23 Best Things to Do in LA, From Art Museums to Markets, According To Reddit
Los Angeles resists easy description. Beach city. Mountain city. Art capital. Taco capital. Reddit's r/LosAngeles and r/AskLosAngeles communities have spent years mapping what the city actually demands. Here are the 23 experiences that locals and frequent visitors keep recommending — across art, markets, outdoors, and neighborhoods.
Art Museums
1. The Getty Center
Free admission, world-class European art (Van Gogh's Irises), and architecture that earns the trip alone. The hillside gardens with Ocean-to-Hollywood views are extraordinary at golden hour. Reddit: "Weekday afternoons — crowds thin and parking drops to $10 after 3 p.m."
2. The Broad Museum
Downtown LA's premier contemporary art museum — free, with Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Rooms as the headline. Reserve your Infinity Room slot online well in advance. Reddit: "Book it weeks ahead. Don't show up hoping to walk in."
3. Getty Villa (Malibu)
The lesser-known Getty — a recreated Roman villa housing ancient Greek and Etruscan art. Free with advance reservation. Reddit considers it the most undervisited great museum in Southern California. Reddit: "Most people don't know it exists. Worth the drive to Malibu."
4. Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
Rembrandt, Goya, Degas, and Van Gogh in a manageable, uncrowded building with sculpture gardens. Reddit's top recommendation whenever LACMA's main galleries are under construction. Reddit: "World-class and nobody goes. The most underrated museum in LA."
5. Museum of Jurassic Technology (Culver City)
A deliberately disorienting museum that presents itself as natural history but functions as philosophical art. Reddit's most beloved strange institution. Reddit: "Go without reading anything about it. One of the most singular experiences in LA."
6. Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Opened 2021, traces global cinema history with exceptional exhibitions. The glass sphere attached to the historic Wilshire building is one of LA's great new architectural statements. Reddit: "Worth it even if you're not a film buff. The building alone justifies the ticket."
Markets
7. Santa Monica Farmers Market (Wednesday)
Reddit's unanimous best farmers market in LA — running since 1981, supplying top restaurant kitchens. Come for seasonal California produce and prepared food. Reddit: "Wednesday morning is where the chefs shop. Come hungry."
8. Grand Central Market (Downtown)
A culinary landmark since 1917 — dozens of vendors in a historic Broadway building. Pair with the Bradbury Building across the street and Angels Flight funicular. Reddit: "Grand Central for lunch, Bradbury for architecture, Angels Flight for the fun."
9. Hollywood Farmers Market (Sunday)
LA's largest Sunday market — 160+ vendors, live music, and street food every week on Ivar Avenue. Reddit: "Go early, bring cash, eat your way through. The tamale vendor is non-negotiable."
10. The Original Farmers Market (Fairfax)
Dating to 1934, this neighborhood institution at Fairfax and 3rd has survived every trend. Small family-run stalls and a nostalgic counter-dining culture. Reddit: "Sit at a counter and eat like it's 1960s LA."
11. Rose Bowl Flea Market (Pasadena)
Second Sunday of each month — one of the largest flea markets in America. Thousands of vintage and antique vendors in the Rose Bowl parking lot. Reddit: "Budget more time and money than you think. The Rose Bowl Flea has swallowed entire Sundays."
Outdoors & Landmarks
12. Griffith Observatory
Free entry, sweeping views of the Hollywood Sign, city, and Pacific. Hike up via Ferndell Trail rather than taking the shuttle. Reddit: "Hike up, don't bus up. The trail gives the best views in the city."
13. Hike to the Hollywood Sign
The Mount Lee Trail via Brush Canyon — 6 miles round trip, 1,000 feet of elevation, unforgettable views. Go early on weekdays. Reddit: "Sunrise on a Tuesday. Glittering city below, trail to yourself."
14. Runyon Canyon
Hollywood's most social hike — off-leash dogs, fitness culture, and excellent basin views from the ridgeline. Reddit: "Runyon isn't about nature. It's about the city. Go for the views and spectacle."
15. El Matador State Beach (Malibu)
Dramatic sea caves, rock formations, and isolated coves under sandstone cliffs. Reddit's top beach recommendation for visitors who want beauty over crowds. Reddit: "El Matador is what people think all California looks like. The caves at low tide are extraordinary."
16. Venice Beach & Canals
The boardwalk — bodybuilders, street performers, skaters, muralists — plus, 10 minutes inland, the quiet Venice Canals. Reddit: "Venice Beach in the morning, canals after. Two completely different Venices."
17. Dockweiler State Beach Bonfire
The only LA County beach permitting campfires. Watch planes descend into LAX overhead while your fire burns on the sand at sunset. Reddit: "Reserve a fire ring early. Worth the planning — nothing else like it in the city."
Neighborhoods & Culture
18. Olvera Street & El Pueblo
The oldest buildings in Los Angeles, a Mexican marketplace atmosphere, and history dating to 1781. Combine with Union Station — one of America's great train halls. Reddit: "Pair it with Union Station. Both are walking distance and both are underrated."
19. Little Tokyo & the Arts District
Japanese American culture and dining in Little Tokyo, then walk south into the Arts District for the city's best street murals and restaurant conversions. Reddit: "Walk from Little Tokyo through the Arts District for the full range of what downtown LA is becoming."
20. Amoeba Music (Hollywood)
One of the world's great independent record stores on Sunset Boulevard — floor-to-ceiling vinyl, live in-store performances, and zero tourist-trap energy. Reddit: "Even if you don't buy anything, you'll buy something."
21. Walt Disney Concert Hall (Self-Guided Tour)
Frank Gehry's stainless steel masterpiece offers free self-guided audio tours via QR codes. The rooftop garden has excellent downtown views that almost nobody visits. Reddit: "The rooftop garden is the best free viewpoint in downtown LA."
22. Korean Spa (Wi Spa, Koreatown)
Wi Spa in Koreatown — gender-segregated hot and cold pools, saunas, communal rest areas, open 24 hours. Reddit's most recommended uniquely-LA experience. Reddit: "Go at 2 a.m. after a night out. Genuinely life-changing."
23. Dodger Stadium
One of the most beautiful ballparks in America, opened 1962, with San Gabriel Mountain views beyond the outfield. Reddit: "Seats down the third base line with the mountains behind home plate. That view is what it means to live in Los Angeles."
Reddit's LA Tips
- Group by neighborhood — LA is enormous; cluster activities geographically or you'll lose half the day on freeways
- Free museums are genuinely excellent — Getty, Broad, Norton Simon, and Academy Museum all justify full mornings
- Beach fog is real — "May Gray" and "June Gloom" cloud coastal areas until noon; plan inland mornings in late spring
- Metro is underused by tourists — Gold Line to Pasadena, Expo Line to Santa Monica cover most of this list
Los Angeles rewards the traveler who treats it as a city of neighborhoods rather than a checklist. The Griffith hike, the Getty afternoon, the Grand Central Market lunch, the Venice Canals walk, the Dodgers evening — each one is distinctly LA.
Show up. Stay curious. The city will show you the rest.
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Disclaimer: Operating hours, admission prices, parking fees, and market schedules change seasonally and without notice. Always verify current information directly with each venue before visiting. Some activities (Broad Museum Infinity Room, Rose Bowl Flea Market) require advance reservations. Farmers market dates occasionally change due to holidays or weather.