Los Angeles Travel Guide

A few weeks ago I took a long weekend trip to Los Angeles with my friend Monica. It had been years since I visited LA, so I wanted to share my recommendations and a mini Los Angeles travel guide as a starting point for any weekend trip to downtown LA.

We stayed at The Conrad Los Angeles, which I cannot recommend enough! You can read my review of The Conrad Los Angeles property, restaurants, spa, and pool in my blog post. This was my first time staying in downtown Los Angeles, and it was a nice change of pace from Beverly Hills or the cost. The Broad and MOCA were walking distance from our hotel and both had fantastic (and free) collections. Other places we explored downtown included Grand Central Market, The Last Bookstore, and Hauser & Wirth galleries where we had brunch at Manuela.

No trip to LA is complete without a meal at Sugarfish, which was our first stop upon landing. Everything on the menu is fantastic, but the “Trust Me” lunch is a personal favorite. While we stayed downtown for most things, we did venture to Beverly Hills for some hard-to-beat meals. The patio of The Ivy is hard to say no to, so we stopped by for dinner before enjoying a nightcap at the Rooftop by JG. The views from the Rooftop by JG were incredible and I am dying to go back during daylight for another look. It is also impossible to say no to lunch at the Polo Lounge, especially the McCarthy salad, which disappeared in record time.

It has always been on my LA bucket list to see a film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. They were showing Almost Famous, one of my favorites, while we were in town so naturally we made an evening of it. The Conrad Los Angeles generously let us borrow a blanket and we made ourselves a picnic at Bristol Farms.

Recommendations from previous trips and followers include Griffith Observatory, Mulholland Drive, Hike to Hollywood Sign, LACMA, The Hollywood Bowl, Alfred Coffee, The Beverly Hilton, Sunset Tower Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and day trips to Venice Beach, Marina Del Ray, and Santa Monica. xoxo