Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
On every USA bucket list should include the most touristic citiy of Los Angeles. There is something for everyone here in the city of angels, so in this post, I´ll give a little itinerary for a four-day vacation to this diverse city so that you can get at least a little taste of everything that this city has to offer, which believe me it’s a lot! What are we waiting for?
Let’s begin our Los Angeles adventure! So, let’s say we arrive at LAX Airport in the early morning on Thursday and our departure time is Sunday on at noon.
Now the first thing you must do is find a reliable transportation option. In other cities, this might be a secondary thing to do, but here in Los Angeles, you must have a good way to move through the city, because LA is just ridiculously huge! After all, Los Angeles has the second-largest metropolitan area in the whole county! So, have your transportation in mind.
Related: “Best Things to do in Laos for a First Time Visit”
Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
Where to Stay in Los Angeles
There is a huge range of accommodation available in LA from budget motels, hostels to luxe 5-star hotels with aview. The best areas to stay at are West Hollywood, Venice, Santa Monica or Loz Feliz.
I recommend staying at The Standard or SIXTY Beverly Hills for that extra LA vibes. As we were roadtripping on a budget and booked last minute we got a very cute Airbnb in Loz Feliz. It was great as we were close to all the main attractions and we had a little kitchen so we could cook some meals.
Editors Tip: Sign up to Airbnb to receive $50 off your first booking
How to get around in Los Angeles
We started our USA road trip in Albuquerque, travelling through Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Vegas before heading to LA so we already had a car when we arrived. It’s quiet hard to get a around in LA so to save bunch of headaches rent a car at the airport when you land. This lets you move through the city with ease, given that Los Angeles has a lot of infrastructure dedicated to cars. There are even sites such as Miles Car Rental that will search for the best prices available and offer many different types of vehicles to suit all of your needs.
Day 1- Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
Day 1: Iconic Los Angeles
Every city has iconic places to visit, you know, the kind of place that people nags you about for not visiting when going to a certain city. In this particular case we won’t miss any of Los Angeles Icons, but first let’s have some nice breakfast beforehand, nothing better than having a good breakfast after a tiresome flight so our first stop is:
Toast Bakery cafe
Toast bakery café is the perfect to start for our day of iconic sightseeing, as it’s quite near to our next stop, and also offers a delicious welcome to Los Angeles. This restaurant puts special attention to its atmosphere, combining both the trendy Los Angeles eatery aesthetic with a laidback hangout spot, creating a perfect place for having a post-flight brunch! Among the many options on the menu, you can find 9 different types of omelets, eggs in all imaginable forms and of course toast sandwiches! If your dog is accompanying you to this trip. then you´ll be happy to know that they have a dog-friendly patio.
If you want to go to the café right after getting to LA, there is a 35 to 40-minute drive From LAX airport to the bakery, you can find various parking meters around the café, although they might be occupied depending on the time of day.
Beverly Hills
After a yummy breakfast start your Los Angeles itinerary with a walk down the famous Rodeo Drive, home to designer boutiques galore. At the very southern end of Rodeo is the Beverly Wilshire, made famous by the movie Pretty Woman.
Rodeo Drive is LA’s most luxurious street, known for its high-end stores, celebrity sightings, and the very fancy cars that often line up the very regular street parking spots. Keep your eyes peeled when you’re here, you never know who you might run into!
Next head to LA Farmers Market, a fun place to people watch, grab a bite and get some refreshments. Right next to it is The Grove, a famous open-air shopping center!
The Walk of Fame and the famous theaters
All right, now that everyone is full let’s see some LA icons! The first one on the list is the renown Walk of Fame located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd, Just a 15-minute drive away from the Toast Bakery Cafe.
Here you can find so much more than just the name of your favorite celebrities in the sidewalk a whole lot of other iconic sites share this place with the aforementioned stars, great LA icons such as the Chinese theater and its footprints can be found here. There are many parking lots available nearby, so you can comfortably explore the area.
The Hollywood Sign & Griffith Observatory
Now we’ve seen many of the icons related to movie stars, but we haven’t seen one of Los Angeles’s most important landmarks yet… not up close anyway, as it’s pretty hard to cross LA and not see that huge sign… of course, I´m talking about the famous Hollywood sign. Now, the sign is visible from many parts of the city. But to get the best views, and of course the best photos, you should go to Griffith Park. From Griffith Park, there are several hiking trails from which you can take the best photos and if you’re feeling especially adventurous you can even hike to the sign itself!
There’s only a 15-minute drive from the Hollywood Boulevard to the parking lot closest to the sign so getting there won’t be a problem.
Another amazing viewing option is from Griffith Observatory. The fully functioning observatory also doubles as a museum and exhibition centre with regular talks all about the stars and cosmos.
Dinner at Sage Cafe in Echo Park
Located in the cool area of Echo Park, Sage Cafe is a full plant based cafe offering a high quality and innovative menu. Using locally sourced produce their season menu boasts great share plates including buffolo wings, loaded nachos, tacos, pizzas. mac and cheese and jalapenos poppers.They also have a range of super healthy salads and buddha bowls.
Day 2- Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
Santa Monica
Delcared as the last stop of the famous Route 66 Santa Monica is another LA icon and is a must do for your Los Angeles itinerary for 4 days. Here you can find a clean relaxing beach to swim and people watch, but there’s also a plethora of other things to do and see. Especially at the pier, where theres a hive of activities, acardes, food carts and even an amusement park!
There is roughly a one-hour drive from Griffith Park to the parking lot closest to Santa Monica Pier.
Afterwards, take a stroll through the 3rd Street Promenade, a three-block-long pedestrian mall for some shopping!
Venice
Then, after the fun of Santa Monica Pier, hire a bike from one of the MANY outlets or stands and ride South Bay Bicycle Trail towards Venice beach. This is the best and easiest experience this playful stretch of coastline.
Walk around the Venice Boardwalk, check out the famous Venice Beach sign, watch muscular people work out at the open-air Venice Muscle Beach, the Skate bowl watching skaters perform their tricks and end your day by enjoying one of the best sunsets in the world.
And then reward your selfd with a delcious plant based feast from Tocaya! This was my favourite restaurant in LA, I highly recommend you add it to you Los Angeles itinerary for 4 days!
Roadtrip to Malibu for Sunset
Next up put that car to good use and road trip up to Malibu for sunset. We did get stuck in traffic for about an hour but the drive is so pretty its definetly worth it!
Highlights of Malibu:
- Visit the Malibu’s beaches
- Go surfing
- Walk the Malibu Pier
- If you have a dollar or two to spare or your feel like spluiring have dinner at the famous Nobu.
Day 3- Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
Brunch on Sunset
We treated ourself with a delicious yet VERY expensive brunch at The Butcher and The Baker. During our 4-week road trip we had been eating cheaply and our breakfast usually consisted on some cereal, fruits and bottled almond coffee so it was nice to sit down and enjoy a real cappuccino!
Their menu is all about Modern California with European influences, fresh baked goods, specialty coffee beverages, craft cocktails and a fresh brunch menu!
They are open daily for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.
A Day of culture in LA’s Museums
Museums in Los Angeles
There are many museums in Los Angeles dedicated to everything from the fossils of the creatures that roamed the Los Angeles area during the Ice Age, to cars featured in movies, to modern art installations, so let’s see a quick overview of them.
La Brea Tarpits museum
The La Brea Tarpits Museum offers its visitors a look to Los Angeles prehistoric past, as it has some of the most amazingly complete and well-preserved fossils from the Ice Age. Here you can find fossils from creatures such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats and even dire wolfs! (that’s right they were real)
You can find the museum at 5801 Wilshire Blvd. which is pretty close to other interesting museums, so if you aren’t into fossils, you can also explore other types of museums.
Petersen Automotive Museum
In this museum you can find all sorts of interesting cars, even some featured in movies and television such as the Batmobile and the DeLorean from Back to the Future among many other endearing vehicles from pop culture! If there is a car enthusiast among your travel group, they will surely lose their minds over this place.
And again, there are other museum installations in the nearby area that feature many different types of art from classics to modern art. So, there is no excuse to not see at least one of the museums that LA has to offer!
Day 4- Los Angeles Itinerary for 4 Days
A day of fun in Universal Studios Hollywood
Saturday comes and now we just want to have fun, which in Los Angeles is a very easy thing to do, as it would seem that the city of movie stars is the perfect place for leaving the real world behind and entering, at least for a couple of hours, into the awesome fictional universes of our favorite movies and tv series.
In Universal Studios Hollywood that’s precisely the idea. Here you can find many attractions based on the fictional universes of The Simpsons, Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, and Jurassic Park just to name a few. The theme park is actually not far away from The Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign, which in my book gives it points for authenticity since you don’t get more Hollywood than being right next to the sign.
Now as with any other theme park, there are ample parking available and its advisable to dedicate the whole day to the park so that you get to experience everything, As with many other theme park experiences, renting a car is often the best way to transport yourself, again sites such as Miles Car Rental can be helpful when finding a rental car.
Photo by Paweł Szymankiewicz on Unsplash
And finally, before we go, let’s indulge in our sweet tooth with this quaint little store dedicated to all the imaginable flavors of soda. Galco’s Soda Pop is chock full of nostalgia and exotic flavors. Here you can find almost all imaginable soda flavors from many parts of the world and even a couple versions of old soda flavors that you just don’t see around anymore. They also sell all types of candy and they even have a station where you can make your own soda flavors using syrups of different flavors and carbonated water (yeah soda isn’t really that complicated), and not to be done there is also a deli inside the store, so you can have a light lunch and a taste a bunch of interesting sweet flavors before going back home. You can find this little hidden gem at 5702 York Blvd,
That is our Los Angeles itinerary for 4 days, but believe me, there is so much more the explore! So, if you ever get another four days in this marvelous city explore as much as you can and don’t forget to head to Disneyland!
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