Discover Los Angeles
with Cathay Pacific

People travel to Los Angeles to follow their dreams, be it a career in the movies or a long-anticipated road trip – and that optimism is buoyed by near-constant sunshine, palm trees, beaches and an obsession with healthy living.
Spend your days touring world-class museums, reliving Hollywood’s golden age, people-watching on the Venice boardwalk or eating at taco trucks and award-winning restaurants. Keep an eye out for celebrity sightings, then head up the Pacific Coast Highway for some epic scenery worthy of the big screen. Read our Los Angeles travel guide for more tips.

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Things to do in Los Angeles

Admire the art collections of J Paul Getty

See oil tycoon J Paul Getty's collection of medieval triptychs, Van Goghs and more at the Getty Center, set among 35 hectares of lush grounds complete with sculptures, pools and Pacific Ocean views. The separate and equally impressive Getty Villa houses ancient Greek and Roman art within a replica Roman villa.

Walk through Hollywood history

Every Los Angeles travel guide would recommend following the Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street to see more than 2,600 brass markers honouring performers from Marilyn Monroe to Spike Lee. Check out the TCL Chinese Theatre, which has hosted premieres since 1927, and then catch a tour of classic filming backlots at nearby Paramount Studios.

Stargaze at the Griffith Observatory

Come during the day for exhibits within the planetarium and stick around for twinkling sunset views of the most iconic Los Angeles attraction – the famed Hollywood Sign. Within Griffith Park are also hiking and biking trails, the Autry Museum of the West and Los Angeles Zoo.

Explore the revitalised downtown

You can see the cultural revival of downtown LA – or DTLA – at places like The Broad, a contemporary art museum with an eye-popping facade and artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat, among others. Grand Central Market is where hip upstarts coexist alongside old favourite restaurants, while ROW DTLA presents a smorgasbord of shopping and dining.

Take a stroll through Venice Beach

Stroll Abbot Kinney Boulevard to browse boho-chic shops with clothes and California-inspired homewares and accessories. As you head west, visit the Venice Canals, a lovely series of waterways frequented by herons and egrets, on your way to Venice Beach Boardwalk, where the people-watching is as fine as the weather.

Explore Museum Row along the Miracle Mile

Check out the preserved skeletons of dire wolves, giant sloths and sabre-toothed cats at La Brea Tar Pits, while a 3D film brings them to life. Then take your pick among the area’s other museums including LA County Museum of Art, Craft Contemporary and the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Fill up at taco trucks

You could spend an entire visit eating cheaply and happily from LA’s legion of wallet-friendly taco trucks dotted around the city. Each has its speciality – be that crispy shrimp tacos, Baja-style deep-fried catfish renditions, birria (beef stew) or classic adobada (marinated pork shoulder) tacos.

Spend an afternoon at Santa Monica

Just north of Venice, Santa Monica is a pretty beach community with a pier complete with a video arcade, a carousel, cotton candy stands and a Ferris wheel that goes neon by night. South of the pier is the original Muscle Beach, a bodybuilding hotspot since the 1930s.

Look way up at the Watts Towers

Italian-American artist Simon Rodia spent 33 years building this folk art monument out of objects like scrap metal, broken bottles, seashells and tiles. The resulting 17 towers are steel sculptures covered in mosaics, which proudly stretch up to 30 metres high above the inner-city Watts neighbourhood south of downtown.

Explore the Sunset Strip

Next time you travel to Los Angeles, take a wander down the Sunset Strip: a 2.5-kilometre stretch of rock’n’roll history, extending along Sunset Boulevard from West Hollywood to the edge of ritzy Beverly Hills. You’ll pass legendary music venues like the Roxy Theatre and The Viper Room.

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