L.A.'s urban center blends international sophistication and multicultural pride.

Visitors to great metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles can find their first glimpse of the cluster of skyscrapers at the heart of the city an intoxicating experience. Perhaps it's the buildings' dizzying heights, perhaps it's the power and high finance the skyline suggests. But downtown truly comes to life in the "canyons" below. Storefronts and ethnic eateries alternate with structures of historic and aesthetic stature. And the arts may be the biggest attraction of all.

Union Station
The beautiful and historic Union Station is a hub for the region's Metro Rail system. The Red Line subway links downtown with Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. The Gold Line runs between downtown and Pasadena. Each Metro station (look for the "M") has public art projects. Union Station/LAX FlyAway offers nonstop bus service between downtown and the airport 24 hours a day. Metrolink, the commuter rail service, serves Southern California from Union Station.

Grand Avenue
Downtown is the heart of L.A.'s performing arts scene, and Grand Avenue is its core.

Steps from one another are the four primary venues of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is the home of the Los Angeles Opera. The Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre offer theatrical and Broadway productions presented by the Center Theatre Group.

Architect Frank O. Gehry's soaring, imaginative Walt Disney Concert Hall is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Joachim Splichal's flagship restaurant, Patina. Seasonal gardens at the concert hall are open to the public; the inside of the hall can be toured. Also inside the concert hall, with a separate entrance on Hope Street, is REDCAT, the experimental performance, visual and media arts space run by California Institute of the Arts.

The contemporary Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is one block east. Two blocks south is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Southern California's premier contemporary art museum. A sculpture made of 1,000 pounds of airplane parts is adjacent; the Watercourt plaza, landscaped with fountains, waterfalls and metal trellises, runs between MOCA and the Omni Hotel, home of Noé restaurant, and connects to pleasant California Plaza.

Olvera Street
Vendors sell Mexican clothing, beaded belts and piñatas at Olvera Street, a festive, open-air marketplace that also offers eateries and strolling mariachis. Historically, L.A. begins in 1781 at adjacent El Pueblo de Los Angeles. The monument now contains 27 historic buildings, including the Chinese American Museum and Avila Adobe, the city's oldest building (ca. 1818). Nearby, Philippe the Original (1908), where the French dip sandwich was purportedly invented, just raised its coffee price to 10 cents.

Shopping Districts
Bargain hunters flock to the Jewelry and Fashion districts. Top draws are St. Vincent's Jewelry Center (645–650 S. Hill St.), where 500 merchants sell gold, diamonds and baubles of every type and price, and Santee Alley (between Olympic Boulevard and 12th Street, Maple and Santee streets), an open-air bargain bazaar. Urban Shopping Adventures offers Fashion District tours. The Cooper Building (860 S. Los Angeles St.) was one of the first discount retail centers in the U.S. The Flower District offers every flower imaginable at wholesale prices, and Grand Central Market (ca. 1917) sells fresh produce and ethnic food specialties. Many vendors in the shopping districts accept only cash.

Chinatown
Midmorning, dim sum carts roll through restaurants such as Empress Pavilion; shops are jammed with clothing, jewelry, tea sets and, yes, china. The cobblestone Chung King Road, home to a half-dozen galleries and stylish Mountain Bar, a hang for creative hipsters, indicate a blossoming art scene. To the north is Dodger Stadium. In an industrial area farther northeast, San Antonio Winery (ca. 1917) offers guided tours and tastings.

Little Tokyo
Japanese Village Plaza (between 1st and 2nd streets, Central Avenue and San Pedro Street) features ethnic shopping and dining. A block down 1st Street, the Japanese American National Museum offers traveling art exhibits and, upstairs, a display on the history of Japanese immigration to the U.S. The Museum of Contemporary Art's Geffen Contemporary is next door.

Historic Landmarks
Broadway's Historic Theater District includes opulent movie palaces and the 100-year-old Bradbury Building (304 S. Broadway), where Blade Runner was filmed. Pershing Square, L.A.'s oldest park, has a purple tower, huge terra-cotta spheres, war monuments and a statue of Beethoven. The Bunker Steps, at 5th Street and Grand Avenue, rise five stories along a watercourse to the 73-story U.S. Bank Tower, the West Coast's tallest building. McCormick and Schmick's is at the top of the steps. Adjacent on 5th Street is the splendid Richard J. Riordan Central Library. Los Angeles Conservancy offers walking tours.

Convention Center
The huge news is the opening of the new Nokia Theatre, a centerpiece of the emerging sports, dining and entertainment center L.A. Live. Top pop acts book Staples Center; it's also home to the Los Angeles Kings, Lakers and Clippers. The Los Angeles Convention Center is as big as 17 football fields. Pleasant open-air mall 7 + Fig, a few blocks north on Figueroa Street, offers many shopping options and free WiFi. Arnie Morton's steakhouse is here; Roy's offers Hawaiian fusion across the street. Nearby, the rooftop bar at The Standard hotel offers a hip scene and an even cooler view.

To the south, adjacent to the University of Southern California, Exposition Park includes the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Garden, the Natural History Museum of L.A. County, California African American Museum, the California Science Center and 3-D Imax theater. Farther south, the soaring Watts Towers, made from salvaged materials and pottery shards, are among the finest examples of folk architecture in the country.

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