"A walk and more on the Westside!" West Los Angeles by marinarena

L.A. is a tale of many cities: the west, the east, the north (or Valley regions), the south and the ever developing downtown center. See the main Los Angeles page for the last four parts.

Other cities (separate from the city of L.A.) are sometimes considered the Westside and have a separate set of VT pages. They include: Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. See on my Travel Pages link.

For the Westside, I'll be covering the well-stretched area which is considered "the Westside", eventually to include areas such as Park La Brea, Miracle Mile, Westwood, Brentwood, Century City, Cheviot Hills, and Rancho Park inside) and Mid-City West.

One of L.A.'s many quaint town centers, strip malls or plaza-like settings is Westwood Village (as pictured). Here, some Hollywood-like movie premieres take place. Be sure to bring a camera here-you may catch a celeb!

Getty Museum Gardens, Los Angeles

I love gardens!! My shirt went very nicely with the lavendar flowers all around at the Getty.

There are several places of lovely greens and floral scenes throughout the Westside. Take similar shots in Cheviot Hills and Beverly Hills!

Getty Museum, Los Angeles

The Westside is most visible on TV, so many outside California see this part of the city. There is glamor, glitz and everything posh here- but did you know there is also art?

Come to L.A. to experience art -yes, there is an art scene in Los Angeles. Go to the Getty Museum! Postpone visiting Rodeo Drive and tour the Getty first, which features great masterpieces of painting sculpture and more. And not only is there art but beautiful, lush gardens (as pictured) and spectacular hill-top views to enjoy while you're there.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (most always referred as LACMA) is the original art house of the Westside (see LACMA in my tips and travelogues). Over the years, LACMA has looked more and more stunning as it sits in Park La Brea. LACMA is lately getting more love in the region, partly because of the wildly popular Tut exhibition and also it is becoming more and more clear that the quality, quantity and diversity of art is just more appreciated than the Getty collection.

• Pros:glamor, great dining, sophistication art/cultural centers, many hip happenings in the area
• Cons:405/ 10 fwy traffic, tendency to encounter spoiled/snobby people, often pretentious, high rents and overall costs
• In a nutshell:Feel cool even if you're not in West L.A.