The stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall is the centerpiece of the Music Center complex.
BOUNDARIES: US 101, Hope St., Main St., Fourth St.
DISTANCE: About 2 miles
DIFFICULTY: Moderate (includes stairways)
PARKING: Like every building downtown, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, where this route begins, requires that you pay for parking. Your best bet is to do this walk on a weekend or on a weekday after 4 p.m., when you can park for a fairly reasonable flat fee. If you attend Sunday Mass, you can park for 3 hours at no charge. Alternatively, you can take the Metro Red Line to the Civic Center stop and walk a block north to your starting point at the cathedral. Alternatively, you can always try your luck with metered parking on the surrounding streets.
NEAREST METRO STATION: Civic Center, First St. and Hill St. (Red Line)
The Civic Center, as the area of downtown just south of US 101 and just east of CA 110 is called, has been subject to a flurry of development over the past few years as part of a revitalization effort, and the overhaul is far from over. Parking structures have been leveled to make way for more commercial, residential, retail, and hotel space. Presently, the effect of all this expansion is occasionally successful, as in the case of the majestic Walt Disney Concert Hall. At other times, it’s discordant: witness the decidedly ungraceful design of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels. This walk explores these new additions to the downtown cityscape, as well as the institutions that form the city’s historic core, such as City Hall and Grand Central Market.
Walk Description
Begin at the 
Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, at 555 W. Temple St. Regardless of whether you park in the structure or walk from the Metro station, enter the cathedral grounds via the lower courtyard, which is graced with a waterfall fountain. Ascend the stairs into the main courtyard to access the cathedral itself, as well as a little café and gift shop. Before proceeding toward the church, wander to the northeast corner of the upper courtyard, where you’ll discover an interesting sculpture garden featuring an assortment of wild and domestic creatures. The cathedral looms formidably ahead. Architect Rafael Moneo constructed the massive edifice out of adobe-colored concrete, creating an oddly striated effect with his layered formation of the outer walls. For more architecture, gaze across the freeway: that’s the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, perhaps one of the most uniquely designed public high school campuses in the city.
Enter the cathedral by way of the great bronze doors on the left side of the facade. The starkly modern interior feels refreshingly cool on hot days and carries through the exterior theme of neutral tones in stone, wood, and marble. Filtered sunlight enters through the gray-tinted Spanish alabaster windows. Take a few moments to explore, sticking to the perimeter of the building if there is a service under way, and you’ll find a collection of sculptures and framed oil paintings that are dwarfed by the dimensions of the interior space. The most striking pieces of art are the hand-painted tapestries lining the walls of the inner sanctuary; they portray a sampling of the Roman Catholic community—people young and old of various ethnicities. (The cathedral offers free group tours.)
After exploring the cathedral, exit back into the plaza the same way you came in, return to street level, and turn right to head west along Temple Street.
Cross Grand Avenue and then cross to the south side of Temple so that you’re on the southwest corner of the intersection. Ascend the stairs to reach the collection of theaters that make up the 
Music Center complex.
Turn left at the top of the stairs to walk through the Los Angeles Times Garden Courtyard, a paved walkway, complete with tables and chairs, between towering concrete columns. On your right is the Ahmanson Theatre and then the Mark Taper Forum, a striking cylindrical theater decorated with an abstract bas-relief. Note that there are public restrooms on your left.
After passing the reflecting pools that front the Mark Taper, you emerge into the main courtyard of the Music Center; the classy outdoor Pinot Grill operates in the evenings here. The centerpiece of the plaza is an elevated dancing fountain built around an expressive and semireligious sculpture titled Peace on Earth. This large monument was dedicated by artist Jacques Lipchitz in 1969 as “a symbol of peace to the peoples of the world,” according to the inscription at the base of the fountain. Take a few minutes to enjoy your vantage point in the midst of the Music Center complex. To the northwest, you can see the glass-and-steel Department of Water and Power building, flanked by its own magnificent high-spouting fountains. The distinctive City Hall tower (established in 1929), which incorporates classical and Art Deco design elements to elegant effect, rises beyond Grand Park directly southeast.
Before descending the stairway to Grand Avenue on the east side of the fountain, take a second to admire the metal sculpture of an open doorway by Robert Graham. The piece, called Dance Door, features a bas-relief of nude dancers reminiscent of Edgar Degas’s ballerinas.
At the bottom of the stairs, turn right on Grand. Pass the county courthouse on your left just before reaching First Street, at which point the burnished, mellifluous wings of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall come into view. Also part of the Music Center, this world-renowned architectural masterpiece is now the permanent home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (For information about tours of Disney Hall, call 213-972-4399.)
Cross First Street, and enter the lobby through the glass doors on the east side of the building (facing Grand Avenue). The lobby is a study in curved surfaces: white-painted walls and ceilings with blond wood finishing. This is a tourist spot, so you’ll find another gift shop and café here. Self-guided audio tours of the architectural highlights of the concert hall are available for a small fee.
Exit Disney Hall back onto Grand Avenue, and then turn left to backtrack slightly to the corner of First Street. Turn left on First Street, remaining on the same side of the street as the concert hall.
Continue northwest on First for almost one block. Just before you reach Hope Street, turn left to follow the stairway up to the Music Center’s Blue Ribbon Garden, hidden behind the concert hall. This lovely 1-acre park offers plentiful shade trees and places to rest. Continue walking through the park to its centerpiece: a gently burbling sculpture fountain in the shape of a giant rose. The sculpture, covered in a mosaic of blue-and-white china pieces, was designed by Frank Gehry as a tribute to Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian Bounds Disney, on behalf of her children and grandchildren.
Proceed toward the far end of the park, and then turn left to cut through the charming outdoor Children’s Amphitheatre. Descend the stairway back down to Grand Avenue and turn right.
Cross Second Street and you’ll be standing in front of 
The Broad museum, which houses the modern-art collection of Eli and Edythe Broad, noted LA philanthropists. Opened in 2015, the museum charges no admission but requires reservations when busy. Continue straight, past a grassy courtyard with an outdoor coffee bar and restaurant in the back; then cross Grand Avenue at Third Street and turn left to backtrack down Grand a couple hundred feet to the entrance of the 
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Turn right to enter MOCA’s outdoor plaza, which is identified by a sculptural bloom of airplane parts by Nancy Rubins.
Turn right to follow the narrow courtyard built around a long strip of reflecting pool and shaded by magnolia trees, passing the Omni Hotel on your left. As the plaza opens, you’ll find yourself overlooking the spectacular Watercourt fountain, which doubles as a stage for free outdoor concerts during the summer. (Visit grandperformances.org for more information.)
Descend either the escalator or the stairway to your right, which deposits you in a covered hallway of numerous lunch-hour spots for the suit-and-tie crowd. You can grab a bite here, but you’d be better off choosing something more interesting from the variety at the Grand Central Market, which you will reach shortly. Turn right to emerge into the light on the same level as the Watercourt fountain.
Walk around the front of the Watercourt, and then look for the stairway on your right that leads to the park below. Descend the first set of steps, and then continue down the next long stairway, which runs parallel to the sometimes-operational Angels Flight funicular. The sloping grassy park on your right is home to the bench looking over the city from the movie 500 Days of Summer.
At the bottom of the stairs, cross Hill Street to reach the entrance of 
Grand Central Market, LA’s famous open-air market, open seven days a week. Founded in 1917, it hasn’t lost its charm or the public’s interest. You’ll find plenty of tempting lunch ideas here. Walk all the way through the market until you emerge onto Broadway.
Turn left on Broadway. At the southeast corner of Broadway and Third Street is the 
Bradbury Building, designed by George H. Wyman in the 1890s. You must check out the inside of this architectural landmark, which is open to the public; the interior is illuminated by natural light filtering through the translucent domed roof high above the atrium. The elaborate stairways are composed of cast iron in an eclectic Victorian design. You may recognize the distinctive surroundings from the climactic fight scene in Blade Runner.
Grand Central Mar
Return to the street and continue northeast along Broadway. This part of downtown represents a different era, but it offers its share of interesting sites. For example, you’ll notice the delightfully tacky Guadalupe Wedding Chapel, its Romanesque facade ornamented with faux Corinthian columns—very Vegas—on the west side of the street just after you cross Third. As you approach Second Street, check out the Los Angeles Times parking structure on your right, which features an elaborate bas-relief artwork depicting a stylized history of California’s colonization.
Turn right on Second Street. The LAPD headquarters is on your left, and to your right when crossing the alley is The Edison, a large, popular 1920s-themed bar that resides in an old power substation. 
Pitfire Pizza Company, a very good bet for a lunch of fresh salads and mouthwatering pizza and panini, is on the southeast corner of Second and Main Streets. Across from there, at 114 E. Second St., is St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, dedicated in 1876. The cathedral has been damaged by an earthquake and threatened with demolition in the last century, but it still stands today as the result of passionate preservation efforts.
Turn left on Main Street. The Caltrans headquarters is on your right. The extraordinary (and imposing) glass-and-steel building occupies an entire block and was designed by prestigious architect Thom Mayne. An enormous 1-0-0 looms above the street, marking the building’s address on Main Street.
City Hall
Cross First Street and proceed to the public entrance to 
City Hall, on your left below the pedestrian bridge that connects to City Hall East. (If it’s a weekend or holiday, City Hall is closed to the public. In that case, turn left and walk through the lawn in front of City Hall to admire the architecture.) The attractive Art Deco building is distinguished by its white tower; the concrete used for its construction is said to have been made from sand taken from each of California’s 58 counties. Enter the building, get a visitor’s badge from security, and take the elevator to the third floor, where you can admire the gorgeous inlaid marble floor and the tile ceilings of the rotunda. Next, take the elevator up to the observation deck on the 27th floor, where you can admire 360-degree views of the city. After taking in the vista, return to ground level, and exit where you entered. Head back toward First Street, and hang a right to go through City Hall’s shaded lawn.
Turn right on Spring Street toward the pedestrian crossing, and cross into 
Grand Park. Dubbed “the park for everyone,” Grand Park is a 12-acre public space that spans three blocks. Picnicking, festivals, and major city celebrations are held here. Parts of the park were most recently a parking lot, but the area now includes drought-tolerant gardens, shade trees, hot-pink lawn furniture, and a whimsical playground.
Walk through the pleasant park, crossing both Broadway and Hill. The last section runs between a county courthouse and the Hall of Administration, which is essentially the City Hall for county operations. Continue through the park. At the far end, a magnificent circular fountain projects a refreshing mist over the surrounding benches—a lovely place to take one last break before the end of the walk.
On the other side of the fountain, ascend the stairs back up to Grand Avenue, and turn right.
Continue half a block to Temple Street, and turn right to return to your starting point at the cathedral.
Downtown Civic Center
Points of Interest
Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-680-5200, olacathedral.org
Music Center (Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Walt Disney Concert Hall) 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-972-7211, musiccenter.org
The Broad 221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-232-6200, thebroad.org
Museum of Contemporary Art 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-626-6222, moca.org
Grand Central Market 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-624-2378
Bradbury Building 304 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Pitfire Pizza Company 108 W. Second St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-808-1200, pitfirepizza.com
City Hall 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-473-7001, lacity.org
Grand Park 200 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012; grandparkla.org
