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The Atlas Obscura Guide To Los Angeles

245 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Los Angeles, California

Updated August 26, 2026

The City of Angels is full of sites that are known by sight the world over. Weʼre here to tell you about some of the lesser-known highlights, from a mysterious hotel with a dark history to an impressive meteorite collection.

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Unusual Attractions in Los Angeles

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Los Angeles

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Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Fade In: A Cinema History Road Trip Through Los Angeles

Los Angeles built itself around the act of making movies. Farms and orchards were cleared to build studios, and the rest of the city grew up in their shadow. A century later, the history is still readable in the architecture: in an alley behind Hollywood Boulevard where Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd all filmed within blocks of each other; in a Victorian office building that a mining mogul commissioned from a draftsman who consulted his dead brother before agreeing to the job; in a cluster of storybook cottages that gave Walt Disney the visual language of “Snow White.”

View Itinerary

Explore Los Angeles, California

Architecture 40
Film 25
Film Locations 24
Collections 24
Architectural Oddities 24
Shops 23
Art 20
Homes 18

Los Angeles Leaderboard

Recent Los Angeles Activity

Stories About Los Angeles

A cabinet of curiosities at the Museum of Death.

At the Museum of Death, It’s Like Lunch. It’s Coming.

Inside the Museum of Death, JD Healy and Cathee Shultz want visitors to stop being afraid of death and start paying attention to life.
by Alexis Wood, Community Contributor
S.C. Mero flanked by the night’s tiny-theater crew (from left to right), Ember, Lady Maralou, Daphne Moon

A Stage Small Enough to Hide in Plain Sight

Artist S.C. Mero built a velvet-lined theater inside a faux electrical box, turning a downtown Los Angeles sidewalk into an accidental stage.
by Alexis Wood, Community Contributor

This House Changed Queer History. Most People Drive Right Past It.

A visit to the Tom of Finland Foundation in Echo Park isn't just a tourist stop. It's a reckoning.
by Patrick Tindall, Community Contributor
White Sands National Monument

Sam Sanders: How to Become a Nature Girly

Journalist and podcast host Sam Sanders talks national parks, themed dog meetups, and how place shapes a life.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
The Rainbow Swash

Corita Kent: How a Nun Became a Revolutionary Pop Artist

Her art asserted joy in a difficult political climate.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
The Donut Hole in La Puente, California.

Obscura Day Summer 2025: A Mini Road Trip Across Los Angeles

Checking out Donut Hole, Metropolitan Pit Stop, and the Circus Liqour Clown.
by Daniel McDermon, Atlas Obscura
Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

Atlas Obscura Presents: Traveling Back in Time for Coconut Cake With The Sporkful

In search of an elusive slice of coconut cake, Dan Pashman of The Sporkful takes a detour through LA’s abandoned underground tunnel system, visiting a former speakeasy and an unusual store along the way.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
The glass-ceilinged atrium of the Bradbury Building was inspired by Edward Bellamy’s utopian literature.

The Bradbury Building Featured in ‘Blade Runner’ Was Inspired by a 19th-Century Utopian Novel

The Los Angeles office building draws heavily on the futuristic architecture described in Edward Bellamy’s ‘Looking Backward.’
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura

Lists Featuring Los Angeles

Twinings tea shop on the Strand.
Sashimi on a stick.

Top 25 Food Places that Fed Your Curiosity in 2025

Discover the food destinations Atlas Obscura readers loved most this year—and get inspired for where to go (and eat) next.

25

Including Café in the Crypt, Twinings Tea Shop, and Omoide Yokocho

The Capitol Records building.
The newly named alleyway.
Cahuenga Building
Museum of Death

The 11 Best Places to Visit Near the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Curious Travelers

11

Including Capitol Records Building Morse Code, Chaplin Keaton Lloyd Alley, and Cahuenga Building

Hollywood Forever
Tesla Coil
Portal of books.
The Bradbury Building

Los Angeles' Top 10 Wonders of 2018

The strange and unusual places Atlas Obscura readers wanted to visit most in L.A. in 2018.

10

Including Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Griffith Observatory’s Tesla Coil, and The Last Bookstore

Blue Sky Mausoleum.
Darwin Martin House Complex.
Skylights on the exterior porch made of red cypress.
A restored Wright house on the Burnham Block.

A 12-Stop Road Trip of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Most Surprising Designs

A UFO-inspired church, a futurist gas station, and more deep cuts.

12

Including Blue Sky Mausoleum, The Darwin D. Martin House, and Kentuck Knob

They were built in 1979.
Seward Street Slides

When Stairs and Slides Are Hiding in Plain Sight

Play real-life Chutes and Ladders at these obscure thruways.

9

Including Secret Tiled Staircase, Esmeralda Slide Park, and Howe Street Stairs

Yellow dashes mark the old tunnel
Dashes mark the old tunnel, solid lines are the newer ones
Los Angeles Tunnels
The tunnels all look slightly differiently

7 Hidden Tunnels Under Government Buildings

The literal underbelly of public agencies.

6

Including FDR's Bomb Shelter, Steam Tunnels Under Capitol Hill, and Underground Tunnels of Los Angeles

Lobby of the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, formerly known as the Ahwahnee.
The ivy covered hotel.
Staircase at Hotel Vertigo
Mid Eastern-themed billiards room

19 Unusual Hotels in California

Remarkable places to stay—or at least visit—in the Golden State.

19

Including The Ahwahnee Hotel, Venice Beach House, and Hotel Vertigo

APEX Electronics

9 Cool Shops in Los Angeles

Wonderfully unique stores in L.A.

9

Including Cactus Store, APEX Electronics, and Dapper Cadaver

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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