185 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.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

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.

anhie

Los Angeles, California

The Museum of Death

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

Genki

Los Angeles, California

The Last Bookstore

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

kcmick

Added by kcmick

Los Angeles, California

Bradbury Building

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

Los Angeles, California

Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

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

Rachel

Added by Rachel

Los Angeles, California

Sunken City

A jumble of foundations, streets, and streetcar tracks inhabit the cliff where a landslide occurred in 1929.

Added by Bswanson

Los Angeles, California

Old Zoo Picnic Area

The Abandoned Zoo enclosures offer a perfect place to experience the other side of the bars.

Added by Lisa E

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Atlas Obscura Trips

Dark Skies, Desert Beasts: A Night Photography Workshop in Borrego Springs, California

May 2—May 5, 2019

Journey deep into the desert of Southern California to explore and photograph the Dark Sky Sculptural Oasis of Borrego Springs.

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Unique
Food & Drink
in Los Angeles

The Zombie

Gastro Obscura

The Zombie

Donn Beach only wrote the recipe for his famously potent cocktail in secret code.

Gastro Obscura

rachelrummel

Added by rachelrummel

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thisfatkidtravels has been to Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

rebekahlight wants to go to Stay On Main Hotel

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vdisher01 wants to go to Rosenheim Mansion

Stories
About Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park and Crematorium.

How Do You Accidentally End Up Running a Pet Cemetery?

Shera Danese-Falk knows.

by Melissa Batchelor Warnke

October 23, 2018

Enjoying the drinks service on board the Pan Am Experience.

How One Pan Am Fan Recreated the Golden Age of Air Travel

It took years of dedication and a few visits to the airplane graveyard.

by Sandi Hemmerlein

September 06, 2018

Lucy Sparrow stands in front of the fully felted sign for <em>Sparrow Mart</em>.

The Artist Sewing a Supermarket Out of Felt

Lucy Sparrow is making food fuzzier.

by Abbey Perreault

The side exterior of the Magic Castle.

L.A.'s Famed Magic Castle Has an Unlikely Twin

One blueprint gave California two totally different landmarks.

by Vanessa Armstrong

Three actors in use pie throwing for comedic effect in the 1947 flick 'The Perils of Pauline.'

How Pie-Throwing Became a Comedy Standard

One film studio in Los Angeles pioneered the trope of flying pies.

Hollywood by night, 1930.

Why Are There Palm Trees in Los Angeles?

Turns out it's an image thing.

by Dan Nosowitz

Interior of a winery with large casks, Los Angeles, c. 1910.

The Gnarled History of Los Angeles's Vineyards

It was once known as the “city of vines.”

Cracked wheat, anyone?

During the Great Depression, 'Penny Restaurants' Fed the Unemployed

Dishes cost a cent, or even came free.

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