This is where Los Angeles as we know it was born. From the mission of San Gabriel, residents walked and established El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles a block or so west of where Union Station now stands. Previous to this, Downtown Los Angeles was known as Yaanga, an influential and large city of the original caretakers of the land and waters, the Tongva and Chumash nations.
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) has had waves of expansion, innovation, population booms, and at times desolation. The recommendations recorded on this page is nowhere near an exhaustive list of things to do DTLA since it is a constantly changing neighborhood.
Table of Contents
DTLA 101–COMING SOON
Where to time travel in DTLA
If you look past all of the modern and brutalist structures that make the Los Angeles skyline iconic, you can find a lot of history hiding at ground level. From the statue marking the site where Los Angeles was established to the popular century-old food hall, there are a lot of ways you can travel back in time.
For those of you who love the movies and movie history I created an Oscar’s themed weekend. In this post, I talk about all of the ways to explore Old Hollywood in Downtown Los Angeles.
Want someone else to do the planning for you? Let me help. Find my one-day historic Saturday in DTLA here.
Where to eat in DTLA
I am very excited to tell you all about my favorite places to eat in DTLA, but I am not to that section of the blog yet. Here are some posts where I mention food in DTLA.
Monday itinerary in Los Angeles.