You could spend your day in L.A. at the Universal Studios theme park and the attached City Walk outdoor mall. (Maybe you've got kids with you. Maybe you're a dork. I don't know.)

Or you could take a picture of the Hollywood sign. (No, you can't drive to it. You can't even walk to it; there's a fence. So, from Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, turn uphill onto Beachwood Canyon Drive and take a photo halfway up the street. Or park at the end of Beachwood and hike 30 minutes to get really close.)

You could stroll down Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's Chinese Theater and look at all the celebrity handprints and footprints, pose for photos with the weirdos who dress up as superheroes and ask you for money, then go hang out the Hollywood and Highland Center mall. You could spend the day gawking at the expensive stores on the twisty part of Rodeo Drive. You could drive 45 minutes south to Disneyland, for all I care. But you won't have seen L.A.

Here's how I would spend my time in L.A., on my first trip or my tenth.

• 1. Huntington Library, Los Angeles
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• 2. J. Paul Getty Museum
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• 3. Sushi in the Valley
  34.143268-118.392055
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• 4. Runyon Canyon Park, Los Angeles
  34.103434-118.348954
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• 5. Robertson Boulevard
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• 6. Malibu Beach
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• 7. Olvera Street
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• 8. Warner Brothers Studio Tour
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• 9. The Dresden Room
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• 10. Third Street Promenade
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• Bonus: Celebrity Centre International
  34.104638-118.319019
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