As someone who grew up in Los Angeles I confess I’ve heard my share of criticism about the city. I myself sometimes
bash LA, complaining about the TV and movie culture, the traffic and lack of a city core. But I never complain that
there is nothing to do there, and yet that is one of the gripes I often hear from people who have visited the
city.
Well, someday I’ll provide my own list of things that you ought to do in LA if it’s your first (or second, or third)
time in the city (i.e. mountain bike the Santa Monica mountains, walk the Third Street Promenade, check out Balboa
Island and Laguna) but I just came across
this excellent and quite
thorough article from National Geographic Traveler that does as fine a job as I could have.
The story lists things to do like taking a drive up Topanga Canyon and
heading to Catalina that I’ll best do not make it on to most tourists’ itineraries. I’ve found that a lot of people opt
for a quick trip to the beach, a day in Disneyland and maybe a walk around Hollywood and Vine (not recommended) and
then they say, oh, LA, I’ve done it. No, you haven’t.