7 Best Sights in Los Angeles, California

One of the country’s largest municipal parks, the 4,210-acre Griffith Park is a must for nature lovers, the perfect spot for respite from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. Plants and animals native to Southern California can be found within the park’s borders, including deer and coyotes. Bronson Canyon (where the Batcave from the 1960s Batman TV series is located) and Crystal Springs are favorite picnic spots.

The park is named after Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, a mining tycoon who donated 3,000 acres to the city in 1896. As you might expect, the park has been used as a film and television location for at least a century. Here you’ll find the Griffith Observatory, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Greek Theater, two golf courses, hiking and bridle trails, a swimming pool, a merry-go-round, and an outdoor train museum.

The panoramic view of Hollywood alone is worth a trip to this hilltop cultural center. On the grounds you’ll find the 1921 Hollyhock House, a masterpiece of modern design by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was commissioned by philanthropist Aline Barnsdall to be the centerpiece of an arts community. While Barnsdall's project didn't turn out the way she planned, the park now hosts the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery, which provides exhibition space for visual and performance artists.

Wright dubbed this style "California Romanza" (romanza is a musical term meaning "to make one's own form"). Stylized depictions of Barnsdall's favorite flower, the hollyhock, appear throughout the house in its cement columns, roof line, and furnishings. The leaded-glass windows are expertly placed to make the most of both the surrounding gardens and the city views. On summer weekends, there are wildly popular wine tastings and outdoor movie screenings. Self-guided tours are available Thursday through Sunday from 11 to 4.

If this charming little park and its lake of swan boats looks a little familiar to you, it’s most likely because you’ve seen it in one movie or another (Chinatown, for instance). After a major overhaul, the park has blossomed into a beautiful urban landscape, set against the backdrop of the Downtown skyline. Weekends are always bustling, as are mornings when joggers and early risers take laps around the lake.

Though not Los Angeles’s biggest park—that honor belongs to Griffith Park—Elysian comes in second and also has the honor of being the city’s oldest. It's also home to one of L.A.'s busiest and most beloved attractions, Dodger Stadium, the home field to the Los Angeles Dodgers. For this reason, baseball fans flock to this 600-acre park for tailgate parties. The rest of the time, however, Elysian Park serves as the Echo Park residents’ backyard, thanks to its network of hiking trails, picnic spaces, and public playgrounds.

Originally developed in 1872 as an agricultural park, this 160-acre park has a lovely sunken rose garden and three museums—the California African American Museum, the California Science Center, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County—as well as an IMAX theater. There's also Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where Olympic festivities were held in 1932 and 1984 and where USC games are now played. The newest addition to the park is the Banc of California Stadium, a 22,000-seat arena that's home to the LAFC soccer club. Good news for commuters: the Metro Expo Line, which connects the Westside to Downtown Los Angeles, has a stop at Exposition Park.

Note that the park and neighborhood are sketchy at night.

Take advantage of SoCal's legendary weather by spending a day in L.A.'s second biggest city park, which includes a Japanese Garden, soccer and baseball fields, a wildlife reserve, three golf courses, a model airplane fly zone, a dog park, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, and bike/running paths. Swan boats and bikes can be rented to paddle or circumnavigate Lake Balboa, especially pretty when the plum trees are in bloom. In summer, there are kayak excursions along the re-wilded section of the L.A. River that cuts through it. The recreation area will host skateboarding, archery, and BMX racing and freestyle (basically invented in The Valley) events at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Ride the concrete waves or watch others display a wide range of ability levels as they careen around this universally beloved skatepark, situated between the beach and the boardwalk in Venice. There's also an impressive crew of disco roller skaters, and drum circles that gravitate toward the middle of the boardwalk. Lessons are offered frequently, and there is an abundance of skate shops nearby if you are infected with the sudden need to hit the half pipe.