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The best guide to Los Angeles, updated every year The lowdown on the Getty Center, theme parks, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, plus Olvera Street, Farmer's Market, Griffith Park, and Venice Beach Studio tours, TV tapings, tips on sighting the stars Shopping in Beverly Hills, Melrose, Santa Monica, and beyond The Sunset Strip after dark, plus Silver Lake and Los Feliz Best beaches for sunning and surfing, great hikes in the hills Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Hip resorts, Hollywood hotels, chic inns, reliable motels Hollywood canteens, Mexican cantinas, and neighborhood cucinas, plus s'mores at Steven Spielberg's Dive! and celebrity spotting at Spago Beverly Hills and Citrus Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents 34 pages of maps -- and dozens of unique features Important contacts, smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Pleasures & Pastimes New & Noteworthy Festivals Further reading, videos to watch Complete index

About Our Writers Each year the Gold Guides are written and updated by more than 500 resident writers
Connections Resources for travelers
How to Use This Book Describes organization, icons, and other key information
Don't Forget to Write Tells you how to get in touch with our editors
The Gold Guide: Smart Travel Tips A to Z An easy-to-use section divided alphabetically by topic
Under each listing you'll find tips and information that will help you accomplish what you need to in Los Angeles
You'll also find addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and companies that offer destination-related services and detailed information and publications
Destination: Los Angeles Helps get you in the mood for your trip
New and Noteworthy Cues you in on trends and happenings
What's Where Gets you oriented
Pleasures and Pastimes Describes the activities and sights that make Los Angeles unique
Great Itineraries Helps you make the most of your time
Fodor's Choice Showcases our top picks from special restaurants and one-of-a-kind accommodations to out-of-the-ordinary sights and activities...
Let them inspire you! Festivals and Seasonal Events Alerts you to special events you'll want to seek out
Exploring Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles Hollywood and Sunset Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard, Museum Row, and Farmers Market Beverly Hills and Century City The Westside Santa Monica, Venice, and Malibu The San Fernando Valley Pasadena Area Palos Verdes, San Pedro, and Long Beach Dining Lodging Nightlife and the Arts Outdoor Activities, Beaches, and Sports Beaches, Parks and Gardens, Participant Sports, Spectator Sports
Shopping Side Trips
Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, Catalina Island
Orange County Inland Orange County, The Coast, County A to Z
Portraits of Los Angeles "Beneath Mulholland," by David Thomson, "It's Back to the Future for L.A.," by Judith Babcock Wylie, Books and Videos
Index Maps
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Pleasures and Pastimes

Museums and Galleries

More than 60 area museums house a rich variety of collections, from Ice Age fossils to Medieval illuminated manuscripts to contemporary works. The gallery scene here is among the world's most exciting. Topping the city's museum list are the new J. Paul Getty Center, on a hilltop above Brentwood; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the mid-Wilshire district, the city's largest showplace; and the two exciting sites of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) downtown.

Beaches

L.A.'s combination of sun, sand, and 72 mi of gorgeous coastline stirs flights of fancy. It's all here: more than 30 mi of wide beaches, beach towns from the laid-back to the super-chic, and plenty of sunny days to enjoy it all. Point Dume and Zuma Beach, north of Malibu, have always been popular with Angelenos for their pristine water and excellent facilities, but they're a long drive if you're not hip to L.A. distances. Easily accessible Santa Monica beaches are always a good bet -- though the bay could be cleaner -- and to the south, any town you're in will be the right one for a great beach experience. Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach, the South Bay's prettiest beach towns, have easygoing lifestyles and plenty to do, day or night.

Celebrity Spotting

You can pick up a map of stars' homes at souvenir shops around town, though their accuracy is notoriously poor. In the silent-film era, the stars lived in the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and other locales close to the studios. Today they live almost anywhere, from Brentwood, Malibu, and the Valley to Montana and beyond. Better to pull up a chair at Matsuhisa, where you'll have a great sushi dinner whether you see someone or not (though chances are you will).

Dining

This epicenter of food trends is an epicure's dream. L.A.'s fantastic mix of cultures brings a variety of world cooking. (If you've never tasted Mexican, start right now; it's a rite of passage. And don't forget the margaritas.) Southern California is also where the trend toward healthful eating began oh so many years ago, so there's no dearth of vegetarian restaurants. You'll even find small hearts on many menus alerting diners of healthy dishes. Then there's that other category, of course: celebrity chefs. L.A. elevates its star players in the food game to celeb status, and when you visit their restaurants, you'll understand why. Wolfgang Puck may have been the first, with Spago (and ObaChine, Granita, Chinois on Main, and Wolfgang Puck Cafés), but he's certainly not the last. The list includes Joachim Splichal, of Patina and the Pinot restaurants; John Sedlar, of Billboard Live; Michael McCarty, of Michael's (he created California cuisine); Piero Salveggio, of Valentino; Ken Frank, of Fenix; and M
ichel Richard, of Citrus; and the list goes on and on.

Nightlife

The Sunset Strip and its environs in West Hollywood are ground zero for club-hopping, with Billboard Live, House of Blues, and Johnny Depp's Viper Room among the top spots stirring up the scene. While clubs on the Strip play to a young crowd, there are plenty of other venues throughout the area for grown-ups from the Troubador on Santa Monica Boulevard to influential LunaPark on Robertson Boulevard. In Universal City, cool blues emanate from B.B. King's Blues Club, owned by the man himself (who occasionally puts in an appearance); in Santa Monica, Harvelle's, the Westside's oldest blues club, is usually jumping. Many of today's top comedians got their start playing to the crowds in local clubs. Among the best: in West Hollywood, the Improv, a showcase for top talent since 1975; Groundlings Theatre, whose comedy troupe once included Lisa Kudrow (you've seen others on Saturday Night Live!); and laugh Factory, where Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, and Jay Leno have all appeared. In Pasad
ena, the Ice House is a favorite of Dana Carvey, and in Hermosa Beach, locals love it when Jay Leno stops by the Comedy and Magic Club to try out new material.

Shopping

Of course L.A. has malls, from the upscale designer-boutique variety to the mega-discount outlet type. But Angelenos perhaps hold dearer to their hearts the city's shopping streets and outdoor markets. These are the places where you can not only see the sky and breathe the air, but also find great shops with merchandise the malls don't carry, and pop into the best restaurants, bakeries, bookstores, and galleries for a break. A sampling: hip Main Street, upscale Montana Avenue between 7th and 17th streets, the lively Third Street Promenade, and the colorful Santa Monica Market, all in Santa Monica; Brentwood Country Mart in Brentwood; funky Ocean Front Walk in Venice; Westwood Village (adjacent to UCLA); elegant Rodeo Drive and all of Beverly Hills; the eclectic Farmers Market in the Fairfax district; trendy Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood; and bustling Old Town Pasadena.

Studio Tours and Tapings

One of L.A.'s greatest pastimes is entertainment, of course! And you're welcome to see how it's done; in fact you'd be remiss not to take a closer look at Tinseltown's greatest pride. Universal Studios leads the way. The one-hour guided tram tour takes you through back lots, shows you how high-tech special effects are done, and even has a few prefab disasters on tap. However, you're more likely to see a production in the making if you take the Warner Bros. VIP Tour or the Paramount Pictures tour. TV show tapings are free, but they're on a first-come, first-served basis.

Excerpted from Los Angeles '99: The Complete Guide to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the Beaches, the Valleys and Disneyland by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Fodor's 1999 Los Angeles

Fodor's 1999 Los Angeles

0679001409

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