Los Angeles can be a spendy spot — but there are plenty of awesome, budgetfriendly ways to play in L.A.
Eight great ways to enjoy the City of Angels without damaging your bank account
Spending a lot of money in Los Angeles is no problem — unless, of course, you don’t have a lot of money to spend. But this megalopolis, with its ethnic enclaves, moguls and misfits, celebrity havens, revitalized downtown and miles and miles of suburban outposts (and the freeways to get you there), offers an abundance of cheap — even free — activities and eats that in many ways defines the real city.
Long touted as hipster havens, the neighborhoods of Los Feliz and Silver Lake extend well beyond a simple stereotype and make for a great starting point to delve into a gentler-on-your wallet Los Angeles. Yes, you’ll see plenty of fedorawearing, tattoo-laden, cold brewswilling habitués, along with pricey boutiques and eateries, but dig just a little deeper, and you can enjoy a slice of L.A. life for well under $20 a day.
Forget Waze and think stairways, as in climbing the numerous secret stairs peppering these hilly neighborhoods. Built in the early 20th century, before car was king, the stairs were used by residents living on the steep hillsides to access trolleys, commerce, schools and homes. Many of these staircases are hidden, shaded by foliage or blending into the surroundings. Some are downright vertiginous.
Off storied Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake you’ll find the Micheltorena Stairs, 204 steps painted in rainbow colors and hearts and topped by a view, off to the right, of the iconic Griffith Observatory. On the quiet west side of the Silver Lake Reservoir, several staircases ascend amid the pricey hillside real estate.
Before exploring some of these stairways to heaven, though, indulge in a creamy cappuccino at Square One. Afterwards, grab a soft-serve ice cream at Magpies, where everything is made in house and the malted milk chocolate is a classic. Both Square One and Magpies are at the intersection of Hyperion and Griffith Park Boulevard in Silver Lake.
For architecture aficionados, Silver Lake and Los Feliz are a gift, particularly if you are mad for modern. Famed modernist Richard Neutra designed numerous angular homes along and near Silver Lake Boulevard, which hugs the Silver Lake Reservoir’s east side. Frank Lloyd Wright, that towering figure of the modern era, designed both the Mayan-inspired Ennis House and Hollyhock House in Los Feliz.
The beautifully restored Hollyhock, built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, is part of peaceful Barnsdall Park, perched atop a hill with
views of the Hollywood sign and the ever-present Griffith Observatory. For a mere $7, a guide will recount the house’s history and point out subtle details: docent Andy May noted Wright’s ingenious integration of the stemmy hollyhock flower, Barnsdall’s favorite and the inspiration for the house, into wall carvings and the backs of dining chairs.
Plan to have a picnic lunch on a nearby lawn after touring the house — Little Dom’s Deli, on nearby Hillhurst Avenue, makes filling cold and hot sandwiches (try the pressed rosemary ham and fontina); get there early, though, to snag a piece of the popular olive oil cake.
Taking the kids? Put them to work counting all the murals — some edgy, some subdued, all eye catching — emblazoned on buildings, bridges, underpasses and stairs. The tally is high on Sunset Boulevard. Be sure to seek out the one at the corner of Lucile and Sunset, where the Dangerbird Records building serves as a changing canvas, such as a whimsical one by children’s book author and artist Dallas Clayton. Less obvious, but no less compelling, is the local muralist Ricardo Mendoza’s winged eyeball watching people come and go on the stairs at Hoover Walk in Los Feliz.
The expansive views from the Griffith Observatory, a center for astronomical education and beloved civic landmark in the hills of Griffith Park above Los Feliz, are sublime — and free. Usher in a new day by taking a sunrise hike on one of the trails fanning out from the Observatory grounds. The muted early sky and reverential hush of other hikers cast a whole new light on the City of Angels. As one woman, an almost-daily walker for 30 years, put it, “I’m addicted to this place. If I don’t come, I think something’s missing.”
Then cap off the morning at Sqirl, a popular eatery in a compact storefront just south of Los Feliz proper. Don’t look for the typical eggs-and-bacon breakfast here — the savory rice bowl with sorrel pesto and a poached egg or brioche toast with ricotta and jam will make you rethink your first meal of the day. Although breakfast isn’t exactly cheap, the dishes are all under $20, and combined with the earlier million-dollar views in Griffith Park, it’s a rich experience, indeed.