Los Angeles, California
Category: Urban
Trips That Visit Here:
About
Los Angeles is California’s largest city and the second-most populous in the country, stretching from the Pacific coast inland across a basin ringed by the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains. The region covers nearly 500 square miles of neighborhoods that each feel like their own small city, from Venice and Santa Monica on the coast to Silver Lake, Echo Park, and the historic core downtown.
Long called the “Creative Capital of the World,” LA has shaped film, television, and music for more than a century. Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, the Getty Center, LACMA, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures trace that creative history, while the Broad and the Hammer push the conversation into contemporary art. Beyond the cultural icons, the city’s surf breaks, canyon hikes in Griffith Park and Runyon, and beach corridor from Malibu to Palos Verdes make it one of the most outdoor-forward large cities in the country.
LA is also the natural hub for Southern California road trips. Joshua Tree, Death Valley, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the Channel Islands are all within reach, and the Pacific Coast Highway begins its southbound run to San Diego just north of town.
Smaller guided tours and retreats usually use Los Angeles as an arrival city, then move quickly into the neighborhoods and nearby parks that rarely show up on a standard sightseeing route.