Located in close vicinity to well known Hollywood sign, there is the Paramount Studio site which welcomes warmly all vistitors willing to explore its huge background. At peak season, the studio employees over 5,000 people. Also, during its heydays it had its own hospital and fire brigade. There is a wide range of things to experience here in this longest continually operating studio in Hollywood. A two-hour tour of the studio provides tourists with details of its history and gives visitors a behind-the-scenes view of films and television shows currently in production. It is one of the few studios that admit regular guided tours. Go through the famous Bronson Gate. As story says there is the extra iron filigree on top of the gate which was added after crazed female fans of Rudolph Valentino overwhelmed security and climbed over the original unfortified gate. Also, wander through the library having more than thousand titles and numerous Oscar winners. This is the place where to relieve the history of cinematic begginings! If you feel down deep at heart more than a film fan, why don’t you send in your resume and with good reasons they may employ you. Anyways it is advisable to have your autograph book with you to collect a bit of stardust.

Founded in 1924, Holyland Exhibition belongs to one of the most appealing attractions that can be visited in Southern California. It features a vast collection of Middle Eastern artifacts dating back to the beginning of our era, thus some of them are two thousand years old. Basically, the diversity and quantity of artifacts within the exhibition is remarkable and covers knowledge on the Bible countries. The range of the displayed items was gathered by Antonio F. Futterer and embrace objects such as lamps, bottles or coins. The imposing mummy casket is over 2600 years old. The guides’ passion for the Exhibition and their lifestyle characterized by spreading the teachings from the Exhibition’s founder, Antonio Futterer leaves visitors impressed. The history of its founder is equally impressive. If you are anxious to see the exhibition it is adviced to make reservation beforehand. A small fee is required, which covers a whole tour. Also, refreshments are included in the admission price. Disabled access is limited to the ground floor.

The two over 99 feet (30 m) high Watts Towers well reflects the words of its designer Simon Rodia who once said “I had in mind to do something big and I did it”. The whole structure area consists of seventeen interconnected creations made of bed frames, scrap metal, wire mesh, glass, plenty of seashells and different pipes. The cretivity of its designer seem to have exedeed regular limitations and the whole place can be percieved as a good source of inspiration for any artist. Rodia built them with no special equipment or predetermined design, working alone with hand tools and window-washer’s equipment. They all were built from 1921 to 1954, over a period of 33 years. This impressive structures are a good example of non-traditional vernacular architecture and American Naïve art. After the place changed its owners, it was ordered to be razed by the Los Angeles council. Only because it had managed to gain popularity from the outside world it was decided that the place should be preserved. In 1965 and 1992 the place witnessed violent riots, thus althought it holds unquestionable cultural value, it sholud be approached with caution, particularly after dark.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, popularly known as LACMA belongs to one of the largest and most important museums in US. Built in a style similar to Los Angeles Music Center or Lincoln Center, the museum originally consisted of three buildings: the Lytton Gallery , the Ahmanson Building, and the Bing Center. At present, it stores over 100,000 works in its collection, ranging from art dating back to 6000 B.C., through paintings of Renaissance masters to the the 20th century sculpture and photographs. All the holdings are divided among the numerous departments of the museum by region, media, and time period and can be seen in various museum buildings. For instance, the Ahmanson Building is reserved for The Modern Art collection, African art and Greek and Roman Art galleries. The Art of the Americas Building houses American, Latin American and pre-Columbian collections. The Hammer Building displays Korean and Chinese galleries. The Pavilion for Japanese Art features the Shin’enkan collection and the 60,000 square foot Broad Contemporary Art Museum is dedicated to The Contemporary Art collection. All in all, there is something for every art lover and the vast collection takes weeks to explore it. Apart from its permanent collection, it regularly displays various interesting theme exhibitions. LACMA is also host to film screenings and free concert series throughout the year. There is possibility to become a member to find out about current and upcoming events. The good news is that the second Tuesday of each month is free to all visitors, but for ticketed exhibitions full admission is required.

This former Mexican land grant is at present recognized as world’s richest deposit of Ice Age fossils. The word “la brea” stands for tar or asphalt in Spanish and is a place that 40,000 years ago entrapped dire wolves, saber-toothed or mammoths wandering through the region. Predators would also enter to eat the trapped animals, and themselves become stuck. The captured bones of 60 identified species were well preserved in the natural asphalt. Also they found seventeen human bones, including a skull and a pelvis, as well as a number of artifacts such as milling stones and bone hairpins. Thanks to the George C. Page museum visitors can experience the exact specimens from the tar. Nowadays, it is frequently covered with water, which attracts wildlife. During the summer months, visitors can observe the ongoing excavation from Pit 91. Apart from the dramatic fossils of large mammals, the place additionally preserves tiny “microfossils,” like insects, wood and plant remnants, or pollen grains. If fact, La Brea seeps because of its character are still ensnaring organisms even today.

Located in the beautiful Griffith park, the landmark observatory presents an impressive Planetarium, a permanent exhibition situated in the main hall, as well as periodically changing presentations. One of the attractions you can meet here are laser shows of sound and light. The observatory boasts to be the most visited public observatory in the world. After the reconstruction and renovation process, the observatory features additional improvements like a multilevel exhibit gallery with interesting interactive elements, copper-sheathed dome with 300 reclining seats, bookstore and café named Cafe at the End of the Universe. Apart from all the amenities you can experience there, you can admire breathtaking LA skyline views from the building’s extensive patios that are present on every floor. Griffith observatory appears to have an interesting scenery for film directors as the action of films such as Rebel Without a Cause, The Terminator, Flesh Gordon, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Yes Man and many other television productions have taken place here.

Placed on the hilltop in the Santa Monica Mountains, Getty Center is considered one of the best museums in Los Angeles not only because of its original architecture but due to the multitude of art, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts and photographs it contains. Inside, the collections also include works like paintings, old manuscripts or decorative arts. It is worth mentioning that the main attractions of the year were Rembrandt’s Late Religious Portraits or Italian Manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It may take a whole day to see what the museum has to offer. The stone-and-glass complex includes gems of art of such influential painters as Renoir, Monet or Van Gogh. Apart from what can be seen inside visitors can wander through the grounds of the stunning central garden and open spaces. Exterior courtyard spaces include fountains and a variety of trees, including Mexican Cypress trees, as well as the cactus garden to the south. There is no admission fee. Video and still photography are permitted throughout the permanent collections and Research Institute, but you can’t use a flash.

Since the time of accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, Buckingham Palace (colloquially known as “Buck House”) has been the official place of residence of Britain’s sovereigns and monarchs. Originally built by Duke of Buckingham in 1703, then purchased by George III, it was subject to renovation by John Nash and last structural changes made by Aston Webb in the late 19th and early 20th century to eventually become what it represents now. It serves as a venue for royal entertaining and state events on numerous occassions, as well as one of the London’s major tourist attractions opened to public on a regular basis. It is also possible to view the State Rooms of the Palace but mostly during Annual Summer Opening traditionally held in August or September. The rooms contain genuine gems of the Royal Collection like some of the finnest pieces of funiture, masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, porcelain by Sèvres. It is definitely the largest private house in the city with more than six hundered and sixty rooms in general.

Tower Bridge belongs to one of the most characteristic and visited landmarks while visiting London. Designed in 1894 by Sir Horace Jones, the bridge possesses twin bascules each weighing about 1,000 that are raised for the sake of the river traffic. It has been estimated that it has already been lifted at least half a million times throught its hundred years old history. Equipped with electric motors, it only takes one and a half minute for the bridge’s mechanism to raise the heavy bascules. Tower Bridge offers magnificent views of the city from a glass-enclosed walkway, over other popular tourist landmarks like Tower of London, HMS Belfast (cruiser famous for participation during D-Day in Normandy) or the Thames River itself. Visitors can ascend by the North Tower of the bridge, go throught the enclosed walkway and finally go down by the South Tower. Each of the towers and engine rooms contain exhibition called Tower Bridge Experience with information on the rich history of this structure.