Wilshire Boulevard, Museum Row, and Farmers Market

The three-block stretch of Wilshire Boulevard known as Museum Row, east of Fairfax Avenue, racks up five intriguing museums and a prehistoric tar pit to boot. Only a few blocks away are the historic Farmers Market and The Grove shopping mall, a great place to people-watch over breakfast. Wilshire Boulevard itself is something of a cultural monument—it begins its grand 16-mi sweep to the sea in Downtown Los Angeles. Along the way it passes through once-grand but now run-down neighborhoods near MacArthur Park; Mid-Wilshire, holding some of the city's first high-rise office buildings; the elegant old-money enclave of Hancock Park along with Miracle Mile and Museum Row; the showy city of Beverly Hills; and the high-price high-rise condo corridor in Westwood, before ending its march at the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. The drive from Downtown to the ocean can be traffic clogged; Wilshire is a major thoroughfare and tends to be busy all day long. Finding parking along Wilshire Boulevard can present a challenge any time of the day; you'll find advice on the information phone lines of most attractions. For avid urban explorers, the most interesting stretch historically is the boulevard's eastern portion, from Fairfax Avenue to Downtown.