Two Days in LA

California is probably one of my favorite states to visit, but we typically venture up north to wine country. Last weekend, we decided to change things up and explore Los Angeles instead of doing the typical Napa weekend. I am so glad we did because it was a nice change of pace and scenery! There is so much to see and do in LA. You definitely won’t be bored if you decide to spend a weekend there.

Below is what we did during our 48 hours in LA. We didn’t have a ton of time, but we made the most of every second!

Friday (Venice)

We arrived at LAX around dinner time on Friday night and decided to go straight to a restaurant near Venice Beach. It wasn’t too far of a drive from the airport, so we figured it would be the perfect location.

• Rose Cafe
  • We made a reservation at the Rose Cafe for dinner, and it was amazing. Everything we had was incredible, including the cocktails. All of the dishes are meant to share, so we were able to try several different menu items. The cauliflower was amazing!

• Urban Light
  • After dinner, we decided to check out the Urban Lights at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I had seen several pictures of this before, and I thought it looked incredible. I am glad we stopped because it was really neat to see in person. Unfortunately, there were probably 100+ other people there trying to get pictures, so just know that it will probably be crowded when you go! You don’t have to pay to see the Urban Light display, which is nice.

Saturday (Hollywood & Beverly Hills)

• Runyon Canyon
  • We woke up somewhat early on Saturday morning to explore Runyon Canyon Park. It was a short 5-minute walk from our Air B&B, and I wanted to get a little bit of exercise in. The longest hike you can do in the park is about 3 miles, so it isn’t too strenuous. It is a decent incline to walk up to the top, so be prepared to sweat a little.
  • The views from the top were really neat! You can basically see all of LA and the Hollywood sign. You will also see Griffith Observatory. It was the perfect way to start our morning.

• Brunch in Beverly Hills
  • After we got showered and dressed for the day, we made our way over to Beverly Hills to find some brunch. We ended up eating at this place called The Farm of Beverly Hills. It is only a block away from Rodeo drive, so it is in a really good location. The food was delicious! This definitely hit the spot after our hike.

• Rodeo Drive
  • We decided to walk around Rodeo Drive after brunch since it is a very iconic street. It is really fun to walk around and window shop. I definitely wasn’t going to drop thousands of dollars on a new purse or a pair of shoes, but it is fun to look at all the fancy stores. There are a few other stores that are more affordable on the surrounding streets.

• Beverly Hills Hotel
  • We really wanted to stay around the Beverly Hills area, so we decided to check out the famous Beverly Hills Hotel. This hotel has been around for over a hundred years, and they have done a great job of preserving the history. The hotel has a TON of character and you kind of feel like you are walking back in time. I loved everything about this place.
  • We decided to grab a cocktail at the Polo Lounge and relax outside for a bit. It was such a nice atmosphere, and I think I could have stayed forever if the drinks weren’t over $20 a piece. I would love to stay overnight here someday, so I guess I better start saving!

• The Grove and Farmer’s Market
  • We had a little time to kill before dinner, so we decided to check out The Grove outdoor shopping mall. This is a cute little area with tons of shops and restaurants. There are plenty of places to grab a drink outside and hang out with your family. The Original Farmer’s Market is also right there, so that was a neat place to check out. The farmers market has tons of different food stands and fresh produce. I was really impressed at how much selection there was! It almost reminded me of a European market that you would see in Spain or something. We each had a little ice cream cone while walking around the market, so that was a nice treat!

• The Ivy
  • We made a dinner reservation at The Ivy because I had seen great reviews of this place. This seemed to be another iconic LA destination, so I am glad we got in! People say they often see celebrities dining here, but I don’t think we saw any ourselves.
  • When we first walked in, we were greeted with complimentary champagne. That was fancy! After that, we were immediately seated on the patio outside, and it was the perfect setting. They have fresh, colored roses at every table and the decor is so cute.
  • Their menu is all over the place, so we weren’t sure what to order. They had everything from tacos to fresh fish to pasta. We started off with fresh guacamole and tortillas. I had my doubts about this being good, but it was FANTASTIC. We each ordered a fresh fish as our entree and we really enjoyed both of our meals. It was the perfect night, and we had a really great experience overall.

• Power House Bar
  • Once we got back to our Air B&B in Hollywood, we decided to venture out to explore a bit of the Hollywood nightlife. We found ourselves at this bar called Power House. It was small, and it had kind of a dive bar feel to it. We ordered a couple of drinks and played a few tunes on the jukebox. I wouldn’t say this bar was anything super special, but it was a fun place to end the night.

Sunday (Venice & Malibu)

• Brunch at The Butcher’s Daughter
  • After sleeping in a little, we ventured out to the coast for some brunch near Venice Beach. We settled on The Butcher’s Daughter because they had a really interesting vegetarian menu. I decided it would be fun to try something different and explore more vegetarian options. The decor inside was really neat. I loved how they had plants hanging from the ceiling.
  • We had a really good avocado toast benedict with an iced coffee and it was all amazing. I would definitely recommend this place if you are in the Venice Beach area.

• Salt & Straw Ice Cream
  • After brunch, we walked around a little bit and stumbled upon one of the popular ice cream shops – Salt & Straw. The minute you walk in, all you can smell is sugar! They had an interesting menu with really unique flavors. I ended up going with a salted caramel cookie dough flavor, and it was amazing! The portions are huge, so I would recommend splitting if you don’t have a big sweet tooth. I don’t even think I ate half of mine.

• Shopping on Abbot Kinney
  • The shopping on Abbot Kinney is incredible! There are tons and tons of cute shops. I could have spent all day wandering around the boutiques. I had to restrain myself from buying too much!
  • Not only are there hundreds of shops, but there are also several wall murals. If you want a good Instagram photo in front of a cute wall, this is your place! My favorite wall mural that we found was the one that said avocado. I think avocado is the official food of California – ha!

• Venice Beach
  • Once we were done shopping, we walked down to Venice Beach. There were quite a few people in this area, so it was a little overwhelming at first. Several people were lounging on the beach because it was such a nice day. This is a very active area where you can ride your bike, walk your dog, ride a scooter, etc.
  • We kept seeing people riding these electronic scooters everywhere, so we decided to give it a try ourselves. If you find a scooter lying around, you can pick it up and unlock it with an app on your phone. It charges you 15 cents per minute, so it is a pretty affordable way to get around town! We each found a scooter and rode it back to our car. It was pretty easy to use overall, but you definitely have to be careful. You could easily get hurt if you get going too fast!

• Nobu Malibu
  • After our time at Venice Beach, we had planned to drive up to Santa Monica and check out the pier. Unfortunately, the traffic was terrible around this area and we couldn’t find anywhere to park for under $40. We decided to ditch that plan and kept heading north on the Pacific Coast Highway instead.
  • We made our way up to Malibu and decided to stop at Nobu for a quick bite. I had heard great things about this restaurant, so I thought it would be fun to finally try it out. Even though it was extremely crowded, we got seated immediately at a table outside. We weren’t sitting directly next to the water, but it was still nice to hear the ocean waves crashing into the shore.
  • If you are looking for a really nice place to eat with incredible views, you must come here! I already plan on coming back later this year. Everything was so good.

• Dinner at Gladstones
  • If you haven’t caught on by now, we really like food. I am sure some people think all we do on trips is eat and drink. I can’t say they are wrong…..ha!
  • We really didn’t eat that much at Nobu, so we decided to get our “real” dinner at Gladstones which is a little further south. Gladstones is special in our family because it was where my parents had their first date! I figured we had to stop back in to check it out.
  • This place is a really cute and casual restaurant right on the water. They had a lot of different seafood options, and we decided to split a piece of halibut. It was delicious! It was really tough to leave after this because it was so relaxing sitting by the ocean. There is something so special about the Pacific Ocean! It just makes me so happy.

After our dinner at Gladstones, we had to head back to the airport. Even though our time was short in LA, I feel like we made the most of it and saw quite a bit! LA is such a big city with so many different neighborhoods, so you definitely can’t see it all in one weekend.

Have you ever been to LA? If so, what was your favorite thing about the city? I would love to hear your thoughts, as we will probably be back for more!