There is so much to go over in regards to things you can do in L.A., so I decided to split it up into categories and also show you how to find stuff to do yourself. The most important thing is to keep an open mind (when it comes to doing things you might not usually do), don’t be lazy and be ready to spend a lot of time in traffic commuting all across the Greater Los Angeles area.
Transportation
Unlike cities like New York and London, Los Angeles is extremely spread out and so I wouldn’t recommend relying on public transportation or cab services like Uber and Lyft as your only means of transport. Instead I highly recommend renting a car. I always use Avis since they tend to have the best prices and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. I tend to pick it up from the airport when I arrive and then drop it back there on my way out. You don’t need an international driving license to drive in L.A., your Kuwaiti driving license is all you need. Prices are also not that expensive, a Ford Mustang convertible is for around $65 a day which includes unlimited mileage and full insurance, so you can imagine how much cheaper regular cars would be. If you don’t want to use a rental company for some reason or if you’re looking for a very specific car (like a TRD Tacoma or a Tesla) you can also use Turo which is a service similar to Airbnb except for cars.
First Time in L.A.?
If it’s your first time in L.A. then definitely hit up all the touristic spots like Disney Land, Universal Studios, Six Flags, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Griffith Observatory, The Getty etc.. You should also probably drive out to Las Vegas and check that as well.
Off the Beaten Track
If it’s not your first time in L.A. or are looking for something less touristy to do then it really depends what you’re into. Below are a few things I like doing:
Museums: I didn’t like The Getty, but I loved The Broad and the Petersen Automotive Museum. If you want to check out The Broad make sure you reserve your tickets in advance, it’s free entry but they limit the number of people per day. If you’re planning to visit L.A. this year between October 21st and January 1st, then I’d recommend you also reserve your ticket for the new Yayoi Kusama exhibit called Infinity Mirrors. Tickets will be released on September 1st and they’ll most likely finish quickly, here is a link with more info on the exhibit [Link]. On my last trip to L.A. I got to experience Yayoi’s previous exhibit, “Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away“. I had to get to the museum one hour before opening and line up outside so that once the museum opened I could then rush in and wait in another line for 30 minutes so I could then get a number so that when my turn came two hours later, I could spend 45 seconds in the Infinity Mirrored Room trying to take a photo. Insane. If you’re into cars I’d also recommend you do the extended tour at the Petersen Automotive Museum which includes a tour of their vault which is their car collection in the basement which isn’t on display in the main museum.
Concerts: There are concerts taking place on a daily basis in L.A. When I was there for example a lot of cool musicians were performing including Nine Inch Nails, Iggy Pop, Metallica, BUSH, Tears for Fears, Lionel Richie and Slayer. There were hundreds of more bands performing while I was there if not thousands. The best way to see what concerts are taking place while you’re visiting is to check Ticket Master. You can plug in the dates you’re going to be in L.A. and then scroll through pages and pages of concerts taking place during that time. If you can’t find tickets for sale because they’re sold out, check Stub Hub, thats where I usually buy my sold out tickets from. For electronic music I’d recommend checking Resident Advisor for club dates.
Events: There are soo many things happening every day in L.A., so much that its nearly impossible to go through it all. While I was in L.A. there were a bunch of things that interested me that were taking place including UFC 214 which I sadly ended up missing. There are two ways of finding events that I’d recommend, the first is using Facebook. Facebook allows you to explore events taking place near you and you can be pretty specific about the kind of event you’re looking for and the date you want to check. By being more specific, instead of navigating through thousands and thousands of entries you end up having to dig through hundreds. Still a lot of events to go through, but not as bad. The second way to find events is to decide on an area you want to visit and then see whats taking place there. So for example I wanted to visit Huntington Beach and it turned out the Vans US Open of Surfing was taking place there so I checked it out. When I went to play volleyball on Hermosa Beach, the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Beach Volleyball Tournament way taking place up the road in Manhattan Beach so me and my friends ended up heading there after our game. Actually now that I think about it, there is a third way of finding events, you find one based on your interest. You could just google your interest like “yoga event los angeles” and end up with a bunch of cool things like hip hop yoga or a cannabis infused yoga event.
Beaches: I went to four different beaches on my trip and my favorite two were Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. I went on weekdays and weekends and both beaches were pretty much empty. Because the beaches in L.A. stretch across the whole coastline, and because the beaches are so huge, it never gets packed, I love it. Even when we were playing beach volleyball on Saturday afternoon, there were two other courts next to ours that were not occupied. And that was on a weekend! You could also rent a bike on one beach and ride it all along the coastline through the other beaches since they’re all connected. The bike path is called the Marvin Braude Bike Trail and stretches for 35KM. The only thing you’ll have an issue with when beaching is finding parking. My tip for that would be to park far away and then Uber it down to the beach.
TV Shows: L.A. is home to a bunch of cool TV shows and you can sign up to be part of the live audience. Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher, The Price is Right and Jeopardy all tape in L.A. and you can watch them all for free. All you need to do is sign up ahead of time to make sure you have a higher chance of scoring a ticket. To get tickets, just visit your favorite shows website and you’ll find a link to sign up for them there.
Other Random Things: There are a few places I personally enjoyed while in L.A. If you’re into video games you might want to combine it with alcohol and visit a couple of barcades like The One Up or EightyTwo. I would also highly recommend you go bowling at the Highland Park Bowl which is the oldest bowling alley in L.A. It opened up back in 1927 and is still alive and kicking today. Its by far the coolest bowling alley I’ve ever been to and has great music and even a bar. L.A. is also home to the largest IKEA in North America if that’s something you’re into. Oue Skyspace in downtown have a glass slide outside the skyscraper which is a quick thing to try out if you’re in downtown. Finally, visit The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard for some great comedy in a small cozy space. Tickets are usually just $5 and lots of great comedians are regulars there like Joe Rogan, Joey Diaz, Marc Maron, Jamie Kennedy and David Spade. It’s also the home of my favorite podcast Kill Tony.
Eats: I already posted a bunch of cool places to eat at in L.A. last week and I’ll be adding more to that list probably later today or tomorrow. If you haven’t checked that list out already, here is the [Link]
I think thats all I have to share for now. Like I said there is so much to do and you really need a car to be able to freely move around. If there is anything else you want to know, just let me know in the comments below.
