It used to be that going to downtown Los Angeles was like going to the airport - a tiresome ordeal necessary to get somewhere else. The area was a corporate thoroughfare bordered by blight, with bland overpriced food and little reason to want to stay overnight.

While renaissance might be too strong a word, in recent years downtown has been revamped and resuscitated into a genuine travel destination. To try out this new tourism status, I recently stayed downtown for a weekend - in part to find out if exploring the area can be done (gasp!) without a car.

Downtown Los Angeles' 65 square blocks of steel and concrete between the 110, 10 and 101 freeways seem like the last place in the world to go for public parks, but they're there. I skipped the prefab glitz of the L.A. Live entertainment center just south of downtown in favor of a self-propelled nature tour.

The trip began at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Established in 1880, this combination hotel and fitness center has an old-school country club feel recalling downtown's original heyday. The club's wood-paneled walls dotted with sepia-toned photos of bygone athletes lead to posh dining lounges, bars, spa and gym all open to guests.

Pockets of nature

I walked from the club lobby onto sidewalks filled with suits hurrying to corporate towers, streets clogged with traffic. I rented a cruiser at a neighborhood bike shop, then pedaled away on a freshly painted bike lane. On a surprisingly hilly set of streets, I quickly left the rush of cars to discover an "urban wilderness."

The 10-acre Vista Hermosa Park, a peaceful hideaway with sweeping views of the Los Angeles skyline, is the largest of a dozen parks in downtown. Its walking trails revealed ponds, fields of native plants, and a park ranger giving a nature talk to wide-eyed city kids.

North of downtown, I rode past the barbecue-filled green expanses of Elysian Park around Dodger Stadium. On the bike path along the Los Angeles River, I found families enjoying new playgrounds, and even spotted a good array of waterfowl in the canal (along with a few homeless encampments).

Culture and safety

While for some, the phrase "Los Angeles culture" may seem like an oxymoron, my downtown tour had all the cultural features you'd expect of an urban center. I biked to the newly refurbished Grand Park, a green space between the urban landmarks of City Hall and the Music Center. The park hosts concerts, movies, farmers' markets and, during my midday visit, more security guards than there were visitors, so safety isn't a problem. The park's free Thursday concerts this summer include big band jazz, flamenco dance and folk music performances.

Steering up ramps to the Music Center, I discovered a free lunchtime performance by the L.A. Opera. After the show, I coasted downhill a few blocks to the Museum of Contemporary Art with its expansive collection.

Among still-empty storefronts on the eastern edge of downtown, I came upon the Last Bookstore. Inside, hundreds of thousands of new and used books, art installations, comfy couches and a couple stages fill the halls, vaults and lobby of an old bank headquarters. Hours quickly passed as I explored the books in the labyrinth there.

Nightlife steps up

In the mid-1990s, workers fled immediately to other parts of town once offices closed for the day. After 5 p.m., the area turned into a postapocalyptic movie set populated only by the zombie-like denizens of Skid Row.

On this trip, however, I was surprised to walk among plenty of pedestrians in the evening. Locals living in new downtown lofts have finally created the critical mass of customers needed to support extended-hour stores, restaurants and nightlife ranging from live music venues to lounges and popular bars.

The downtown business district-sponsored "Purple Patrol" provides foot and bicycle security guards on duty 24 hours a day, creating a sense of safety and community. Still, the Skid Row area east of San Pedro between Third and Seventh streets bordering downtown should be avoided at night (and isn't a vacation spot during the day either).

In the evening, within a couple blocks of my hotel, I was able to hit a popular happy hour, join friends for a sushi dinner in a crowded restaurant, grab a late dessert in a pastry shop and conclude with a nightcap among teeming throngs at a whiskey bar. And most surprisingly for Los Angeles, I could walk home when the evening was done.