Conflicting images of Los Angeles flicker across our television and movie screens: Hollywood glamour contrasts with gang violence, year-round sunny skies with smog, fast cars with traffic jams. From what travelers can gather, Los Angeles is a land of style and disaster, movers, shakers and earth quakers. Residents are accustomed to a rhythm that alternates between relaxation and stress, but out-of-towners -- fortunately -- tend to experience much more of the former.

The nation's second-largest city (after New York), L.A. is a great place in which to do business or take a vacation. Marvelous restaurants, terrific nightlife, beaches, diverse cultural offerings, Disneyland and easygoing attitudes converge in a vast territory flooded with sunshine and lined with palms. Nearly everyone should see L.A. at least once, though a single trip will hardly be enough to appreciate such a vast area that's jam-packed with things to do.

Sights -- Back lots and soundstages at Warner Bros. and Universal Studios; TV-show tapings; celebrity handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre ; the mansions of Beverly Hills; the refurbished Union Station ; people-watching on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and the Pier; surfers at Malibu Beach; the gardens and art collection at Huntington Library.

Museums -- European paintings, sculpture and other artwork at the Getty Center; decorative art and textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; abstract expressionist and pop art at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Geffen Contemporary; the Degas ballet sculpture at the Norton Simon Museum ; the interactive "Time Machine" at the Museum of Tolerance ; vintage programming at the Museum of Television and Radio; microminiatures and other oddities at the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Memorable Meals -- Summer picnics during concerts in the Hollywood Bowl ; seafood at Water Grill ; French-Californian cuisine at Patina ; afternoon tea at the Living Room in the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel; dining alfresco on Sunset Strip or in the gardens of Hotel Bel-Air ; a meal at Campanile , accompanied by fresh-baked bread from their own La Brea Bakery; sushi at Matsuhitsa; cake and tea at Sweet Lady Jane.

Late Night -- Blues at the Mint ; comedy and rock at clubs on Sunset Strip ; jazz at the Atlas Bar & Grill; salsa dancing at the Conga Room .

Walks -- Los Angeles Conservancy walking tours of downtown; hiking trails in the Santa Monica Mountains; a stroll through the Huntington Botanical Gardens; meandering along the Venice boardwalk; seeing the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Sunny L.A. enjoys pleasant weather throughout the year. Ringed by mountains and the sea, the temperatures tend to be moderate -- seldom exceeding 85 F/29 C or falling below 40 F/4 C -- and sunshine reigns most of the year. Most rainfall occurs from late October to early April, and morning fog can be dense in winter. The farther inland you go, the greater the extremes of hot and cold, the more sun and the heavier the rain.

The mountains just inland from the Los Angeles area tend to trap air pollutants, resulting in smog, an unhealthy haze that, at its worst, can give the sky a brownish hue (smog alerts are most frequent during the last half of August and much of September). If the smog level is high, you may have to restrict your outdoor activities. If you have respiratory problems -- including common allergies or sinus problems -- let your doctor know you'll be in a high-pollution area and ask for advice.

The hot, dry Santa Ana winds (which may come in fall, winter and early spring) blow with less intensity in Los Angeles than elsewhere in Southern California, though dust clouds may powder some parts of the city (and like the smog, wreak havoc on sinus sufferers). Coastline dwellers usually don't experience the Santa Anas at all.

Los Angeles is known for heavy traffic and a shortage of parking places, yet Angelenos love their cars and drive everywhere . We suggest you follow suit. If you have a car and a good map, the freeway system will get you anywhere you want to go, though sometimes at a rather slow pace. It's a good idea to check the local news for traffic conditions before you depart for any destination.

The city covers a huge area and has many distinct regions -- walking between them is either an impossibility or just not done. L.A.'s expanding new subway and Metro Link offer speedy service to certain destinations. Bus service is slow and barely adequate for residents -- visitors won't have much use for it.

Seeing Los Angeles requires covering a lot of territory -- the city sprawls across 467 square mi. Add in the surrounding five-county metropolitan area, and you've got an area of more than 34,000 square mi. Contrary to popular myth, however, that doesn't mean you have to spend all your time in a car. In fact, getting out of your car is the only way to really get to know Los Angeles. We've divided the major sight-seeing areas of Los Angeles into 10 driving and walking tours that take you through the various hip, entertainment-industry centered, financial, beachfront, wealthy, and fringe neighborhoods and minicities that make up the vast L.A. area.

Looking at a map of sprawling Los Angeles, first-time visitors are sometimes overwhelmed. Where to begin? What to see first? And what about all those freeways? Here's some advice: relax. Begin by setting your priorities -- movie and television fans should first head to Hollywood, Universal Studios, and a taping of a television show. Beach lovers and outdoorsy types might start out in Santa Monica or Venice or Malibu, or spend an afternoon in Griffith Park, one of the largest city parks in the country. Those with a cultural bent will probably make a beeline for the Getty Center in Brentwood, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), or the Norton Simon Museum. And urban explorers might begin with downtown Los Angeles.

As for the freeways -- well, they're really not so bad. For one thing, they're well marked and for non-rush hour travel still the best route from one end of the city to the other. But here are a couple of tips: most freeways are known by a name and a number; for example, the San Diego Freeway (I-405), the Hollywood (U.S. 101) or Ventura (a different stretch of U.S. 101) freeways, the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10), and the Harbor Freeway (I-110). It helps, too, to know which direction you're traveling; say, west toward Santa Monica, or east toward downtown Los Angeles. Distance in miles doesn't mean much, depending on the time of day you're traveling: the short 10-mi distance between the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles might take an hour to travel during rush hour, but only 20 minutes at other times.

Despite the high energy level of the L.A. nightlife crowd, don't expect to be partying until dawn -- this is still an early-to-bed city. Liquor laws require that bars stop serving alcohol at 2 AM, and it's safe to say that by this time, with the exception of a few after-hours venues and coffeehouses, most jazz, rock, and disco clubs have closed for the night. Due to the smoking ban, most bars and clubs with a cover charge allow "in and outs," in which patrons may leave the premises and return (usually with a hand stamp or paper bracelet).

Nighttime diversions on the Sunset Strip run the gamut from comedy clubs and hard-rock spots to cocktail lounges and restaurants. There's a good mix of nightlife in the Mid-Wilshire area, which encompasses the area west of the Harbor Freeway (I-110), east of La Cienega Boulevard, south of Beverly Boulevard, and north of the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10). Downtown Los Angeles has a small contingent of artsy performance spaces and galleries, and a handful of clubs and movie palaces. Some of Los Angeles's best jazz clubs, discos, and comedy clubs are scattered throughout the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. In West Hollywood, Santa Monica Boulevard is the heart of the gay-and-lesbian club and coffeehouse scene.

Two caveats: nowhere -- including Beverly Hills -- is "attitude" more prevalent than in West Hollywood's Sunset Strip area (neighboring Santa Monica Boulevard's gay scene tends to be more inclusive). Be prepared for highly developed snobbishness -- and that's just from the door-guys. The top celebrity haunts, and even some only wishing they were, are the places to go if you have a name in the business (or a strong connection to one), are dressed in the expensive au courant styles favored by that venue, and have a strong feeling of confidence and power. If you are missing any of these attributes, even if you can get in, perhaps those spots really aren't your cup of cappuccino. You might try them on off nights.

Secondly, as in a rapidly increasing percentage of Los Angeles, parking, especially after 7 PM, is at a premium in West Hollywood, and in fact is restricted on virtually every side street along the "hot zone" (Sunset Boulevard from Fairfax to Doheny). There are small pockets of metered street parking (don't count on finding one of those spaces), which is fine as long as you feed the meter every half-hour or hour until 10 PM. Willingness to stray south of Sunset in search of a space may prove fruitful for the patient (who also don't mind walking back uphill to Sunset). Signage indicating the restrictions is usually clear but is naturally harder to pick up at night. Paying $3-$7 for the ubiquitous valet parking is the easiest way to go.

Los Angeles isn't quite the "Broadway of the West," as some have claimed -- the scope of theater here doesn't compare to that in New York. Still, the theater scene's growth has been impressive. Small theaters are blossoming all over town, and the larger houses, despite price hikes to as much as $70 for a single ticket, are usually full.

Even small productions might boast big names from "the Business" (the Los Angeles entertainment industry). Many film and television actors like to work on the stage between "big" projects or while on hiatus from a TV series as a way to refresh their talents. Doing theater is also an excellent way to be seen by those who matter in the more cultural end of showbiz.

For the most complete listing of weekly events, consult the current issue of Los Angeles Magazine. The Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times also lists a wide survey of Los Angeles arts events, especially on Thursday and Sunday, as do the more alternative publications, the LA Weekly and the New Times Los Angeles (both free, and issued every Thursday). Call ahead to confirm that what you want to see is ongoing. A reliable source for times and tickets is the Theatre League Alliance L.A. (). Most tickets can be purchased by phone with a credit card.

Prices are per person for a main course at dinner, excluding 8.25% sales tax.

That Los Angeles is home to some of the best restaurants and chefs in the United States is old news. Wolfgang Puck, for one, has parlayed his Spago success into nationwide name recognition with a chain of restaurants and a packaged food business. And with the entrenchment of the contemporary cooking style that Puck helped popularize, innovation has become an institution here, ensuring that you'll almost always find something new to eat in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles used to be one of the least expensive big cities, here or abroad, in which to eat well, as strong competition for the luxury-class dollar kept prices at many high-end restaurants under control. But the booming economy of the late '90s and an influx of diners accustomed to higher prices has fueled a restaurant gold rush. Still, many excellent ethnic restaurants are attractively easy on the pocketbook.

Unparalleled dining options continue to open up as a result of immigration from Central America, the Near East, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere. One consequence is that even going out for standard Mexican cooking is now an outdated concept. These days savvy diners seek out distinctive regional cuisines like Mexico's Jaliscan, Sonoran, and Oaxacan. Culinary diversity has spread far beyond immigrant neighborhoods. One of the city's best Indian restaurants is in Pasadena; first-rate Oaxacans have opened on the city's Westside; and several Hong Kong-style seafood houses have found homes far west of the San Gabriel Valley.

In this culinary melting pot, chefs don't have to look far to find the once-exotic ingredients that have become staples of contemporary cuisine in Los Angeles. Wasabi, lemongrass, phyllo pastry, bok choy, ginger, and Fuyu persimmons are just a few of the products now appearing regularly on the menus of the city's top restaurants -- and not just those that see themselves as serving so-called fusion cuisine.

Naturally, reservations are essential at most high-end restaurants, and on weekend evenings at many others. But you'll find that Angelenos don't often dress up to eat out: even in pricey restaurants, jeans are not uncommon. Note that state law forbids smoking in any enclosed public place, including all bars and restaurants. Some establishments may, however, allow smoking on outdoor patios -- call first to be sure.

Hollywood, Venice Beach, and Beverly Hills may be steeped in legend, but Los Angeles is still a city wide open to reinvention, whether personal or communal. If a new image is your aim, take your pick from the sophisticated designs available on Rodeo Drive, the bohemian styles brimming along Melrose Avenue, or the more niche clothing and accessories along Montana Avenue. Want to glow from within? Check out the vibrant farmers' markets that offer organic produce you've never heard of. Looking to upgrade your personal space? The antique shops on Melrose Place or art galleries sprinkled from Santa Monica through West Hollywood abound with possibilities. As neighborhoods wax and wane, new shopping districts pop up seemingly overnight, reflecting local entrepreneurs' creativity in finding affordable retail spaces. In addition to the newly revitalized Hollywood, look for the blossoming shopping areas in Chinatown (home to a bevy of new art galleries), Koreatown (a bohemia in the making), Echo Park (an extension of the young, hip Los Feliz area), and Leimert Park (an artsy, Afrocentric neighborhood).

Distances between shopping districts can be vast in this notoriously car-dependent city; don't try to hit too many shopping areas in one day, or you'll spend more time driving than spending. When in doubt, ask your hotel concierge to help you approximate driving times.

Most stores in Los Angeles are open 10 to 6, although many stay open until 9 or later, particularly those on Melrose Avenue and in Santa Monica. Shops along Melrose and in the Los Feliz vicinity in general don't get moving until 11 AM. In most areas, shops are open at least in the afternoon on Sunday. Most stores accept credit cards; traveler's checks are also allowed with proper identification. Check the Los Angeles Times or L.A. Weekly for sales, and if you're curious about who's shopping where (after all, this is L.A.), take a peek at In Style or Los Angeles magazines.