Across the street from Disneyland, with 186 rooms, heated pool, free parking, Wi-Fi and continental breakfast. Most rooms usually $89-$169.

Within two miles of Disneyland, Angel Stadium and the Honda Center. 129 rooms, pool and café. Rates $109-$119, breakfast and parking included.

Has 393 rooms, connecting to South Coast Plaza by a pedestrian bridge over Bristol Street. Weekend rates usually $109-$189, weekday rates often $279 or more.

A snack patio with Vietnamese spring rolls, sandwiches, noodles and salads, all $7.35 or less. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Seasonally inspired dishes served in a dark, woodsy dining room. Every item fewer than 475 calories. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Dinner main courses $13.95-$26.75.

Burgers and such. Prices up to $8.25. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Dinner main dishes $16-$22. Open daily for lunch and dinner.

Adults $76 a day; children ages 3 to 9, $68.

Adult admission, $56.99, or $46.99 for Southern California residents; children ages 3-11, $24.99.

See website for directions.

Open daily. Adult admission, $9.95; children 7-11 $3.75; children younger than 6 admitted free.

Sixty-five rooms, free Wi-Fi, parking and continental breakfast and an unheated outdoor pool. Website says $129-$259, but discounts as low as $110 (plus tax) are common on weekdays.

This four-unit residential-rental operation is a series of Spanish-style courtyard bungalows that date to the 1920s. All have kitchens; two have washer-dryers. Walking distance to Los Feliz, Sunset Junction and the Sunset-Vermont Metro station. Rates $150-$180 a night.

The salon and rooms are often rented together for parties. Rates $189-$385, with occasional discounts.

Lunch and dinner in a long, skinny, chic space. Dinner main dishes usually $9-$11; side dishes $4 and up.

Breakfast and lunch, dishes up to $6.75. No reservations, cash only.

Dinner only. Main dishes $10-$34.

Set in an old cottage. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner entrees $9.95-$17.95.

Open daily. Coffee drinks $2.50-$7.

At the LAPD Academy site in Elysian Park. Burgers and coffee shop fare, with a top price of $7.99. Open 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

This Echo Bar bar goes back to the '40s. Once a cop haven, it's now a dive-style hipster hang with dance floor, pool table, smoking patio and Pabst on sale for $2 during happy hour. Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m daily.

Since 1961, this family operation has served up tropical drinks in a tiny space. Usually 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Cash only, no beer or wine.

A playground for carnivores; Portobello burgers for vegetarians. Lunch and dinner. Burgers $9-$13. Combinations $15-$16. Beer and wine. Often crowded.

Dodgers tickets typically run $12-$130, more for the luxurious club rooms. General parking is $15. The team offers daily 90-minute behind-the-scenes stadium tours for $10-$15. More info on their website.

Open Wednesday through Sundays, noon-10 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on weekends. Observatory and parking are free, but planetarium presentations cost $3-$7 a person.

Admission $14 for adults, $11 for seniors (62 and older), $9 for children 2-12. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends, with extended hours in summer. Admission $10 per adult, $6 students with current ID and seniors (60 and older), $4 for children 3-12.

Architectural historian and tour guide Laura Massino Smith leads driving tours of Silver Lake and other L.A. County communities. Tours last two to three hours and typically cost $68 a person; reservations required.

Hourlong Hollyhock House tours Wednesday-Sunday afternoons (click "visit" on website for times), adults $7.

Open daily.

Independent bookshop with lively reading lineup. Open 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily with an art-book annex next door.

Open 2-7 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, noon-5 p.m. Saturdays, event nights 8-10 p.m.

The store is a front for the nonprofit organization 826LA, which is part of a national network that offers tutoring and teaches creative and expository writing.

It has 255 rooms on seven acres with heated pool, two tennis courts. Rates usually $162-$180, less if you pay up front.

It has 483 rooms; standard doubles usually $165-$250 — but check specials, which go as low as $235 a night for room and two Universal Studios passes.

Thirty rooms, recently redone in pop minimalist style. Heated pool, close to Bob's and Warner Bros. Rates usually $109-$129.

Three miles from Universal, with 190 rooms, Patio Cafe, big pool. Built in 1962. Recently renovated but still fairly kitschy (that standalone fireplace in the lobby is new, not old). Walls filled with old photos of stars, fishing and stars fishing. Rooms about 400 square feet. Rates for doubles usually $119-$169.

Blvd began a gradual opening in late January with 58 spacious rooms (which the hotel calls suites). Bar, indoor pool, minimalist contemporary design. Rates usually $149-$169.

Its tired 1968 façade endures for now, but inside, this 451-room lodging has had a $30-million upgrade, with some work to come. Doubles usually $200-$300.

Pleasant patio setting for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sibling bookshop, Portrait of a Bookstore, shares the building. Main dishes up to $13.95.

Open 24 hours. Dining room seats about 150. Dinner main dishes up to $12.99.

Part of a four-location Southern California chain. Main dishes and pizzas up to $11.

Opened in 2010. Sidewalk tables. Breakfast and lunch main dishes up to $13.95. Closes at 6 p.m.

Breakfast and lunch, with lots of sausage. Nothing more than $11.50

Enormous menu, enormous dining room. Born here in 1978, now an empire with many locations in Southern California and Florida. Pasta and main dishes $10.75-$27.95.

Karaoke every night, but the emphasis shifts from porn stars on Tuesdays to families 7-9:30 p.m. on Fridays. Dinner main dishes $8-$14.

Italian food and jazz upstairs. Dinner entrees. Dinner main dishes usually $12-$25. For jazz upstairs, covers run $20-$25 with $13 food or drink minimum.

Breakfast combinations $10-$35.

Lunch, dinner, drinks, brunch on weekends. Dinner main dishes $14-$18.

This theme park and studio back lot tour gets as many as 30,000 visitors per day in the summer. Rates $74, or $66 for those shorter than 48 inches.

Studio back lot tour for visitors 8 and older. Two hours, 15 minutes. $48 a person.

Founded in 1797, open daily. To visit museum and grounds, $4 for adults, $3 for children 7-15, free for younger children.

Seasonal produce and flowers, closes in January, February and most of March.

Tickets usually $34-$42, with a five-show subscription series running August-April and one summer show.

Open sunrise to sunset.

About a block from the beach on Newport Bay. 25 rooms. No pool, but free parking, Wi-Fi, breakfast buffet, video rentals and use of beach equipment. Doubles from $170.

A block from the beach, 157 rooms and suites in a building that opened in 2009. Restaurant Zimzala is off the lobby, which is on the second floor. Depending on the room and season, doubles begin at $189.

Far from the beach, set in a canyon alongside a nine-hole golf course, this is the tightwad's place to stay in Laguna. Adult and kid pools and grill/snack bar, but no full-fledged restaurant since Canyon Lodge American Grill closed in early 2010. Sixty studios, one- and two-bedroom suites. Studios $99-$239 a night; larger units $149-$369.

Twelve studios and one-bedroom units, all with kitchens. Great site and outdoors atmosphere, tired rooms. Rates as low as $125 in the off-season, as high as $375 on summer weekends.

Across the street from the San Clemente pier. Eight rooms, $285-$375; more for the penthouse and Casa Bahama suite.

A big bed-and-breakfast (29 rooms) with ocean views and a glass-walled elevator. Doubles from $200.

Eighteen acres, 396 rooms. Doubles from $375 plus $35-a-day parking and $25-a-day resort fee.

250 rooms on about 15 acres. Doubles from $595, parking $30 a day, no resort fee.

Far from the beach, set in a canyon alongside a nine-hole golf course, this is the tightwad's place to stay in Laguna. Adult and kid pools and grill/snack bar, but no full-fledged restaurant since Canyon Lodge American Grill closed in early 2010. Sixty studios, one- and two-bedroom suites. Studios $99-$239 a night; larger units $149-$369.

A Midcentury oceanfront motor lodge of 129 rooms, now tuned up and boldly decorated. Doubles from $169.

167 rooms. Rates from $375.

Just north of Main Beach (walk to the sand). Most of the 70 rooms have some ocean views. Rates from $179 plus $20 resort fee. Lots of beige and white.

Twenty-one rental units in 13 cottages. Rates from $33 a night (for a room with no view) to $191 (full cottage with private deck) but are typically snapped up within minutes the day they become available. No TV, no phone, no Internet.

Across the street from the San Clemente pier. Eight rooms, $285-$375; more for the penthouse and Casa Bahama suite.

This four-location chain includes two restaurants in Laguna Beach. It is casual, emphasizing fresh and healthful ingredients and prices that top off at about $12.50. Lunch and dinner. Mermaid Street location offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, closes Sundays.

Pan-Latin coastal cuisine with an Asian twist and a seafood emphasis. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Dinner entrees, $20-$45.

New chain emphasizes fresh, healthful, global cuisine. Dinner entrees, $13-$25.

Surf and turf on the pier, with plenty of patio seats, an oyster bar on one side, restaurant on the other. Dinner entrees about $17-$40; $9-$20 for smaller menu in oyster bar.

Patio seating. Lunch entrees, $13-$18; weekend brunch, $35 a person. Open 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. No reservations unless you have 12 people or more.

Garden accessories, breakfasts and lunches up to $15.95, with a shady patio. Pet-friendly.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner entrees, $17.95-$36.95.

One of two locations in town. Corn dogs, $2.69.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner entrees, $9.95-$24.95.

Open to the public 10 a.m.-3 p.m. most Saturdays and Sundays. Admission: $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for children 3-12.

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission: $12 for adults.

Admission: $12 for adults.

Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Adults $6; kids, $5.

Five private rooms, sleeps 60. Open June 13-Sept. 11. All bathrooms shared. In San Pedro's Angels Gate Park, overlooking a grassy knoll and Korean Friendship Bell. Communal kitchen, free breakfast (pancakes and coffee), free parking and internet, no alcohol. Rates $28-$60 per person, with $3 discounts for members. This location puts you 32 miles south of the Hollywood sign, but step outside and you have a grassy park with a 270-degree view of the ocean and Catalina. Next door, you can visit the recuperating seals and sea lions at the Marine Mammal Care Center at Ft. MacArthur (www.marinemammalcare.org).

Boutique hotel opened in 2009 with 138 rooms. Olive-tree art installation in the lobby and a small pool on the roof. Doubles begin at $159.

Can this boutique lodging really be part of the Hilton empire? Yes, it's now a DoubleTree by Hilton. But thanks to a 2009 renaming and renovation by previous management, the Maya and its Fuego restaurant are a mod-Mexican riot of bold colors and geometry. Its 11 acres feature views of the harbor and Long Beach skyline. Edgier than your average business hotel. Lots of fire pits, cactus and yellow patio chairs. You can't walk really anywhere from there, but it's a nice perch. 194 rooms. Doubles from $160.

Formerly known as the Pavilion Lodge. This 71-room, two-story lodging occupies a prime spot on Avalon's waterfront main drag. A 2010 renovation has made it into a welcoming space, with lush landscaping, a tempting fire pit and pleasant mid-century design details. Rack rates vary by season, with doubles typically running $168-$280 (winter weekdays) to $400-$526 (summer weekends). On most weekends, there's a two-night minimum.

A six-room inn with wood floors, bay windows, fireplaces, Jacuzzi tubs. Better for couples than families. Doubles from $140 (smallest room, winter weekdays) to $385 (biggest room, summer weekends).

Scores of houses and condos can be rented in downtown Avalon and Hamilton Cove, north of downtown Avalon. Rates run as low as $155 nightly (room for two people), high as $635 (10 people).

The 582-room blufftop resort opened in 2009 on a 102-acre site that was occupied by Marineland. This coast is more rocks than beach, but the hotel has three pools and a nine-hole golf course. Doubles from $360 plus $25 daily resort fee).

An old-fashioned steakhouse with checkerboard marble floors and lots of dark wood. Dinner main dishes $19.95-$49.95. Don't overlook the meat loaf. Dinner nightly, lunch weekdays.

In a corner of the Marina Pacifica mall, with unexpected views of Alamitos Bay and big happy hour crowds. Asian fusion menu, big bar area, lots of Asian-tropical atmosphere. Main dishes $16-$34.

Hand-crafted beers, patio with a beach view and a spot next to the Belmont Pier. Good chowder and bread ($3.50-$5.25).

Long Beach Lebanese cuisine. Two busy dining rooms on one block in the heart of the Belmont Shore commercial strip. Lunch and dinner. Main dishes (big portions) $10.99-$24.99.

Lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes average $10.95. Spicy tortilla soup.

Noodles, spring rolls, salads, sandwiches, beer and wine, served in a deep, narrow, white space. Try the Vietnamese lemonade. All dishes $10 or less.

This sleek new Catalina restaurant (with horseshoe bar in middle) sits along the Avalon waterfront, offering American regional dishes. Lunch and dinner year-round, Wednesdays through Sundays, and lunch and dinner daily in summer. Dinner main dishes $14-$35. Excellent pan-seared scallops.

This neighborhood favorite (which isn't on a corner and is less than half a mile from Point Fermin and Angels Gate Park) offers excellent picnic fodder—breakfasts, burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs and a kid's menu—and everything is $6.25 or less. Extensive old-school and global soda selection too—more than 170 brands.

Among eight restaurants and bars on the Terranea resort property, this is among the most casual. It's even has pints of Pabst for $3. But it sits atop a bluff, its patio warmed by a fire ring and fireplace. Lunch and dinner. Main dishes $11-$17. Good seared ahi tuna sandwich.

Surf, turf and 144 patio seats. Lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes $19-$58. Burgers, gumbo and sushi and rolls go for $7 and less during weekday happy hours.

Adults $24.95, children 3-11 $12.95. With Queen Mary admission, $36 for adults, $20 for children. With LA Zoo admission, $31 for adults, $19 for children. Packages with boat cruises and behind-the-scenes tours also available. Open 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. daily (except Christmas and during the Long Beach Grand Prix April 13-15 next year).

The chapel, built in 1951, is made almost entirely of glass, flanked by trees and sponsored by the followers of the 18th century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg. The architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. Donations optional.

Since 1982, this 10-vessel company has offered gondola tours of the waterways of Naples in southern Long Beach. Cruises (50 minutes) start 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Cost usually $85 a couple, $25 a person for groups of 7-19 people.

Open from mid-April through mid-October, this beach spot includes a restaurant and patio bar, an inlet for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking, Sea Trek Undersea Adventures (like scuba diving, no certification required). It's also the staging ground for a Zipline Tour Center that opened in 2010.

Vintage clothes, furniture, art and music. For a sense of the neighborhood, check http://www.4thstreetlongbeach.com.

Near the tip of the Palos Verdes peninsula, this aquarium isn't as big, new, bright and shiny as the one in Long Beach, but it's charming, well-stocked and inexpensive. Recommended donation $5 per adult, $1 per child.

Catalina Express offers daily ships between Catalina and Long Beach, Dana Point and San Pedro. The quickest trip, about an hour, is the 22-mile journey from the downtown Long Beach landing (320 Golden Shore St., Long Beach, CA 90802) to Avalon. In peak summer months, Catalina Express offers eight departures daily from Long Beach, at round-trip prices of $69.50 per adult and $54 per child 2-11.

119 rooms in a lodging that was redone in 2009 by the trendy Joie de Vivre chain. One block from the beach and boardwalk. Rooftop bar. No pool. Double rooms rent for about $179 (winter weekdays) to $359 (summer weekends).

Here are 260 beds (most in dorm rooms with shared bathrooms and six to 10 beds each), a few blocks from the beach in the middle of Santa Monica. Summer rates of about $36-$49 per person in dorms (about $10 less in winter) and about $159 for private rooms.

129 rooms in a restored building that dates to the 1920s. Opened 1999. Brochure rates for double rooms $565-$850. Parking $34 a night.

Two buildings holding 198 rooms in New England beach house style, facing the beach. Copies of "The Old Man and the Sea" in every room. Crowded pool deck. Opened 1993. Brochure rates $575-$995 for doubles. Parking $34 a night.

342 rooms. Most doubles usually $279-$549. Parking $31 a night.

175 rooms. Doubles usually $389-$429, plus $35 a day parking.

This is an Art Deco building (1933) with a bold blue facade. Its 84 rooms (226-248 square feet and small bathrooms) include 28 suites. They're done in earth tones, with old-fashioned bold-hued tile work in the small bathrooms. Convenient to pier and promenade. Doubles usually $229-342, with winter discounts as low as $179; more for suites. Parking $23 a night.

300 rooms, two wings. Better views from the 10-story Ocean Tower. More atmosphere and bigger rooms in the older six-story Palisades wing. Also 32 garden bungalows. The hotel's main restaurant, FIG, opened in 2009, emphasizing fresh ingredients. Dinner main dishes $18-$29. Doubles usually $279-$429; more for bungalows. Parking about $37 a night.

83 basic rooms, free parking and WiFi. Doubles usually $130-$160.

46 rooms. Breakfast, lunch and dinner offered at the hotel's Carbon Beach Club restaurant (prime sea and pier views, reservations required for non-guests). Doubles $325-$1,025. Spa, drink and snack service for guests on the beach below.

"Chinese country cooking" (and enormous portions) in a casual dining room on a lively, gritty block of Venice. Main dishes, $7-$12.

Seafood and burgers in a lively space on Ocean Avenue. Opened 2009. Lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes, $14-$22.

Pints, darts, fish and chips have abounded at this pub, restaurant and shop since 1974. Dinner main dishes, $11.95-$22.95.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, with glass walls for watching the passing parade. Eclectic menu includes a Lithuanian dumpling starter and pumpkin ravioli pasta. Dinner main dishes, $15.95-$26.

Lunch and dinner, with breakfast on weekends. A little Mexican, a little Chinese, a little Italian. Dinner main dishes, $16.50-$25.

Here's a classic little greasy spoon whose building is textbook Googie design, with a long counter and orange booths. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, cash only. Top price is $12.50 for filet mignon, and for $5.50 you get a breakfast of two eggs, two pancakes and bacon.

Opened in 2010. Offers Modern American cuisine. Big dining room, Dinner daily, lunch on weekdays. Dinner main dishes, $13-$27, happy hours daily.

This city-run facility includes various year-round features, but the big draw is a beach-adjacent pool that opens to the public only during the summer. There's also a restaurant next door (Back on the Beach Café), small playground, rental equipment and a summer-only fitness room (which costs extra). A day of pool access (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) is $10 for adults and $4 for kids 1-17. Most Mondays, that price drops to $1 for children and adults and the pool stays open until 8 p.m.

Built in 1909, the pier includes a 1922 carousel, the Pacific Park amusement zone (with Ferris wheel) and a dozen restaurants and shops. There's limited parking on the pier, usually $6-$8, and the exercise equipment of Muscle Beach is just south, on the beach. Pier is free and open 24 hours; businesses on pier set their own hours.

Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Burberry, Kitson, Louis Vuitton, Nike and many more are united in this three-level mall. Just north wait the hundreds of shops, restaurants and such of the Third Street Promenade (between Broadway and Wilshire). The Downtown Santa Monica Farmers Market sets up at Third and Arizona (8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. More info: http://www.downtownsm.com.

Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

Buy gags for the kids, stop in for a drink at the Magic Bar on Friday or Saturday nights, or settle in for a show in the theater in back. It's $27 for the 8 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays, $22 for the 2 p.m. shows on Saturdays and Sundays.

Children's books, children's book art, cartoon art, fantasy art, Disney studio art, editorial cartoons and more.

More than two dozen art galleries, a cafe, a few shops and the Santa Monica Museum of Art, all gathered on the post-industrial site of an old rail yard.

Stringed instruments, CDs, DVDs, music books and intimate concerts in the 150-seat guitar showroom.

Art from antiquity, surrounded by gardens and a facsimile villa. Open Thursdays- Mondays and most Wednesdays. Admission is free, but advance timed tickets are required and parking is $15 per vehicle. The villa's theater stages one production per year; this year, "Trojan Women (after Euripides)" will run Thursdays-Saturdays Sept. 8-Oct. 1.

A classic 1930 Spanish-style beach house with amazing details (the "Persian rug" made of floor tiles in the hall). It's now run as a house museum by the state parks system. Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (last tour starts at 2 p.m.). Cash-only admission $7 (17 and older), $2 (6-16), free for younger children.

Besides the Beachcomber restaurant and the Malibu Beach Supply Co. boutique, the pier offers fishing and serves as base for sportfishing boat trips 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. More info: http://www.malibusportfishingpier.com.

Besides the old "Rockford Files" trailer park, you'll find the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, with extensive indoor and outdoor seating that nevertheless gets jammed. Whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner (8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily), call ahead to request "priority seating" (instead of reservations). If it's stacked up, you might still have to wait. Most dinner main dishes, $18-$30. Sports equipment, beach chairs and cabanas for rent. Parking in the lot is $3 for four hours if you spend at least $20 at the cafe; otherwise, it's $25.

Ninety-six rooms, each with fireplace and balcony or patio. Rooms for two $229-$349 in winter, $299-$489 in summer.

Thirty-eight rooms, a small pool and restaurant, Zinc. Two blocks from the beach. Rooms for two $275 in winter, $365 in summer, with occasional Sunday-night discounts to $225.

It has 802 rooms. Rooms for two as low as $102 with advance purchase, otherwise usually $119-$159 on weekends, $195-$229 weekdays.

127 rooms. In-house restaurant. Rooms for two usually $179-$289, more for suites.

499 rooms and suites. Rooms for two usually about $129-$149 on weekends, $229 on weekdays.

It has 740 rooms and a massive lobby that features a Daily Grill serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. In summer, weekend rates dipped as low as $79 for auto club members. Rooms for two usually about $139 on weekends, $229 on weekdays.

160 rooms with nautical overtones and lots of blue and yellow. Waterfront location. Barking sea lions nearby are such a fixture that the front desk offers free earplugs on request. Small pool. Rooms for two usually $189-$289, more for suites.

Three private rooms and several dorm rooms, with 67 beds in all. Shared bathrooms and kitchen. A block from beach, and directly above a loud restaurant and bar. Rates $25 a person in winter, $30-35 in summer.

New American cuisine, with indoor/outdoor dining overlooking beach. Dinner main dishes $23-$39.

All vegetarian, with Asian accents and a small courtyard patio. Main dishes $9-$15. Lunch and dinner, with breakfast on Sunday. Closed Mondays.

Breakfast and lunch up to $11. Closed Mondays.

Opened in 2010. Big dining room and patio on a raucous beachfront block. Entrees $8-$29.

Casual, healthy breakfast and lunch with a patio. This locally based chain has four locations in all. Main dishes up to $10.59.

This gastropub opened in spring 2011, offering beer, wine and a short menu of burgers and sandwiches. Entrees up to $14. Dinner daily, with lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and breakfast from 9 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Ice cream, yogurt, cookies, frozen bananas and other sweets. One scoop of ice cream: $3.50. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

Surf and turf in a merry beach-adjacent atmosphere. Beware of two-hour time limit on all tables. Most main dishes $14-$40, some surf 'n' turf combos more.

"California fresh" cuisine. Lunch and dinner daily. Dinner main dishes $23-$31.50

Lunch and dinner daily, with Sunday brunch from 9 a.m. Dinner main dishes $14-$39.

Happy hour drinks and snacks $5-7. Dinner nightly, lunch weekdays, brunch from 10 a.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. Sundays. Dinner main dishes about $16-$37.

Open 3 p.m.-sunset Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.- sunset weekends. Free, with suggested donation of $2 per person or $5 per family.

Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

Dinner entrees about $11-$26. Most shows start at 8 p.m. (with doors opening at 6:30), and prices vary. Often, the club offers 10 comics for $10. Saturday nights often include shows at 6:45 and 9:30. Sunday nights with Leno usually start at 7 and cost $32 with a two-drink-or-menu-item minimum.

Marina views, shaded picnic tables, grass. Open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

Opened in November, 2008 with 201 rooms, including 55 suites. Doubles $525-$775.

210 rooms, including 38 suites and 23 bungalows. Double rooms $475-$840.

49 rooms. Doubles $250-$350.

The "Pretty Woman" hotel. Has 395 rooms, including 141 suites. Doubles $450-$625.

Main dishes $18-$45.

One scoop: $3.25.

Opened 1947. Open 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesdays-Thursdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Burgers, sandwiches and desserts at prices up to $7.75.

Lively bar, colorful dining room. Main dishes $24-$43.

An old-school deli that dates to 1945. Main dishes up to $21.95.

An L.A.-area chain with four locations. Organic coffees, sandwiches, salads and baked goods.

Marilyn Monroe and many others. Visiting hours 8 a.m.-dusk. Graves and mausoleums.

Open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. most days, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays, closed Mondays. Admission free. Parking is $15 a car, or free after 5 p.m. No reservations required or accepted.

Open 2-8 p.m. Thursdays, noon-6 p.m. Fridays-Sundays. Suggested donations $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 to 21, free for those younger than 12.

Free, two-hour walking tours for prospective students and their families, led by students, are offered at 10:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. most weekdays, and at 10:15 a.m. most Saturdays. Reservations required. http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/tours.htm

Closed Mondays. Opens at 11 a.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; closes 5 p.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 9 p.m. Thursdays. Admission $10 for adults, free for children accompanied by an adult.

Admission $10 for adults, $5 for children. Closed Mondays. Open noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends. Time-certain reservations recommended for Noah's Ark.

Open noon-5 p.m.

Live theater in a 317-seat venue since 2004.

Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Admission is free. Validated self-parking is usually $3.50 for three hours.

Exhibits, events, and a library of 150,000 TV and radio programs and ads, which you can watch on site. Open noon-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Suggested contribution $10 for adults, $5 for children younger than 14.

Closed Saturdays. Adults $15.50, ages 5-18 $11.50.

A tiny park in the heart of a shopping district, with chairs, tables, fountain and grass.

This 1.9-mile linear park, which has no street address, runs along Santa Monica Boulevard between Whittier and Doheny drives, with greenery and a pedestrian path. It also has the city's 40-foot-long BEVERLY HILLS sign, near North Beverly Drive.

This 11-acre park includes sports fields, picnic areas, four tennis courts and children playgrounds.

This is where "Wizard of Oz" was shot in 1938 and where "Jeopardy!" has been shot since 1984. Walking tours last about two hours, open to ages 12 and above, $33 per person. Tours begin at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. daily.

Two dozen trendy shops and half a dozen spots for food. Opened in 1948.

Fancy and sexy books, many in limited editions at eye-popping prices.

66 rooms. Doubles, $189-$269, more for the three suites. Adjoins Tart restaurant.

Just below the Sunset Strip. 200 rooms (the hotel calls them all "suites"), each at least 750 square feet. (There's a guy on staff whose job is brushing smooth the suede walls in the public areas. Pool and lounge on roof. Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Doubles, $339-$409 nightly, with specials as low as $249.

An affordable chain hotel in the middle of the action. The 176 rooms include 22 loft suites with domed ceilings. Doubles, $149-$199. Pool, free Wi-Fi.

Show-biz insouciance and 63 rooms in a faux French castle that dates to 1929. Just above the Sunset Strip. Doubles from $415.

A neighborhood stalwart since 1983. Lunch, dinner. Korean barbecue, cooked on a charcoal grill at your table in a plain, busy dining room. Main dishes, $18-$23. 

French cuisine (with global influences) that's been winning raves since opening in 2010. Main dishes, $29-$36, prix fixe and tasting menus $49, $59 and $98. Dinner only.

Hot dogs of many kinds since 1939. Burgers too. Often a long line. Dogs, $3.45-$7.95. Opens 9:30 a.m. daily, closes at 2 a.m. most days, 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. No credit cards.

Open 24-7 (except Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur). Main dishes, $12.50-$18.50. The neighboring Kibitz Room cocktail lounge and music venue is open 10:30 a.m.-1:40 a.m. Nice bonus: 90 minutes of free off-street parking with validation.

Lunch and dinner. Main dishes, $9.25-$26.50, most less than $15, with many vegetarian options.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner, but best known for creative breakfasts (served until 4 p.m.). Breakfasts up to $12.50, dinner main dishes, $12.50-$22.75.

Many sidewalk tables. Breakfast and lunch, dinner until 8 p.m. weekdays. Main dishes, $7.50-$16.50.

Breakfast lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes, $18-$45. Bar Marmont (8171 Sunset Blvd.) serves dinner only.

Bar and grill. Main dishes, $9.95-$19.95.

A mod-pub retreat, with brick walls, high ceiling, black ducts. Popular for watching soccer. Lunch and dinner daily, with breakfast on weekends. Most dinner main dishes, $11-$17.

A pirate bar in Koreatown. Beer served and drunk in large quantities. Main dishes around $10.

Biggest encyclopedic art museum west of the Mississippi. Admission, $15 for adults, free for children 17 and younger. Special exhibitions sometimes pricier. Closed Wednesdays.

Goop, bones and natural history. Open daily. Admission, $11 adults, $5 children 5-12.

Admission, $10 for adults, $3 for children 5-12. Closed Mondays.

A big, clean Korean-style spa, with separate floors for men and women, and a co-ed floor with a kids' zone and restaurant. Access to sauna and tubs costs $15-$25 a person.

Hello Kitty and beyond. Open daily.

Bones, bugs and other natural history curios. Open daily.

Adult admission, $7. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Twenty-three acres, 380 rooms, each at least 415 square feet. Building dates to 1907. Doubles from $189.

Nine rooms in a well-appointed hillside 1910 Craftsman house, atop a long, narrow driveway. Not set up for kids. Doubles from $157.

Seven bedrooms, with private baths, in an 1887 Victorian mansion. Doubles from $155-$275. Pool. Kid-friendly.

California comfort food with European influence. Lunch and dinner, brunch Saturdays and Sundays. Dinner main dishes $13-$19.

These are the only California outlets of a global dumpling-house chain born in Taiwan. Pork-and-broth-filled dumplings, (xiao long bao), a specialty. Lunch and dinner, no reservations, often a line. Most dishes $5-$9.25. Second location at 1088 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007.

French bistro style, pleasant sidewalk dining under arched arcade. Gourmet market inside. Breakfast and lunch. Closed Sundays. Lunch main dishes $12-$19.50. Long menu of food to go from the market.

Dinner only. Live jazz nightly (no cover charge) and jazz brunch on Sundays. Dinner main dishes about $11-$30.

Lunch and dinner, cafeteria style. Opened in 2011 as part of a growing L.A.-area chain. Main dishes up to $11.75.

Lively dining in an old train depot. Dinner main dishes $12-$27. Lunch and dinner daily, reservations accepted. Also, there's an adjoining semi-separate pizza operation known as the Luggage Room Pizzeria, (626) 356-4440, http://www.theluggageroom.com, which also offers lunch and dinner daily, no reservations. Pizza $11-$15.

High-achieving comfort food in kitsch-hipster company. Sidewalk and indoor seating, sometimes a wait on weekend mornings. Lunch main dishes top off at $12.95. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sundays.

Coffee, ice cream, pastries, sandwiches and salads in a colorful corner storefront, beginning at 6:30 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. weekends. Closes between 7 and 9 p.m., depending on the night. Sandwiches usually $6-$6.75.

Breakfast and lunch, with salads, sandwiches and pizza. Prices up to $8.95.

A boho Latino coffeehouse. Coffee drinks up to $4.20. Live Latin music on Thursday nights in spring and summer.

California cuisine. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes $12.95-$24.95.

Sweets, salads and sandwiches up to $9.50.

A community fixture with old sofas, exposed brick, vintage signs. Coffees, breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, salads and wraps. Open 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Main dishes all under $8. Coffee drinks top off about $4.

Ice cream made fresh daily. One scoop: $3.50.

Opened in summer 2011. A cosmopolitan minimalist dining room in a quaint little downtown. Dinner main dishes $12.95-$23. Closed Mondays. Dinner Tuesdays-Sundays. Breakfast and lunch Thursdays-Sundays.

Elegant meals in a Craftsman house (1890s home to a caretaker for a hotel that's now long gone) and on its patio. Closed Mondays. Dinner Tuesdays-Sundays. Lunch Fridays-Sundays. Breakfast from 9 a.m. on weekends. Dinner main dishes $27-$40.

Small but select showcase for European and Asian art, with a handsome sculpture garden and pond. Usually closed Tuesdays. Open noon to 6 p.m., most days, noon to 9 p.m. on Fridays. Closed Christmas Day and Rose Parade Day (Jan. 2), but open noon-6 p.m. Dec. 27, and noon to 4 p.m. New Year's Day. Adult admission $10. Anyone 18 or under is free.

Closed Tuesdays. (Also closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.) Open noon-4:30 p.m. weekdays; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekends and Monday holidays. Adult admission $15 weekdays, $20 weekends. Children age 5-11, $6.

Hour-long tours starting at noon until 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Adult admission $10-$12.50. children under 12 (must be accompanied) free.

Free hour-long interior tours are offered at 2 and 3 p.m. Thursdays from February through August. The rose garden is open to the public, except for Dec. 31-Jan. 2.

About 35 shops and restaurants behind revitalized facades on Colorado Boulevard between Fair Oaks and DeLacey avenues.

Exhibitions, classes and studio space. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, Admission $5.

Travel gear, travel books, European rail passes.

Founded in 1894, the mother of all independent bookshops in Southern California.

Live theater in a 1925 Spanish Colonial building.

About 2,200 undergrads and grad students study amid a complex of increasing architectural diversity. For a self-guided tour, check http://www.marcomm.caltech.edu/pdf/Along_the_Olive_Walk.pdf

There's a busy 3.4-mile jogging/walking/cycling path around the stadium and neighboring Brookside golf course. From March through October, bicycle racers gather at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays for a 10-lap ride.

Sixty-two acres, golf course, multiple playgrounds (including a great one behind the aquatic center), five tennis courts, three baseball fields, two soccer areas.

Open daily. A fair trade retailer for home décor, personal items and gifts.

Thirty grassy acres under tall, shady trees with picnic tables. Free on weekdays. On weekends, all non-residents of San Marino age 4 or over pay $4 each. No alcohol or barbecuing. Inner loop trail good for little kids riding bikes. Open 6:30 a.m.-dusk weekdays, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends (until 8 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time).

The main racing season runs Dec. 26-April 22 with races Thursdays-Sundays and occasionally on Mondays. But the track also offers Autumn Stakes, which in 2011 meant live races Thursday-Sunday Sept. 30-Nov. 6. For fall or winter racing, adult admission is $5 (general) to $20 (Turf Club). Parking $4-$10 with a general admission ticket (free to children 17 and under with a parent).

A four-generation family business, complete with red barn, citrus trees and modest gift shop, that has canned jams and jellies and such since 1891.

Exotic greenery, roaming peacocks, a little lake, an 1885 cottage and 127 acres of calm. Adult admission $8, children 5-12 $3. Open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily, closed Christmas.

Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (6 p.m. during Daylight Saving). Mausoleum and church hours 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.

Adult admission $9. Children age 11 or under free. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Closed Christmas and New Year's Day.

Adult admission $7, students and seniors $5. Closed Christmas and New Year's Day.

Thirty units, most of them one- and two-bedroom suites, 500-800 square feet, with full kitchens. Pool, free WiFi. Doubles from $194.

First built as apartments, its 57 rooms are all 750 square feet or more. Hotel opened late 2010. Doubles from $250.

Pool, 86 rooms. Largely redone in 2011. Doubles from $99. Free WiFi. Parking $15 a day. Ask for a room facing the hills, not Franklin Avenue.

Open since 2001, with 632 rooms. Doubles from $259. (Doubles with breakfast from $289).

Here's where the party people stay. Opened early 2010 with 305 rooms, a pool and upscale nightclub on the roof (beneath the big red W) and a Metro subway station underneath (below the smaller black M). Doubles (about 400 square feet) from $259.

Built in the 1920s, the Roosevelt has 300 rooms, a big pool. Doubles from $189.

Old-school service, old-school menu, old-school setting. Lunch and dinner, main dishes, $15-$44. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Opened late 2009. Many vegan menu items. Breakfast all day. Lunch and dinner main dishes, $12.95-$24.95.

Dinner main dishes (including crispy fish maw salad and deep-fried frog, sautéed with chile and garlic) up to $20.99. Live music usually comes in half-hour bursts, with sets at 7:30, 9 and 10 p.m.

Comfort food in classic '60s coffee-shop style. Open 7- 3 a.m. daily. Most breakfast combos $6.95-$10.95. Lunch and dinner up to $14.95.

Breakfast combos mostly $6.50-$15, lunch and dinner main dishes usually up to $18.

Opened in 2009, with salads, sandwiches and pizzas mostly $9-$12, and big wine and cheese selections. Only place to sit: one big, family-style table. Also Hollywood Bowl picnic baskets, $40 (for two) to $110 (for three). Open 7 a.m.-midnight daily.

Burgers and beer. Beef, chicken and veggie burgers all $10. Opened late 2009, more than 20 beers on tap. Open until 4 a.m.

An Asian-fusion restaurant and bar with a 600-year-old Japanese pagoda and wide, twinkling views of the city. Dinner main dishes, $25-$69; cocktails, $12.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in a big dining room with glass walls and a big patio. Dinner main dishes, $9.95-$32.95.

A 30-day membership ($100) buys free admission (but not dinner) for two. Guests at the Magic Castle Hotel pay $10 Castle admission on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, $15 on Fridays and Saturdays. (Those prices will increase to $20 and $25 when the facility fully reopens.). The current dinner buffet costs $32 per adult, as do the weekend brunches. (Ordinarily, main dishes cost $20-$50.) Evening shows are strictly age 21 and older; children permitted at brunch. Dress code, $8 mandatory valet.

Now in five locations, Roscoe's does soul food, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Main dishes up to $16.30. Open at 8:30 a.m. most mornings, 8 on Sundays. Closes at midnight most nights, but 4 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

One-hour guided trail rides, $30 per person; two hours, $45-$70. On the third Saturday of every month, there's a sunset ride with barbecue dinner and music at the stables for $95 each.

Traveling shows such as "Wicked" (through Jan. 29), and stand-up acts including Kathy Griffin and Jerry Seinfeld.

Two-hour guided tour of the Paramount lot, by foot and golf cart, $45 per person. 10 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Reservations required.

The 3,332-seat venue, unveiled in 2001, is where the Oscars are held yearly and it's home to Cirque du Soleil's "Iris" production, Tickets run $43-$253 (plus $13 each in added fees). The live show, heavy on gymnastics, dancing and cinematic effects, is recommended by the producers for ages 5 and older. Dark on Mondays. (The theater website also has info on tours of the venue.)

Built in 1926 with 1,000 seats, reborn after a Disney rejuvenation in 1991. General admission adult, $15; children/seniors, $12. VIP tickets also available.

Gift shop open Mondays-Saturdays, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., with pumpkin bread ($10 a loaf), hand-dipped chocolates and peanut brittle.

Newsstand, gifts and books.

Used books and music, bought and sold.

It's a mall wrapped around the Kodak Theatre and decorated with cinematic flourishes, including a set of concrete elephants.

Tours available, $13.50 for adults, $6.50 for children; call (323) 463-9576. Movies, $13.75 for adults and $10.75 for children.

This bus tour company, born in 1935, does tours of Hollywood, stars' homes and many other locales. Tickets $18-$133, depending on the tour.

Sixty-four acres of graves and crypts, including some stars, eagerly presented to visitors via celebrity grave maps, Dia de los Muertos parties and more.

In the sidewalk fronting this massive music store, more than 400 rock stars have left handprints. This was the Guitar Center chain's first store.

New and used music, videos and posters, with occasional free in-store concerts.

A mini-mall with indie spirit, offering art books, Umami burgers, Urban Outfitters, etc.

The 2012 summer season runs June 22-Sept. 22.

The 2012 season runs late April through late October.

More than a dozen live theater spaces stand on or near Santa Monica Boulevard between La Brea Avenue and El Centro Street. (6400-7400), most with 99 seats or fewer. Some venues, like the Hudson Theatres at 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., have multiple performance spaces. Expect prices around $25.

Semi-ironic bikini burlesque. Two-drink minimum, no cover. Valet parking, $5.

This is a hidden little watering hole with a vintage feel and $14 cocktails. Enter from the rear, next to Musso & Frank's. Open Tuesdays-Saturdays. Casual and jazzy, 6 -9 p.m., then the music turns to rock, the scene gets trendier and the admission often depends on a doorman's consultation of the guest list.