Two Great Days in Los Angeles with Kids!

Two Great Days in Los Angeles..with kids!

Los Angeles, California is the second largest city in the United States. Home to the film industry, Los Angeles is full of stars – from those famous stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to celebrities making their life in the film, tv, and music industry. Los Angeles also has many great sites to see such as museums, theme parks, beaches, and more. We spent two great days in Los Angeles, indulging my nephews in their desire to see LA. With this two day itinerary, we share all that we did in the City of Angels with kids in tow!

How to get here

There are several airports in the Los Angeles area:

LAX – Los Angeles International Airport is the main airport serving the Los Angeles area. It is likely the least expensive option as most major cities serve flights to LAX.
SNA – Santa Ana, located closer to Anaheim, is a great option if you plan to spend most of your time in Orange County or at Disneyland.
BUR – Burbank Airport is small and easy to get in and out of, although older with less options for dining and shops compared to the other two airports.

Where we stayed

SLS Hotel | Beverly Hills

The SLS Beverly Hills is in a fantastic location for walking to the Beverly Center, a wonderful shopping mall with great restaurants as well as being well positioned to begin our day in Hollywood.

When we went

March 2025. The weather was beautiful in LA during our time there. We had abundant sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

This is a “what we did” itinerary, which makes it easy for you to follow along or tweak and adjust based on number of days you have or your specific interests. We include a section at the bottom of the article listing some great things to add on in the LA area with more time.

Two Great Days in LA

DAY 1

On Today’s Agenda:

Breakfast: Eggslut
Shop at the Beverly Center
Walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Check out the TCL Chinese Theatre
Take in the views at the Mulholland Scenic Overlook
Lunch: Sol Agave, Santa Monica
Spend the afternoon at Santa Monica Pier
Dinner: Yardbird

The Beverly Center & Breakfast at Eggslut

Our morning started off with a walk to the Beverly Center, just a short walk from our hotel. We entered the building on Beverly Boulevard and took the series of escalators up. As we made our way up, we were rewarded with first views of the Los Angeles skyline as well as the Hollywood sign in the distance. Welcome to LA!

The Beverly Center is a great shopping mall with typical mall stores as well as luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton. After a little shopping, we headed back down for breakfast at Eggslut, located within the Beverly Center complex.

Yep, that name sure grabs your attention, however, the food is really good! From small salads, cold brew coffee, and breakfast sandwiches, we all had a delicious, quick breakfast and were ready to start our day exploring. First up, Hollywood!

The Hollywood Walk of Fame

There are currently 2,800 stars made from terrazzo and brass embedded in the sidewalks in a 15 block radius in Hollywood.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame | Hollywood

These stars represent individual performers in the four genres of performing: film, tv music, and theatre. The stars are located along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, and Vine Streets. You can download a map to find specific stars you are interested in, or just do what we did and take them in as you walk. It’s kind of fun to see who you come across!

The Hollywood Walk of Fame | Hollywood

TCL (Graumin’s) Chinese Theatre

Continuing on, we walked along Hollywood Boulevard looking at all the stars on the Walk of Fame on our way to the TCL Chinese Theatre (also known as Graumin’s Chinese Theatre), a movie palace that is a historic and cultural landmark in Hollywood.

TCL Chinese Theatre | Hollywood

My nephew had a list of all the sites he wanted to see and this iconic Hollywood site was one of them!

Overall, we found visiting Hollywood a pleasant experience. We found it generally clean and easy to get around and people were friendly. Our mid-week, mid-morning visit was great!

Scenes from Hollywood Blvd.

Mulholland Scenic Overlook

The view from the Mulholland Scenic Overlook was my nephew’s screensaver for years, so he was especially excited for this view.

My nephews taking in the awesome views of LA and beyond | Mulholland Scenic Overlook

A hazy downtown Los Angeles stood out from the landscape in the distance, while the never ending expressway snaked its way through the city.

Iconic view of L.A. | Mulholland Scenic Overlook

Turning the other direction, you have a great view of the Hollywood sign. Also in close view is the Hollywood Bowl.

The Hollywood Sign | Mulholland Scenic Overlook

NOTE: Initially we planned to take in the views from the Griffith Observatory, which offers similar views of both downtown LA and the Hollywood Sign. We chose this location, however, as it was a lot closer to we were in Hollywood at the Walk of Fame. We were very content with the views here so did not see the need to take the time to take in similar views from the Griffith Observatory, further away.

Santa Monica Pier, Lunch, & Muscle Beach

We took an Uber from the Mulholland Scenic Overlook to the Santa Monica Pier. Before exploring the pier, we walked about 5 minutes along Ocean Avenue to the Mexican restaurant, Sol Agave. Here we had an amazing lunch! The guacamole was so fresh and flavorful while our entrees were well-presented and delicious.

Fully satiated, we walked back to the Santa Monica Pier, making our way through Muscle Beach.

Muscle Beach | Santa Monica

Muscle Beach’s claim to fame is being the birthplace of the fitness boom in the United States. The beach features playgrounds for kids as well as outdoor gym equipment.

On the Santa Monica Pier, my nephews enjoyed rides and games and we all relished the views. There is a roller coaster, ferris wheel, carnival games and more.

The Santa Monica Pier | Santa Monica

The beach was beautiful and the pier colorful and fun, from the rides, games, and shows going on!

Santa Monica Beach | Santa Monica

The Santa Monica Pier also serves as the official end of Route 66 with the beginning located in Chicago, Illinois about 2,000 miles away. Back in the day when Route 66 served as the main thoroughfare for taking vacations out west, the end of the trail marked the beginning of vacation!

The end of Route 66 | Santa Monica

Dinner at Yardbird

After a couple hours spent on the Santa Monica Pier, it was time to call it a day and head back to our hotel in Beverly Hills. Our uber ride was very long, taking over an hour to go 10 miles! This is important to note when planning your day in the Los Angeles area. Traffic is almost always congested so building in extra time for it is imperative!

For dinner, it was just a short walk once again to the Beverly Center from our hotel where we had a great dinner at Yardbird. After dinner, we relaxed back at our hotel, as we had a full day of exploration behind us.

DAY 2

Rodeo Drive & Brunch at The Henry

The next morning, we checked out of our hotel in Beverly Hills but had one more area to check out in the area: Rodeo Drive! We began at the Golden Triangle, located at 9800 Wilshire Blvd.

Rodeo Drive | Beverly Hills

This is a very aesthetic area to photograph, as it is said to look like an Italian Street. It is gorgeous and lined with high-end luxury stores, cozy coffee shops, and the famous Erewhon grocery store is just around the corner.

Rodeo Drive | Beverly Hills

We enjoyed a little shopping before ending our time in Los Angeles with brunch at one of our very favorite places, The Henry. I cannot resist my favorite coffee drink to date, the Go North, at the Henry. It’s a heavenly concoction of espresso and cream…what a great way to end our time in LA!

The Henry | Beverly Hills

Our two days in LA were so much fun! We got to see many iconic sites, indulge in delicious food and drinks, and soak in the beautiful southern California sunshine from the fun Santa Monica Pier to the exquisite Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

With More Time

If you have a few extra days in Los Angeles, consider adding the following on to your itinerary:

Museums: Los Angeles is home to some great museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Getty, Griffith Observatory, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Amusement Parks: Get your thrills at nearby Disneyland, Universal, or Knott’s Berry Farm.

National Parks: There are 2 national parks out of California’s whopping 9 in close proximity to Los Angeles. Channel Islands National Park sits off the coast of Los Angeles, accessible via boat from either Ventura or Oxnard. Joshua Tree National Park is located about 130 miles away. We actually visited Joshua Tree National Park on this trip, however we stayed in Palm Springs after LA, which was a great place to base for a visit to Joshua Tree.

Beaches: There are countless beaches to get your southern California sunshine fix near the LA area. Santa Monica Beach is a great spot and you can combine it with Muscle and Venice Beaches nearby.

Make it a part of a larger California road trip: This is actually what we did, continuing on to Palm Springs, visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and then on to Laguna Beach. We will soon be publishing lots of articles on our time in these places, so check back soon!

How we got around

We walked and used Uber to get around during our full day exploring Los Angeles. While we had a rental car that we drove from the airport to our hotel, we left it parked there during our visit as we didn’t want to deal with the traffic and parking congestion. Ubers were the easiest way to get around, along with walking. After our time in Los Angeles, we then self-drove our rental car during the rest of our California road trip, returning it back at LAX at the end of our California adventure.

Here is a quick breakdown of our day:

SLS Beverly Hills Hotel to Beverly Center – walked.
Beverly Center to Hollywood Walk of Fame – Uber.
Hollywood Walk of Fame to Mulholland Scenic Overlook – Uber.
Mulholland Scenic Overlook to Santa Monica – Uber.
Santa Monica Pier to Sol Agave – walked.
Sol Agave to Muscle Beach and Santa Monica Pier – walked.
Santa Monica Pier to SLS Beverly Hills Hotel – Uber.

Below is a map of all of the stops during our two days in Los Angeles. The purple markers are the sites listed, green are restaurants, and bright pink is our hotel in Beverly Hills.