Los Angeles

A 1935 Art Deco observatory on Mount Hollywood, with free entry, views from the basin to the ocean and the Hollywood Sign, public telescopes at night and a planetarium under a 23-metre dome.

💡 Park lower down in Griffith Park and walk up via the Fern Dell trail, or take the DASH Observatory bus from Vermont/Sunset Metro station, 50 cents a ride. Arrive an hour before sunset. Closed on Mondays. Price: free entry; planetarium $12, about €10, for adults; metered parking.

Benoît Prieur / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)

More than 2,800 pink terrazzo stars set since 1960 along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, busiest outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, with its handprints in cement, and the Dolby Theatre, home of the Oscars.

💡 Get off at Hollywood/Highland station on Metro line B, which comes out right among the stars. The costumed characters ask for a tip for every photo. To see the Hollywood Sign head-on, go up to Lake Hollywood Park or the observatory. Price: free.

Dietmar Rabich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Richard Meier's hilltop complex of travertine pavilions, reached by a driverless tram, with free collections from medieval manuscripts to Van Gogh's Irises, a spiralling central garden and terraces overlooking the ocean.

💡 Entry is free but requires a timed reservation online. The museum is closed on Mondays and stays open until 9pm on Saturdays, the best time for the sunset. Price: free; parking $25, about €22, or $15, about €13, after 3pm.

Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada / CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The 1909 wooden pier with its 1922 carousel and the Pacific Park Ferris wheel lit up at night, a symbolic end of Route 66, and a beachside cycle path stretching towards Venice.

💡 Metro line E links downtown Los Angeles to Downtown Santa Monica station, a five-minute walk from the pier, in about 50 minutes. Hire a bike and follow the path to Venice. Price: free access; Pacific Park rides charged.

FairbanksMike / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Abbot Kinney's 1905 seaside district, famous for Ocean Front Walk with its street performers, murals, concrete skatepark and Muscle Beach, plus quiet residential canals and the independent shops of Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

💡 Come in the morning or late afternoon on a weekday, as the promenade is packed at weekends. The canals are residential, so stay on the public paths. Keep an eye on your belongings and leave nothing visible in the car. Price: free.

Blake Everett / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)

A free contemporary art museum in a white honeycomb building on Grand Avenue, showing Warhol, Basquiat, Koons and Yayoi Kusama's much sought-after Infinity Mirrored Room, opposite Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall.

💡 Book a time slot online: entry is free but timed tickets go quickly, and the Kusama room requires a separate reservation. Closed on Mondays, open until 8pm on Thursdays. Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill station on lines A and E. Price: free collection; some temporary exhibitions charged.

Dllu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)