Los Angeles Travel Guide

• 5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038, United States
• +1 (310) 317-9140
• https://providencela.com/

For over a decade, Providence has been at the forefront of LA’s fine-dining scene. Little has changed here, which is a beautiful thing. The dining room is as formal as the suited staff, who are well-orchestrated and on the cooler side of attentive. Even just watching each course as it leaves the kitchen, artistically presented on special plates, is a pleasure to the senses. Chef Michael Cimarusti deftly uses the freshest and most sustainable seafood to craft his California cuisine, inspired by the flavors and culture of Asia and the Mediterranean.

• 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, United States
• +1 (310) 440-730

The Getty Villa is at the easterly end of the Malibu coast in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Opened in 1954 by the oil tycoon J. Paul Getty , the Getty Villa is an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of Ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria. There are four different gardens on the grounds of the Getty Villa, planted with plants native to the Mediterranean and known to have been cultivated by the ancient Romans.

Ojai is a small city in Ventura County, California, northwest of Los Angeles. Set in a valley in the Topatopa Mountains, the city has a village-like center dotted with art galleries and New Age shops. Bordering the north, Los Padres National Forest is crisscrossed with meandering trails. Nearby Lake Casitas is another popular recreation area. Every year, the Ojai Music Festival features famed classical artists.

• 5955 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, 90038, United States

Echo Park’s gleaming centerpiece has had a long and colorful history since 1895. An ambitious $45 million renovation in 2013 brought a new water filtration system, and turned the marshy area at the lake’s north end into an important wildlife sanctuary for sunbathing turtles and baby geese. But the most entertaining addition was a new set of swan-shaped pedal boats, which appeared in 2018, and can be rented out. Spend an afternoon gliding across the lake, and you and your pedaling partner will be able to take in the full beauty of the lotus-wreathed park, which is like a little slice of Versailles in the center of the city.