Anyone who lives in Los Angeles knows that this city has more transplants than most other places. People move from all over the world to live in sunny LA, and in many cases – their friends and family want to visit before they’re fully settled in.  It can be tough to show out-of-towners visiting you in Los Angeles everything because of how large the city is, so it’s smart to plan out your sightseeing activities in advance.

There is no shortage of things to do or see in LA, but trying to do too much can leave you sitting in traffic, rather than enjoying time with your out-of-town visitors. Despite the nice weather, nobody wants to be sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 10 FWY while trying to get to their destination. Finding an area where you can park the car, walk and see variety of different things that Los Angeles has to offer at once is what you should really be looking for.

Let’s go ahead and get this one out of the way – Hollywood & Highland. Making the trek to Hollywood can be worth it with out-of-town visitors that want to see the walk of fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and of course the Hollywood sign. An impressive way to start any trip in Los Angeles, especially for visiting movie-buffs.

Where You Can See it All

In contrast to Hollywood and Highland, the other must-see place for your visitors is Santa Monica. Exchange the concrete jungle for weather and waves at the beach. Find a spot to park your car in the morning, and enjoy the entire day exploring sunny Santa Monica.

Your guests will likely recognize the iconic Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier, but they probably don’t know much about the 3rd Street Promenade if they’ve never been before. Take the time to walk down the promenade, stopping in some of the funky shops, maybe grabbing a snack or meal along the way.

There are always new and exciting events in Santa Monica, but most visitors are eager to walk out on the Pier, explore Pacific Park, take pictures and enjoy the ocean view. Spending a few hours on the Pier and beach area is much more fun for out-of-towners than being stuck in traffic on the freeway!