5 Best Sights in The Valley, Los Angeles

Universal Studios Hollywood combines the classic theme park experience of roller coasters, costumed characters, and long lines with the magic of movies. It sits above a still-functioning movie studio and all of its rides are centered around blockbusters like Jurassic Park and Transformers. Coming in 2026 is a Fast & Furious–inspired topsy-turvy coaster that spirals down the hillside. There are entire lands dedicated to Harry Potter, The Simpsons, and Despicable Me's Minions. The newest section is the fully immersive, highly interactive Super Nintendo World, which plunges gameboys and girls into the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario and Luigi.

What can't be duplicated at the Orlando branch is the Universal backlot, where movies have been made since 1915. Hop aboard the new electric trams which wind around working soundstages and exterior sets where many popular movies and TV series have been filmed. As they are still being used today, going during the week increases your chances of seeing stars at work. During the studio tour, you'll visit The Good Place, see the airplane wreckage from War of the Worlds, and have a close call with Norman Bates from Psycho as well as drive through 4D motion simulated "rides." 

The park gets a scary makeover in October for Halloween Horror Nights when new mazes full of monsters, murderers, and jump scares pop up. If you can swing it, splurge on the express tickets to drastically reduce wait times.

The tram ride is the best place to begin your visit both for historical context and because the line becomes longer as the day goes on.

Also run by Universal Studios, CityWalk is an adjacent corridor of shops (there's a great place to snag Dodgers gear!), restaurants like Margaritaville, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and the Hello Kitty & Friends Cafe, and movie theaters. There's also several quick food options like Pink's Hot Dogs and Voodoo Doughnut. Lots of park visitors end their day here, so make dinner reservations.

In only a few years, North Hollywood's performance arts hub has grown from the residential home of aspiring actors who frequent a few fringe theaters and several chain restaurants to a completely revitalized one square-mile district that boasts a vibrant collection of stages, galleries, dance studios, coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and colorful street art.

Tour exterior sets and soundstages, visit hot sets, grab a coffee at a Central Perk replica, and marvel at costumes and props from more than 100 years of Hollywood history at Warner Bros. Studios. You might even see stars at work like the teachers of Abbott Elementary, as this is still very much a functioning studio. After a short film, knowledgable tour guides chauffeur small groups around the 110-acre lot by golf cart, pointing out where various blockbusters including Casablanca and Rebel Without a Cause or award-winning TV shows like Friends, Shrinking, and Gilmore Girls are/were shot. You'll see the bungalows where Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, and other icons relaxed between takes, and the current production offices for famous directors.

Tours change from day to day depending on what areas current productions are using. There are also multiple immersive exhibits where visitors learn the secrets behind movie magic, take pictures on old sets, and do deep dives into the Harry Potter and DC superhero universes. The deluxe tour option includes lunch in the fine dining Commissary.

Take advantage of SoCal's legendary weather by spending a day in L.A.'s second biggest city park, which includes a Japanese Garden, soccer and baseball fields, a wildlife reserve, three golf courses, a model airplane fly zone, a dog park, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, and bike/running paths. Swan boats and bikes can be rented to paddle or circumnavigate Lake Balboa, especially pretty when the plum trees are in bloom. In summer, there are kayak excursions along the re-wilded section of the L.A. River that cuts through it. The recreation area will host skateboarding, archery, and BMX racing and freestyle (basically invented in The Valley) events at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Tucked into two hangars at the Van Nuys Airport is a kooky, fascinating, and somewhat chaotic archive of all things 818. Well, post-urbanization anyway. Clearly assembled by folks who take great pride in being from The Valley and constantly being added to, artifacts including retro neon signs from closed businesses, movie memorabilia, concert posters, vintage BMX bikes, cars like Spicoli's van, and postcards fill cases and shelves, cover the walls, sit on the floor, and hang from the ceiling. Exhibits on the history of the Burbank airport, which covers the role it played in World War II, and rhinestone suit designer-to-the-stars Nudie Cohn are not to be missed. There's a free-play arcade with pinball machines and games and a gift shop for souvenirs.