Top 10 Things To Do In Los Angeles For Aussie First-Timers

Stretching just over 2km down Hollywood Boulevard between Gower Street and La Brea Avenue and three blocks of Vine Street, these star-spangled streets feature a who’s who of movie names. Walk, bike or scoot, keeping your eyes peeled for plaques of silver-screen luminaries.

Tip: Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremonies are free and open to the public. Check walkoffame.com to see if any of your faves will be honoured with a star during your stay and grab a star map. Recent inductees include Australia’s own Chris Hemsworth.

If you haven’t had your fill of Hollywood, make a stop at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Mid-City. A must for cinephiles, movie memorabilia from the Jaws shark and Star Wars’ C-3PO and R2-D2 to Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz and a roomful of gleaming Oscar statuettes are showcased across seven floors.

Book an immersive The Oscars Experience to deliver your own Academy Awards acceptance speech simulation – complete with a take-home video as proof of your "win".

Dig beneath LA’s glamorous exterior and you’ll find… fossils? Yep, amid the skyscrapers and museums in Mid-City is the offbeat La Brea Tar Pits, an active excavation site where some 3.5 million prehistoric creatures have been found trapped in the ooey-gooey tar.

Watch working palaeontologists unearth remains of sabre-toothed tigers, mammoths, giant sloths and their contemporaries around the theme park and in the Fossil Lab.

Not to be confused with the Getty Villa Museum in Pacific Palisades, the Getty Center in the Santa Monica Mountains (around 30 minutes' drive from DTLA) not only houses significant European artworks from the Middle Ages to today, but it’s also a Richard Meier-designed modern architectural masterpiece.

With free timed admission available via getty.edu and accessible by tram, the Center features multiple art galleries and sculpture gardens and breath-taking views over the LA basin.
 

You can spend an entire day drinking in the characterful ambience at Venice Beach. From kids popping ollies on the beachfront skatepark and oiled bodybuilders at the Muscle Beach outdoor gym to people-watching entertainment on the Boardwalk and ever-changing graffiti, there’s so many eye-catching spectacles on display.

Set back from the boutique- and brunchspot-lined Abbott Kinney Boulevard, the vision of Venice in California of the palm tree-lined thoroughfare's namesake lives on in the charming canals and stylish low-slung bungalows.

Another beach city classic, the Santa Monica Pier was the first concrete pier in the US and its calling card is the unmistakeable silhouette of the solar-powered Pacific Wheel.

Ride the old-school amusement park attraction for an aerial view of Santa Monica Bay or get moving on two wheels (or quad skates!) like a local to check out this sublime stretch of sand.

Join a three-hour Unlimited Biking Santa Monica Beach to Venice Beach guided tour on a standard pedal-pusher or e-bike and savour the ice-cream at the end.

A working studio and theme park in one, the Universal Studios Hollywood line-up for 2024 includes a new 60th-anniversary version of its popular one-hour Studio Tour to backlots and memorable movie stunts plus themed rides and attractions.

The new Super Nintendo World attracts a keen crowd, while the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Jurassic World –The Ride are also a strong drawcard. Cartoon fans will love the themed Simpsons food and drink and the Secret Life of Pets and Minions rides, too.

Do you want to sit on the Friends couch in the Central Perk Cafe and check out the Batmobile? Of course you do! Take a one-hour guided Warner Bros. Hollywood Studio Tour of the sets and showcases through backlots, memorabilia and the massive prop house on your LA trip. Tip: The Hollywood Plus Pass allows you to select up to three LA attractions on the one downloadable pass, including Universal Studios Hollywood, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood and Academy Museum of Motion Picture.

Aussies love to stock up on their fave Stateside brands and labels and Los Angeles has plenty of options from Beverly Hills designer boutiques on Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue to the Original Farmers Market and Grove outdoor shopping mall in Mid-City.  About 14.5km southeast of Downtown via a free shuttle, Citadel Outlets offers a handy VIP Lounge Pass plus complimentary baggage check for a hands-free retail experience.