Top Five Tourist Traps in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California is a place of beautiful beaches, sunny skies, and many popular tourist traps. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy visiting and having a great time. It means you can explore L.A. as an informed and knowledgeable traveler who won’t be snookered by the money-taking schemes that abound in the city of angels. Do the research, use common sense, and have a fantastic trip!

Hollywood Boulevard: One of the most popular attractions in LA, Hollywood Boulevard was once home to the greatest studios and a milieu of popular celebrities and visitors. Now, it is a street lined with overpriced souvenir shops and boutiques, as well as generic, expensive restaurants. However, it is worth visiting Hollywood Boulevard's walk of stars and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. They are two parts of historic Hollywood Boulevard that are worth seeing and free to boot. Take a nice stroll down Hollywood Boulevard and take in the sights, but beware the myriad of t-shirt stands, souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants.

Universal Studios: Universal Studios is a great place to come if you have kids, but like Disneyland in Anaheim, it is severely overpriced. The rides, while amusing, are not as great as they’re made out to be. Experience it once if you like, b ut if you’re going to shell out the cash, check out Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm Theme Park, or Disneyland’s California Adventure. They’re still tourist traps, but the rides are generally better. The food is the usual theme park fare. If you go, please take a lunch and drinks. You’ll save a ton of money, energy and time by doing so. Universal Studios is touristy and commercialized; there are better ways to explore LA without burning a hole in your pocketbook.

Melrose Avenue: One of LA’s most visited locations, Melrose Avenue boasts incredibly expensive dining and lots of shopping. Other than people watching, you can eat or shop while waiting anxiously to catch one glimpse of a star. In reality, you would have to go every day for at least a week to actually catch a glimpse of anyone or you might pass a disguised celebrity without noticing. Either way, you’re in for disappointment on the star-gazing end.

Homes of the Stars Tours: One of the biggest rip-offs in Los Angeles, you can find any number of “guides” trying to take you on a sightseeing adventure of the glamorous homes of Hollywood’s A-List stars. If you use a little common sense, you’d wonder why an A-list star would provide their personal address to the guy on the street waving the sign. Even if the address were correct or in the general vicinity of the home, you won't see anything but huge houses and mansions and you’ll never know whose you really saw. You are much more likely to run into a star randomly going to the supermarket in Malibu or the farmer’s market in Hollywood.

Rodeo Drive: Another of Los Angeles’ gems, Rodeo Drive is the place to shop, shop, and shop some more. If you have a grand or more to drop, that is. While you might see some famous faces, the only activity Rodeo Drive offers the average tourist is great people watching and excellent window shopping. Hosting a number of high-end stores and shops, as well as ritzy, overpriced cafes and restaurants, Rodeo Drive is truly a place to love briefly and leave quickly.

Tourist traps exist in every part of the world in any and every place you visit. Knowing how to avoid them and how to navigate them is a skill learned by experienced travelers. For those who are beginning travelers, knowing the places to visit and the places to avoid is extremely helpful.