Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica · 60 min
Take the E Line to its last stop, Downtown Santa Monica, and walk ten minutes to the pier. Walk to the end for the view back at the mountains; the Ferris wheel and the rides are extra, the pier itself is free.
Los Angeles · United States · 4 days
4 days in Los Angeles
Four days, each one part of a city sixty kilometers wide: the beach from Santa Monica to Venice, Hollywood and a Griffith Park sunset, Downtown's market and museums on foot, then the Getty and LACMA.
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Checked October 10, 2026. That’s the day we last confirmed the hours, prices and closed days.
- 4 days
- 27 stops
- 3 with a ticket
- from $90 a day
When to go
September and October are the warmest and clearest months, with dry heat inland in the low 90s°F (low 30s°C) and cool evenings at the beach. March to June is mild, but from May to early July the marine layer sits gray over the coast until around noon. Winter days are 64 to 68°F (18 to 20°C), and what rain there is falls mostly in January and February.
Where to base yourself
Santa Monica or Venice for the beach and the E Line; Downtown for the museums, Little Tokyo and every Metro line; Los Feliz or West Hollywood for restaurants and a central base if you drive. Hollywood Boulevard itself is loud and not where you eat.
Getting around
A car is the default: the city is sixty kilometers across and each day here starts with one drive or one ride. Budget $10 to $30 a day for garages and read every line on the parking signs. The Metro works where this plan uses it: the E Line to Santa Monica, the B Line to Hollywood and Koreatown, the D Line to LACMA. A ride is $1.75 with free transfers for two hours and a $5 daily cap, on a TAP card ($2 plastic, free in Apple or Google Wallet). Rideshare fills the gaps at $15 to $30 a hop.
Day 1
The coast: Santa Monica to Venice
- FromYour hotel in Santa Monica and Venice
- 1
- 2.8 km · transit or taxi
- 2
The beach path to Venice
Santa Monica · 60 min
Three kilometers south along the paved path at the back of the sand, past the original Muscle Beach. Walk it in forty minutes, or a bike from the rental stands by the pier does it in fifteen.
- Next door
- 3
Venice Beach Boardwalk
Venice · 60 min
The skate park, the outdoor gym, the stalls and the street performers. Loud and scruffy; it is a people-watching walk, not a sight, so keep your phone in a front pocket.
- 9 min · walk
- 4
Gjusta
Venice · 75 min
A bakery and deli on Sunset Avenue, three blocks behind the boardwalk. Order the smoked fish plate or the porchetta sandwich at the counter and eat in the back garden.
- 24 min · walk
- 5
Venice Canals
Venice · 45 min
Six quiet canals with footbridges, south of Venice Boulevard between Pacific and Ocean Avenues. The houses are lived in; walk softly and skip the gates.
- 13 min · walk
- 6
Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice · 90 min
A mile of shops and coffee that stays interesting to the far end. The first Friday of the month fills the street with food trucks until late.
- 5 min · walk
- 7
Gjelina
Venice · 90 min
Wood-fired pizzas and the vegetable plates on Abbot Kinney; the takeout counter next door needs no booking. Book the dining room two to three weeks ahead, and catch sunset from the breakwater first if the sky has cleared.
Day 2
Hollywood and the hills
- FromYour hotel in Santa Monica and Venice
- 1
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood · 60 min
B Line to Hollywood/Highland for the Walk of Fame stars, the handprints in the TCL Chinese Theatre forecourt and the Dolby Theatre doors. An hour is plenty; the street is shabbier than the films.
- 4.3 km · transit or taxi
- 2
Griffith Park hike to a Hollywood sign view
Griffith Park · 150 min
Start at the Fern Dell entrance on Western Avenue (free street parking, or a ten-minute rideshare from the boulevard) and climb past the Observatory to Mount Hollywood: about eight kilometers there and back, with the sign across the canyon most of the way. Bring water and a hat; there is no shade above the trees.
- 24 min · walk
- 3
Little Dom's
Los Feliz · 75 min
An Italian-American corner on Hillhurst Avenue, a twenty-minute walk down Los Feliz Boulevard from Fern Dell. The meatball sandwich or the rigatoni; no booking needed at lunch.
- Next door
- 4
Los Feliz: Hillhurst and Vermont avenues
Los Feliz · 90 min
Skylight Books, the vintage shops, a coffee at Maru. Barnsdall Art Park on its hill above Hollywood Boulevard has Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House and a free view over the city from the lawn.
- 23 min · walk
- 5
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Park · 120 min
Take the DASH Observatory bus from the Vermont/Sunset B Line station rather than driving, since the lot at the top charges by the hour and fills by mid-afternoon. Entry is free and it stays open until 10 p.m., closed Mondays; stay for sunset on the terraces.
- 7.2 km · transit or taxi
- 6
Park's BBQ
Koreatown · 90 min
DASH back down and the B Line two stops to Wilshire/Vermont, then fifteen minutes on foot down Vermont. Order the galbi and the brisket, cooked at the table; Sun Nong Dan nearby for galbi jjim if Park's is full.
Day 3
Downtown on foot
- FromYour hotel in Santa Monica and Venice
- 1
Grand Central Market
Downtown · 60 min
Open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Coffee from Go Get Em Tiger, then carnitas tacos at Tacos Tumbras a Tomas or a tlayuda at La Sandunga; the counters have lines from noon, so eat early.
- Next door
- 2
Bradbury Building
Downtown · 30 min
Across Broadway: the 1893 atrium of iron stairs and open elevators from Blade Runner. Free in office hours; visitors are kept to the ground floor and the first landing, and security asks for quiet.
- 9 min · walk
- 3
Angels Flight and Walt Disney Concert Hall
Bunker Hill · 60 min
The funicular climbs Bunker Hill in a minute, 75 cents with a TAP card, and runs 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Walk up Grand Avenue to Gehry's steel hall: the free self-guided audio tour starts in the Grand Avenue lobby most days, and the garden is up the outside stairs.
$1
- Next door
- 4
The Broad
Bunker Hill · 90 min
Free, but reserve a timed slot online a few weeks out, or try the walk-up line. Closed Monday; open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8 p.m. Thursday), from 10 a.m. at weekends, and the Kusama Infinity Mirror Rooms need their own reservation.
- 17 min · walk
- 5
Daikokuya
Little Tokyo · 60 min
A fifteen-minute walk down 1st Street. Tonkotsu ramen with a line outside; Marugame Monzo around the corner on 2nd for hand-pulled udon if the line is long.
- 4 min · walk
- 6
Little Tokyo
Little Tokyo · 75 min
Japanese Village Plaza, Fugetsu-Do's mochi counter open since 1903, the Go For Broke monument. A matcha soft serve for the walk.
- 21 min · walk
- 7
Arts District
Arts District · 120 min
Fifteen minutes east across Alameda: the murals, the Hauser & Wirth gallery and its garden (free), Angel City Brewery, the shops at Row DTLA.
- 8 min · walk
- 8
Bestia or Wurstküche
Arts District · 90 min
Bestia for the bone marrow and the pizzas, booked weeks ahead. Wurstküche for sausages, Belgian frites and beer at long tables, no booking.
Day 4
The Westside museums
- FromYour hotel in Santa Monica and Venice
- 1
Getty Center
Brentwood · 150 min
Free, but reserve a timed entry online; drive or rideshare up Sepulveda, then take the tram up the hill. Open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (to 9 p.m. Saturday), closed Monday, and the gardens deserve as long as the galleries.
$25 parking
- 6.6 km · transit or taxi
- 2
Nate 'n Al
Beverly Hills · 60 min
Fifteen minutes down the 405 and Wilshire. A Beverly Drive deli since 1945: pastrami on rye, matzo ball soup, a black and white cookie.
- 5 min · walk
- 3
Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills · 45 min
Three blocks of shopfronts and the Via Rodeo steps; look, do not buy. Then a twenty-minute walk down Wilshire, or a short rideshare, to the Wilshire/La Cienega D Line station.
- 3.9 km · transit or taxi
- 4
LACMA and Urban Light
Miracle Mile · 120 min
One D Line stop to Wilshire/Fairfax, which opened in May 2026, lands you at the museum's door, and Urban Light's 202 lamp posts are free on the sidewalk outside. The David Geffen Galleries opened in 2026 and timed tickets sell out at weekends, so book; LACMA is closed Wednesday.
$30
- 16 min · walk
- 5
The Original Farmers Market and The Grove
Fairfax · 75 min
A fifteen-minute walk up Fairfax: the 1934 market's stalls (Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts, Loteria Grill) and the open-air mall next door with its trolley.
- 12 min · walk
- 6
Jon & Vinny's or Canter's
Fairfax · 90 min
Jon & Vinny's for the spicy fusilli and a pizza, booked a week or two out. Canter's Deli down the street has fed Fairfax since the 1940s, stays open late and never needs a booking.
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The practical bits
From the airport
From LAX, the FlyAway bus runs to Union Station in about 45 minutes outside rush hour; pay by card, around $13. The LAX/Metro Transit Center opened in June 2025: a free shuttle from the terminals meets the C and K lines, which works for Downtown with a change but is slow to the Westside; the SkyLink people mover that replaces the shuttle has slipped to early 2027. A rideshare to Santa Monica or Downtown is $40 to $70 and 30 to 60 minutes, picked up from the LAX-it lot. Burbank (BUR) is the easier airport for Hollywood and Los Feliz.
What a day costs
About $90 to $150 a day per person for meals, tickets and getting around. The big museums are free or $25 to $30, a sit-down dinner with a drink and the tip is $50 to $80, and Metro caps at $5 a day. A rental car adds $50 to $90 a day plus parking.
Where to stay
Got a day to spare?
Worth knowing
- Tip 18 to 20 percent in restaurants and a few dollars to valets and bartenders; service is not included and the card machine will suggest the amount.
- Put a TAP card in your phone wallet before you land: it is free, the plastic one costs $2, and you tap the same card on every bus, train and Angels Flight. Metro began taking contactless bank cards in 2026, but the wallet card is the sure thing.
- The marine layer sits on the coast until late morning from May to early July. On a gray day put the museums first and the beach after lunch.
- Inland heat is dry: carry water on the Griffith hike and around Downtown, and expect a ten-degree gap between Santa Monica and Hollywood on the same afternoon.
- Parking signs stack three or four rules on one pole. Read every line, and prefer a garage: $10 to $20 for an evening is cheaper than a ticket or a tow. The Getty lot is $25, or $15 after 3 p.m.
Things you can ask once it’s in the app
Plans change. Ask Chat and it proposes a reshuffled day you can apply, or just answers the question.
We're staying in Santa Monica without a car. Which days still work?Day 4 falls on a Wednesday and LACMA is closed, what do we swap in?What do I need to reserve before we land?Add a Dodgers game on night threeMake a rain plan for day 1
Questions
Do I need a car in Los Angeles?
For this plan, mostly yes: the Getty, the Griffith hike and Venice after dark are awkward without one. Days 1 and 3 work on the Metro alone from a Downtown or Santa Monica base, and rideshare covers the rest at $15 to $30 a hop.
Which day works in the rain?
Day 3: Grand Central Market, the Bradbury Building and The Broad are indoors and a short walk apart. Rain is rare outside January and February. Waystop's Chat can draft a rain version of day 2 without the hike; you accept it as a card and switch to it from the day's menu.
Which museums need booking?
The Getty Center (free, timed entry) and The Broad (free, timed slots released online). LACMA's new Geffen Galleries sell out at weekends, and the Academy Museum next door ($25, closed Tuesday) is the swap if films beat paintings. Griffith Observatory is walk in, opens at noon on weekdays and 10 a.m. at weekends, and the planetarium show is around $10.
Is Hollywood Boulevard worth it?
For an hour. The stars and the Chinese Theatre forecourt are the whole show; the Observatory at sunset is the Hollywood view you came for.
Before you go
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Now make it fit your trip.
Add your dates, your hotel and who’s coming, then ask Chat to change anything: it proposes the edit and you tap Apply. Want a long lunch instead of a museum? Just ask. Every place is checked against Google Maps before it lands on your day, and Chat can tell you when to leave for the next stop. Going on to another city? Build a multi-city trip.