GALINA TULCHINSKY, tour guide, Los Angeles 

    YOU would expect to find Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes in India and a 1000-year-old Chinese stone sarcophagus in a museum. Twenty-five minutes from LA you will find both, in a remarkable garden called the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine. Very few tourists have heard about it and surprisingly very few natives of LA have either, despite it being founded in 1950. There is a spring-fed lake with swans, ducks and fish. Inside the grounds is the Court of Religions, which honors Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism; the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial, where some of Gandhi’s ashes are enshrined (the only place outside of India), a small museum, and a gift shop. There is also a Dutch windmill that was converted to a chapel. That was where the family of George Harrison held a private funeral following his death. There is also a program offered in the Lake Shrine Retreat, a beautiful 20-room building where most of the rooms face the Pacific Ocean. more: www.lakeshrine.org

ABBAS GOLESTANI, chief concierge, The Beverly Hills Hotel

   NO ONE believes me when I say that in the centre of Beverly Hills is the most beautiful wilderness park imaginable. Franklin Canyon is literally 10 minutes’ drive from the Beverly Hills Hotel. You can enter it from Mulholland Drive, which has a spectacular view over LA. The park covers more than 240 ha. There are two lakes, hiking trails, picnic grounds, an oak woodland forest and the Sooky Goldman Nature Centre. Like many of our guests, Paul McCartney and his family often go there because even in summer you can wander around and hardly see another person. Even though it isn’t well known, it has been used many times by the television and movie industry. Over the last 50 years it’s appeared in The Andy Griffith Show, Combat, Bonanza, Star Trek, How the West Was Won and the film On Golden Pond. The park is surrounded by beautiful houses, so it is really in the middle of suburbia. We often arrange to take guests there for a picnic lunch. more: www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=14

SIAN JARRETT, customer service manager, Qantas Airways

  IT’S known in LA as the Fashion District, the Garment District or the Textile District, but despite having so many names it really isn’t known by tourists, which is a shame. This amazing place is south of downtown LA and easy to reach. I’ve travelled to many places and this has to be one of the cheapest for fabrics, clothing and accessories like bags and jewellery. It’s cheaper even than Bangkok and Singapore — and that’s saying something. There are more than a thousand shops, so it can be daunting for a first-time visitor. Expect to be there for quite a while. I’ve seen well known brands selling for up to 70 per cent off retail. This is every day, not just during the sale season. You won’t find brand names or chain stores because all the retailers are independent. Some only sell to wholesale clients, but will sell to the general public on Saturdays. It’s also a place for up-and-coming LA designers to showcase their creations and I’ve been told that fashion buyers from New York, Chicago and other major cities go there to check out new designers. Even overseas buyers regularly come to see the latest trends. The quality can be a mixed bag so you have to be careful when you buy here. The most infamous street is Santee Alley, which is always full of people and notorious for knock-off clothing, CDs and DVDs and bootleg items. more: www.fashiondistrict.org

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