Zone: The centre

Los Angeles is known worldwide these days as a metropolis located on the shores of the ocean. Despite this, it was actually built well inland. At the end of the 18th Century the 20 miles which separated El Pueblo from the Pacific Ocean were considered a very safe distance. The first settlers here followed paths which had been established by native Americans. The locations which are capped today by gigantic skyscrapers and freeways teeming with hundreds of thousands of vehicles must have been first seen by the original European settlers here as a wooded valley, with a river than ran through it. On our walking route today we'll move through the historic centre of Los Angeles – taking in sights such as Spanish colonial-era mansions, futuristic buildings that include the Disney Concert Hall, haunted hotels, and skyscrapers that almost date back two centuries.