I have put together this guide of some of the most iconic places to visit if you find yourself in Los Angeles, downtown Los Angeles to be more precise.
- Grand Central Market
- Angels flight railway
- The Last Bookstore
- The Broad
- Olvera Street
Starting from The Gran central Market located on Broadway and 3rd street, There is no doubt that the Grand Central Market is the pinnacle of gastronomy and culture in the city a historic old building from 1917 where vendors gather and offer variety of food choices and other items.
Once you finish having lunch at the Grand central Market take a ride aboard Angels Flight. You can get there by walking towards Hill Street right in front of the Grand Central Market.
There’s no doubt that this is a must-try and see if you find yourself in Los Angeles, or specifically downtown LA. Getting up or down the railway is absolutely stunning on a beautiful day (as it usually is in sunny southern California).
Things you must know about Angel’s Flight Railway:
Location:
Top station: California Plaza (350 South Grand Avenue)
Lower station: 351 South Hill Street across Grand Central Market
Price: $1.00 each way or $0.50 with a Tap Card
Hours: 365 days a year from 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Next stop is just a couple blocks away right in the corder of 5th and Spring Street you will find the most magical picturesque bookstore called the Last Bookstore, if you are familiar with the show “YOU” from Netflix you might be familiar with this Library the star from this show works in this place in the second season.
A massive building that was once a bank houses The Last Bookstore in downtown LA. Several of the bank’s quirky features, such as the vaults, are still visible and have been beautifully incorporated into the bookstore.
Among the unique is the book tunnel and book porthole, which are entirely made out of books. The popularity of this bookstore has been largely due to social media sites, such as Instagram. Book lovers as well as people seeking a new profile picture have turned to this site as a destination.
Let’s move to the next location, you’ve probably seen many infinity room selfies on social media. Your mind has been on visiting The Broad Museum for some time. Now is the time to do so. Eli and Edythe Broad contemporary art museum in Downtown Los Angeles is gaining popularity by the day.
Here is the best way to visit the Broad Museum, you can schedule a group visit if you have ten or more members and are willing to pay $5 per person. You need to make reservations at least two weeks in advance, but you get to skip the line and go through an expedited check-in process.
Take your own guided tour through The Broad’s free app. There are four available:
- “Artists-on-Artists,” a tour featuring collection artists talking about pieces in the Broad collection by other artists.
- A collection highlights tour with commentary by founders Eli and Edythe Broad.
- Architecture tour featuring Elizabeth Diller, partner-in-charge at Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
- “Looking with LeVar,” a family audio tour, narrated by award-winning actor, director, and education advocate LeVar Burton.
Lastly but also one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles for the richness of the culture and history that it offers Olvera Street.
It was Christine Sterling who began a fundraising campaign to save Avila Adobe during the late 1920s that led to the development of Olvera Street as a tourist attraction. Los Angeles’ oldest standing residence was scheduled for demolition. In her dream, Olvera Street would be restored to its original Mexican and Spanish heritage, with the goal of restoring it to its original glory. This process saved many original buildings, and craftspeople and artists opened businesses on the street, providing an opportunity for visitors to learn about Los Angeles’ early history.
And there you have just one out of many perfect day tours throughout the city of Angels, will be posting more later!
Find below the address of each location mention in this post:
- Grand Central Market (317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013).
- Angels flight railway (351 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013).
- The Last Bookstore (453 South Spring Street Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013).
- The Broad (221 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012).
- Olvera Street (845 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012).
