By Rachel Priebe

Los Angeles is full of many wonderful tourist attractions, making it hard for the average person to get bored. However, as someone who has lived in the area for a while, I often find myself wanting to venture out beyond the Hollywood sign and LACMA. The following is a short list of some of the lesser-known gems I have come across while exploring L.A. These are some of my top “weird” things to do in L.A., but of course, there are many more!

Have a picnic in an abandoned zoo

Located in Griffith Park are the ruins of the old Los Angeles zoo, which closed in 1966 after the opening of the current one. The zoo is now a picnic area and hiking trail and contains old animals cages and exhibits. This is a unique place to see some of the LA views and walk around or have a picnic!

Address: 4801 Griffith Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Explore the Bunny Museum

“The Hoppiest Place on Earth” is a little ways away, located in Altadena (which is right next to Pasadena). While this is a little further away from the USC area than the other places on this list, its novelty is well worth the drive. It contains the world’s largest collection of bunny-related items, such as bunny sculptures, stuffed animals, rose parade floats, and much more. They even have real bunnies that roam the museum!

Address: 2605 Lake Ave, Altadena, CA 91001

Shop at the Oddities Flea Market

This market is usually held at the Globe Theater in early October. It is for lovers of the macabre and contains vendors selling abnormal decor, jewelry, and much more. This is a great place to check out if you want to get some unusual accessories or buy a unique gift for a friend.

Address: 740 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Attend a free class at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI)

Founded in 1968, this college trains students to become licensed hypnotherapists. If you want to get a taste of what students learn there, you can attend one of their free classes. These classes are only two and a half hours long on a weekday evening. They offer several free classes each month. They are on unusual subjects, such as energy healing, dream therapy and self-hypnosis.

Address: 18607 Ventura Blvd Suite 310, Tarzana, CA 91356

Visit the Museum of Death

This is the perfect place to visit in October to get into the Halloween spirit! That is, if you can handle its rather disturbing content. It is located right on Hollywood Boulevard and contains a collection of artifacts and art related to death. Among other items, it contains taxidermied animals, crime scene photographs, and letters written by serial killers. It isn’t a traditional museum experience, but it is definitely an interesting activity to fill your day!

Address: 6031 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028

I hope you enjoyed learning of some of these suggestions for new things to try in LA. While these activities may not be for everyone, there is always some attraction or place to visit in LA that will appeal to your interests!

Featured Image by kaleb tapp on Unsplash

Rachel is a recent USC graduate who studied Film and Television Production. In her free time, she enjoys public speaking, volunteering, and filmmaking, particularly documentary filmmaking. She was born and raised in Southern California, but enjoys traveling and has been all over North America and Europe. She spent her first semester of college in Paris and has been studying French for a number of years.

By Melissa Kitagawa

Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula

[3 minute read]

As a person who has lived in Los Angeles her entire life, I have gotten the chance to explore the city for years. For those who have only recently arrived in LA to attend USC, they might not be as knowledgable about the best spots to visit. Here are some places that stand out to me that I still continue to visit every year.

The Grove

Everyone in Los Angeles has been to The Grove at least once. Most of the stores are more high-end, but many people just go because of the bright lights and warm atmosphere. However, if you go, the best time to go is at night when the views are the prettiest. My personal favorite part is the farmer’s market. They have cheap, tasty food and the best crepes.

Top of the World

This is a very local secret. It is hidden in the hills of Paciﬁc Palisades. Not many people know of this place and I just found out about it recently. It does take a bit of a drive to get here, but it’s worth it. It is essentially a lookout point you can hike up to, and it gives you the best Los Angeles view possible. From here you can see the entire LA coastline and at night, the view is even more stunning.

Griffith Observatory

The Griﬃth Observatory is a very popular site to visit. They have a variety of shows where they project the night sky on a screen on the ceiling indoors and you can learn about the night sky and our planet. However, many people enjoy coming here to see the views of Los Angeles from high up and also to enjoy their hiking trails.

Sawtelle Blvd.

Sawtelle is a street in LA, and if you walk from Sawtelle and Pico to Sawtelle and La Grange, there are tons of popular Asian stores. Many locals visit this area for some of the city’s best ramen, lots of boba choices, and yummy sweets. It is open very late, so if you want some midnight ramen, this is the perfect place to go. One particularly popular place here is Bsweet. They have warm doughnuts ﬁlled with ice cream and all diﬀerent kinds of warm fudge.

Culver City Stairs

The oﬃcial name of this spot is the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, but locals call it the Culver City Stairs. This is another popular scenic view; however, most people come here to exercise. Visitors range from children to adults to whole teams who come here to exercise. The individual stairs are tall and the climb is long, but once you’re at the top, you can take a rewarding picture to document your achievement.

Whichever places you choose to visit, I am confident you will be able to capture some great photos and some great memories. Take advantage of your time in Los Angeles by immersing yourself in the local experience, and I promise you won’t regret it!

Featured Image by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

Melissa is a recent graduate who studied Business Administration. She graduated high school as valedictorian and spent her summer before college volunteering at the 2017 Summer Taipei Universade. She is half Japanese and half Taiwanese but has lived in Los Angeles her whole life. Every year she visits friends and family in Taiwan and speaks Mandarin fluently. Her interests include playing basketball, traveling, and socializing.

USC American Language Institute

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Unusual Things to Do in L.A.