Los Angeles: How to Not Waste a Week There

LA rewards visitors who understand its geography and punishes those who don’t. The city covers 1,300 square kilometres, has no centre in the European sense, and operates almost entirely by car. Planning based on neighbourhood is everything: Griffith Park and the Eastside are 25 minutes from the Westside under normal conditions and 70 minutes during rush hour. If you book a hotel in Santa Monica and have tickets to something in Koreatown, plan accordingly.

The baseline: LA is excellent for food, has three world-class museums within 10 km of each other, multiple genuinely good beaches, and enough interesting neighbourhoods to fill two weeks. It’s not excellent for pedestrians and it’s worse than you think for jet lag, which hits harder in a city where everything you need to do requires driving.

What’s Actually Worth Your Time

Getty Center on the hill above Brentwood is free to enter (parking is $25 but you can take the Metro E Line to Expo/Sepulveda and walk the rest). The Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection is excellent, the architecture by Richard Meier is genuinely considered, and the gardens are beautifully planted with views across the basin on clear days. Allow 3 hours. Closed Monday. It’s much less crowded than the Louvre-level collection warrants.

LACMA on Wilshire has a vast permanent collection but is currently undergoing a significant rebuilding programme around Peter Zumthor’s new building. Check which galleries are open before visiting. The Pavilion for Japanese Art and the substantial collection of South and Southeast Asian art are strengths.

The Broad in downtown is free but requires time-entry reservations (book at thebroad.org, usually 1-2 weeks ahead). Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, and a good selection of recent American art. Downtown LA has changed considerably in the past decade; the neighbourhood around Grand Park and the Music Centre is worth walking in the evening.

Griffith Observatory is free to visit (the exhibits inside are modest; the telescopes and views are the point). Take the Mt Hollywood Trail from the back of the observatory building for a 4 km loop with views of the Hollywood Sign and the city basin. Best on clear winter days when the smog has cleared.

Venice Beach is overrated as a destination but has a stretch of genuinely interesting street art and the Muscle Beach outdoor gym that’s been operating since the 1930s. The canal neighbourhood immediately inland from the tourist-facing boardwalk is quieter and has some good architecture. The best coffee on the Westside is at Menotti’s on Windward Avenue.

Where to Eat

Jitlada in Thai Town (5233 W Sunset Blvd) is one of the most respected Thai restaurants in the United States, specialising in southern Thai cuisine - considerably spicier and more complex than the northern Thai food most restaurants serve. The jungle curry and the pork larb are extraordinary. Budget $30-40 per person. Cash preferred.

Kato in the Arts District does Japanese-Californian tasting menus ($145 per person, dinner only, book weeks ahead) that draw from the Jonalcedo family’s Taiwanese heritage and LA’s produce calendar simultaneously. One of the best meals in the country if this is your register.

Mariscos Jalisco food truck at 3040 E Olympic Blvd is legendary: tacos dorados de camarones (crispy shrimp tacos) with avocado that have been produced from the same truck by the same family since 2002. Around $4-5 per taco. Cash only, limited hours.

Guerrilla Tacos on Seventh Street downtown is where to go when you don’t want to commit to a sit-down lunch. The sweet potato taco with almond chile salsa is a menu institution. Under $20 for lunch.

Gjusta in Venice (320 Sunset Avenue) has become overrun with influencers taking photographs of their lattes, which is annoying, but the bread baking, cured fish, and sandwiches are genuinely excellent. Go at opening (07:00) or after the lunch rush.

Where to Stay

Ace Hotel Downtown on South Broadway occupies a 1927 Spanish Gothic building in what used to be the seedy part of downtown and is now partly gentrified. Rooms from around $200. The rooftop pool is a good social space.

The Line Hotel in Koreatown is the best-positioned mid-range option for eating your way through LA’s most food-dense neighbourhood. From around $180. Koreatown runs 24 hours and has the best BBQ ($40-60 per person at Park’s BBQ on Vermont), excellent Korean Chinese restaurants, and late-night haejangguk stews.

For budget accommodation, the hostel options in Hollywood and Silver Lake run $45-65 per night in dorms. Freehand Los Angeles in Koreatown has private rooms from around $130 and a good bar.

Getting Around

LA’s Metro covers the major tourist areas poorly. What it does reach: Union Station (Metro Gold Line), Koreatown, the Westside (Metro E Line to Santa Monica), Hollywood, and downtown. For everything else, rideshare or rent a car. Parking in most neighbourhoods outside downtown and Beverly Hills is straightforward and free. Bring a map app and check traffic before every journey: a 15-minute trip at 10:00 can be 50 minutes at 17:30.

Neighbourhood Worth Adding

Highland Park in East LA has the best independent restaurant and bar scene in the city right now: Hermosillo for natural wine, El Huarache Azteca for the best huaraches in LA, and Gold Line Books for a proper independent bookshop. The neighbourhood is not on most tourist itineraries and is two stops on the Metro A Line from Union Station.