An Instagrammers Guide to L.A

This was my first visit to L.A. and I was not disappointed. I left only wanting more of Los Angeles and already planning a comeback to the city of angels in the near future.

Now I’d like you guys to come along my L.A journey while I take you through some of the most picturesque spots the city has to offer. Lets get wandering.

I always would recommend having your own car in California, its really the best mode of transportation in the state. However, as with any other big city, uber and Lyft are perfectly good options as well.

Where to go

The Getty Centre

The Getty centre is an art museum which is divided into The Getty Villa and The Getty Centre. Unfortunately I only had time to visit the centre but after having visited it I can only imagine how gorgeous the villa campus must be.

You take a train ride to the top of the hill where the museum is located, which was picturesque in itself. Once at the top, everything is white, the buildings, the pillars and the floors. And along with getting heaven vibes (its on top of a hill and everything is white, I mean c’mon), I thought it felt like a perfect place to shoot for those #whywhiteworks hashtags, am I right?!

Definitely check out all the different exhibits available (it changes all the time) while you’re up there.

Griffith Observatory

As the name references, it is in fact a Science Observatory on top of a hill with some of the best views L.A. has to offer. You never have to enter the observatory to experience the views of the city. Yes, including that famous Hollywood sign. What could scream a more L.A “instagrammable” shot than that?

There were several hiking trails in the area for the active “life-stylers” out there.

Malibu Pier

This spot is serene. Its about an hour drive out of L.A along the beautiful coastline on the Trans Pacific highway. The views and the pictures alone are reason enough to come out here. Also seeing some of those Malibu beach homes IRL after constantly seeing them in films and TV shows did give me major inspiration for future dream beach homes. A girl can dream!

You can sit on the pier or on the beach, and enjoy some coffee with a side of hunky surfers. There is a cafe, gift shop and an amazing restaurant (Malibu Farms which I mention in the next section) right on the pier for you to enjoy.

How beautiful is the sunset here?

The Beverly Hills Hotel

The iconic Beverly Hills Hotel is a must see. You might wonder why would anyone add a hotel to their sight-seeing list, but trust me you won’t regret making this stop. Especially for the keen visual storytellers and the ones (like myself) that enjoy a greatly designed interior. The details are marvellous. The interesting pops of blush pink and leaf green all throughout the hotel gives it a cohesive yet modern colour scheme, making it one of the more instagrammable locations in L.A. Hands down. And folks there’s a succulent wall, who doesn’t love succulents?

Try and make reservations ahead of time for the hotel cafe booth which is such a picture perfect spot. We, unfortunately, did not know about this little detail before our trip and once we got there all the booths were booked up and taken. However your girl did get to enjoy sitting at the poolside cafe and enjoy some good ol’ rosé.

LACMA Lights

Everyone has seen someone’s instagram picture at this spot and its a must visit for taking some unique shots. It is a spot in front of the LACMA museum dotted with rows and rows of lights as pictured below. I recommend going at night to truly capture the magic of this location. The pictures here are really worth a thousand words. Oh and you might even catch a proposal or two here, apparently it’s a pretty popular proposal spot. I happened to catch one myself and it was so beautiful.

Where to Eat and Drink

Ostrich Farm

You have to eat here, preferably brunch because they are known for it. However you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, to be honest. I recommend going in the morning to really capture the beautiful and well-lit interior. And try their tartines and avocado toast, you can thank me later.

photo © this website

photo © this webpage

Alfred Tea Room

One of the more prettier cafes I’ve come across. They have an extensive collection of specialty tea drinks, but don’t worry coffee lovers there are americanos and cappuccinos galore. You have to try the chaga elixir drink here, its actually everything and its completely dairy free and interestingly caffeine free for those that are not looking for the caffeine jitters. Usually I am always looking for a caffeine kick so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the drink. It also all felt very L.A with the whole caffeine free dairy free superfood mushroom drink.

Salt and Staw

I’m sure you’ve seen all the instagram posts at this very famous and very instagrammable ice cream shop known for its unique flavours and a must visit.

Malibu Farms

As I mentioned earlier, this is located right on the Malibu pier with some of most gorgeous views of the sunset I’ve ever seen. If you don’t try anything else here, please do yourself a favour and try the cauliflower pizza (sounds gross? maybe but it doesn’t taste gross, trust me on this one). Being gluten and lactose intolerant, when I come across pizza that doesn’t contain either and still tastes amazing, I feel like I’ve won some sort of food lottery. The crab cakes are pictured below which was just as delicious, you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu here. Dinner and sunset done right. Period.