When Arlo Guthrie sang “Coming into Los Angeles,” it sounded like this city had a warm welcome for everyone. After all, she has also done a lot to show her chocolate side as much as possible. Because the associations with the well-known names Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu and Pasadena still arouse certain feelings of happiness – even though these are separate communities and only part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Los Angeles is an ensemble of villages gone wild, as a travel writer once said, describing a drive from downtown LA via Santa Monica to Malibu. How dense the ‘agglomerate’ of the individual villages is is only noticeable to very attentive drivers and passengers when signs on the side of the road announce a new municipality.
The enormous expansion of this urban settlement structure quickly disturbs newcomers. It is less the lack of clarity than the sheer vast distances in this city that cause confusion. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 18.7 million in an area of 14,763 km² (this corresponds to that of Tyrol and Vorarlberg together). And even the smaller Los Angeles County, to which 88 self-governing cities belong, still has an area of 10,517 km² (slightly larger than Carinthia) and, with around 10.1 million inhabitants, is the most populous in the entire USA.
In the middle of this urban settlement area there are not only some grandiose sights, which are known as living film sets from television and cinema, but also natural beauty and casual settings along the Pacific coast – from Malibu to Santa Monica to Ranccho Palos Verdes in the south. Hardly any region of the world appears more often in films than the locations in Los Angeles County.
Since downtown Los Angeles began developing into a hypermodern skyscraper metropolis in the 1970s, the heart of the City of Angels has also become an interesting travel destination with some great sights.
According to topschoolsintheusa, LA and its environs are a worthy vacation destination – and it would be a shame if they were viewed solely as a starting point for a drive through the Southwest.
Los Angeles information
Location and Size
Located in sunny Southern California, Los Angeles borders the Pacific Ocean coast. Viewed from above, the city is framed by the Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Santa Ana Mountains. The urban area covers an area of 1,290 km².
Population
With around 3.9 million residents, Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States after New York. If you add the inhabitants of the entire Greater Los Angeles Area, you get around 18 million inhabitants. They come from a total of 140 countries and around 224 different languages are spoken. Immigration, particularly from Latin America, Asia and the Pacific Islands, is steadily increasing and more than a third of today’s population was born outside the United States.
Arriving
by plane
Los International Airport (LAX) is located 17 miles southwest of Los Angeles.
Tourism and Economy
Of course, tourism in Los Angeles does not play an unimportant role – but there should be no question that the film industry is the most important source of income for the city.
Climate
In Los Angeles, the weather is warm and pleasant all year round. The Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains protect them from temperature and humidity extremes. The warm and humid air from the Pacific Ocean means that summers are dry and sunny and winters are cool and humid. Sea breezes cool the beach communities during the hot summer months, but inland temperatures can soar to well over 32°C, particularly in the numerous gorges and valleys surrounding the area. Smog often collects in low-lying areas, and sometimes the hot and dusty Santa Ana winds blow heavily into the city from the surrounding mountains.
| Average temperatures in Los Angeles in °C | ||||||||||||
| Month | Jan | Feb | March | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Max | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 19 |
| Min | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 9 |
Clothing
In terms of clothing, everything is allowed in LA, depending on the temperatures of the respective season. But if you want to dine in a chic restaurant in the evening or hit the dance floor in one of the trendy clubs, you should bring an appropriate outfit with you, or let your credit card glow in the afternoon on LA shopping miles.
Festivals, events and more
One should celebrate the festivals as they fall – so they say. If you want to follow this motto in LA, you need a good portion of fitness. If you take a look at the city’s events calendar, you’ll quickly see why. Annual festivities include:
January
The Japanese New Year Celebrations in Downtown LA
February
The Golden Dragon Parade , which heralds the Chinese New Year.
The Mardi Gras in downtown LA, which is in no way inferior to the carnival parades in Brazil and New Orleans in terms of its attractiveness.
The Academy Awards , of course, better known as the Oscars in Hollywood’s legendary Kodak Theater
March
The Los Angeles Marathon
April
The Fiesta Broadway . Nowhere else in the USA is May 5th, the Mexican Independence Day, celebrated more than in downtown LA.
May
The actual Cinco de Mayo Celebration
The UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival
June
The Los Angeles Film Festival in Downtown LA
The Playboy Jazz Festival lures Hollywood with fantastic jazz, blues and world music performances.
August
During the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival downtown LA is once again all about film.
October
The Hollywood International Film Festival , another must-attend cinema event.
