This week, Fodor's online published a little Q & A with editor Jennifer Paull who recently spent a long weekend in our dear city. She wanted to catch up on all that's been recently new to her as a frequent(ish) tourist. Among that was the Griffith Observatory, The Getty Villa, restaurants Osteria Mozza and Röckenwagner Café in Venice and Moss, the high-design housewares store on Melrose.

What caught our attention the most, though, was her observation of Los Angeles that was unlike what most travel writers go for when they talk this city -- Hollywood cheese-factor. Paull actually had something useful for visitors to take note of:

What advice do you have for someone going to L.A.?

The need to do some advance planning really hit home. Think about what you want to see several weeks before your trip, then figure out what you might need to arrange ahead of time. For instance, I had to plan far in advance to visit certain sights, like the Getty Villa in Malibu and the Griffith Observatory, since they have reservations policies and fill up quickly.

L.A. may be laid-back in many ways but if you try to wing it, you can sometimes end up frustrated or stuck in a certain part of town. On a day-to-day level, this means thinking ahead about which side of town to visit (east side or west side) and which freeways would be easiest to use. On my trip, spontaneity turned out to be best in small doses.

You and I can wing this city easily, but we know it intimately. Unless a newbie to town has you to show them around, this is actually pretty good advice give (except she forgot to tell everyone about the Red Line Subway! jeers!).

Photo at Griffith Observatory by Zach Behrens/LAist