Destination Guides > North America > USA > West Coast > California > Los Angeles
Los Angeles
This sprawling metropolis started out as a small farming community called El Pueblo de Nuestro Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río Porciúncula, and over time this tongue-twister of a place name was shorted to LA.
LA is a seemingly endless string of suburbs threaded together by a web of freeways. The city centre is an initially disappointing bunch of high rise buildings and most attractions in LA are in the suburbs and indeed suburbs like Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Beverley Hills, Hollywood and Anaheim attract more tourists than the downtown area.
Practical information
Downtown LA Visitors Center
685 S Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
Tel (213) 689 8822
Website www.greaterlosangeles.com
Open Mon-Fri 8am-5.30pm
Little Tokyo Visitors Center
307 E 1st Street, Los Angeles
Tel (213) 613 1911
Website www.visitlittletokyo.com
Open Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm
Santa Monica Visitors Center
Santa Monica Place Mall, Corner 2nd Street & Colorado Boulevard, Santa Monica
Tel (310) 393 7593
Website www.santamonica.com
Open 10am-4pm daily
Long Beach Information Kiosk
Aquarium Way, Long Beach
Website www.visitlongbeach.com
Open Jan-Feb Fri-Sun 10am-4pm; Mar-Sep 10am-6pm daily; Oct-Dec Fri-Sun 10am-4pm
Newport Beach Visitors Bureau
110 Newport Center Drive, Suite 120, Newport Beach
Tel (949) 719 6100 or 800 942 6278
Website www.newportbeach-cvb.com
Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau
252 Broadway, Laguna Beach
Tel (949) 497 9229 or 800 877 1115
Website www.lagunabeachinfo.org
Open Jan-Jun Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm; Jul-Aug Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm, Sun 11am-3pm; Sep-Dec Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-3pm
INTERNET ACCESS
If you're hostel doesn't have internet access you can use the internet at LA's public libraries.
LA Central Library
630 W 5th Street, Los Angeles
Tel (213) 228 7000
Website www.lapl.org
Open Mon-Thu 10am-8pm, Fri-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 1pm-5pm
There are free wi-fi hotzones on Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach between Ocean Boulevard and 4th Street (website www.longbeachportals.com) and in Pershing Square in downtown LA (website www.experiencela.com/pershingwifi/) and Little Tokyo (website
www.littletokyounplugged.org).
Panera Bread (website www.panerabread.com) have free wi-fi access at most of their branches including 8647 South Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles; 4720 Lincoln Boulevard, Marina del Rey and 501 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica.
