Multi-Day LA: Build Your Circuit
Multi-Day Trips in Los Angeles
LA punishes itineraries that hop between neighborhoods at random. It rewards the ones that group by geography and let one part of the basin fill an entire day. Here are three circuits built that way, one urban, one film-industry, one desert.
Circuit 1: Coastal and urban, 3 days
Day 1 stays in Downtown: Union Station’s Mission Moderne hall, lunch at Grand Central Market, a $1 ride up Bunker Hill on Angels Flight, then The Broad and Walt Disney Concert Hall, both free to enter. Day 2 shifts to Hollywood: a studio tour in the morning, the Walk of Fame and TCL Chinese Theatre at midday, then Griffith Observatory for sunset over the basin, where hilltop parking runs a flat $10/hr, card only, and shuts down entirely on Mondays. Day 3 is the Westside: the Getty Center’s art and gardens in the morning (parking is $25 standard, dropping to $15 after 3pm and $10 after 6pm), then Santa Monica Pier and a ride along The Strand bike path to the Venice Canals for sunset. Reserve the timed Getty entry, which is free, at getty.edu . Book a Getty Center guided highlights tour if you’d rather not navigate the galleries solo.
Circuit 2: Film and entertainment, 4 days
Day 1 is Universal Studios Hollywood, a full day covering the theme park and its included tram tour, priced dynamically and rarely under $109. Day 2 pairs the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank (3 hours, kids under 5 not permitted, book through wbstudiotour.com ) with LACMA’s Urban Light installation, free and open 24/7 on Wilshire. Day 3 is Paramount’s studio tour (ages 10 and up only) followed by an evening concert at the Hollywood Bowl, where upper bench seats for LA Phil shows can run as low as $1. Day 4 closes out at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, roughly 30 miles southeast, where 1-day tickets range from about $104 on an off-peak date to $206 or more during peak holiday tiers. Check Disneyland ticket tiers and book ahead since the calendar-based pricing rewards planning early.
Circuit 3: Desert and mountain, 3 days
Day 1 drives I-10 east to Palm Springs, rides the aerial tramway up Mount San Jacinto, and tours the town’s mid-century modern architecture before an overnight stay. Day 2 is an early start through Joshua Tree National Park, covering Hidden Valley, Barker Dam, and Keys View, then a drive north to Big Bear Lake or back toward Pasadena for the evening. Day 3 wraps with the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and the Huntington Library’s botanical gardens in San Marino before returning to central LA.
Any circuit that includes Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, or Malibu needs a rental car; the desert legs especially aren’t reachable by transit, and summer highs in the low desert routinely clear 110°F, which is a real hazard for hiking or a car with a weak cooling system. For the day-by-day version of the coastal loop broken out on its own, see the Los Angeles day trips guide .