Building a Multi-Day Los Angeles Itinerary
Los Angeles County spans over 4,000 square miles, and the single biggest planning mistake is mixing Downtown, Hollywood and the Westside into one day. Grouping the city by region, a day at a time, is what actually works.
Day 1: Downtown
Start at the 1939 Union Station, walk to Grand Central Market for lunch among its 40-plus vendors, then ride the $1 Angels Flight funicular up Bunker Hill (50 cents with a TAP card). The Broad and MOCA are both free general admission and sit within a few blocks. Finish at Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, where a free self-guided audio tour covers the atrium and rooftop garden when rehearsals allow.
Day 2: Hollywood and the studios
Book a studio lot tour in the morning: Warner Bros.’ three-hour Burbank tour bars children under 5, while Paramount’s two-hour tour requires ages 10 and up, so choose based on who is in your group. In the afternoon, walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt, then head to Griffith Observatory, hours and the flat $10/hr hilltop parking at griffithobservatory.lacity.gov before sunset. Hollywood-area hotels can be compared on Booking.com .
Day 3: The Westside and the coast
Spend the morning at the Getty Center in Brentwood, free to enter with a timed reservation, where parking runs $25/car standard, dropping to $15 after 3pm and $10 after 6pm. Reserve entry and check parking at getty.edu . In the afternoon, drive to Santa Monica Pier and pedal the flat 22-mile Strand bike path south toward Venice for sunset. Search Santa Monica and Venice bike rentals on GetYourGuide if you would rather not haul your own.
A desert alternative
Swap in a two-day loop through Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park in place of one city day: drive I-10 east, ride the Aerial Tramway up Mount San Jacinto, then spend a full day in Joshua Tree, where the vehicle entry fee runs $30 for seven days. Summer daytime temperatures in this loop regularly exceed 105 to 110°F from June through September, with limited cell service inside the park, so plan around cooler months or start each day early.
Tips for planning your LA trip
Rent a car for any itinerary that includes Palm Springs, Joshua Tree or Malibu; public transit does not reach any of the three in a practical way.
The verdict
Three regional city days, or two city days plus a desert loop bolted on, both beat a single continuous circuit trying to hit every neighborhood at once. See the day trips guide for shorter single-day versions of the desert route, or the Los Angeles 5-day itinerary for a pre-built schedule covering both.