Places thepackedlife Wants to Go

A quirky collection of figurines backdropped by city views is hidden next to a popular restaurant in the Hollywood hills.

Authentic gondola hanging from the ceiling, notable mural in the back room.

A visionary, futuristic sculpture in Los Angeles that never met its extraterrestrial potential.

Because there's no place like home.

This rare tortoise skeleton has been hanging around the downtown Los Angeles museum for over a century.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

Church and home-museum of a 1920s female revivalist preacher with a very sordid past.

Rare collectibles from automated musical instruments to 250 unique automobiles.

An academy where anyone can train in the exciting acrobatic sports of parkour and freerunning.

Space program, pneumatics and more, bits and pieces, for movie sets or the common man.

First LEED-certified gas station in the United States.

Pay your respects to a folk-punk legend.

Hidden above a drug store on a nondescript corner of Lincoln Heights is a private clubhouse for intrepid explorers.

A cobblestone alley with an interesting past.

Secret US military film studio in the Hollywood Hills.

What began with a single, 357-pound chunk of the Canyon Diablo meteorite grew to be an impressive collection. 

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

One of the world's longest murals depicts the history of diversity in Los Angeles.

Nancy Thompson's Home from "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

One of the world's largest collections of rare and magnificent bird specimens.

The so-called "Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles" is on a one mutant mission to keep L.A. weird.

A carousel trades in its classic horses and calliope for endangered species, native flora and fauna, and a modern soundtrack.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

The remains of the first punk club in L.A.