Best things to do in Los Angeles

Hahaha I was going to say the best thing to do in Los Angeles is LEAVE.

Is getting on a plane and getting the hell out.

Los Angeles is enormous. Unless you are focused completely on running and happen to be in the area where historic tracks or some specialists are, it's not very likely in such a short period you will make such a pilgrimmage--considering the size of the city, traffic and daily logistics of a traveler.

Imo LA is what it is and that doesn't really matchup with the "image" and "notions" people from other parts of the country have of it. I never found the city (although I didn't visit such attractions as the old Olympic stadium) to be inherently runnerly.

At the end of the day, in spite of the Hollywood world built upon it, the facts of nature can't be denied: it's a southwest valley city surrounded by hills/mountains in the distance--like other places in California, Nevada, Arizona, and that's the most substantial energy I feel insofar as running is concerned (when that sun is shining on a clear day).

Additionally, There are better, less crowded beaches elsewhere in California, for the purposes of running.

Contrast this with San Francisco, where one can easily visit that one track in the Golden Gate Park, being that that is an attraction and close to some other walkable attractions. I think there was even a Flotrack video where David Torrence did a workout in the rain there, although that could have been a Berkeley track (seeing as Torrence was a Cal-Berkeley alum).

I lived in LA 15 years so listen up.Get in your car from downtown and drive the 5 to the 2 (Angeles Crest) and take the 90 miles of hairpin turns up to 9000 feet to the high desert, have lunch at the biker bar midway, if it's been rebuilt. Take 138, Highway of Death, back to Lancaster to the 14 and drive it to the 101 which you take to 27, and drive through the Santa Monica mountains. 27 descends into a bowl of blue, the ocean and sky meld together and you drive straight into it to PCH (1). Stop in Malibu for dinner and watch the sunset while you drink beers. This is a day drive, about 2 miles, and really the best thing about LA, isn't really LA but the outdoors and this is a great sampling of SoCal.Next, get on over to Dino's Chicken in the West Adams section. It's the best Greek chicken ever. Billionaires fly over their jets to pick up the $5 carry-out. Just get the chicken with fries. I would send over my jet too if I had one. Also recommend 7 Mares on Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake at Coronado St. They have the best crunchy shrimp burrito anywhere, oy vey, I miss it. Go to the Tiki Bar in Silver Lake on the weekends. It's one of the last remaining tiki bars in the country and the drinks will lay you out, seriosly.I would strongly consider going to the LACMA and Getty Museum. Drinks at sunset at the Getty are amazing. You can follow this up with a movie at either the Chinese Grauman Theater in Hollywood, a show at the Hollywood Bowl or at the Cinerama Dome. Ideally, get one movie palace in and a show at the Bowl.And then walk up, or run, up Brush Canyon Trail to the Hollywood sign and swing back on the dirt trails through Griffith Park to Griffith Observatory.I also recommend Shakespeare in the Park at the Hollyhock Park in Los Feliz for summer.There's a lot more to LA, but this is a good sampling to get started.

WestCoastBestCoast? wrote:

Wanted to get some thoughts on how to spend 4 days in LA next month. Any running related suggestions are welcome. Looking for what tracks/coaches to visit, places to run, running massage therapists, running stores, etc.

I'm on a trip and looking to make the most of it.

You contributed a lot of word toward not answering this guys question.

My only running experiences in LA were running along palisades park in Santa Monica and then heading south toward Venice beach an those communities. The Santa Monica track club is still in business. Maybe you can track down Coach Joe Douglas and catch workout.

The best thing to do in LA is get LAID.

Kids today.

Seriously, club scenes, college club scenes, any kind of music you want scenes. Tinder, only dating, come on, man! Great your freak on.

Get your chic on from Melrose to Rodeo Drive, google LA Shopping.

Korean family all night spa in Korean town, post run.

Getty Museum, awesome. Many other great museums. Small theater scene, concerts, Hollywood Bowl.

Lots of excellent restaurants, google, google, google, yelp, yelp, lonely planet, etc.

Have Fun.

Awesome! I have copied this for the next time I am road tripping in LA. Thank you.

L.A.! 200 miles of beaches. Outdoor Training 24/7/365 days a year. Sunshine. T-Shirt weather nearly every day. No winter coat needed. No snow brush. No windshield anti-freeze. No warming up the car. No engine heater.

Visit Johnny Gray and the UCLA track. Johnny may wonder why a stranger is coming to visit him, but it should be fun to see his reaction. Then take a nice 10-mile run on Sunset to San Vicente, and along the beach in Santa Monica and Venice. End up at one of the many good restaurants on Main Street or Abbot Kinney.

Next day hit the trails in the Santa Monica mountains.

Next day run around Elysian Park, run up to Dodger Stadium, catch a game. You'll see 18 athletes running around the diamond for three hours.

Once you've climaxed from your running related vacation activities, consider staying at Downtown Standard and enjoying some drinks on the rooftop bar. Play a poker tournament at the Bike. Have some normal fun.

serious answer wrote:

Visit Johnny Gray and the UCLA track. Johnny may wonder why a stranger is coming to visit him, but it should be fun to see his reaction.

Johnny Gray actually lives and coaches in Florida as of 2013, so unfortunately OP will not get to witness his legendary reactions while in LA.

Just moved to LA with my GF, so interesting thread. Looking to start running around here. At the moment, I've only ran at LA Fitness gym, which I recently signed up for (indoor track and treadmill). Way too crowded at the gym at most hours.

Fun city so far, so spread out compared to any other cities I've been to, but the traffic really is as bad as people say.

If you want to get your trail running in, go to Sullivan Canyon when visiting LA. It's a little treacherous but very doable, and has great views at the top. Watch out for the occasional rattlesnake and bring H2O + whatever you think you'll need for the run in the car.

http://www.hikespeak.com/trails/sullivan-canyon/

Hey douchebag, guess what? I'm entitled to my opinion, and it was relevant to giving OP information. Learn some reading comprehension skills, you jerkhoff. A lot of the suggestions in this thread are not running related and simply allude to random indulgent eats and social spots. Los Angeles is huge. There is no way a regular, first time traveler to the city who is there on other business and is focused on running, is going to take the time, money and frustration to "cab" it to even a moderate percentage of the suggested places.

I gave my opinion in regards to running. There are some nice churches in the city. Drop in, pray, while surrounded by the mountains and the sky. The city doesn't matter--vanity, vanity. The lone beach line that a huge city of rich and poor people clamour for is also depressing. I shared that view. Don't like it? screw you, but I definitely answered the OP's question. Imbeciles on this board

Thanks for nothing wrote:

You contributed a lot of word toward not answering this guys question.

My only running experiences in LA were running along palisades park in Santa Monica and then heading south toward Venice beach an those communities. The Santa Monica track club is still in business. Maybe you can track down Coach Joe Douglas and catch workout.

Furthermore, if you got a problem with the substance of what I say, address that. Demeaning someone in one sentence is a cop-out that indicates your complete lack of intelligence and manners. I'm guessing you probably scored 400 or less on your SAT verbal? because I did say a lot. I guess you don't understand language and linguistics, eh? Do you want me to spell out all the meaning and meta-function and themes in what I wrote? And you choose to criticize me of all the other posts in this thread and forum.

I live in LA now and can vouch for most of this.

(Rude name, rude cop-out insult)

Thanks for nothing wrote:

You contributed a lot of word toward not answering this guys question.

I'm offering a much needed alternative perspective for the OP, to the inaccurate "Hollywood" mentality outsiders have to the city.

Notwithstanding the endless neighborhoods and categories of the city,

travelers still have this mindset.

Plus, people simply listing off places is ridiculous. If I'm highly

familiar with any city, I ALWAYS take into account logistics when I

give advice to travelers/visitors. I don't just give off a random list,

but consider path-dependent tourism, multitasking, routes, traffic,

countless variables. This is the ingenuity and true experiential wisdom

that natives and service workers like for instance, taxi drivers, have.

I found public transport and getting around in San Francisco to be

easier than Los Angeles. But moreover, it's my experiential opinion

that tourism in Los Angeles is more difficult than elsewhere in the

Western world.

And I've been to many major cities in the United States, Canada,

Mexico, Central America, South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East.

Los Angeles is not the worst for tourism, but it's more difficult

than people estimate and that is the critical factor.

Plus (and this could happen elsewhere in California or a state like Colorado),

if the OP decides to indulge in MMJ/MJ, the obstacles/inconvenience of

getting around might be more formidable, subjectively.

If some jerks have a problem with my poetic expressions, well then say so.

Apparently they don't understand the difference between poetic expressions

and bullet point no frills listing. I've traveled and spent brief periods of

time vacationing and living in the areas I mentioned: California, Nevada,

Arizona. There is an omnisoul of the land and nature that shouldn't be ignored. Even in the sprawling Los Angeles urbanscape, I found it completely

natural and sensible to pray and get in touch with this energy.

If you have time I would highly suggest making the trip to Palos Verdes to run. Along the South Bay of Los Angeles, PV has some really beautiful trail running along oceanside cliffs. Alternatively, the Santa Monica Mountains offer some great trail runs

Plus, OP said he was focused on runner-related things and on business. Nowhere did he say he was out to make pilgrimmages to vestiges of the Los Angeles punk, alternative, glam rock, etc. scenes, or visit the newest coolest contemporary nightclubs. Didn't say he was interested in visiting all the vestiges of Film Studio infrastructure or the headquarters of new media and technology companies. Didn't say he was interested in health food stores, raw vegan restaurants, contemporary high end cuisine or the countless "world-famous" fat-a$$ indulgent food (icecreams, chickens, pastramis/delis, the list is endless). Didn't say he was interested in shopping at certain clothing boutiques.

I respect that people provide some suggestions, but it would be extremely rude for some poster to get high and mighty with me. Los Angeles is enormous with endless cultural history. If you were to make a list that did even a moderate amount of justice to historically/culturally relevant sites in all these categories--even focusing on things of primarily contemporary relevance--the list would be LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.

Haven't even mentioned all the important CATEGORIES of things to see. If the OP wants to do non-runnerly things, he (or she) ought to offer us more information (on what their prioritized interests are, aside from running/travel business). 4 days is really not enough to do squat and we don't even know where the OP is staying!

Check out the Sunset Strip. There's a lot of heritage in the area with a club scene that has witnessed the beginnings of many famous rock bands.

Go on studio tours of any major Studios that offer them to the public in their facilities.

I haven't actually personally eaten at any LA raw vegan restaurants because they're quite expensive as compared to other California cities (where California is arguably King for raw vegan communities and restaurants), but if you've got the cash, do it.

Santa Monica pier can get crowded, but the waves lapping on the beach, the black-gold speckled sand and the hills up north and the nice houses in the distance, are quite a site to behold.

Cruising near/through any of the nice neighborhoods in Los Angeles is going to be fun, of course.

Canter's Deli.

Joe's Italian Ice.

Dave's World Famous burgers.