10 MOST INSTAGRAMMABLE PLACES IN LA
My recent trip to Los Angeles was everything I could have dreamed of. I’ve been twice before but only for a day which left me no time to TRULY explore. This time, I was able to explore most of the greater LA area from downtown to the beach towns and places in between. I rounded up 10 of the most Instagrammable places in LA that I was able to see during my stay.
I really wanted to write a full travel guide to Los Angeles, but also feel like I hardly scratched the surface of the city because there is SO much to see. The greater Los Angeles area is really made up of many smaller cities clustered together. The sight-seeing options are plentiful, the dining options are endless, the hotels to chose from… well you get my point!
I hope this list of LA photo spots will at least help you plan some pitstops for the ‘gram. Yes, there is tons of traffic in LA and yes, it takes forever to get across town. So plan accordingly when driving from spot to spot. I bundled the below spots together by neighborhood, where applicable, to better help you plan your route. Enjoy this list!
1. THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN
Arguably one of the most popular places to visit in LA. You may have to work to get here, but I promise it will be worth it! You’ll want to make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes and clothing.
One option to see the sign is from the Griffith Observatory. However, if you want a closer view, you can hike one of the several Hollywood Sign trails. There are a few different routes with various lengths and one of them will even take you all the way to the sign.
Bonus Photo Location: Instead of facing north for a photo with the Hollywood Sign, you can face south and catch an incredible view overlooking downtown Los Angeles.
2. HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
What’s a visit to LA without seeing the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame? Celebrity stars line the sidewalks and it’s fun to walk around spotting famous names. My honest opinion: the Hollywood area is not very glam at all. In fact, I thought it was quite dumpy. But it’s worth stopping by to see this famous neighborhood that’s known around the globe.
3. RAINBOW CROCHET MURAL
The next two locations are both on Melrose Avenue in the West Hollywood neighborhood. You can find these two murals, along with dozens of others, within a mile or so radius. That makes it easy to knock out a bunch of photo ops in a short amount of time.
Next to the rainbow crochet mural you see here, there are two other rainbows of different sizes, a peace sign, a heart, and a bundle of flowers. All of them are made from crochet!
4. ANGEL WINGS
These famous LA angel wings are in a very unsuspecting location. Whenever I saw these on Instagram in the past, I imagined the wall was tucked away on a quiet sidewalk. That is not the case though! These wings are right on Melrose Ave, painted on a busy storefront, so plan on there being a lot of foot traffic.
5. URBAN LIGHTS AT LACMA
The official name of these famous LA lanterns is “Urban Lights.” They are located outside of the LA County Museum of Art and were created in 2008 by artist Chris Burden.
I came during the day, but they are just as popular at night when all lit up. I think I prefer the nighttime look, but my schedule had me here in the mid-afternoon so daytime it was! There are tons of fun angles to play with and surprisingly there was only one other group of photo takers when I was here on a Friday afternoon.
6. THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL
Beverly Hills is known to be home to the rich and the famous. Want to experience that life of luxury if only for a quick photoshoot? Then you must stop by the Beverly Hills Hotel!
There’s a restaurant and lounge inside but we didn’t go in due to some of the pandemic rules in place at the time. Be cautious taking photos on the front driveway since cars are always coming in and out.
7. SANTA MONICA PIER
You’ll be heading west towards the beach towns for the remainder of my Instagrammable places in LA. I actually stayed in Santa Monica during my trip, so I was at the pier every day.
The pier gets incredibly busy by mid-morning so if you want a solo photo on the actual pier, plan to arrive right when it opens. I shot here with my tripod on Sunday morning at 8am and the crowds were small enough to survive the solo-photoshoot session.
Another popular option is to capture the pier from the beach down below. The Ferris Wheel on the pier lights up in different colors at night which makes it an incredibly dreamy photo.
8. THE GEORGIAN HOTEL SANTA MONICA
This is the hotel we stayed at so I’m pretty biased on this being a cute photo-op. The hotel is located on Ocean Avenue just a few blocks away from the pier entrance. The exterior is painted baby blue and yellow so it’s sure to add some color to your Instagram feed.
If you’re interested in staying at The Georgian Hotel, you can read my review of my stay here. I genuinely loved this hotel!
9. VENICE SIGN
The Venice sign has been on my Instagram-worthy-check-list for as long as I can remember. I had so much fun biking from Santa Monica to Venice to see the sign one morning of our stay.
The sign is easy to find on Google Maps and we locked our bikes right at the same intersection. The only hectic part of getting this photo was having to wait through cycles of red and green lights to stay out of the way of the cars.
Fun Fact: You may notice that my photo has “O’” hanging in front of VENICE. My Google search told me that this is added for the month of March to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I thought about editing it out but I think it’s kind of fun to share the backstory!
10. VICTORIA BEACH, LAGUNA BEACH
This final spot on my list is actually in Laguna Beach which is in Orange County. OC is just south of Los Angeles and honestly, I don’t know if native Californians still consider it to be part of LA or not. Either way, I do recommend driving down to the Orange County beach towns (Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach etc.) There’s a different vibe to this than what you’ll experience up north. (umm, the homes = goals!)
One spot we stopped at in Laguna Beach was Victoria Beach. It’s famous for the “Pirates Cove” situated along the rocks on the shore. The water looked bluer down in this part of town and my millennial heart felt so nostalgic thinking back to the MTV show Laguna Beach that I was obsessed with in high school.
There you have it. These are the 10 most Instagrammable places in LA for you to visit on your next trip. Hopefully I can go back soon for a more well-rounded visit with activities and dining options. Until then, these photo spots gave me a good start for LA attractions. Have any other popular photo spots in Los Angeles to add? Leave them in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post about Instagrammable places in Los Angeles, you’ll love these other blog posts: Las Vegas Instagram Spots HERE, NYC Instagram Spots HERE & Chicago Instagram Spots HERE.
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