| Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the United | | | | Truth be told, Rodeo Drive is a unique shopping |
| States, and this sprawling, sweeping metropolis offers | | | | experience that's almost unrivaled. |
| many different opportunities for vacationing visitors to | | | | LA vacationers who are shoppers also visit West |
| have fun. Riding thrill rides in amusement parks, taking a | | | | Hollywood in order to simultaneously shop and enjoy |
| boat to Catalina, surfing and people-watching on the | | | | superlative pop culture experiences along Melrose |
| beach, nightclubbing, mountain hiking and star-gazing in | | | | Avenue and Melrose Place. Much like Rodeo Drive, the |
| Hollywood are just a few. But people in the know | | | | Melrose area showcases a large number of |
| realize that shopping in Los Angeles is also great fun. | | | | internationally-renowned designer boutiques. Carolina |
| So much so, that in some ways shopping in this hub of | | | | Herrera, Balenciaga or Oscar de la Renta, anyone? |
| entertainment almost seems like a sport. | | | | But unlike Rodeo Drive, Melrose also features an |
| Unlike the enclosed, traditional shopping malls of many | | | | assortment of vintage shops for those more |
| American cities, most shopping venues in Los Angeles | | | | down-to-earth shoppers who like to focus on buying |
| are actually outdoor affairs. In Los Angeles shopping is | | | | new-old items. |
| usually alfresco, making it ever so much more pleasant | | | | Robertson Boulevard may provide the best |
| than the normal indoor variety. Many of this great city's | | | | opportunity for combining possible celebrity-sighting with |
| shopping areas even feature outdoor courtyards that | | | | a fine bit of shopping. Tourists who would love to shop |
| permit food and drink, but they do double duty as rich | | | | shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrities should consider |
| hunting grounds for celebrity-watching. | | | | making a trip to this shopping neighborhood. |
| Shopping in LA combines two activities that are | | | | The entertainment industry's influences are scattered |
| popular with tourists on vacation: the thrill of the hunt | | | | throughout LA, and the city's shopping venues are no |
| for hard-to-find items coupled with the spectator sport | | | | exception to this rule. Entertainment's effects on the |
| of constantly keeping at least one eye peeled for | | | | shopping scene can be seen in more ways than just |
| celebrities. And just like the city, shopping is incredibly | | | | the high-end shopping that is available in several of the |
| diverse. Whether you're looking for expensive couture | | | | city's districts. LA offers a large assortment of |
| items or fine antiques, high-priced bling, kitschy | | | | recorded music stores as well as bookstores that |
| souvenirs or other funky merchandise, there are at | | | | specialize in works relating to film, television, theater |
| least a few places in LA that will have them up for | | | | and other performing arts. The Hollywood & |
| sale. | | | | Highland Mall complex is an energetic shopping and |
| But Los Angeles is such a huge city, where are | | | | dining area that also tips its hat to the film industry. |
| tourists even to begin? In some ways the answer | | | | Conveniently located in Hollywood near the Walk of |
| depends on what they want to buy. But no matter | | | | Fame, Hollywood & Highland connects to |
| what they're looking for, all shop-a-holics must at least | | | | Grauman's Chinese Theatre as well as the Kodak |
| stop in for a morning or afternoon at the ever-so-chic | | | | Theater, home of the Academy Awards. |
| Rodeo Drive. | | | | If your shopping tastes run to the less expensive, |
| Even just hearing the name "Rodeo Drive" strikes a | | | | shopping on Broadway in central LA offers the |
| chord that resonates through any eager shopper's | | | | less-polished, less-posh, more reasonably-priced |
| heart and soul. Located in tony Beverly Hills, Rodeo | | | | shopping that much of working-class LA enjoys. The |
| Drive fully deserves its reputation for expensive, | | | | merchandise there includes brand-name merchandise |
| sophisticated high fashion. Cartier, Gucci, Prada, | | | | at bargain basement prices, but watch out for |
| Ferragamo, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana all | | | | counterfeit or pirated goods. |
| entice celebrity fashionistas to spend huge amounts of | | | | As you can see, each shopping neighborhood has its |
| money there every day. Whether you're looking for a | | | | own distinct reputation and personality. Some are chic |
| pair of high-end blue jeans, an exquisitely tailored suit, | | | | and tony, others are hip and funky. And some are |
| glamorous designer jewelry or stylish shoes, you'll be | | | | downright cheap. Los Angeles, surprisingly, even offers |
| sure to find it in one of the shops along Rodeo Drive. | | | | more conservative shopping areas, so whatever type |
| And who knows, maybe you'll catch a glimpse of one | | | | of shopping "sport" you like, you'll be able to shop til |
| of those celebrity fashionistas that haunt the place. | | | | your drop during your Los Angeles vacation. |