Los Angeles has a funny way of making you feel like you have already been there.
You have seen the palm trees in movies. You know the Hollywood sign. You have watched people drive down streets lined with expensive cars and even more expensive houses. Then you arrive, get into a rental car, and realize LA is much bigger, busier, and more spread out than it looks on a screen.
Our first two days gave us a pretty good introduction.
We started Day 1 at Santa Monica Pier.
There is something about walking onto a pier with the Pacific Ocean stretching out in front of you that immediately puts you in holiday mode. The Ferris wheel, the old-school amusement park rides, the street performers and the sound of the waves all make the place feel almost like a movie set.
We walked along the pier, spent some time near the beach and just enjoyed being outside. LA can feel like a city that demands a schedule, so it was nice to slow down for a while.
From Santa Monica, we headed toward downtown Los Angeles and stopped at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The cathedral feels completely different from Santa Monica. It is modern, huge and surprisingly peaceful considering its location in the middle of downtown. The architecture is striking from the outside, while the inside has a calmness that makes you want to sit for a few minutes.
It was a good way to end the first day. Ocean in the afternoon, downtown LA later in the day. Two very different sides of the city within a few hours.
Day 2 was our proper LA sightseeing day.
We started around Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Even if shopping isn’t on your agenda, Rodeo Drive is worth seeing. The street is polished to the point where it almost feels unreal. Luxury stores line the sidewalks, beautiful cars pass by and every building seems carefully designed.
We drove around Beverly Hills for a while too. This is the part of LA where the phrase “only in LA” starts making sense. Huge homes sit behind walls and gates, streets are lined with mature trees and there is a very different kind of wealth on display.
From Beverly Hills, we headed toward Hollywood.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of those places that is more chaotic in person than you expect. Tourists everywhere, costumed characters looking for photos, street performers and people trying to find the names they came to see.
We walked along Hollywood Boulevard, looked at the stars and took in the madness.
It is touristy. It is crowded. It is also one of those places you have to experience when you come to LA.
Then we headed up to Griffith Observatory.
This was probably the highlight of the day for me.
The drive up the hill gives you increasingly good views of Los Angeles, and once you reach the observatory, the view opens up across the entire city. On a clear day, you can see downtown LA, the Hollywood sign and the huge sprawl stretching toward the horizon.
Standing there makes the size of Los Angeles easier to understand.
From above, all those neighborhoods, freeways and buildings blend into one enormous city. From the streets, every area feels like its own little world.
We finished the day at Venice Beach.
Venice has its own personality. It feels louder, more relaxed and more unpredictable than the polished streets of Beverly Hills. The boardwalk is full of people, bikes, skaters, artists, shops and street performers.
After a full day of sightseeing, walking around Venice was a nice change of pace.
What I liked most about these two days was how different each stop felt. Santa Monica gave us the ocean and the classic California beach experience. The cathedral brought us into downtown. Beverly Hills showed us the polished side of LA. Hollywood delivered the famous names and tourist energy. Griffith Observatory gave us the view. Venice brought us back down to street level.
That is probably the best way to experience Los Angeles.
Don’t try to make the whole city feel like one place. Give each neighborhood a little time and let it be what it is.
And keep some room in the schedule for traffic.
A short distance on the map can become a surprisingly long drive in LA.
Kenrick Vaz 