Flight Direct

With its reputation for toned beach bodies, wild nightlife and Hollywood glamour, Los Angeles is often considered to be the ultimate adult's playground.

 

However, the City of Angeles also has much to offer families spending time in California. Children will be delighted by the city's characteristically larger-than-life approach, as well as its wide array of amusement parks and other visitor attractions.

 

Here's a list of the top family-friendly attractions in Los Angeles:

 

Located in Exposition Park, this museum is designed to educate young people through a range of interactive and immersive exhibits.

 

Organised into worlds with different themes, the California Science Center boasts memorable attractions such as Tess, a 50 ft animatronic woman who illustrates how the organs in the body work.

 

It underwent a radical transformation in the late 1980s at a cost of $130 million (£82 million) and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

 

The institution also contains an IMAX movie theatre, with a seven-storey high screen that is the largest in Los Angeles. Many of the museum's permanent exhibitions are free to enter, while a nominal fee applies to special attractions.

 

Another popular educational attraction in Exposition Park is the huge Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, which is the largest museum in the western United States.

 

It protects over 35 million specimens, dating back 4.5 billion years. Chief among the exhibits is the museum's Dinosaur Hall, which contains 20 complete dinosaur skeletons and more than 300 real fossils.

 

Young people can learn about the growth of the world's most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, thanks to a special feature that shows a trio of different aged T Rex specimens.

 

Elsewhere, children have an opportunity to stare down a Triceratops and walk under the neck of a 68 ft Mamenchisaurus.

 

The Discovery Center, located on level two of the museum, attracts many young people with its emphasis on hands-on learning. In this area, inquisitive minds are invited to use microscopes and magnifying glasses to get up close to the exhibits, as well as digging for fossils and posing next to creatures of the wild.

 

Home to 1,100 animals from around the world, the Los Angeles Zoo has been welcoming young wildlife enthusiasts since 1966. 

 

The zoo is located within Griffith Park in the Los Feliz neighbourhood, with a wide range of amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles calling it their home. 

 

Built at a cost of $19 million, the Campo Gorilla Reserve is the zoo's latest headline attraction. Here, six African lowland gorillas live in an environment that closely resembles their traditional homeland in West Africa. 

 

The reserve has been open since 2007 and contains a forested pathway to offer visitors a chance to see the animals at close quarters. There are actually two habitats within the enclosure - one for a family of four gorillas and one housing two male bachelors, Hasani and Jabari.

 

One of the world's largest automotive museums, this institution on Wilshire Boulevard should appeal to all youngsters with an interest in hot rods and car culture.

 

From historic vehicles to futuristic concepts, the museum offers a captivating experience spread over 300,000 sq ft. As in the National History Museum, there is a hands-on learning centre that sheds light on the basic scientific principles of how motor vehicles work.