Los Angeles is less a single city than a loose constellation of neighborhoods strung across 470 square miles, bound together by freeways, sunshine, and ambition. It is the global capital of movies and music, but the real LA reveals itself in the everyday: a Oaxacan mole in Koreatown, a surf break at dawn, a hike up a chaparral ridge with the whole basin glittering below. Come with low expectations of walkability and high expectations of variety, and the city will reward you.

The history here is layered and fast-moving. Founded by Spanish settlers in 1781 as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, the city exploded in the 20th century on oil, citrus, aerospace, and Hollywood. Today it is one of the most diverse places on earth, home to the largest Mexican, Korean, Iranian, and Armenian communities outside their home countries, and that diversity is exactly what makes it such a thrilling place to eat and explore.

What surprises first-timers is how much nature sits inside the city limits: mountains, canyons, and more than 70 miles of coastline. You can ski and surf in the same day if you are ambitious. Mostly, though, LA is a city to wander neighborhood by neighborhood, top down, with a great playlist and nowhere you absolutely have to be.