12 Top Things to Do in Los Angeles

Perched on the south slope of Mount Hollywood, Griffith Observatory is one of the best free attractions in Los Angeles, combining a working observatory and planetarium with the finest panorama in the city. Its Art Deco domes look out over the entire LA basin, with the Hollywood Sign on the hillside to one side and the downtown skyline shimmering in the distance.

Inside, the exhibits on space and the Tesla coil are free, the planetarium shows charge a modest fee, and the public telescopes open for stargazing on clear evenings. The surrounding Griffith Park, one of the largest urban parks in the United States, has hiking trails with even better sign views.

The Santa Monica Pier marks the western end of historic Route 66 and is the classic Southern California seaside scene, with the small Pacific Park amusement park, its solar-powered Ferris wheel and a vintage carousel out over the water. Below it, a wide sandy beach runs for miles with the famous lifeguard towers and the South Bay bike path.

The pier and the bluff-top Palisades Park above it are made for an easy afternoon, and the pedestrianised Third Street Promenade nearby adds shopping and street performers. It is touristy but genuinely fun, especially at sunset when the wheel lights up over the Pacific.

Venice Beach is Los Angeles at its most free-spirited, a boardwalk carnival of street performers, skateboarders, artists and vendors strung along the Ocean Front Walk. The open-air Muscle Beach gym, the skate park on the sand and the colourful shopfronts give it a gritty, theatrical energy unlike anywhere else in the city.

Inland, the Venice Canals are a quiet surprise - a small network of waterways and footbridges built in 1905 to mimic Venice, Italy, now lined with desirable cottages. Abbot Kinney Boulevard nearby has become one of LA's coolest shopping and dining streets.

Universal Studios Hollywood is a major theme park wrapped around a working film and television studio, blending rides based on blockbuster franchises with the famous Studio Tour. The tram tour rolls through real backlot streets and special-effects sets, passing the Bates Motel and surviving a staged earthquake and flash flood along the way.

The rides range from the immersive Wizarding World of Harry Potter to high-speed simulators, making it a full day out, especially for families and film fans. It is the only place on this list where a single ticket can comfortably fill an entire day.

The Getty Center is one of the great cultural institutions of Los Angeles, a campus of travertine-clad pavilions by architect Richard Meier set on a Brentwood hilltop and reached by a driverless tram. Admission is free, and the galleries hold European paintings - including a Van Gogh Irises - drawings, sculpture and decorative arts.

Many visitors come as much for the setting as the art: the Central Garden, the fountains and the sweeping views across the city to the ocean are spectacular, particularly in late-afternoon light. It is one of the best-value half days in the city, with only parking to pay for.

The Hollywood Sign, nine 45-foot-tall white letters spelling out the neighbourhood's name across the slope of Mount Lee, is the single most recognisable symbol of Los Angeles. Erected in 1923 as an advertisement reading 'Hollywoodland', it was shortened and saved over the decades to become a protected landmark watching over the city.

You cannot stand at the letters themselves, but there are superb viewpoints: the terraces of Griffith Observatory, the trails of Griffith Park that climb toward the back of the sign, and the residential streets of Beachwood Canyon below. Each gives a different angle on the icon.

The Broad is downtown LA's free contemporary art museum, instantly recognisable for its honeycomb-like white 'veil' facade. Inside, the collection of Eli and Edythe Broad showcases postwar and contemporary heavyweights - Warhol, Basquiat, Koons and Jeff Koons's balloon dog - across two airy floors reached by a tunnel-like escalator through the storage vault.

Its most sought-after experience is Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room, a tiny mirror-lined chamber that books out fast. The museum sits on Grand Avenue beside Walt Disney Concert Hall, making the two an easy downtown pairing.

Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall is the architectural showpiece of downtown Los Angeles, its billowing stainless-steel curves catching the California sun above Grand Avenue. Opened in 2003 as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, it is regarded as one of the finest concert halls in the world for both its looks and its acoustics.

Even without a concert ticket, you can admire the sculptural exterior, take a free self-guided audio tour of the public areas, and climb to the hidden rooftop garden with its rose-shaped fountain. It anchors LA's downtown cultural district alongside the Broad and the Music Center.

The California Science Center in Exposition Park is one of the best free family attractions in Los Angeles, with hands-on exhibits on everything from ecosystems to physics. Its star exhibit is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, a genuine flown orbiter displayed up close, with the museum building a new vertical gallery to show it mounted as if ready for launch.

The surrounding Exposition Park also holds the Natural History Museum and the rose gardens, making it an easy combined visit. With free general admission, it is a budget-friendly day out that genuinely entertains both children and adults.

Beverly Hills is the byword for Los Angeles glamour, and Rodeo Drive is its showcase - three blocks of the world's most exclusive fashion houses, from Cartier to Gucci, set among palm trees and immaculate landscaping. Even if you are only window-shopping, the people-watching and the cars parked outside are a spectacle in themselves.

The cobbled, Italianate Via Rodeo lane and the nearby Beverly Wilshire hotel add to the polish, while the surrounding streets are lined with the manicured mansions that draw star-map tours. It is an easy add-on to a Westside day around Santa Monica and the Getty.

For the Southern California of the movies, drive the Pacific Coast Highway out to Malibu, where 21 miles of coastline string together wide surf beaches, dramatic bluffs and celebrity homes. Zuma Beach and Surfrider Beach are the best-known stretches of sand, while Point Dume offers headland walks and whale-watching in season.

The drive itself, with the Pacific on one side and the Santa Monica Mountains on the other, is one of the great American coastal road trips. Malibu makes a relaxed half- or full-day escape from the city, especially paired with a seafood lunch overlooking the water.