DK Travel : Los Angeles

The myth, the velocity, the edginess in creative and technological fields – this is Los Angeles, where the multicultural future that awaits the rest of the country is already a firm reality. In little more than 200 years, LA has grown from a dusty Spanish outpost into one of the world’s largest and most complex cities offering top venues for everything from archaeology and the arts to food. The birthplace of Mickey Mouse and Hollywood, LA has shaped the imaginations of millions.

Montana Avenue

You’re likely to bump into celebrities in the upscale boutiques on Montana Avenue. It’s fun peeking at the clothes, home furnishings, beauty products, and exercise gear favored by fashionistas.
Mulholland Drive

Named after William Mulholland, the architect of the Los Angeles aqueduct, this quintessential LA road winds for about 25 miles (40 km) along a Santa Monica Mountains ridge from Hollywood to the western San Fernando Valley. On clear days, the panoramic views are truly stunning.
Murals

Numerous murals beautify façades all along the Venice Boardwalk and its side streets. Rip Cronk’s Venice Reconstituted and Homage to a Starry Night are famous.
Muscle Beach Venice

Check out beefy, hunky bodybuilders with abs of steel at this outdoor gym, successor to the Santa Monica original, which shut in 1959.
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)

An early player in downtown’s cultural renaissance, MOCA collects and displays art in all media from 1940 to the present. Works by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein form part of its permanent collection. The museum building, designed by famous Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, is a jumble of cubes, pyramids, and other shapes in reddish stone.
Museum of Jurassic Technology

The doors of this bizarre museum open up a parallel universe where the seemingly mundane becomes extraordinary. Exhibits include Cameroonian stink ants and American trailer park populations alongside an uncanny likeness of Pope John Paul II in the eye of a needle. Give in to this strange world and prepared to be mesmerized.
Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA)

Part of Long Beach’s emerging East Village Arts District, this lively museum is the only one in the western United States dedicated to showcasing the work of artists who’ve lived or worked in Latin America since 1945. The collection offers great insight into the culture and concerns of artists from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and every country in between. The restaurant is a lovely spot for lunch.
Museum of Neon Art (MONA)

The world’s only permanent museum of its kind, MONA attracts visitors to its changing exhibitions of electric and neon art.
Museum of Television & Radio

Most people alive today have grown up watching television, one of the defining media of the 20th century. This museum, housed in a striking building by Getty Center architect Richard Meier, has made it its mission to collect, preserve, and share nearly 80 years of radio and TV history. About 120,000 programs – news to musicals, sports to sitcoms – have been catalogued and are available for viewing and listening. The museum also offers daily presentations in its on-site theaters and organizes seminars and live radio broadcasts.
Museum of Tolerance

This high-tech museum confronts visitors with issues of extreme intolerance to make them realize the need for greater acceptance in today’s world. The experience begins at the “Tolerancenter,” whose exhibits address issues such as human rights violations and the Civil Rights movement. The Holocaust section, at the core, chronicles Nazi atrocities. A new multimedia exhibit follows the lives of well-known Americans from different ethnic backgrounds.