I'm traveling to LA first time ever, which areas do I need to stay away from?

There are literally hundreds of things to do here in LA. Here is my list of “must sees”. Visit as many as you have time for:

Disneyland: The Happiest Place on Earth. Half a billion visitors can’t be wrong. #1 Destination.

Universal Studios: A theme park that grew out of a studio tour. #2 Destination.

Even if you don’t visit Disneyland or Universal Studios Tour, Downtown Disney District and Universal City Walk are very fun places to visit for shopping and eating. And they’re free to visit. If you’re adventurous, try the indoor skydiving (www.iflyhollywood.com). It’s a blast!

Hollywood: Enjoy the Walk of Fame, Entertainment Museum, Chinese Theatre and more. The Hollywood & Highland complex has lots of shops and restaurants, and the Kodak Theater. The El Capitan theater, right across the street, is where Disney shows their movies. And the Hollywood Bowl is a GREAT place to listen to concerts outdoors.

Other theme parks include Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain, which are both more geared towards the fast-ride teen crowd.

Olvera Street/Union Station: Olvera Street is the birthplace of LA, and it emphasizes our Mexican heritage. In addition to the Avila Adobe (oldest building in LA), you can eat at some pretty good Mexican Restaurants, do a little shopping, and taste a churro. If you don’t want to go to Tijuana, this is as close as it gets without going there

Rodeo Drive, 90210: Packed with exclusive shops, full of gawkers. They all came to enjoy the excess. Free, unless you intend to buy something.

Venice Beach: Here you'll find Muscle Beach, street performers and tacky shops galore. Fun, VERY interesting, but I avoid it after dark, when it gets a little TOO interesting for my taste.

Santa Monica: Beach and Pier: Great beach scene and a classic seaside amusement park, complete with antique carousel that has been in a lot of TV and movies. After visiting the pier, you can ride a bike south a couple miles to Venice Beach.

Sunset Boulevard began as a route between the stars' posh neighborhoods and the Hollywood studios. It runs from downtown to the ocean, passing through the "Sunset Strip" on its way.

Farmers Market and The Grove - A new shopping complex right next to a Los Angeles landmark, It is right next to CBS, so walk across the lot to see if they are taping "The Price is Right".

Griffith Park - Home of the Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Park Observatory, Travel Town, the Greek Theatre, and Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage.

Getty Museum - The Getty's architecture is so beautiful that it keeps me fascinated. No matter whether you like their art, architecture, or view better, the Getty is sure to please. Free.

Attend a TV taping - You can get free tickets at audiencesunlimited.com, tvtix.com, or see the booth at Universal City walk. It's very interesting to see a show being taped. The most popular, by far, is the Tonight show.

Places to eat:

In-N-Out Burger: Multiple locations, best burger in LA, ask anyone.

Pink’s Hot Dogs: 709 N. La Brea, just north of Melrose. You might even see a celebrity. Maybe.

Tommy’s Chili Burgers: Look for the shack, an LA tradition. The original location is at Beverly & Rampart, a couple miles west of downtown.

Canter’s Deli: 419 N. Fairfax, between Beverly & Melrose. Near CBS, you might spot a celebrity.

Phillippe’s: 1001 N. Alameda. Great roast beef sandwiches. Near Union Station and Olvera Street.

Tito’s Taco’s: Voted best tacos in LA, even though it’s in Culver City. King Taco is a good alternate if you can deal with East LA.

The Pantry: Corner of Figueroa and 9th, downtown. Huge portions, they never close, GREAT steak and eggs.

Medieval Times and/or Pirate’s Dinner Adventure: Dinner and an adventure show, both are on Beach Blvd in Buena Park, you get to eat with your hands.

Places to Stay:

Since LA is so spread out, there is no single place that is close to EVERYTHING. Most people who come here tend to stay in Hollywood, Santa Monica, or Anaheim. In Hollywood, I recommend the Orchid Suites, Hollywood Celebrity Hotel, or Hollywood Heights (formerly Holiday Inn Walk of Fame), all near Hollywood and Highland. In Santa Monica, the Holiday Inn Santa Monica is close to the pier and reasonably priced. In Anaheim, I recommend the Howard Johnson (HoJo) Anaheim, and the Candy Cane Inn. There is also a nice place in Burbank called the Best Western Media Center, very close to Warner, NBC, and Universal Studios.

Places to Shop:

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica

The Grove, Los Angeles

Americana @ Brand, Glendale

Beverly Center, Los Angeles

Citadel Outlets, Commerce

Brea Mall, Brea

The Block at Orange, Orange

South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa

Fashion Island, Newport Beach

Santee Alley, Los Angeles

No worries. Stay in these areas, you'll be fine.

Hollywood IS actually full of lots of weirdos but mostly beggars (possibly looking for the next fix) and there are a lot of people around so it should generally be safe since there are too many people around for a weirdo to have a chance to do anything. A lot of people will warn you about Downtown L.A. which is sad because there are some cool things to see there. Little Tokyo seems like a rather safe area to me, I have walked there at night with just another female friend. You do need to be careful though because one wrong turn and you're in skid row. Chinatown is also pretty cool to see, Phillipes (home of the original french dip sub) is very close to Chinatown. The famous Union Station is close by also. Another close by attraction is Placita Olvera which is rife with Mexican culture. All in all, I'd say Hollywood (walk of stars area) is generally safe if not a bit kooky XD and Downtown isn't as scary as people make it seem IF you know know your way around there. If not I'd stay away from it at night. The areas I mentioned (Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Placita Olvera, Union Station) all seem pretty safe to be during the day, for me at least.

If you stay North of the 10 freeway and West of the 110 freeway, you'll be fine.

Also, you're safe anywhere North or South of the 10 freeway anywhere to the West of the 405 freeway.

All areas to the West of the 405 like Manhattan Beach, Venice, Santa Monica, etc., are very safe and very cool. Make sure you visit the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica on a Friday or Saturday night.

There are some very hip areas to the North of the downtown area called Los Feliz and Silverlake that are safe and worth checking out. Also, Glendale which is to the North of Los Feliz is kind of cool if not a little sterile.

Hollywood is very grungy and filled with tourists and crackheads. Avoid.

You'll be fine if you stay in the Hollywood, West Hollywood, North Hollywood, Burbank, San Fernando Valley, and Westside of L.A. areas. The Westside is: Hollywood, WeHo, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Hombly Hills, Malibu. The beach cities, Santa Monica, Venice, Redondo Beach, etc. are all safe.

Stay out of downtown, South Central, Little Armenia, Koreatown, and all areas with a heavy ethnic population.

For a terrific side trip take the ferry over to Avalon on Catalina Island. Fabulous place to visit!

F M is such a Westside snob. Those are people who will never drive east of La Brea. There are many lovely and culturally significant things to do in and around Pasadena. Now that is technically not part of the city of Los Angeles, but it is certainly party of what is generally referred to as LA by most any standard. It is east of his criteria. Pasadena can also be accessed by the Gold Line train, which is not the case for most of the Westside.

I would only suggest not wandering alone at NIGHT in non crowded areas. But, if you're really that worried, buy pepper spray.