My brother just moved out there and has been working a lot so he hasn’t really explored that much. Going to visit him in March.
He lives near Cedar Sinai. I don’t mind hitting some of the tourist highlights but I am not a huge celebrity fan. No celeb house tours or anything cheesy like that.
We’ve got 4 days. What should we do?
Your first stop should be the Grifith Observatory for the view of the city.
If you’re into food/restaurants (especially authentic “ethnic” places) do some research into Jonathan Gold’s reviews.
Run out to Santa Monica and check out the beach and/or the local 3rd Street shopping district. Well, okay, it’ll be too cold for prime laying out on the beach, but consider that this is winter, after all, and realize that the weather only gets better the rest of the year.
Run on into downtown Los Angeles and see the tall buildings - not the tallest of anywhere, but not bad either. Visit Union Station and pretend that this is the 1930s with some famous starlet or other arriving from the east coast on Track 12. The historic ethnic neighborhoods are close by, Olvera Street, Little Tokyo, and Chinatown - so do some walking around.
Into art? Check out the Getty.
Into classic cars? Check out the Peterson Museum. (Just a block or two from the La Brea Tar Pits too.) There’s also one in Sylmar (in the San Fernando Valley). I think it’s the Nethercutt Museum.
ETA: Is Ronald Reagan your patron saint? If so (or even if not), check out the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, a fairly short drive away.
If you like wine, run up the Pacific Coast Highway up to the Buellton area and check out the Santa Ynez wineries. It’s a nice drive along the coast.
So much depends on what you like… I’m a zoo fan, and the first thing I do in any new city is check out the zoo. The Los Angeles Zoo is pretty good. It’s clever, innovative, and well worth a look. It’s a bit hilly, so expect to get a bit tired…
Yep. You haven’t told us what you like.
It’s a pretty good city for Museums as has been noted above. I’ll second the recommendation for The Getty (Note that there are TWO of them, both worth seeing). LACMA is more than respectable as Art Museums go. A decent “under the radar” art museum is The Hammer Museum. The Peterson Museum isn’t my thing, but if you’re into cars it’s definitely your thing. I disagree with Senegoid that the Reagan Library is worthwhile whether or not you’re a fan- I’d say it is only worthwhile if you are a Reagan fan or, otherwise, a Presidential History buff.
If you’re going to do the Zoo, definitely do The Autry Museum which is right across the parking lot.
If you do the Observatory, enjoy the view as Elmer J. Fudd suggests but also go inside it’s awesome.
Of course, if you’re not into museums disregard all of the above.
Like hiking? One of the things I love about L.A. is that you can spend the day on wonderful hiking trails in the Santa Monica Mountains without leaving “city life” behind. As soon as you return to the bottom of the mountain, you can walk right into a great restaurant or shops (depending on how sweaty you get hiking!).
Music?
Here’s the calendar for the L.A. Music Center. In March, you’ve got “The Flying Dutchman”, John Adams’ “The Gospel According to the Other Mary”, and Wynton Marsalis in concert.
Less “fancy pants” music?
Best places for internal quality control (meaning that generally you can stop in without knowing who is playing and still expect it to be pretty good), I’d suggest Room 5 and The Hotel Cafe.
Want to check out the Whiskey or the Viper Room on The Sunset Strip? I’d say you should first familiarize yourself with the bands on the bill- internal quality control isn’t as good at those places. If the band is good, then yes those are cool places to hear music.
Live Comedy?
You can pretty much expect a decent show any day of the week at The Improv, The Comedy Store, or The Laugh Factory. For atmoshpere, I prefer The Improv of those three. My PRIMARY recommendation for Comedy would be The UCB Theatre (the original is in New York, but there has been a vibrant community growing around the L.A. Theatre for several years now). Click on any show on the calendar for details. The theatre is very nuturing to new talent and encourages risk taking- the shows that lack any “names” are actually most likely to be the coolest shows- so, stop in there for anything. The theatre’s “signature” show is called ASSSSCAT- which is every Saturday and Sunday (the Sunday show is free, but you have to line up ridiculously far in advance to be sure to get in).
As I listed museums in the above post, I meant to include The Annenberg Space for Photography. It is wonderful, and admission is free.
Wow. Thanks for all of the great ideas. Keep 'em coming!
Have a burger at The Apple Pan.
Go down to Santa Monica and ride the Ferris wheel on the pier.
Natural History Museum if you like dinosaurs. LA County Arboretum if you like trees. 101 Freeway if you like traffic. 
If you’re not from the West coast, you might want to check out some local food places. In’N’Out Burgers is very popular.
Alas, Cedar Sinai kicked out Tail o’ the Pup about five years ago to build condos (which never got built.)
Seconded. And since I seem to do this in every LA thread, I see no reason to stop now.
If you like weird, then check out:
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
I know you said you are not into stars, but if you want to see where a lot of them are buried, then check out:
Pierce Bros Westwood Village. It’s small, so you can swing through in a short time.
For a cool shop with odd stuff, visit:
Gold Bug in Pasadena. It’s just block off the main Old Town shopping street, which is nice to visit also.
Two ideas… I have not read the responses so I apologize if these ideas have been made already. Go to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
If you enjoy roller coasters go to “Magic Mountain”. The entrance fee is high, I believe they are charging 80.00 for an adult admission but they have a great assortment of roller coasters.In winter they are open on weekends only.
Hope you have a great trip.
The poster who mentioned Jonathon Gold has a great idea.
Also if you like heart attack inducing food go to “Tommy’s”, a burger joint. Almost everything on the menu comes with chili on top of it so if you don’t want chili say so. If you should go to a Tommy’s make sure the place is called Tommy’s as there are a lot of imitators, you will know it’s not the real mccoy as the name will be spelled differently. Also I think the “Tommy’s” sign will use the word original on it if I remember correctly.
Lot’s of great Mexican places in L.A. as you may imagine too.
Also make a trip to “Tommy’s” burgers if you like heart attack inducing food. Almost everything on the menu comes with chili so request without if you so desire. There are a fair share of fake “Tommy’s” as well so make sure you go to an authentic one also. The authentic one’s spell “Tommy’s”… “Tommy’s. ha ha. And I think their signage say’s something to the effect of them being the “original” Tommy’s”.
Lot’s of great Mexican food in L.A. as you may imagine, and Salvadorian food as well.
This will be going against the grain, but I love fast food, and I was underwhelmed by Tommy’s and In-N-Out. You’ll get a good meal, but the way people talk about them, a choir of cherubim will sing for you with every bite. Not so. What you should do is try Del Taco. It’s what Taco Bell wishes it could be.
You’ve already been suggested more than four days of activities. I’ll second the Reagan Library, suggest the Nixon Library if you feel like driving down to Yorba Linda, and strongly recommend hitting the beach.
edit: To clarify, everywhere has good “fast” burger places. This is America. But, while most of the South and Southwest have good Mexican restaurants, fast food Mexican places usually aren’t that hot. Del Taco is a shining exception.