Los Angeles is one of the most insta friendly places on earth here are our Top 5 most Instagram-able things to do in L.A.

In some extreme cases, Instagram will prove to more intelligent future generations how the human race used to embarrass itself.

And also why some people are not allowed to continue breeding.

For most of us (who are marginally brighter), our Instagram accounts will tell those generations to come that we existed, were thinner than we were, and that we did interesting and trendy things with our time. Things like travel to L.A. 

For Veldskoen’s top 5 Instagram-able things to do in L.A., we went as cheesy and touristy as we possibly could. After all, people need to believe that you were here without any shadow of a doubt. 

SANTA MONICA PIER

It’s a pier with a theme park on it! Only in America, right? There are several pleasure piers in the U.S., but this is the only one on the West Coast.

The Santa Monica pleasure pier’s Pacific Park was has been L.A.’s authentic pleasure pier since 1909. (We say “pleasure pier” as many times as possible because it sounds so deliciously dirty).

The pleasure pier includes a variety of boardwalk, carnival-style amusements, like candy floss stalls, games where you throw sharp things at soft toys to win them (the toys, not the sharp things), and old school carnival rides.

 The Pacific Wheel is the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel. The West Coaster roller coaster will take you all over the pleasure pier at 35 mph. There is also the Santa Monica carousel which 

features 44 hand-carved horses, and you might have seen it in the Paul Newman classic, The Sting. 

Everything about the Santa Monica Pier is authentically L.A. and will Instagram well with or without a filter.

VENICE BEACH

Hop off the pleasure pier last time; we promise) and take a stroll along the iconic Venice Beach. There are so many things to photograph along this stretch of sand that simple scream, “I’ve been to L.A.!” 

The ever-changing Venice art walls are a historic street art landmark in the city. Graffiti artists from all over come to mark and remark them. 

The Muscle Beach outdoor gym has loads of Instagram potential. (Take a skinny friend with you to look more buff. ) It is considered the birthplace of the fitness boom in the U.S. during the 20th century and is always covered in the sun (and steroid) soaked bodies. 

The Venice boardwalk runs parallel to the beach. (If you don’t want to get sand in your Veldskoen shoes). It’s covered in street performers, funky little shops, and public art murals! 

If you want to Instagram in your activewear, the boardwalk also becomes a promenade for running, cycling, and skateboarding. 

HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

This is perhaps one of the Hollywood-est of Hollywood things one can do! The walk of fame comprises more than 2600 stars embedded in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Take a friend with you to watch the road if you insist on reading all of them as you walk. 

If you stop to Instagram a pic with Michael Jackson’s star, make sure it’s the one on Hollywood Boulevard. The one on Vine street belongs to an elderly radio host by the same name. 

And don’t bother looking for Julia Roberts, Clint Eastwood, or George Clooney anywhere on the walk. They declined the honor. 

For a famous person to get a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, they have to attend the unveiling ceremony…#aintnobodygottimeforthat.  

We have a feeling Clooney might have been stuck in the E.R, Eastwood was too busy making a punk feel lucky, and Julia Roberts was being picked up by Richard Gere in his white limo in Las Palmas Avenue. ( For all the millennials reading this, those were all extremely clever pop culture references from before you were born. Google them.)

 

GRIFFITH PARK OBSERVATORY

The magnificently domed white Observatory building, constructed in 1923, and is perched on the hilltop in Griffith Park, is already a pretty Instagram-able piece of architecture.

Still, the view from its deck will require no filter.

Especially at night, when L.A smog and streetlights combine to look like fairy dust has been sprinkled over the city.

You will seriously get why they call it Tinseltown standing on the Griffith Observatory deck. 

Read about the history and cultural value of Griffith Park Observatory here, and make sure to post lots of pictures when you go! 

THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN

The “Hollywoodland” sign was initially put up in 1923 to promote a housing development along the hill.

Each letter is 50x30 feet in size and was originally lit up by lightbulbs. The words would flash ‘Holly,’ then ‘wood,’ then ‘land’ all night long.

It feels a bit “strip clubby,” so we can’t imagine you’d buy a house close to it. 

But that’s not the reason the Hollywoodland real estate developers upped and left.

The Great Depression was what sent them packing. In the 1940s, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the L.A Parks department repaired the sign(which was by that time falling apart) but decided to ditch the flashing feature and the portion that read “land” altogether. 

The letters deteriorated again and were replaced with more giant steel letters by Hugh Hefner and his friends in the 1970s.

Fun fact, Hefner himself paid for the Y and Warner Bros for the second O.   

The letters can be Instagram-able day or night. They no longer light up themselves, but they are visible due to elegant backlighting. 

They are also visible from Griffith Observatory, so insta two-in-one!