hour ride to its western terminus in Santa Monica, which will drop you off about three blocks from the beach.

Metro operates a bike share program in Downtown L.A., Hollywood, North Hollywood and parts of the Westside that allowers riders to pick up and return bikes at kiosks around those respective areas. Pay for a day pass ($5) and all rides under 30 minutes are free. In addition, you’ll find a whole bunch of other bike and scooter rental apps that we cover in our in-depth cheap transit guide. We’ll admit that L.A.’s drivers and constructed streetscape aren’t always friendly to cyclists, but there are a number of noteworthy bike trails worth taking.

The Broad, Getty Center, Getty Villa, Hammer Museum and MOCA are always free (though you’ll have to pay for parking). You can skip out on admission fees at L.A.’s remaining institutions if you time it right: LACMA on the second Tuesday of the month, the Skirball every Thursday and the Huntington Library the first Thursday of the month (with an advance ticket)

When you’re booking a hotel, pay very close attention to which cardinal direction sits in front of “Hollywood.”

West Hollywood—which is technically a separate city from Los Angeles—probably best fits your image of Hollywood glamour: hilltop mansions, celebrity sightings and glitzy-yet-sleazy nightlife on the Sunset Strip.

Just to the east, Hollywood is home to all of those familiar Tinseltown attractions along with a lot of grime and disappointment. The neighborhood is split by the 101 freeway; you won’t find many familiar sites in East Hollywood, but it is home to the Barnsdall Art Park and Hollyhock House, Thai Town and Little Armenia.

Head north over the hills and past Universal Studios, and you’ll reach North Hollywood, which is named as such so you forget that there’s a mountain range between it and Hollywood. The once gritty Valley suburb now boasts its own arts district dotted with small performance spaces.

Glitz, glamour and celebrities—all things you won’t find in Hollywood, at least not on a daily basis. Once you’ve seen those immortalized names on the sidewalk (which you probably shouldn’t rub your hands all over), there’s not much more than suspect superheroes, claustrophobia-inducing crowds, star tour salesmen and a never-ending line of gift shops. If you want a peek at moviemaking magic, a studio tour or a TV show taping are much more satisfying bets.

Despite repeated attempts to keep the booze flowing later into the evening, last call in California is 2am. As a result, to feed your night owl tendencies you’ll need to find your way into a house party—of which there’s no shortage. Now to just make friends.

Don’t get us wrong: A crunchy taco shell piled high with cheese and sour cream is delicious. But you didn’t come here to subsist on Taco Bell. If you’re looking for a true taste of L.A.’s incredible Mexican cuisine, stick to the open-faced corn and flour tortillas. (There are, of course, some crunchy exceptions in our taco guide, linked above.)

Some of L.A.’s tastiest cuisine can be found outside of concert venues or clubs after closing time. Pupusas, tamales, tacos and “danger dogs” (that’s a bacon-wrapped hot dog) can be found sizzling on shopping carts or served out of food trucks (the Taco Zone Truck is our go-to) into the wee hours of the night. 

We can’t think of a more dazzling spot that so consistently wins over out-of-towners and natives alike than the Griffith Observatory. It’s a sublime place to watch the sunset—but also an exceedingly crowded one. Give yourself plenty of time to get there before the sun goes down—or take the DASH bus from Los Feliz—and stick around into the evening as the city twinkles below. (Seriously, the drive up to the observatory can be a downright nightmare, so head over there on the early side to account for it.)

By 2024, an automated people mover at LAX will shuttle passengers between terminals and outside of its horshoe-shaped automotive hell. Until—and even after—then, you should check out flights into and out of Long Beach or Burbank. The prices are sometimes higher and the connections fewer, but the two low-key airports are considerably less crowded, less traffic-choked and more convenient to certain destinations. Plus, we always get a kick out of boarding a flight straight from the tarmac.

While we won’t encourage you to break any traffic laws, we will let you know that almost every car-bound Angeleno technically does so on a daily basis. Relatively few intersections in L.A. have protected left turns (i.e. a green arrow), so one or two cars will pull into the middle of the intersection and make a left once the light turns red. If you don’t, prepare for a few angry honks.