Things to do in Los Angeles & San Diego

Los Angeles is the place for theme parks and movie magic: Disneyland Park, from Main Street, U.S.A. to Frontierland, and Disney California Adventure Park sit side by side at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Universal Studios Hollywood includes the World-Famous Studio Tour through a working backlot, and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood ends on the Stage 48 soundstage with the real Central Perk set. After dark, look through the public telescopes at Griffith Observatory or watch the sunset from Santa Monica Pier with its Pacific Park rides and historic carousel; by day, walk past the more than 2,800 stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, visit the hilltop gardens and art of the Getty Center, and meet sea otters and sea jellies at the Aquarium of the Pacific. In San Diego, the 1,200-acre Balboa Park holds museums, gardens and the San Diego Zoo, the retired aircraft carrier of the USS Midway Museum shows more than 30 restored aircraft on the bay, and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park spreads wide habitats across the hills northeast of the city. Families can head to LEGOLAND California, about 30 minutes north of San Diego, to see Miniland USA, and winter brings holiday parades and fireworks at the Disneyland Resort, the glowing paths of L.A. Zoo Lights and the flower-covered floats of the Rose Parade in Pasadena.

Good to knowThe Disneyland Resort needs both a theme park ticket and a park reservation, so book them together, and the Getty Center is free but requires a timed-entry reservation. Griffith Observatory and the Getty Center are both closed on Mondays, the Aquarium of the Pacific requires reservations on weekends and holidays, and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour does not admit children under 5. Plan the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as a separate day, about 45 minutes to an hour by car from the zoo, and expect steep grades in parts of the San Diego Zoo, where a guided bus tour helps.