Best Things to do Alone in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is such a huge area it can be intimidating and confusing for solo travelers to figure out the best places to see. It is easiest to explore L.A. with a car, should you be so brave, since everything is so spread out. But even if you don’t have a car and are staying in just one area these are cool things you can explore comfortably on your own!

Iliad Bookshop – North Hollywood

_{5400 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood, CA}

The Iliad Bookshop has over 150,000 books in stock and is one of the largest used bookstores in Southern California. There are rows and rows of shelves filled to the brim with books on every subject you can imagine. There’s also plenty of seating so you can relax with a stack of books on a rainy afternoon!

Be sure to walk around the exterior of the building to see the whimsical paintings of literary and entertainment stars!

This charming bookstore has appeared in many TV shows and movies including American Horror Story, Jane the Virgin, Better Things, Storage Wars, and Lethal Weapon 3!

J. Paul Getty Museum – Brentwood

_{1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA}

J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) was a rich guy in the oil business, who despite being notoriously miserly, had a passion for collecting art and antiques. Though he was a billionaire, he always negotiated for the cheapest price for his purchases.

Check out the Getty Museum for the cool modern architecture, mostly European Art, beautiful gardens, and great views of Los Angeles! Beware of the book in the shops there called “How to be Rich”. It’s written by Getty, so I bought it, figuring I would soon be rolling in dough. But turns out the book is about how to BE rich, not how to GET rich!! So, if any already rich person would like this book, I can sell it to you.

Celebrity Homes – Beverly Hills and Brentwood

Gawking at celebrities’ homes is one of the classic Los Angeles activities! You could take a guided tour on a bus, but if you have a car it’s pretty easy to find addresses (esp. of old celebrities) online and check them out yourself.

I love driving through the various beautiful neighborhoods on a search for a celeb’s home. It was pretty interesting when I found Lucille Ball’s Beverly Hills home. It’s a pretty neighborhood with wide, tree-lined streets, but a relatively modest home for such a legend. Her contemporary comedian Jack Benny lived right next door, and Jimmy Stewart across the street!

Check out The Beverly Hills Historical Society for the address of all the other great stars who lived in Lucy’s neighborhood! On that web site look for a video where Lucy talks about how fans used to actually have picnics on her front lawn. She then explains how much fun she and Jimmy Stewart used to have, turning the sprinklers on those fans once they got all their picnic gear spread out 😀

Marilyn Monroe’s last house is at the end of a cul de sac and is fenced off, but a cute dog was peeking underneath the gate when I stopped by.

I also tried going to Frank Sinatra’s Beverly Hills home, but it was in a gated community.

Note: Check out my Coolest Places in Los Angeles Map for Lucy, Jack and Marilyn’s addresses.

Cupcake ATM – Beverly Hills

_{9635 S Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hill, CA}

This is the kind of ATM I don’t mind having to stop at! 😀 This Cupcake ATM is part of Sprinkles Bakery, and is located just two blocks from the famous shopping street Rodeo Drive.

Do some fun window shopping on Rodeo Drive, and then be sure to stop by this ATM to get one for the road!

Hollywood Sign – Hollywood

_{Lake Hollywood Park, 3160 Canyon Lake Dr, Los Angeles, CA}

The Hollywood Sign was erected in 1923 to advertise a real estate development called Hollywoodland. It was intended to stand for only a year and a half but has actually been there for over 100 years!

You can hike to see the sign, take a bus, or drive to a good vista point. I drove to Lake Hollywood Park to get a good view of the sign. I went up Mulholland Road from 101 and enjoyed driving the winding road past the fabulous Hollywood Hills homes. I thought about how cool the houses were but how I would hate to live in one of them and have to drive up and down those windy roads each time I needed to go to the store for more coffee or Doritos etc.

Hollywood Walk of Fame – Hollywood

_{Hollywood Boulevard from Gower to La Brea and on Vine Street from Sunset to Yucca}

Checking out the Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sidewalks is the quintessential Hollywood bucket list item you need to check off! While in the area you can also check out the celebrity hand/foot prints in cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater ( now TCL Chinese Theater), The Jimmy Kimmel show (get free tickets here: 1iota) and the super fun Beetle House Halloween themed restaurant!

Hollywood Walk of Fame “Fun” Facts:

• The Walk originated in 1960
• There are more than 2,700 stars
• The Walk is nearly 2 miles long
• Anyone can nominate a new celebrity but the celeb must agree to the nomination to be considered by the committee
• 1 posthumous award is given per year
• Each June an average of 30 Stars are selected out of the 200 to 300 applications
• You can look up where a Star is located and see the schedule for upcoming award ceremonies here: https://walkoffame.com

Tip: This is not the most safe-feeling area, particularly at night. I advise visiting during the day and parking in a garage (or if you’re lucky on the street) near the Walk of Fame.

Griffith Observatory – Griffith Park

_{2800 E Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, CA}

Griffith Observatory is an icon in the LA skyline and offers one-of-a-kind views of Downtown, the Pacific Ocean, and the Hollywood Sign. Admission is free, but parking costs $10 per hour.

I can’t give you much info on the Observatory as I was only able to drive past it because all the parking spots were taken!! So I offer you my cautionary tale… I figured I would just drive up to take a look on Spring Sunday afternoon. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me that ONE MILLION other people would also decide to do this! I still enjoyed the amazing views from the road and definitely want to return and be able to actually get out of the car!

If you do need to go on a weekend or holiday I’d advise parking your car and catching public transportation or Lyft/Uber to go up. You could also do a steep 20-minute hike up to the Observatory from the Greek Theater’s parking lot (if there is not a concert going on there).

As far as movies shot there, there have been a lot! Most famously, James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause. Also, Elvis, La La Land, Back to the Future, The Terminator as well as TV shows like 24, Beverly Hill 90210, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Wonder Years, Quantum Leap, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and CHiPs!

The Broad – Downtown LA

_{221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA}

The Broad (rhymes with “toad”, not “awed”) is a contemporary art museum in Downtown Los Angeles. Visit for the cool architecture, wacky modern art and the amazing exhibition Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away! Note that the museum entry and Mirrored Room are free but both require timed entry tickets.

The Last Bookstore – Downtown LA

_{453 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA}

This cool place is the largest new and used bookstore in California. It resides in an old bank building and uses the bank vault for the scary books! The Last Bookstore also has records, a book tunnel, a coffee bar, little independent shops upstairs, and a room just for first editions and rare books.

The Last Bookstore is located in downtown LA and the day I visited they had streets nearby closed off for a movie shoot! Turned out to be the movie, “Joker: Folie a Deux”. See my picture of a “Gotham City” police car below! (Also a scene in the movie “Gone Girl” was filmed in the Last Bookstore!)

Angels Flight Railway – Downtown LA

_{350 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA}

Angels Flight is the shortest railway in the world! It journeys 0.0564 miles each way up and down a hill in downtown LA. There are 2 cars making up this funicular railway. I looked up what the heck “funicular” means…basically, it’s 2 trains/carriages attached to opposite ends of a cable that counterbalance each other on a hillside. ie. when one goes up, the other goes down. Look at all we’re learning!

The railway was built in 1901, ran until 1969, and then was dismantled during some downtown redevelopment. 27 years later in 1996 the Angles Flight trains were taken out of storage and set up again at its current location, 1/2 block away from the original location.

It costs $1 each way to ride. You can get a nice view from the top, especially at night.

Angles Flight has appeared in many movies over all of its years, most recently in La La Land.

After you check out the historic Angels Flight be sure to cross the street to grab some food at the fabulous Grand Central Market!

Cool Places to Stay in LA

Check here for the best places!

Crazy Fun Restaurants and Bars in LA

Check here for the most fun places to eat and drink!

Map of mentioned places

In Summary

I hope you have a great time checking out my favorite places from this list on your solo trip to the “City of Angels”! Please let me know if you have any great places you’d recommend!

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