The Peterson Automotive Museum, on Wilshire Boulevard is one of the biggest museums of its kind and is a must for any automobile fanatic.

The museum was founded in 1994 by Robert and Margie Peterson and today is run by the Peterson Automotive Museum Foundation. There is over 300,000 square feet of exhibition space spread out over four floors, housed in a former retailer building.

Here you can admire over 150 models of rare and classical cars, motorbikes and trucks along winding paths filled with superb dioramas that take you back through the automotive history in Los Angeles. You will find a Bentley built in 1919, a 1942 Lincoln Continental and even a Ferrari that was first driven in 1961, among the models that are all in excellent condition.

As well as traditional makes you will see here the original “Batmobiles” – one from the TV series, the other from Tim Burton’s film – and a taxi built by Syd Mead that was used in the film Blade Runner. The second floor houses temporary exhibitions and special events.

On the 3rd floor, the May Family Discovery Centre stimulates interest in science, teaching basic scientific principals through the functions of cars. Its hands-on workshops are great fun for adults and children alike.

On the 4th floor, the penthouse holds a conference centre, the Founder’s Lounge and kitchens, all of which can be hired for special occasions, parties and other functions.

A nice thing about Los Angeles is that when you decide to visit the great museums here, you will find most of them not far from each other, on and around Wilshire Boulevard. One of the best ones is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The museum, known locally as LACMA, is the second largest encyclopaedic museum in the United States. It was founded in 1910 as part of the Museum of History, Sciences and Art, but became independent in 1961 and is now housed in seven buildings on a 20 acre campus.

You can admire over 100,000 works of art from the pre-Columbian period to the present day, including an impressive collection from Central and South America. Japanese and Islamic art is also represented and the museum has the largest collection of Korean art in the world outside of Korea. Another section houses a magnificent Post-War collection of Contemporary Art.

The entrance to the Ahmanson Building, where you will find the section of Modern Art, is a favourite gathering point, at the foot of a flight of stairs, designed to resemble the famous Spanish Steps in Rome.
In front of the museum’s main entrance is a wonderful display of over 200 antique street lamps; the presentation, called “Urban Light”, was created by Chris Burden in 2008. LACMA’s gardens have over 100 different varieties of palm trees. To really make a day of visiting this fine museum, you can take a picnic, or have lunch in the museum bar/restaurant.

One place you really shouldn’t miss while in Los Angeles is the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park on Wilshire Boulevard. It is a part of the Natural History Museum and is a fascinating place to visit.

The tar pits have been here for over 40,000 years, leaking asphaltum to the surface and trapping unwary animals in their sticky depths when those unfortunates came to drink the water that covered the pits from time to time. The pits are a Registered National Landmark and feature replicas of mammoths trapped in the largest of them. There are over a hundred of these pits, mostly man-made, as the area was exploited for its asphalt.

Scientists have found nearly 4 million fossils in the pits since 1875 when the first remains were discovered, and they haven’t come to the end of their research. In the museum you will see the remains of rabbits, wolves, sabre-tooth tigers and mammoths, as well as perfectly preserved Ice-Age plants and insects. In a special room, scientists clean and repair the fossils and you can watch them at work through a glass-fronted wall.

The museum has an excellent shop where you will find books about the history of the tar pits and the research done there, postcards, note-paper, posters, costume jewellery and wonderful educative toys.

For combining shopping and entertainment, there’s no better place in Los Angeles than The Grove.

The Grove is a wonderful place to get into the true spirit of this great city, with its many good shops, restaurants, cinema and entertainment for the kids. The statue “Spirit of Los Angeles” which stands in the centre of the fascinating area really sums up the attitude of the American Dream. There is the lovely “Dancing Fountain”, created by Water Entertainment Technologies; a fountain that shots water into the air in time with music and changing coloured lights.

If you want to take in a film, there are 14 to choose from in The Grove’s Stadium 14 Theatre. If you’re here to do some shopping, there are many great shops to choose from, including Victoria’s Secret, Nike and an Apple store. A free ride on the electric tramway will take you to the adjacent Farmers Market, where you will find fruit stalls and caterer’s stands.

There are also a large variety of places to eat. You can choose between pizza houses, BBQ and Grill snack bars, a steakhouse or, if you are feeling romantic, a long meal in an Italian or French Restaurant. There are also plenty of bars and coffee houses for a drink while you decide whether to buy that sexy negligee or a new iPhone.

If you are visiting The Grove with your children, there is a Kid’s Club that holds activities most days of the week, including music, films and story time. If you are lucky enough to be here in December, fake snow falls on The Grove and the biggest Christmas tree in Los Angeles is erected here.

The CBS Television City is one of the major studios where a lot of TV shows are produced every year. Although there is no official tour of the complex, you might be lucky to see some of the stars from your favourite shows coming and going.

The buildings stand on the site of the former Gilmore Stadium, which once held football matches and horse racing. The complex’s eight soundstages are rather forbidding buildings, looking more like giant warehouses than the places where programmes are created to entertain the United States. Other buildings house the props, electrical equipment, records and editing rooms.

Some films have been produced in the studio since its opening in 1952, but it mostly soap operas, such as All in the Family and more recently The Young and the Restless, are recorded here.

A lot of variety shows are also recorded, such as Dancing with the Stars, the Price is Right, American Idol and America’s Got Talent. As these are recorded live, you can queue up to get free tickets to take part in the audience.

There is a very good gift shop where you can buy postcards, t-shirts, jackets, key-rings and mugs, most of which have the CBS logo printed on them.

Do you want to take in a light-hearted show while you are in Los Angeles? If so, then book your seats now at the Groundlings – you won’t be disappointed! The shows are all well-acted and very funny. Book early because the theatre is so popular the tickets sell like hot cakes!

The Groundlings is a theatre company and school founded in 1972 by Gary Austin. Housed in a theatre on Melrose Place, the troupe produces improvised scenes and sketches. The school is open to over 2000 students a year with a teaching programme on four levels: Basic, Intermediate, Writing and Advanced. A lot of the former students have gone on to success in television shows, soap-operas and films.

The name – the Groundlings – comes from the lower-class audience of Shakespeare’s plays, who couldn’t afford to pay for seats, so they sat on the ground in front of the stage. The theatre opened in 1979 in a building that had once been a decorator’s studio and then a massage parlour.

Before the theatre opened the troupe put on performances in theatres all over the town. The troupe started out as fifty original members, performing artists who set up a workshop with Gary Austin. They wrote sketches and improvised skits based on what they had read in magazines and newspapers. After a year or so, they began putting on performances for friends to see; word got out about the hilarious shows and highly talented actors, and the rest, as they like to say here in L.A., is history!

The Hollywood History Museum is a very fascinating place to visit, where you will learn a lot about the “Dream Factory”, from its beginnings to the present day.

The museum is located on Highland Avenue and is housed in the Max Factor Building. The exhibitions cover 35,000 square feet, spread out over four floors, but for all that the place is filled to overflowing with clothes, art designs, sets, make-up and special effects.

The entrance foyer has kept its original Art Deco style, with white and rose marble, chandeliers and antique furniture, delicately adorned in gold and silver leaf. On this floor is the exhibition of Max Factor’s make-up studio and a black and white photo gallery with over 1000 photos of stars from the silent movies to the present and stills from films such as The Planet of the Apes (original version) and Jurassic Park.

The basement was once a speakeasy during the Prohibition and a bowling alley. Today it is the “Chamber of Horrors” with a replica of the stage set from the film The Silence of the Lambs. It is rather creepy, as it features the cell corridor Judy Foster walked along to reach Hannibal Lecter’s cell, in which you can see props from the film and the gruesome mask Hannibal was made to wear.

The first and second floors are given over to historical and modern costumes, souvenirs donated by the great stars, movie advertising posters, props, another photo gallery, an example of the 1st Technicolor film and a Roman bed that was used in “Gladiator”.

Situated on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Wax Museum is one of the most popular Los Angeles attractions. This well-known museum was opened in 1965. It is argued to be the only museum in the US that is entirely dedicated to celebrities. The museum features replicas of movie stars such as Angelina Jolie, Johny Depp, Kirsten Dunst as well as television stars and personalities.

You will find Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard’s famous Walk of Fame, and you certainly can’t miss this unique building.

The theatre was given its Chinese design by Raymond M. Kennedy, while Jean Klossner created the forecourt. The building is in the form of a giant pagoda with a huge dragon in bas relief over the wonderfully decorated front doors. Tiny dragons are also featured on the copper roof, while two beautiful Ming Heaven Dogs stand guard on each side of the entrance.

The theatre was opened in 1927 with Cecil B. de Mille’s silent epic “King of Kings”, and has since been the choice venue for the premiere of many great films, including “Star Wars” in 1977. Its interior is decorated in red and gold, with Chinese art and statues, the red curtains in front of the screen have delicate golden trees and birds printed on them.

On the forecourt you will see over 200 signatures, hand and foot prints, prints from Roy Rogers’ pistols and even hoof prints from Trigger! There are several stories surrounding the origin of the prints: Grauman said he’d accidentally stepped in the wet concrete and he decided to invite superstars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (one of the theatre’s backers) to do the same. Today you can see the imprint of Harry Potter’s magic wand as well as those of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.