Los Angeles Travel Guide

If you'd like free visitor information before you go, contact L.A. INC., which is the newer, snazzier moniker for the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau (tel. 800/366-6116 or 213/689-8822; www.visitLAnow.com). Staffers will send you a free visitor's kit, provide a schedule of upcoming events, and answer questions over the phone. A walk-in visitor center is located Downtown at 685 S. Figueroa St.

In addition, almost every municipality and district in Los Angeles has a dedicated tourist bureau or chamber of commerce that will be happy to send you information on a particular area.

To read numerous blogs about the Los Angeles scene, log onto LA.COMfidential at www.la.com/blog, a popular travel blog site whose motto is "Stripping the halo off the City of Angels." For a more esoteric array of L.A.-based blogs, try Metroblogging Los Angeles at www.blogging.la.

Visitor Information Centers

The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau (or L.A. INC.; tel. 800/366-6116 or 213/689-8822; www.visitLAnow.com) is the city's main source for information. In addition to maintaining an informative website, answering telephone inquiries, and sending free visitors kits, the bureau provides two walk-in visitor centers: Downtown at 685 S. Figueroa St. (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm), and in Hollywood at the Hollywood & Highland Center, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (daily 10am-11pm).

Many Los Angeles-area communities also have their own information centers and often maintain detailed and colorful websites that are loaded with timely information. These include the following:

• The Beverly Hills Visitors Bureau, 239 S. Beverly Dr. (tel. 800/345-2210 or 310/248-1015; www.beverlyhillscvb.com), is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5pm.

• The Hollywood Arts Council, P.O. Box 931056, Dept. 1995, Hollywood, CA 90093 (tel. 323/462-2355; www.discoverhollywood.com), publishes the magazine Discover Hollywood, a biannual publication that contains listings and schedules for the area's many theaters, galleries, music venues, and comedy clubs; the current issue is always available online. You can also load up on visitor information at the Hollywood Visitor Center, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 237 (tel. 323/467-6412), on the second level of the Hollywood & Highland mall (between Babylon Court and Awards Walk).

• The West Hollywood Convention and Visitors Bureau, 8687 Melrose Ave., M-26, West Hollywood, CA 90096 (tel. 800/368-6020 or 310/289-2525; www.visitwesthollywood.com), is located in the Pacific Design Center and is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm.

• The Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau (tel. 800/544-5319 or 310/393-7593; www.santamonica.com) is the best source for information about Santa Monica. The Palisades Park walk-up center is located near the Santa Monica Pier, at 1400 Ocean Ave. (between Santa Monica Blvd. and Broadway), and is open daily from 10am to 4pm. Also check out www.malibu.org for information about Malibu, to the northwest.

• The Pasadena Convention and Visitors Bureau, 171 S. Los Robles Ave. (tel. 626/795-9311; www.pasadenacal.com), is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Other Information Centers

Local tourist boards are great for information regarding attractions and special events, but they often fail to keep a finger on the pulse of what's "in" in L.A., especially with regard to dining, culture, and nightlife. Several city-oriented newspapers and magazines offer more up-to-date info. L.A. Weekly (www.laweekly.com), a free listings magazine, is packed with information on current events around town. It's available from sidewalk news racks and in many stores and restaurants around the city; it also has a lively website.

The Los Angeles Times "Calendar" section of the Sunday paper, an excellent guide to the world of entertainment in and around L.A., includes listings of what's doing and where to do it. The Times also maintains a comprehensive website at www.calendarlive.com; once there, you can find departments with names like "Southland Scenes," "Tourist Tips," "Family & Kids," and "Recreation & Fitness." Information is culled from the newspaper's many departments and is always up-to-date. If you want to check out L.A.'s most immediate news, the Times's main website is www.latimes.com.

Los Angeles magazine (www.lamag.com) is a glossy city-based monthly full of real news and pure gossip, plus guides to L.A.'s art, music, and food scenes. Its calendar of events gives an excellent overview of goings-on at museums, art galleries, musical venues, and other places. The magazine is available at newsstands around town and in other major U.S. cities; you can also access stories and listings from the current issue on the Internet. Cybersurfers should visit @ L.A.'s website, www.at-la.com; its exceptional search engine provides links to more than 23,000 sites relating to the L.A. area.