Best Family Activities in Los Angeles — Trip Planner

Los Angeles with kids, realistically

You will drive, and California requires car seats, so budget for that on the rental. The California Science Center asks nothing for general admission, and the Natural History Museum's dinosaur hall next door suits the same ages. Tar pits fascinate small children, and Griffith's lawns give free running room. Theme parks sit in Anaheim, an hour or more south, and are their own trip.

When the weather turns in Los Angeles

Rain is rare, brief, and treated locally as a civic emergency, so the freeways clog before anything else. Go indoors and stay put: the Academy Museum, the Broad, LACMA, and the Natural History Museum each hold a proper half-day. The Bradbury Building atrium and Union Station's waiting hall are free architecture. Avoid canyon roads, which flood and close with little notice.

What things cost in Los Angeles

Transit caps at $5 a day and $18 a week. Museum admission can genuinely total zero across the Getty, the Broad, the California Science Center, and Griffith Observatory, with parking the actual charge, at $25 at the Getty. Two street tacos cost a few dollars. The real Los Angeles line item is the rental car plus parking, not tickets.

What to eat in Los Angeles

Tacos are the civic dish, and the spinning al pastor trompos of East LA and Boyle Heights beat anything served in a hotel. Grand Central Market downtown stacks a century of immigrant counters into one hall. Koreatown handles barbecue and late-night stew, Thai Town does boat noodles, Sawtelle does ramen. Langer's number 19 pastrami has a real case against Katz's.

Los Angeles after dark

Geography dictates everything, because bars close at 2am statewide and the gaps between Silver Lake, the Arts District, and the Sunset Strip mean a separate rideshare for each. Echo Park and Highland Park hold the neighbourhood-bar crowd, West Hollywood the club end. Nothing walks to anything else, so commit to one district a night rather than attempting a crawl.

When to go to Los Angeles

The month to avoid is August — around 32°C (90°F) with roughly 1 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: June is the sweet spot, August the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, High-SPF sunscreen, sunglasses, and a refillable water bottle, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.

Where to base yourself in Los Angeles

• Santa Monica — Beach, walkable, the pier.
• Hollywood — Walk of Fame, Griffith Park, the tourist core.
• West Hollywood — Food scene, nightlife, design district.
• Echo Park — Hip, hilly, indie food and music.