I am going on a family vacation to LA for a week with my husband and daughters. Their ages range for early 20s to 11. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do while we are here?

There is a lot to do in the greater Los Angeles area. What are your interests?

Lee Ann

Pick up a good guidebook, and click on "destinations" above and navigate to where you want to travel. They have highlights of the city as well as itineraries you can follow.

go to The Getty (near UCLA). Go to Westwood afterwards, to Diddy Riese, for ice-cream sandwiches.

The 3rd St Promenade, in Santa Monica, is fun to walk around- a 4-block long street closed to traffic. Shops, restaurants, street performers, etc.

The Grove shopping center after hitting the LA Museum (mid-Wilshire area).

Besides the usual musuems typical of big cities, there are a lot of other things.

Often overlooked is downtown. The L.A. Conservancy has great walking tours every Saturday. There are wonderful art deco building and other sights. It is also near the new Disney Hall and the new Cathedral. Both worth checking out.

Downtown is also walking distance from Little Tokyo, China Town, and Olvera Street, the first street in LA. (There is a really great fire house exhibit in the plaza in the first station in the city.)

More fun than the stars on Hollywood Blvd is a trip to any of the big cemetaries where the stars are buried. There are a slew of web sites to tell you where to find everyone from M. Monroe to Cecil B. DeMille.

Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country, with natural walking trails, although it was recently hurt really badly by the fire. In the park is the Autry Western Heritage museum, which is great fun for kids and adults. Across the street is the LA Zoo. Also in the park is the Observatory. Think James Dean in "Rebel without a Cause." (L.A. is filled with movie locations. There must be a listing somewhere on the net.)

The La Brea Tar Pits and adjacent Page museum are very different. Also great for kids.

Trips to LA also cover adjacent cities. Pasadena is a stone's throw away. Great walking area in Old Town. Great garden at the Huntington.

Have fun.

Dncn Dave's downtown suggestion is a good one. There are lots of walkng tours. Check the conservancy website.

There are walking tours of Hollywood, too. If you are movie fans, that could be fun. There is another post that gives the name. I think it was Redline?? not sure.

Lots to do...and it's a spread-out city, so narrow your interests and focus.

Enjoy