Los Angeles

Currency

Exchange before arriving or simply use a card — US exchange bureaus have poor rates. Budget for tipping: 18-20% at restaurants is expected, not optional, and prices exclude sales tax.

ATMs & cards

Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo ATMs charge around $3-5 for non-customers on top of your own bank’s fee. Many stores offer cashback on debit purchases, which avoids the fee entirely.

Debit cashback at a supermarket till is usually the cheapest way to get cash.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Safe in most visitor areas but varies sharply block to block. Do not leave anything visible in a parked car — smash-and-grab theft is very common. Skid Row downtown is best avoided. Traffic is the real time cost: plan around rush hours.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date

Getting treated

The care is excellent and the bill is the risk. There is no universal system, an ambulance ride alone can run into four figures, and an uninsured hospital stay can be genuinely ruinous. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential — this is the one destination where skipping it can cost more than the trip by an order of magnitude.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

LA’s best food is not fine dining — it is tacos from a truck, Korean barbecue in Koreatown, and Thai food in Thai Town. Grand Central Market downtown is a good single-stop introduction.

Getting around

• Rental car — realistically necessary, LA is enormous and spread out
• Metro rail — improving and useful for Downtown, Hollywood and Santa Monica
• Uber and Lyft — widely used, expect surge pricing at peak times
• Walking — works within neighbourhoods (Santa Monica, Venice, Downtown) but never between them
• Airport: LAX/Metro Transit Center connects to the C and K lines

Must-see

Things to do

• Watch sunset from Griffith Observatory
• Drive the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu
• Visit the Getty Center
• Hike Runyon Canyon for skyline views
• Eat through Grand Central Market
• Spend a day in Santa Monica and Venice

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

American English — local usage

• HelloHey / How are you doing?
• The bill, pleaseCan we get the check?
• To go, not eaten inTo go
• Fizzy drinkSoda
• The undergroundThe subway
• QueueLine
• Ground floorFirst floor
• Thank you very muchThanks so much

Religion

Christian majority, no state religion

Constitutionally separated from the state, and enormously varied by region — the south is far more observant than the coasts.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Tip 18-20% at restaurants and bars — servers are paid below minimum wage and depend on it
• Expect sales tax to be added at the till, not shown on the shelf price
• Make small talk with strangers; friendliness is genuine and not a prelude to anything
• Carry ID if you look under about 35 and intend to drink

Don't

• Do not skip the tip to make a point — take it up with the manager instead
• Do not discuss politics, guns or healthcare with strangers unless invited
• Do not stand too close; personal space is larger than in Europe or Latin America
• Do not joke about security at airports or borders