Over the past several years, Los Angeles has been the go-to vacation spot for millennials for a variety of reasons. Whether you would love to spend your time blowing your savings on the amazing shopping the area provides, go on a foodie adventure found nowhere else or would just love to see iconic areas Los Angeles is known for; when it comes to what to see in Los Angeles, having some unforgettable experiences is manageable within a long weekend as long as you use your time wisely.

Here is how I spent my four days in LA with my sisters, an easily replicable, affordable trip I would recommend to anybody when considering what to see in Los Angeles:

Day 1: Getting Settled and a Dodgers Game

Spending the previous week in San Diego, my sisters, Andrea and Sydney, and myself traveled by train to Los Angeles to enjoy the trip we had planned out a year in advance. The trip was planned around my 21st birthday and we arrived the day before and had no plans other than to attend the Dodgers game against the Houston Astros that evening.

We Ubered from the train station to our Airbnb located in the Beverly Hills area (more affordable than it sounds), briefly unpacked and got ready for the game that was still several hours away. Our Airbnb was extremely small, however we utilized it more as a hub rather than a place of residence which is something I highly recommend, plan on only really sleeping there rather than spending most of your time there.

We ubered to a sports bar with a variety of food and drink choices called Mohawk Bend. There are a lot of great places within a mile of the stadium so don’t be afraid to do some research for a place that caters to what you’re feeling.

The stadium was at the top of a hill as if on a pedestal, and the die-hard fan base was very apparent.

Growing up going to Marlin’s games in South Florida, the stadium was often close to empty and hardly exciting whatsoever, however that night the Dodgers had sold out the stadium and it was like nothing I’ve been a part of before. The game was exhilarating, the stadium was an attraction on its own and the faculty was extremely friendly and helpful.

If a Dodgers game isn’t up your alley, depending on the season basketball and football games are also great options. The Lakers or Clippers would be excellent basketball games to attend, or for football the recently relocated Los Angeles Rams or Chargers franchises would be great, as well.

After the game had ended, my sisters and myself looked for a place where I could have my first legal drink. There were plenty of great places immediately around the stadium, however they were extremely crowded so we elected to Uber to Hollywood to seek out a less densely populated bar.

We found a great restaurant and bar right off the Walk of Fame called 33 Taps Sports Bar. They had excellent drinks and food with amazing service and atmosphere.

Afterwards around 1:30 in the morning, the night life on the walk of fame was still very much alive. It was great to simply stroll the street looking at the many different stars and recognize the names of the great people that earned them.

Day 2: Shopping on Melrose Ave

The reason why I wanted to go to LA so badly was to shop ‘til I dropped and Melrose Avenue is perfect for shopping, even on a budget. Before we get to that though, we got breakfast at a great vegan establishment called Power Plant Superfood Coffee, where we each got a smoothie to start our day. We got breakfast around our Airbnb, however there are also a bunch of great places to eat around Melrose.

Round Two, the store pictured above is to me the main attraction of Melrose Avenue, it is the place to go for streetwear or vintage clothing. It is actually divided into two separate stores, Round Two Hollywood for your higher end needs from brands such as Supreme, A Bathing Ape, Louis Vuitton and many more.

The otherStore, Round Two Vintage is essentially the best finds from neighborhood thrift stores including vintage tour tee shirts, vintage designer clothing and much more.

I did my shopping in Round Two Hollywood and left with a Supreme and The North Face collaborative jacket, as well as a Supreme Michael Jackson tee shirt and a Supreme Muhammad Ali tee shirt.

However, if neither of these stores are what you’re looking for there are plenty of other options down Melrose. There are plenty of local stores for miles down the avenue. Even if you like to stick with what you know there is an Urban Outfitters and a few other chain shops as well.

After doing significant damage to our bank accounts, we went to whole foods and got a few things for an easy, healthy, home-made lunch for our airbnb since we did walk an absurd amount over the course of several hours.

After resting for a while, we decided to get some Thai food at this amazing restaurant called The Thai Place where we had an amazing coconut curry as well and different assortments of teas.

From there we went to two bars, one more of a formal bar and the other much more like a dive. The first was called 6th and La Brea and was an amazing atmosphere with incredible drinks.

The bartenders were incredible, spotting us tequila shots for my 21st birthday as well as offering us samples of drinks when we weren’t quite sure we wanted.

The latter, was incredible as well, a great atmosphere, dark and grungy with incredibly friendly staff and bartenders. I highly recommend both bars, just depends what you’re looking for, and if you aren’t feeling either, there’s plenty more in the immediate area.

Day 3: Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach

The Santa Monica Pier was something that I can’t really say any of us were super excited for but it really turned out to be a highlight from the trip. Before going to the pier itself we stopped by a great place to

get brunch, The Independence Brunch. Coffee and a hearty meal was very much necessary before our long day in the sun. They had an amazing Croque Madame which I highly recommend (ham, cheese and fried egg sandwich) and had excellent service. It was immensely crowded but it really made for a great atmosphere, I guess it’s impossible to be upset during bottomless mimosas.

As for the Santa Monica Pier, it was a short walk from where we had brunch and it was immensely crowded. Walking to the pier was nightmarish, packed like sardines but once we made it onto the pier it all made sense.

There were carnival rides, games live entertainment and so much more to offer than any other pier I have been on. I even won a grand prize to bring back to my girlfriend! It was an awesome experience, so easy to get immersed in the environment and just have an immense amount of fun.

From there we advanced to Venice Beach, which is the best place to just hang out; I could have spent all day there. There were vendors on the boardwalk offering all kinds of bootlegged nonsense, tons of street performers (of varying levels of talent) and we even found ourselves watching people skate at a skatepark.

Even walking just off Venice Beach the surrounding area was so beautiful. Immense murals coated the walls of buildings and simply nothing goes wrong in such beautiful weather. No humidity, sunny but not too hot, a great laid back day to round up our trip.

Day 4: Departure

As heartbreaking as it was to leave, I really do believe we were there for the perfect amount of time. We touched every base we wanted to regarding travel and what helped the most was planning out what we wanted to do before hand.

This outline of our trip is a guide yes but it’s more of recommendations since you probably won’t like exactly what we did. Los Angeles has so much to offer, with just some brief research you could engineer an entirely new trip to cater to your interests and budget and have an awesome time!