10 Hidden Gems Things to do in Los Angeles That You Shouldn't Miss

February 18, 2022 Marlin Saiz

Hollywood beckons to tourists who long for a brush with Tinseltown glamor. Tour movie studios, slip your hands into the famous prints at the TCL Chinese Theatre, or indulge in a celeb sighting at one of LA’s white-hot nightspots. Spot your favorite star while shopping at The Grove, or forget all about the famous eye candy as you take in the iconic artwork at The Getty Center. For a different type of star-gazing, peek through the telescopes at the Griffith Observatory.
Restaurants in Los Angeles

1. Your L.A. Tours

Excellent
99%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 229 reviews

Your L.A. Tours

Your L.A Tours is a unique perspective on touring, offering completely custom and private tours to fit your interests at affordable prices. The experience you receive by choosing Your L.A. Tours will enable you to take full control of your tour, deciding what you would like to see, how long to stay there and what pace fits you best.

2. The Nethercutt Collection

15151 Bledsoe St Sylmar, Los Angeles, CA 91342-2710 +1 818-364-6464 [email protected] http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/
Excellent
86%
Good
12%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 846 reviews

The Nethercutt Collection

The Grand Salon showcases cars of the 1910s to 1930s. There are also collections of furniture, dolls, timepieces and one of the world's finest collections of mechanical musical instruments.

Reviewed By Epic2022 - Los Angeles, United States

An absolute hidden gem in southern Los Angeles! Be sure to take your family (sons/daughters, grandkids), and friends (in town or out of town) visit this museum! We did it yesterday and enjoyed both self-guided and guided tours tremendously. You should allow 4 hours for fun! It has a huge parking lot next to the museum. All cars are exquisitely restored to their original form and functionally drivable automobiles. Every year each car will be taken out of the museum for a joy ride in town, onto the highway, and drive through! 1) Go online to reserve your tickets for the free 2-hour guided tour on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday at 10 am or 1:30 pm. 2) Be sure to spend an extra two hours before or after and visit the other building (free to roam around) and the train. 3) In the last part of the guided tour, go to the 4th floor - music room, grab a sofa, just sit back and enjoy the music while relaxing your legs and toes. It was just heavenly enjoyable! The organ music was just amazing! 4) Bonus: it is FREE! 5) You can also check out other events on the website for silent movies and organ music! 6) The gentleman who is the curator of the museum is an absolutely awesome and very knowledgeable tour guide. He gave a very informative history of every car and every piece of musical instrument in the museum! He is the one who makes every piece of musical instrument functionally working in the museum! This place just has an awesome and incredible collection of treasures!

3. Bikes And Hikes LA

Excellent
94%
Good
4%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 1,911 reviews

Bikes And Hikes LA

Bikes And Hikes LA is based in West Hollywood, California (Los Angeles) and is a full-service bike/hike tour company promoting an eco-friendly, healthy way to enjoy all the glory Los Angeles has to offer. Our expert local guides will give you a unique insider’s tour through diverse landscapes and culturally distinct neighborhoods, stopping at local hidden gems for an authentic and unique experience of LA. We also offer bike rentals both short & long term. All of our tours are COVID-safe, outdoors, and physically distanced! All of our guides are fully vaccinated. We look forward to safely welcoming you and your group to Los Angeles!

4. We Love LA Tour

Excellent
99%
Good
1%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 906 reviews

We Love LA Tour

Private Tours of LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Our impassioned desire is to leave you with a collection of wonderfully fun, life-long memories of our fascinating city. We truly love L.A.! There's no other places on the planet we'd love to live. Showing off our city is more than just a business-it's a labor of love. Our guides have all live in L.A. for over 15 years. They all take tremendous pride in making friends every time they guide a family or group of friends through our city. And they glow often when our client's feedback is filled with compliments calling them sweet, fun, creative, attentive or simply amazing. We know you have many choices and will leave you with this promise: We guarantee you that we have the best team in place to make your trip or layover in Los Angeles a fantastically memorable one. We can't wait to meet you!!!

5. Greenbar Distillery

2459 E 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021-1733 +1 213-375-3668 [email protected] http://www.greenbardistillery.com
Excellent
89%
Good
11%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 35 reviews

Greenbar Distillery

Visit LA's original distillery! A great way to taste & learn about craft spirits. Greenbar Distillery makes a wide selection of organic spirits right in the heart of Los Angeles. Book a tour, tasting or cocktail class to sample the liquor, discover more about our unique approach to craft distilling and learn how to make better cocktails (that impress your friends). Lookout for TRU vodka, FRUITLAB liqueurs, GRAND amaros, CRUSOE rum, IXÁ tequila, SLOW HAND whiskey, CITY gin and BAR KEEP bitters - they're all created by Litty Mathew and Melkon Khosrovian, Greenbar Distillery Founders and well respected craft distilling enthusiasts.

6. La La Tours

Excellent
100%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 257 reviews

La La Tours

Customized private tours. Half-day, full-day, or multi-day. Book at La La Tours: simple and secure, no login needed. Ask questions by phone, text, email, Facebook, WeChat, or WhatsApp, and hear back directly from your guide. We tour solo travelers, small groups, and families. Pick up/drop off at your hotel is included for most LA locations. Shore excursions from cruises are available too. Your tour will introduce you to local history, culture, architecture, famous Instagram-able photo sites, food, and other unique experiences. All tours are tailored to your interests and group dynamics. Check out our tour themes at our website. Harry Bosch fans should check out the “Oh My Bosch!” tour. Tours can be in both English and Chinese. Discover LA with a top rated guide. La La Tours is licensed, screened, and insured for sightseeing tours as required by California Public Utilities Code Sections 5371 & 5384. La La Tours is a proud member of the LA Tour Guide Association.

7. Bradbury Building

304 S Broadway Downtown, Los Angeles, CA 90013-1224 +1 213-626-1893 http://www.laconservancy.org/locations/bradbury-building
Excellent
53%
Good
37%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 623 reviews

Bradbury Building

Famous 19th-century Italian Renaissance building in downtown Los Angeles.

Reviewed By overeasy

I did a very quick visit here years ago, but was thrilled to come back again. This is a truly special building, which is why it has appeared in many movies and TV shows. My fav was "Demon With A Glass Hand," an original Outer Limits episode with Robert Culp. I saw that show over 50 years ago and even then was enthralled by the location. You can only go on the ground floor and up the stairs to the first level, but that is enough to let you understand how beautiful this place is. Read the history, which is fascinating as well. It's open on the weekends and you'll have more of a chance to nab a parking spot on the street then, too.

8. Autry Museum of the American West

4700 Western Heritage Way Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462 +1 323-667-2000 [email protected] http://theautry.org
Excellent
63%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 611 reviews

Autry Museum of the American West

Explore art, history, and culture at the Autry Museum of the American West. Located in beautiful Griffith Park, the Autry presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs-including lectures, film, theater, festivals, family events, and music-and performs scholarship, research, and educational outreach. The Autry's collection of more than 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts includes the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, one of the largest and most significant collections of Native American materials in the United States.

Reviewed By valleysteve

Really enjoyed the paintings and sculptures depicting the old west. Should be included in any visit to Griffith Park.

9. Hollyhock House

4800 Hollywood Blvd Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, CA 90027-5302 +1 323-913-4030 [email protected] http://culturela.org/cultural-centers/hollyhock-house/
Excellent
52%
Good
32%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 176 reviews

Hollyhock House

HOLLYHOCK HOUSE was Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Los Angeles commission and an ode to California – its freedom and natural beauty. Built between 1919 and 1921 for Aline Barnsdall, the house introduced young architects Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra to Los Angeles. It is a harbinger of California Modernism, which came to include celebrated homes by all three visionaries that continue to impact the direction of residential design. Today, Hollyhock House is owned by the City of Los Angeles and operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Reviewed By Geoffrey1969 - St. Catharines, Canada

This was a great way to spend 2 hours. We did the outdoor tour and then visited the indoors which is staffed by four docents who are all eager to share their knowledge of the house. If you're a fan of Wright's buildings, this is a necessary visit. This house has the best fireplace in any Wright house that I've ever seen.

10. Lummis Home (El Alisal)

200 E Avenue 43, Los Angeles, CA 90031-1304 +1 323-226-1620 http://www.laparks.org/dos/historic/lummis.htm
Excellent
55%
Good
45%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 11 reviews

Lummis Home (El Alisal)

The Lummis Home, a 4,000-square-foot Rustic American Craftsman stone house built in the late 19th century, is on the National Register of Historical Places and was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument # 68 on September 2, 1970, as well as, California Historical Landmark # 531 on March 7, 1955. The Lummis Home, El Alisal, is a familiar landmark and a point of pride in the community of Highland Park. The City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation & Parks is currently operating this site, and opens the doors to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 3pm for free tours. No reservations are required.

Reviewed By Bookish_B - Los Angeles, United States

I’ve lived in L.A. almost my whole life and never knew this house was here until reading about it in The Library Book by Susan Orlean last year! We visited on a Saturday. There is no parking lot but plenty of street parking. It’s a self-guided tour of the first floor only. When we were there there were about four other people in the house and a couple wandering the garden. We were there for about an hour. If you skim through everything you can probably go through in twenty to thirty minutes tops. If you take your time reading and looking through the displays as well as speaking with the docents (which I recommend because they are very knowledgeable and friendly) it could take an hour or more. I definitely recommend visiting and pairing it with a visit to Heritage Square Museum which about half a mile away, and is exactly what we did. Great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday!

ThingsTodoPost © 2018 - 2024 All rights reserved.