Michael Juliano

We don’t know about you, but our mind is always focused on the weekend. It can never come soon enough—which is why we’re already thinking about what new restaurants we want to try or where we can drive for the day. Whether you’re looking to scope out the latest museum exhibitions or watch a movie outdoors, you’ll find plenty of things to do in L.A. this weekend. We curate an L.A. weekend itinerary of the city’s best concerts, culture and cuisine, every week, just for you.

If we could write the rules of living in Los Angeles this would be our No. 1, always at the top of our list: When you live in this city, there’s no excuse for boredom just because it’s a weeknight. There are hundreds of things to do in Los Angeles each week, whether you hit the beach at sunset or go for a morning bike ride, or catch a concert or a comedy show—and that’s really only scratching the surface. Well, we don’t make the rules, but we will provide you with plenty of ideas for your next free weeknight right here. Now go out (or, in a few cases, stay in) and tackle these things to do in L.A. this week.

Who says L.A. lacks culture? Aesthetes and culture vultures can get their fix for free in L.A., with some of the best things to do from a Pacific Palisades estate to the hilltops of Griffith Park. Whether you prefer the greatest hits at LACMA or off-the-beaten-path museums, there is such thing as a free museum visit (especially if you have a library card). Here are the best free museums in Los Angeles, whether they offer free admission year-round or offer free museum days.  RECOMMENDED: See the full list of free things to do in L.A.

What’s Halloween without a few good scares? The best haunted houses in Los Angeles run the gamut from homegrown horrors to big-budget amusement park productions—unsurprisingly, the home of Hollywood horror films takes its Halloween events very seriously. Whatever thrills you, whether it’s a hayride in Griffith Park or immersive theater at an old estate in Pomona, we’ve got it in this year’s list of the city’s best haunted houses in L.A. RECOMMENDED: See more of Halloween in L.A.

You don’t have to get on a plane to feel like you’re in another country. Southern California is dotted with gorgeous, quaint destinations perfect for a weekend getaway from L.A. These easy, affordable road trips are all within a three-hour scenic drive (or ferry ride) of the city. Once you arrive at your destination, partake in things that Californians do best: beach-lounging, wine-drinking, hiking and dining. Oh and there’s some pretty good shopping and thrifting in the mix too. Let these weekend getaways from L.A. be your roadmap to a magical world within SoCal.  RECOMMENDED: The best day trips from L.A. This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, click here.

It’s just about Labor Day weekend, but summer sure doesn’t feel like it’s over yet. That’s kind of the blessing and curse of L.A.’s seasons: If anything, warm days are only heating up this time of year (hello, Santa Ana winds). But on the other hand, it means weeks more of outdoor movie screenings and all sorts of other alfresco affairs. RECOMMENDED: Labor Day weekend in Los Angeles

While you won’t find any major museums or landmark attractions in Silver Lake, that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of eclectic culture exciting things to do in the neighborhood. Go shopping along Sunset Junction, take a stair hike between hillside houses or roll out a blanket in front of the Silver Lake Reservoir—there are plenty of worthwhile things to do in Silver Lake. RECOMMENDED: A complete guide to Silver Lake

Hollywood is loaded with landmark movie theaters and iconic Los Angeles attractions—we certainly understand why it tops tourists' to-do lists. While the Walk of Fame is too clogged with bootleg superheroes to exude much elegance, you can still find a bit of that old glamour in the luxurious Hollywood hotels, or save your money for other Los Angeles indulgences by staying in a more budget-friendly option. It's not just a popular neighborhood for tourists to stay—Hollywood is centrally located and it's easy to get to many other parts of Los Angeles using the subway, bus lines, or freeways that run through it. Here are the best hotels in Hollywood for every traveler's budget. RECOMMENDED: Things to do in Hollywood This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, click here.

Fall in Los Angeles is an elusive thing. There’s no nip to the air—in fact, some of the warmest (and wild-fiery) days fall in these months—and any dramatic color changes take place in fashion rather than on trees. Mostly, we think of fall as that period of time in L.A. after (most of) the tourists typically leave and just before you start to see Christmas lights go up and you think, already?! But even if you’re still sunning yourself on L.A.’s best beaches come October, you’ll still recognize the signs: the impulse to jack up your reading list, to buy sweaters you won’t wear for weeks, to throw a scarf on over your sundress, to order seasonal squash dishes. You may even start craving the best pie in the city. No matter, here are the best things to do during fall in L.A.—or, at least, things that’ll help make it feel like autumn is actually a thing here.

Outdoor movies combine two things we love about L.A.: an appreciation of movie-making and spending as much time as possible outside. Alfresco screenings usually start to pop up across the city in the late spring and continue into the fall, be it atop rooftop bars, at L.A.’s best parks or even at a Hollywood cemetery. Pretty much all of our favorite outdoor series are back to their alfresco picnic formats, so moviegoers can pack together some picnic food or pick up some on-site snacks and catch films both old and new. (If you’re looking for a fun date idea, this one takes the cake.) Be sure to check back all year long for updates on the list, as new screenings are always being added. Looking to see a new movie any night of the week? Check out the best movie theaters in L.A. or the few remaining old-school drive-in movie theaters. And for some at-home inspiration, you can always catch up on the best L.A. movies of all time. For screenings with multiple movies on a single night, each film is separately ticketed unless otherwise noted.

With 70-degree-plus days nearly year-round, Angelenos are spoiled with things to outside. Whether it’s January or July, L.A.’s best hikes (including hikes with waterfalls) are rarely off the table—and the same can even be said for beaches, too. Now, you might not exactly want to actually go in the water (even in late summer the ocean temperature barely hits 70), but you’ll certainly want to be by the water. And with miles of picturesque coastline from Malibu to the South Bay, the best beaches in Los Angeles are aplenty for outdoor enthusiasts, surfers, families, sun worshippers and beach bunnies (and at one dog beach, for pups). If you’re new to L.A., there are a few oceanfront weather basics you should know: On hot days, the beach is typically 10 degrees cooler than central parts of L.A. and 20 degrees cooler than the Valley. (The exception: Long Beach tends to be in lock step with L.A. temps.) Sometimes—particularly toward the beginning of summer—you might have clear blue skies inland but the beach is all fogged in; that marine layer tends to burn off in the afternoon, but sometimes it sticks around all day. From Venice and Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach and Playa Vista, here are the best beaches in L.A. to sunbathe, surf and play. RECOMMENDED: See the best things to do in Los Angeles

There are more things to do in West Hollywood than a drunken gallivant on the Sunset Strip—not that we’re advising against that. The music venues along Sunset Boulevard and the colorful gay bars on Santa Monica Boulevard are ingrained in the city’s identity, but you’ll also find art galleries, parks and architecturally significant homes inside of WeHo’s irregularly shaped border. Explore the best of the city with these 17 things to do in West Hollywood. RECOMMENDED: See more in our guide to West Hollywood

Though you can linearly chart decades of Oscars winners, you can’t really do the same with the history of cinema: There are many stories that have pushed the medium forward, as the Academy Museum’s collection spells out. That’s particularly true for the L.A. film museum’s second-ever special exhibition, an essential and energetic display that spotlights an entire century of often-overlooked filmmaking and demonstrates that Black artists have been a vital part of cinema since its inception. A collaboration with Washington, D.C.’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, “Regeneration” uses posters, costumes and film clips to dive into the works of Black actors, directors and production companies from the birth of the motion picture industry through the Civil Rights era. The exhibition (which kicks off with a screening series of the same era) spans across seven galleries and is arranged roughly chronologically, starting with vaudeville and race films (movies made for Black audiences by Black actors) into a complex era of Hollywood musicals, through a political awakening in moviemaking and right up to the dawn of Blaxploitation films. Along the way you’ll see everything from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet to footage of Josephine Baker at the Folies Bergère to Sidney Poitier’s Oscars. But our absolute favorite thing on display is a 1939 Mills Panoram movie jukebox that screens a series of “soundies”—basically a colorful wooden cabinet with short-form musical films on a

Hatched out of the hunger for car-friendly trick-or-treating options, this former Halloween drive-through is back again in Woodland Hills as on-foot adventure. Haunt’oween will celebrate spooky season with a walkthrough that features tons of pumpkins, a trick-or-treating–filled town and an illuminated carnival, plus face painting, performances, games and food trucks. Tickets go on sale August 23 at 9am and start at $40. You’ll find it at 6100 Topanga Canyon Boulevard on the site of the former Westfield Promenade, with free parking right next to the event entrance.

When museums were just starting to open their doors again last year, LUMINEX decided to meet the moment and quite literally take art outside: The one-night-only event turned buildings along five blocks of Downtown L.A. into a canvas for colorful projections. Now, it’s back for round two: On Saturday, September 17, DTLA will once again come alive after dark thanks to a dozen site-specific installations. “Project Realities” will stage augmented reality installations, immersive artworks, a digital drone activation, live performances and sound and video feeds—all for free. From 7:30 to 11:30pm, you’ll find building-sized pieces within a five-block area of South Park (W Pico Blvd, S Hope St, W 11th St, S Olive St, S Broadway). This year’s artists include Refik Anadol, Nancy Baker Cahill, Sarah Rara, Luciana Abait, Akiko Yamashita, Carole Kim, David Van Eyssen, Leah Smithson, Nate Mohler, Ryan P Griffin, Mark Hashimoto and Elizabeth Leister. Expect it to take about an hour to experience them all. If you can’t make it out for the event—or if you find yourself wanting to relive it—you’ll be able to pull up the AR experience portion afterwards via the Hoverlay app.

Its past installments have found attendees stealthing their way through a Victorian home and embarking on a Blade Runner-esque bounty hunt. And now this celebrated immersive horror theater event is returning to L.A. for an event at a 147-year-old mansion. Delusion, an interactive seasonal event that combines elements of immersive theater with a more story-based approach to a walk-through haunted house, will again take over the Phillips Mansion, an 1875 estate in Pomona. “Valley of Hollows,” which opens on September 15 and runs well past Halloween, will unfold a tale that’s technically a sequel to last year’s ghost story—but you won’t need to be well-versed in that one to keep up with this supernatural tale of 1970s cults. You’ll play the role of a Deprogrammer whose job is to rescue people from the clutches of the Hollows cult, a group of fanatics with a death wish that have swarmed the mansion in the wake of a widow’s disappearance. Director and action coordinator Jon Braver, who hatched Delusion in 2011, has again teamed up with the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride producers Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group for a staging that bills itself as Delusion’s “most disturbing interactive play to date.” You can upgrade to a VIP ticket for access to the second floor of the mansion, which includes a sound-and-touch area dubbed “Hell’s Hollow,” a projector that plays ’70s horror classics and a bar where you’re literally invited to drink the Kool-Aid. Tickets, which start at $90, go on

Ready or not, spooky season is slowly stalking its way ever closer. The clearest sign? Universal Studios has already announced some of the eight haunted houses set inhabit its Hollywood-adjacent theme park for Halloween Horror Nights. At first glance, the latest HHN maze announcement is by far its most surprising: the Weeknd. Yes, as in “Blinding Lights” singer the Weeknd. But Abel Tesfaye’s dark new wave songs and short-film–like music videos seem like an oddly natural fit for a horror attraction. For “The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare,” the singer’s latest album, After Hours, will be adapted as a horror movie soundtrack for a surreal haunted house filled with slashers, bandaged maniacs and gruesome toad-like creatures (fingers crossed that Super Bowl maze of mirrors somehow makes its way in, too). Elsewhere at HHN, the new “Universal Monsters: Legends Collide” will stick the classic trio of the Wolf Man, Dracula and the Mummy in a 19th-century battle for the Amulet of Ra—all set to an original soundtrack by Slash. In addition, Michael Myers will return in a Halloween-inspired maze, while “The Horrors of Blumhouse” will bring two of the production company’s flicks, The Black Phone and Freak, to life at the theme park. Halloween Horror Nights will run on select evenings from September 8 to October 31. Tickets cost $72 to $102, depending on the night; with Express Pass add-ons, options range from $179 to $329. See more of the best haunted houses in L.A.

Last year, Moonlight Forest made way for another holiday tradition at the L.A. County Arboretum: Lightscape. And now, it’s set to make an expanded return in 2022. Look out for tickets (which have gone up about $7 this year) to go on sale to the public August 10. In the meantime, here’s what we had to say about last year’s experience: Uplit trees line the mile-long pathway, with about 10 or so installations spaced out along the way. Expect to spend about an hour or so strolling the one-way loop and posing for photos. Though the color-bathed flora is certainly pretty, we wish there were simply more twinkly things to see as you walk during the in-between moments: A lone string-light-trimmed cactus is begging for more prickly friends. As for the installations, there are a few in particular that'll keep you fixated in place. The Winter Cathedral's peaked tunnel of lights pinches toward the end to give the effect of, well, a cathedral. The oversized lilies floating in front of the Queen Anne Cottage are serene, the main lawn's carpet of pulsating lights are energetic and the spheres full of torches in the Fire Garden will have you wishing you could roast the event's DIY s'mores skits over their open flames. There are some odd choices—a bombastic projected Walk of Fame of films shot at the Arboretum, a blacklit gazebo that's basically impossible to look at—and then some really odd choices: A jungle of disco ball-headed reflective mannequins feels like a Daft Punk fever dream that ha

As cathartic and communal as it is visually stunning, the annual Rise Festival marks the release of thousands of illuminated lanterns into the night sky above the Mojave Desert. The two-day festival (Oct 7, 8) outside of Las Vegas kicks off in the afternoon with music sets, sound baths and breath work, and each night culminates in a massive, simultaneous lantern release just after sunset—and we do mean massive, with thousands of attendees expected. Why exactly you choose to float a lantern and what wishes or remembrances you imbue it with are totally up to you, to be shared among a Burning Man-esque circle of attendees all doing the same thing. Now, to answer one of the most important questions you probably have: All lanterns are 100% biodegradable, and following the event, organizers retrieve the lanterns as well as any pre-existing litter from the surrounding desert. In addition, Rise purchases carbon offsets for every vehicle it uses—attendees will have to do so on their own, though, if they’re interested. You’ll find the festival about 25 miles outside of Vegas, just off the 15 at the Jean Dry Lake Bed. Tickets start at $99 on Friday and $119 on Saturday, with premium options available for a VIP lounge and a picnic for two.

A bit of Westeros is hatching in L.A. at the Natural History Museum’s new Game of Thrones-inspired, dragon-filled exhibition. Yes, the exhibit is cleary an in-person promo for this summer’s prequel series, House of the Dragon. But who are we to argue with getting to see props and costumes from the upcoming HBO show? “House of the Dragon: The Targaryen Dynasty” will also include tutorials on the Valyrian language, dragon eggs and a replica of the House of the Dragon version of the Iron Throne (judging by the prequel’s trailer, it’s spiked with way more swords than the GoT one). Access to the 2,500-square-foot exhibit, which is open from August 5 to September 7, is included with a standard admission ticket ($15, but L.A. County residents can visit for free from 3 to 5pm) and available on a first-come, first-served basis. (Oh, and if you’re thinking, this is an odd fit for this museum, the Natural History Museum actually has one of the oldest collections of Hollywood memorabilia, a fact we weren’t even aware of until the “Natural History of Horror” exhibition a few years again.)

Most 5Ks require a bit of physical prep beforehand and some huffing and puffing along the way. But this downhill 1K lets gravity do all the work. Yes, that’s 1K, as in just over half a mile. The 1st Annual Bananas Splitty in the City invites Angelenos to come dressed as a banana (or something similarly themed) and run, jog or walk down Santa Monica Boulevard from the Black Cat to the Virgil—all while “Who Let the Dogs Out” plays on a loop. The noncompetitive “un-race” is the latest bit of bonkers creativity from comedians Kurt Braunohler and Scotty Landes, who cohost the news podcast Bananas (they’ll be staging a live edition at the Virgil following the race). It’s also not nearly the first time that Braunohler has brought whimsical strangeness to the L.A. streetscape; he notably commissioned “How do I land?” skywriting over DTLA, hosted an inner tube race down the L.A. River and staged a comedy show inside a car wash. “I kind of wrote myself out a reason for existence as a comedian, and that reason is to insert absurdity into strangers’ lives to make the world a better place,” Braunohler told us a few years ago—here’s hoping Splitty in the City can fit that same mold. Tickets cost $25 and include a race bib and access to the post-walk show at the Virgil. Proceeds will be donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Breezy Venice Boardwalk hangout the Waterfront is hosting a casual Fourth of July party and cookout this weekend, but it’s also taking its patriotic duties pretty seriously: by donating all of its profits to the National Network of Abortion Funds. On Sunday, July 3, swing by for a beachside day party (2–7pm) presented by alcohol-infused cold brew brand Bomani. Then, on Monday, July Fourth, it’s a proper cookout (noon–4pm) with hot dog, burger and seafood specials (if you want to stick around into the evening, head south on the beach a bit and you’ll catch the Marina del Rey fireworks). For both events, the Waterfront says that it’ll be donating 100% of its profits to the National Network of Abortion Funds, a social justice organization that unites over 80 organizations determined to increase abortion access for low-income residents across the country.

See how works of 18th-century French decorative arts informed the residents of Beauty and the Beast’s castle and Sleeping Beauty’s enchanting forest at this assembly of Disney-inspiring works. “Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts” will put about 50 works of European art and design on display at the Huntington from December 10, 2022 through March 27, 2023. Those centuries-old pieces will sit alongside more contemporary, heavily French-inspired production artworks from both Disney movies and theme parks. The exhibition debuted in New York at the Met—you can see Time Out New York’s in-depth look at the exhibit here—and is currently on tour in London; its arrival in SoCal just so happens to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the locally-based Walt Disney Company. Highlights include porcelain figures, Rococo candlesticks and castle-like vases displayed alongside the prop book from Sleeping Beauty, Mary Blair’s artwork for Cinderella and Herbert Ryman’s bird’s-eye illustration of Disneyland.

Always two there are: Fresh off the announcement that there’s a projection-filled King Tut exhibit stopping in L.A. comes the news that there’s… another projection-filled King Tut exhibit. Technically the first of the two to hit town, “Immersive King Tut: Magic Journey to the Light” will be the next show to take over Hollywood’s Lighthouse ArtSpace, the former Amoeba home turned digital Van Gogh and Frida host. Put together in collaboration with the Egyptian Council for Tourism Affairs, the exhibit will translate the ancient funerary text the Amduat into a projection-based display of King Tut’s passage into the afterlife. The exhibit opens August 19 and is currently selling tickets, which start at $30, through October 30.

You’ll be able to take a train to LAX years before you’ll be able to take a gondola to Dodger Stadium—but you can actually step inside a prototype of the latter right now. The Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (or LA ART) gondola project is looking to have an elevated gondola line that runs from Union Station (plus a stop in Chinatown) to Dodger Stadium operational by 2028. But until then, they’ve set up a gondola cabin in the parking lot of Chavez Ravine that’s open to visitors on game days (you’ll find it in Lot G, not far from the oversized foam finger near the left field side of the outfield plaza). Photograph: Courtesy LA ART/Climate Resolve The stadium setup comes as local organization Climate Resolve, under its nonprofit subsidiary Zero Emissions Transit, announced that it will take the lead on the project. And it also comes amid pushback from Chinatown residents to halt the not-yet-approved project due to privacy, gentrification and traffic concerns, as well a lawsuit from the California Endowment over a “sweetheart deal” with McCourt Global—the company that belongs to former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt (who still has a stake in the stadium’s parking lots) and owns LA ART. When the unsolicited, privately-funded project was first unveiled in 2018, it came with a rather optimistic goal of operating by opening day 2022. But, you know, some things happened in the intervening years and that window has come and gone. As it stands now, LA ART expects to release its draft en

Nothing says “I love you” like picking someone up from LAX on a weekend evening. The airport’s car-clogged loop ranks high on the list of Los Angeles traffic nightmares—though it’ll hopefully be an avoidable one with the arrival of a new automated train system. LAX’s Automated People Mover (or APM) won’t open until sometime in 2023, but on Tuesday we got our first glimpse at one of its vehicles. Officials debuted the first batch of the 44 train cars that’ll ferry passengers for free along an elevated 2.25-mile line that connects the airport terminals with a new parking garage and a forthcoming rental car area and Metro stop. Each Innovia 300 APM car features 12 seats and has enough space to hold 50 passengers with luggage (they’ll run four cars to a train, so that means they’ll accommodate 200 people per boarding). During peak operation periods, from 9am to 11pm, the driverless, rubber-wheeled cars will arrive every two minutes. If you total up all of those numbers, Los Angeles World Airports estimates the APM will carry 85 million passengers per year. Photograph: Courtesy Los Angeles World AirportsMayor Eric Garcetti inside an APM train car Expect it to take 10 minutes to get from one end of the system to the other, though it’s likely your trip will be even shorter depending on where you’re headed. There’ll be three stations in the middle of the terminal area: one between terminals one and seven; another between two, five and six; and another near three, four and the Tom B

The recently completed (and, controversially, recently often temporarily closed) Sixth Street Bridge has ignited all sorts of conversations in Los Angeles about who this city’s streets should belong to. But just up the 101, there’s another project readying to make some pedestrian-first enhancements on one of L.A.’s most, let’s say, unique streets. Construction will begin in the summer of 2023 on so-called “quick-build” streetscape improvements along the most popular expanses of Hollywood Boulevard. In 2020, the city released its first concept images for plans to reduce lanes of car traffic and increase pedestrian space on that stretch of the Walk of Fame. Though that full master plan build-out is still a few years off, some of its meaningful alterations will arrive sooner. The quick-build will convert most of the parking lanes on Hollywood Boulevard, between Orange Drive and Gower Street, into pedestrian zones with tables and chairs for dining, space for sidewalk vending and temporary art installations, and planters, landscaping and additional shade trees. (Some pickup, drop-off and loading zones for cars will remain.) The $7.2 million mini-makeover, funded by the Measure M-enabled Metro Active Transport program, will also provide bus shelters and boarding platforms (some stops will be consolidated as part of Metro’s “NextGen” program) plus bike racks, transit kiosks, benches and waste receptacles. The project also aims to improve pedestrian safety, which sort of paradoxicall

UPDATE: As Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations begin to decline, L.A. County has decided it will not reimplement its indoor mask mandate. However, as the transmission level still remains high, Public Health still strongly advises that Angelenos wear masks in indoor settings. Though L.A. is still in the CDC’s “high” community level for Covid-19, the county has seen a fairly steady decline in cases since July 23, while hospitalizations have been declining for the first time since mid-April. Those metrics have improved enough that, per the county’s data, L.A. should soon reenter the “medium” level; the CDC data lags behind the local figures and will likely move the county back into “medium” next Thursday. “As I noted last week, any indication that the county would soon be moving to the medium community would be a good reason to not move forward with universal indoor masking,” said L.A. County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer. “We will be pausing and not moving forward [with masking] at this time.” Our original story from July 14, 2022 appears below. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve worn a face mask. Maybe you never gave one up at all. In either case, it’s looking increasingly likely you’ll be required to wear one indoors again very soon. On Thursday, Los Angeles County entered the CDC’s “high” community level for Covid-19. If the county remains within that range for two consecutive weeks (which would be on July 28 and is looking increasingly likely), then we’ll see

We still don’t have a clue what Nope is really about only days away from its release, but we can at least tell you all about one of the mysterious Jordan Peele film’s sets: a fictional theme park that’s been relocated to an actual Hollywood-adjacent theme park. When Jupiter’s Claim opens on July 22 (the very same day that Nope releases), Universal Studios Hollywood visitors will be able to travel through the idealized, carefree Gold Rush town as part of Universal’s studio tour, the nearly hour-long tram ride that snakes through a mix of camera-ready backlot sets and theme park theatrics. Jupiter’s Claim falls somewhere between the two: It was actually used on location to shoot Nope and then rebuilt at Universal, and (if our pre-opening experience is any indication) will at least include a sudden wave of ominous sounds and flickering lights as you make your way through. Photograph: Time Out/Michael Juliano Based on our many rewatches of Nope’s trailers, the layout of Jupiter’s Claim here looks almost identical to its use in the film other than a missing building or two—and sans the mountainous Santa Clarita Valley backdrop where it was originally located (the scenery from Universal’s hillside studio is certainly no slouch, though). The film-to-theme-park transition of production designer Ruth DeJong’s set was apparently planned early on in the film’s production, and that really shows with just how fully-realized the whole town feels. Its saloon-style facades copy the sort of

Making plans atop Bunker Hill almost always involves an “…and then what?” You’ve scored reservations for the Broad… but then where can you walk to afterwards that doesn’t involve hoofing it all the way downhill toward Pershing Square? You have tickets to a show at the Walt Disney Concert… but then where can you grab a drink? The newly opened Conrad Los Angeles has arrived with an answer, even if you have no intentions of spending the night at the Downtown L.A. hotel. Positioned between the ultra-luxe Waldorf Astoria and the more familiar Hilton label, the Conrad has brought 305 guest rooms as well as a spa and a host of José Andrés-helmed restaurants and bars to one of two Frank Gehry-designed towers across the street from Disney Hall. It’s the first finished piece of what was once known as Parcel Q, the most quintessentially-L.A. story of a piece of prime property on Grand Avenue: As Victorian mansions made way for civic campuses and postmodern skyscrapers, a block-sized hillside parking lot was built in the late 1960s to try to meet the increased demand for cars. It was apparently ugly then, and it was still ugly when the supposed-to-be-temporary lot persisted a half century later as a pedestrian dead zone right in the center of what was supposed to be DTLA’s cultural heart. But in 2018 the lot was finally demolished, and after a number of delays the resulting mixed-use complex has opened its doors—well, the hotel part of it, at least. Photograph: Courtesy Conrad Los Angel

Like many Angelenos, I think a lot about leaving L.A.—temporarily, of course, just for a road trip. The call of the open road is one of Southern California’s most romantic allures: If you can manage to escape the thunderdome of L.A.’s tense, traffic-choked freeways, there’s an entire state’s worth of wilderness waiting for you. I also, like many Angelenos, am fixated on our wince-worthy gas prices. And like three-quarters of Californians, I’ve thought about breaking up with my gas-powered car in favor of an electric vehicle. That’s become an increasingly enticing prospect as gas prices spike and an electric vehicle market of mostly long-range luxury cars and shorter-range blobs finally makes room for an attractive and relatively affordable middle ground (assuming you can find one among supply chain shortages). But I’ve also wondered how owning an EV would impact road trips (or, you know, fleeing town after the Big One). Specifically, could I still easily explore California’s national parks, which mostly require multi-hour drives from L.A. to comparatively more off-the-grid destinations? I decided to find out with a fuel-free trip to the state’s most beloved, grandiose bit of nature: Yosemite National Park. As it turns out, driving from L.A. to Yosemite and back in an EV is refreshingly ordinary. Over the course of a four-day trip, I spent just under $46 in charging costs and about one cumulative extra hour of charging downtime for a trek that would’ve likely cost upwards of $

UPDATE: Disney Parks announced on Friday that its previously-untitled, The Princess and the Frog-inspired Splash Mountain makeover will debut in late 2024 as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.” There aren’t a ton of other details yet about the Disneyland ride (which will appear in Walt Disney World, as well), but you can check out a video below of some of the Louisiana-based research that’s going into it. Our original story by Stephanie Breijo, published June 25, 2020, appears below. Disney Parks announced today that its iconic log-flume ride, Splash Mountain, is getting a whole new look. The beloved water ride is based off the controversial film Song of the South from the 1940s, but today the company shared that the both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom locations are completely reimagining the 1989 ride with a more contemporary—and inclusive—film, The Princess and the Frog. Imagineers began planning the revamp last year, according to the parks’ announcement, and will set the new ride in New Orleans, following characters from the 2009 film such as Princess Tiana, Louis and Mama Odie through their preparations for a Mardi Gras performance. Fans have been calling for the re-theming for years, even creating an online petition to ditch Splash Mountain’s problematic origins. There’s no estimation on the ride’s completion, nor any word on whether the original Splash Mountain will still be available to visit whenever Disneyland reopens. But we do have an artist’s concept, wh

We love 4th of July fireworks, but sometimes our aversion to traffic and fighting to find parking is enough to keep us away (we’re looking at you, waterfront Westside fireworks shows). But thanks to our ever-expanding Metro system, you can stay off the road on the 4th of July and forget all about gas prices, overstuffed parking garages and Uber and Lyft surge pricing. We’ve put together some picks for our favorite fireworks shows at Metro-accessible spots (and specifically ones that are within a short walk or a quick shuttle transfer from the station). So ditch your car this Independence Day and scope out one of these transit-friendly fireworks shows. Grand Park The crowds pack in pretty tight at Grand Park, and the fireworks are never quite as big as people hope—it is in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles, after all—but the Fourth of July Block Party is by far the most convenient, Metro-accessible fireworks show. Nearest Metro stop: Civic Center/Grand Park (B/D [Red/Purple] Lines)   Long Beach You don’t need to board a boat to see Long Beach’s fireworks show; you’ll have a view from nearly anywhere along the waterfront. Follow the throngs of people to Shoreline Park if you want one of the closest (but most crowded) views. Nearest Metro stop: Downtown Long Beach (A [Blue] Line)  Old Pasadena The Rose Bowl shuttle doesn’t run during Americafest, which means enduring parking purgatory or hoofing it up and downhill from the Metro to watch inside the stadium. Instead, we’d sugges

It looks like Miami might be a sports city after all. Two years after hosting Super Bowl LIV and fresh off a successful Formula 1 Grand Prix, FIFA has announced Miami as one of its host cities for the 2026 World Cup. The international soccer (or fútbol, forgive us) tournament will be held throughout North America, Canada, the United States and Mexico. 🎉🇺🇸 ᴍɪᴀᴍɪ 🇺🇸🎉Miami is officially a #FIFAWorldCup 2026 Host City! 🙌#HostCity2026 pic.twitter.com/YTfbIBiHiY — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2022 Miami will be one of 16 cities to share hosting duties, with each presenting six matches. Ours will be played at Hard Rock Stadium, which was built to FIFA specifications and has already welcomed several high-profile soccer matches, including 2017's El Clásico between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.  “Miami-Dade is the ideal community to host the 2026 World Cup. Our residents hail from every corner of the world, creating a vibrant metropolitan area unlike any other in the United States. Soccer runs through the veins of our county. After years of collaboration with partners across the region, we couldn’t be more proud to welcome FIFA to Miami-Dade,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.  Unlike previous World Cups, where a single country has hosted the tournament, the 2026 edition will split the matches across 16 cities in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The full list includes Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York a

Two years before it hosts the Summer Olympics, Los Angeles will host yet another major international sports competition: the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Or rather, it’ll cohost the soccer competition along with 15 other cities in North America. And technically, it won’t even be within the City of Los Angeles but rather in Inglewood at the massive SoFi Stadium, which just hosted this year’s Super Bowl and is set to make an appearance in the 2028 Olympics, too. 🎉🇺🇸 ʟᴏꜱ ᴀɴɢᴇʟᴇꜱ 🇺🇸🎉Los Angeles has been confirmed as a #FIFAWorldCup 2026 Host City#HostCity2026 pic.twitter.com/DaI11gxFGv — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2022 That’s the word out of a FIFA livestream on Thursday that unveiled the host cities region by region. It’s worth noting that when the competition organizer went through each region, it simply listed a city but not necessarily a venue. But for the West, it specifically announced L.A. as “Los Angeles, SoFi Stadium”—which seems to pretty clearly rule out Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, which hosted the 1994 World Cup Final. That SGV snub seems even more interesting when considering that, as the L.A. Times notes, SoFi Stadium is actually too narrow for a World Cup pitch and will therefore need to undergo some (presumably temporary) changes. Stellar line-up of #WorldCup 2026 Host Cities unveiled: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles/SoFi Stadium, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey,Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay A

Get ready to bombard Bowser and his Koopalings with a bunch of shells, because a real-life Mario Kart ride is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood. “Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge” will be the centerpiece attraction at the upcoming Super Nintendo World, which is now due to open in early 2023 (the last update from the theme park had targeted a broader 2023 window). Like the version of the ride that debuted in Japan last year, the video game-inspired attraction will combine colorful Mario environments with digital screens and a bit of augmented reality magic. Each four-person, stadium-seat-style kart will come equipped with augmented reality goggles: It’s through those that you’ll see the shell-filled mayhem portion of the ride play out. As you careen and spin through the constructed scenes, you’ll grip a steering wheel and buttons that won’t control the physical vehicle but will allow you to steer and fire shells from your AR racer. You and the three other passengers in your kart—you’ll all be repping Team Mario—will be working together to gather enough coins to defeat Team Bowser. If you can’t quite picture all of that, the teaser video below from Universal Studios Hollywood gives a much better sense of how it all comes together. “Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge” will be the only ride in the currently under construction themed land; the Osaka originator also features a Yoshi-themed traditional dark ride that won’t be making the jump into the Universal City theme park.