Hollywood

As the second largest city in the United States, the Los Angeles area has a lot to offer visitors. The reality is that you could spend years in L.A. without seeing all that there is to see. From Hollywood to Anaheim and Ventura to Long Beach, the possibilities are endless. Making a weekend trip is even more daunting, especially if it’s your first time to the area. A good strategy is to pick one area to focus on when visiting, rather than trying to do too much. With that in mind, I’ll focus on Santa Monica, which is one of Los Angeles’ more enchanting communities.

Sure, you love your car – but maybe it deserves some R & R, just like you do. Leave it in the parking garage at the hotel, and take advantage of the futuristic, whimsical and earth-friendly touring options found in CityPASS locales.

Hollywood abounds with sightseeing tours that give you an insider’s view of the entertainment capital of the world. Now a handful of Tinseltown tours get you even closer to your favorite stars. There’s just one catch: these tours zoom in on those not-so-living legends that have already passed on to the “big movie screen in the sky.”

After the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Will and Kate) announced their plans to visit to the Golden State this July, the California Travel and Tourism Commission declared the summer of 2011 to be “The Royal Summer.” To give your California visit a dash of royal cachet and enjoy major savings, check out CityPASS’s California ticket collections.

Where can you see the “stars” even when the sun is shining? Hollywood is well known for plenty of star-gazing opportunities–places where the stars of yesterday are commemorated and the stars of today are easy to spot. Some are budget-friendly, while others are slightly more indulgent, but they’ll all help you get your star fix.

The top ten must-see celebrity mansions of 2010 - who made the cut?

Food carts once were known for hot dogs and soft pretzels, but these days, their offerings have evolved to anything from asian-fusion tacos to gourmet desserts. Here are a few stand-outs from two of our favorite cities.

Hollywood’s Walk of Fame at 50 – Bright As Ever Hollywood’s iconic Walk of Fame, that star-strewn stretch along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine, celebrated its golden anniversary in 2010. For the past 50 years, fans from around the world have been drawn to the Walk of Fame — clutching maps, heads bent downward, scouring the pavement for the brass and terrazzo stars of their favorite entertainers.