London ( CNN ) -- Woody Allen famously said in `` Annie Hall '' that the only cultural advantage to Los Angeles was that you can turn right on a red light , but in truth the `` City of Angels '' is bursting with culture . World-class museums including the Getty Center , the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art are must-see destinations for art-lovers , whose touring exhibitions easily rival those in London and New York . The LA Opera , directed by world-renowned tenor Placido Domingo , art fair Art Los Angeles Contemporary and LA Fashion Week are all helping cement the city 's identity as one of the US 's major cultural hubs -- and that 's before mentioning its number one industry , Hollywood . Though difficult to navigate on foot , the city is a wonder of small communities , intriguing local landmarks and remnants of Hollywood 's golden age . CNN World 's Treasures selects some of the best spots to experience the cultural side of Los Angeles , from galleries to historic landmarks . SEE : Commercial galleries have sprung up all over the city in the last decade , boasting impressive exhibitions of local and international contemporary art . Artists such as Ed Ruscha , John Baldessari , Chris Burden and the late Dennis Hopper have put the city firmly on the map but it was established as an important hub in the 1960s , when the Ferus Gallery famously showed Andy Warhol 's Campbell 's Soup Cans . Today , galleries are concentrated on La Cienega , Wilshire and Washington Boulevards and spaces to visit include Blum and Poe , credited with bringing the work of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to the US , and David Kordansky . Also on any art-lover 's itinerary is Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills -- in January the gallery is showing work by UK artist Damien Hirst . Meanwhile , take a tour of the city 's major museums ; head to the Museum of Contemporary Art and enjoy its current exhibition of work by photographer and fashion designer Hedi Slimane . Or take your time and wander through Chris Burden 's installation `` Urban Light '' at the Los Angeles County Museum , and peruse the permanent collections at the Getty Center and the Hammer Museum at UCLA . Currently the Getty and Hammer are staging exhibitions celebrating the city 's artistic innovations since World War II , among a number of other institutions . VISIT : If you are feeling foot-sore from your travels around the city 's art institutions , rent a car and drive to the Watts Towers , a weird and wonderful labor of love built by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia between the 1920s the 1950s . These strange spiral towers , made of scrap , steel and cement and decorated with bits of bottle and seashells , have been an inspiration to artists ever since they were built . The site is now managed by the Watts Towers Art Center , which also stages an annual jazz festival . Los Angeles 's other architectural highlights include Pierre Koenig 's Case Study House No . 22 , which overlooks the city ; LA-based starchitect Frank Gehry 's Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA ; Anderton Court Shops , a small shopping mall near Rodeo Drive designed by Frank Lloyd Wright ; and the Eames House in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood . TOUR : No trip to LA would be complete without a tour of Hollywood 's key hot-spots : Grauman 's Chinese Theater , the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Beverly Hills . Alternatively , take a spin around famous movie locations such as Mulholland Drive , Sunset Boulevard and Chinatown on your own tour . Los Angeles also has a rich literary history , and the city features as a sometimes glittering , often shady , backdrop to classic noir fictions by Raymond Chandler and John Fante . Even F. Scott Fitzgerald penned his own eulogy to the city in the unfinished `` The Last Tycoon , '' which he wrote while working as a script-writer there in the 1930s . For those looking for something a little more highbrow than the usual Hollywood tour , look no further than Esotouric 's literary tours of the city , which cover the neighborhoods and landmarks featured in the novels of Chandler , Fante and Charles Bukowski , allowing you to walk in the footsteps of Philip Marlowe or Arturo Bandini . STAY : A perennial favorite among celebrities and visitors to the city is the Chateau Marmont , which featured as the real set for Sofia Coppola 's recent film `` Somewhere . '' Modeled on a castle in France 's Loire Valley , the Chateau Marmont has for years been a hideaway for celebrities behaving badly and a haven for Europhiles , and its popularity continues to grow . Even if you 're not staying , you can sip a languid cocktail in the beautifully-designed Bar Marmont .
Though often disparaged , LA is bursting with culture , from galleries to museums to historic landmarks . The city 's museums and galleries are world-class , boasting contemporary , modern and classical art . Literary tours of the city are becoming popular , allowing visitors to walk in the footsteps of famous noir fiction characters . No trip to LA is complete without a visit to the legendary Chateau and Bar Marmont .