janie

Have been to L.A. several times and have done all the tourist things. Will be staying downtown. Any suggestion on what to do in that area.

Susan

If you've been before, perhaps you're well aware of what there is to do, but I'd recommend visiting the Getty. The policy may have changed since I was there, but it used to be that you couldn't go without a parking reservation. Admittance is free, but there is a parking fee, and you generally needed to make a reservation well in advance.

The way around that is to take a taxi, bus, or do what I did, stay at a hotel that offers a free shuttle service. The one I stayed at was a Double Tree near the U.

Go to the Farmers' Market if you'll be there on a Saturday, get (free) tickets to a show taping if you'll be there on a Friday night.

My favorite thing to do is to get in my unlimited-milage rental car and drive, drive, drive. Go up on Mulholland and take any and every side street that interests you, go out malibu way and explore the canyons, and make sure that you're on the beach at sunset!

Rachel

Why not see a play or opera at the Music Center. They have great shows there. The Lion King is at the Pantages and is supposed to be great.

Christina

Since you say you've done the tourist things, I suppose you've seen Olvera street downtown; if not, that can be fun (place where LA started). If you have not been there, there is a lot to see and do in Pasadena, just north a little from central LA. The Norton Simon art museum is there and has a very good collection (www.nortonsimon.org); it is also a pleasant town to walk around the old town area; there are very good architectural visits to the Gamble House by Greene and Greene architects, a premier example of the American arts and crafts period, and other houses of interest from that period, also; the Huntington Botanical Gardens are up that way, and worth seeing (they have an art collection, also, although it's not as great as the regular museums IMO), see www.huntington.org and www.pasadenavisitor.org for general info and other ideas on the city. For downtown itself, you may get some ideas from www.downtownla.com. It is mainly a business area, though, so as a visitor you probably would not be interested in the Grand Central Mkt (food), but it would be something to do, they have places to eat in there, also. If you are interesting in architecture, LA has some interesting buildings down there, and you can print out a do-it-yourself walking tour of downtown from the LA Conservancy's web site (www.laconservancy.org). They are a terrific org. that supports LA's arch. history and do a lot of interesting tours, although not that frequently. In particular, the Angelino Heights section of downtown LA (just eat of Echo Park) is a very intersting and beautiful section of older LA that most people do not know about, with many Victorian houses. THe LA conservancy does a tour of that area, but only once a month, I think--their tour of the Biltmore might be worthwhile, also. All of that info should be on their web site. Chinatown is not far, also, although I have not spent time there except to eat; I don't think it is as good for shopping as San Francisco, for example. I also agree that just driving can be interesting for a tourist if you have a car; driving the entire length of Sunset Blvd from downtown to the ocean is a great road trip; if you are sightseeing you don't need to get stressed over the traffic and how slow you are going. I haven't seen it as it opened after I moved, but the LA Contemporary Art Museum is downtown, isn't it?

tt

Have dim sum in Chinatown. If you are downtown you could easily get to Old Pasadena.