Although most modern visitors to L.A. jet into Los Angeles International Airport, the city’s Union Station offers a superb entry point, a reminder of days when train travel was wreathed in glamour, and when redcaps toted steamer trunks and hatboxes for fur-coated ladies and their dapper escorts. As one of the last grand railway stations to be built in the United States, Union Station provided a theatrical entrance most suitable for a star’s arrival during Hollywood’s glory days, or as the setting for a film-noir classic.

Built in 1939 as a joint venture of the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Santa Fe railroad companies, the Spanish Mission-style terminal was hailed as an architectural landmark and became an instant hit. The station is a stunning compilation of early California Mission, Streamline Moderne, and Moorish elements.

The trendy restaurant Traxx has replaced thee original coffee shop and soda fountain, while at the east side of the building, the Gateway Transit Centre affords access to the bus and subway, plus a trove of public artwork.