Los Angeles on a Budget: How to Explore LA for Less

Los Angeles is an expensive city, but it is also a city where an enormous amount of its best experiences cost nothing at all. The beaches — Venice, Santa Monica, Manhattan, Malibu — are free and among the finest urban beaches in the world. Griffith Park, one of the largest urban parks in the United States, contains hiking trails, the observatory (free admission), the Greek Theatre, and the Los Angeles Zoo all within its 4,310 acres. The Getty Center and the Getty Villa in Malibu both offer free admission, and together they house artwork that would be the centrepiece of any major European museum.

Free museum days are worth building a trip around: the Hammer Museum in Westwood is always free. LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and the Natural History Museum both offer free admission on the second Tuesday of each month. The Broad in downtown LA offers free general admission with timed-entry reservation. The Architecture and Design Museum, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, and several university galleries operate on a donation basis. Taken together, Los Angeles has more free cultural institutions than almost any American city outside New York, yet this fact is rarely publicised.

Budget eating follows the city's extraordinary diversity. Korean BBQ restaurants in Koreatown offer all-you-can-eat options at lunch for a fraction of dinner prices. The Grand Central Market on Broadway has been feeding Angelenos across every income bracket since 1917, with dishes from a dozen cuisines all priced accessibly. The taco trucks that operate in East LA, the San Fernando Valley, and along Cesar Chavez Avenue serve food that equals any sit-down restaurant at a third of the price. Getting around cheaply means the Metro Rail and bus system — an all-day pass covers the entire network and connects downtown to Hollywood, Santa Monica, the South Bay, and Pasadena.