221 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Los Angeles - Atlas Obscura

Unusual Attractions in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles

During prohibition, corrupt city officials ran drinking dens under the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, California

The Museum of Death

World's largest collection of serial killer artwork and other macabre exhibits.

Los Angeles, California

The Last Bookstore

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

Los Angeles, California

The Echo Park Time Travel Mart

Non-profit time travel mart sells goods you would need for a trip through the fourth dimension.

Los Angeles, California

Sunken City

Remants of foundations, streets, and streetcar tracks inhabit the cliffs where a landslide occurred in 1929.

Los Angeles, California

Bradbury Building

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

Los Angeles, California

Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

High on a hill overlooking Los Angeles lives a world famous, high power conical Tesla Coil.

Los Angeles, California

Old Zoo Picnic Area

The abandoned zoo enclosures offer a perfect place to experience the other side of the bars.

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Upcoming Experiences Near Los Angeles

A Walking Tour of Hollywood Jazz History

Los Angeles, California

+ 3 other dates

Lost and Long-Gone Graveyards of L.A.

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

The Echo Park Time Travel Mart

Non-profit time travel mart sells goods you would need for a trip through the fourth dimension.

Los Angeles, California

The Music Box Steps

The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.

Los Angeles, California

Soap Plant / Wacko

An expansive book store, art gallery, and curio shop with wares ranging from tarot cards to novelty socks.

Los Angeles, California

Tiki-Ti

Established in the '60s, a family-owned tropical drink bar founded by Ray Buhen, bartender to the stars.

Los Angeles, California

Wat Thai Temple Food Market

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.

Explore the Guide

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Galco's Soda Pop Stop

Shop selling 500 flavors of soda has something for everyone.

Los Angeles, California

Tiki-Ti

Established in the '60s, a family-owned tropical drink bar founded by Ray Buhen, bartender to the stars.

Los Angeles, California

Pink's Hot Dogs

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

Los Angeles, California

Idle Hour

The programmatic glory of LA's giant whiskey barrel building has become an upscale reminder of the city's kitschy roadside past.

See all 15 places to eat in Los Angeles See all 15 places to eat in Los Angeles

Atlas Obscura Trips

Art of Joshua Tree and the Mojave

Join us as we venture deep into the High Desert, glimpsing massive sculptures, fluorescent painted mountains, and revitalizing domes along the way.

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Stories About Los Angeles

Two siblings—Aiko and her brother Isamu—pose in their masks in the yard of their family home on Los Feliz Boulevard near Griffith Park, where their parents ran a flower nursery. This photo, taken in 1925, was collected as part of Shades of L.A., an outreach program the library conducted in the 1990s to diversify its photo collection.

Explore a Century of Halloween in L.A. Through Vintage Photographs

An eerie/fun glimpse into the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.

October 8, 2021

A cottage on the Barlow Respiratory Hospital grounds in 2021.

Seeing the Pandemic Through the Shuttered Bungalows of an L.A. Sanatorium

Once a haven for tuberculosis patients, Barlow Respiratory Hospital is uniquely suited to the COVID and post-COVID eras.

by Elizabeth Svoboda

Even miles inland, cows' overgrazing can have offshore consequences.

How Cows Destroyed an Entire Marine Ecosystem in California

A researcher's quest to understand a mysterious mass extinction leads to cud-chewing culprits.

by Jack Tamisiea

Now that's a city harvest.

Tons of Delicious Fruit in Los Angeles Is Going Uneaten

A story of immigrant populations, gentrification, and the free loquat bonanza.

by Dan Nosowitz

Charlie Chaplin filmed part of <em>The Kid</em> in one section of the alley.

The L.A. Alley That's a Subtle Silent-Film Landmark

With a proposal to rename the space Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley, one of silent Hollywood's hardest-working locations could finally get its due.

by Tyler Malone

Novelist Sir Walter Scott, who lived from 1771 to 1832.

Why 1920s L.A. Went Wild for an 19th-Century Scottish Novelist

Walter Scott wrote fantasies about medieval Saxons—just the thing for Jazz Age Angelenos.

by Keith Johnston

January 7, 2021

Some of the Violins of Hope on the stage of The Soraya.

The Holocaust-Surviving Violins That Were Quarantined Beneath a California Stage

The pandemic layover and their eventual return home is a new chapter in a long history.

by Matthew Taub

October 1, 2020

Eupelmid wasp from the genus <em>Metapelma</em>.

L.A.'s Insects Are Hairy, Iridescent, and Crazy Photogenic

The creatures are ready for their close-ups—in the name of getting a better handle on biodiversity in the bustling city.

by Jessica Leigh Hester

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