Discover Los Angeles: the insider's guide on where to go

This isn’t your regular travel insider’s guide – hopefully, it’s more valuable.

I left London for California 30 years ago and have become an expert on my adopted City of Angels. These are my top tips for a fun-filled LA adventure.

What to do in LA

There are attractions aplenty in Los Angeles, but for photo opportunities at every angle, head to the Getty Center, where a remarkable collection of European paintings, sculptures and decorative arts is housed among stunning architecture and beautiful gardens.

Art lovers should also check out Getty Villa Museum. Perched above the ocean at Pacific Palisades, this stunning recreation of a Roman country home is packed with ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities.

For breathtaking views of the city and the night sky, plus fascinating exhibits on astronomy and space exploration, the iconic Griffith Observatory doesn’t disappoint. And the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum takes you back in time to prehistoric LA, where you can learn about the Ice Age and the animals that roamed the area.

Hit the beach

With Venice Beach now a popular homeless destination, keep your valuables close and enjoy the craziness. Both this and neighbouring Santa Monica’s beachfront areas offer many activities and attractions, including Santa Monica Pier with its amusement park, and legendary Muscle Beach, where you can marvel at six-pack-sporting posers in the outdoor bodybuilding area.

Get around by renting a bike and cruising along the path that stretches from Santa Monica to Venice Beach.

If walking’s more your thing, pedestrian-only Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is a bustling shopping district with restaurants and entertainment, while Venice Beach Boardwalk is packed with street vendors, artists and performers.

For a more serene experience, stroll along the peaceful Venice Canals, reminiscent of their Italian namesake, admiring the architecture of the surrounding homes.

Make for Malibu

Although overrated, Malibu is definitely worth a visit. The beaches are golden, broken only by the lifeguard towers, à la Baywatch. But be warned: the Pacific is cold, even on a hot day. Visit Paradise Cove for a luxury private beach day where rental chairs and umbrellas are available and there’s a café catering for all tastes.

For a DIY experience, head to any of the public beaches, but remember to bring your own deckchairs.

Go Downtown

Despite efforts to revitalise Downtown LA, it remains a bit dodgy with its extensive skid row tent cities, but there’s no denying its attractions.

Contemporary art museum The Broad has an extensive collection of modern artworks, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, while at The Last Bookstore – a shop housed in a century-old bank building – bookworms can lose themselves among its many hidden nooks.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is an architectural masterpiece. Catch a world-class symphony performance or admire the stunning exterior that resembles a gleaming sailing boat.

Feeling peckish? Grand Central Market is a melting pot of diverse culinary delights from artisanal coffee and fresh produce to gourmet burgers and authentic tacos.

Where to eat

Talking of tacos, thanks to its large Mexican population, LA serves some of the best Mexican food in the world. Try El Coyote, Guelaguetza or El Cholo, or discover truly gourmet options at the city’s famous food trucks.

For other cuisines, top restaurants include The Ivy, E Baldi, Catch LA, Sunset Tower Bar and Baltaire, or grab sushi at chains such as Katsu-ya, Nobu and Sugarfish.

Walk this way

You say walking, we pretentious Californians call it hiking. The Malibu Backbone Trail stretches for 67 miles, winding across the Santa Monica Mountains and offering spectacular ocean views. Split into different sections, plan your hike with the National Parks Service.

Popular, shorter hikes include Runyon Canyon, Dixie Canyon and Fryman Canyon Trail in Wilacre Park, where sweaty celebs can be seen running up and down the trails.

Even better, hike around Lake Hollywood and stop off at 3389 Deronda Drive for the ultimate view of the Hollywood sign.

See behind the scenes

If that gets you in the mood for Tinseltown magic, explore backlots, soundstages and sets from movies and TV shows at the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Burbank, or take a tram ride through Universal’s working film and television production site on its Hollywood Studio Tour.

Paramount Pictures Studio Tour showcases iconic soundstages and classic film sets, while at CBS Television City, visitors can participate in the development of new shows.

Boulevard of broken dreams

Talking of Tinseltown, head to Hollywood Boulevard - if you must. The world’s most famous sidewalk boasts more than 2,750 names, with 20–30 celebrities given their own star each year at ceremonies the public can attend.

While the cinemas along this stretch host premieres, it is also home to a motley assortment of beggars, celebrity impersonators and people dressed as superheroes, and can be quite seedy and scary.

Check out the street quickly, then retreat for a cocktail at The Hollywood Roosevelt – an iconic hotel full of old-world glamour.

10 top facts about the Hollywood sign

1. ‘Hollywoodland’, the first sign, unveiled in July 1923, was built to advertise a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood area. The letters were 45ft tall, 30ft wide, and made up of metal squares rigged together by scaffolding and wires – all of which had to be hauled up to their position by mules on dirt paths. The sign was then studded with 4,000 20-watt bulbs, which at night blinked out in sequence, first ‘Holly’, then ‘wood’, and finally ‘land’.

2. It was intended to remain only for 18 months, but its construction coincided, from 1923, with the development of the first ‘talkies’ at the studios that had been established in the Hollywood area. Hollywood and its studios were now in the spotlight and the sign came to be a symbol for the industry, so it remained.

3. By contrast, the real estate scheme went bust due to the Great Depression in 1929. Land adjacent to the sign was taken over by businessman Don Lee. He was granted a licence to set up broadcasting masts near the sign for a new venture, the emerging medium of television. The peak on the sign’s southern slope is named Mount Lee after him.

4. In 1932, 24-year-old British actor Peg Entwistle died by suicide after throwing herself off the sign’s letter H, which she scaled using a workman’s ladder propped against it.

5. Before he became a recluse, film mogul Howard Hughes bought the peak overlooking the sign to build a mansion on it for his new love. That plan ended when his fiancée – the actor Ginger Rogers – broke off their engagement.

6. By the end of the war, the sign was in a state of disrepair. Local residents wanted it demolished, branding it an ‘eyesore and detriment to the community’.

7. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce offered to repair and rebuild the sign in 1949. Its only condition was that the last four letters – ‘Land’ – were removed so that the new shortened ‘Hollywood’ sign now truly represented its home.

8. In 1973, the sign’s 50th anniversary was marked by the City of Los Angeles declaring it a Cultural-Historical Monument.

9. By 1978, the sign had fallen into neglect again. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner launched a campaign to restore it, becoming one of nine donors who agreed to pay $27,000 each to fund replacement letters.

10. The sign was illuminated – a rare event – in 1984 for the Olympic Games, and on 31 December 1999, when it featured in a light show as part of the millennium countdown. It was not lit again until last year, when it shone in rainbow to mark Pride Month.